Open For Business
Episodes
Turning an RM29M Heritage Site Into a Michelin Key Hotel
18 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2016, a faded 1930s Art Deco building in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown sold for RM29 million. Once the tallest building in the city, its architectural h...
Mapping Hidden Corporate Connections Across Asia
17 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Every business deal relies on knowing exactly who you are dealing with, but mapping corporate relationships across Asia is an incredibly challenging t...
SMEs Need a Sales Director, Not Sales Training
15 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Small business owners often look at a declining pipeline and assume they have a sales problem, but what they usually have is a leadership deficit. Lac...
The Restaurant Model Is Broken. Is Freshpod the Fix?
14 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Operating a restaurant in Singapore is exceptionally challenging. With world-leading commercial rents, strict labour laws, and volatile food costs, tr...
From Bugs to Bursa? Pet World's Ambitious Next Chapter
11 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When Choy Peng Yew last appeared on the show in early 2023, Pet World was on a massive growth trajectory. As Malaysia's largest homegrown pet food man...
Hata: $8M Series A, Bybit CEO Backing, & New Crypto
10 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Fresh off an $8 million Series A funding round co-led personally by the CEO of Bybit, David Low, Co-Founder and CEO of Hata, unpacks what’s next for...
26 Years, 15 Films & the Business No One Tells You About
08 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Red Communications has been running since 1999 — 26 years of producing television, film, branded content, and digital programming for audiences that...
The RM100M Bet on Automated Parking
07 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In Japan and South Korea, parking a car is entirely automated. You drive into a bay, turn off your engine, and walk away while a robotic system lifts ...
The Farm That Heals What Classrooms Can't
04 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After a 30-year career at PETRONAS, a pandemic-induced mental health challenge pushed Zalina Abdul Rahim to completely rethink her retirement. Retreat...
Building a Six-Figure Global AI Agency Before Graduation
03 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The enterprise AI market is currently flooded with polished demos, confident sales pitches, and massive invoices. But behind the scenes, many of these...
The Robot Revolution On The Retail Floor
02 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Edwin Yap's family built the physical infrastructure of retail. As the leaders of Jemco Group, they grew the family business into Malaysia's largest p...
KPJ Healthcare: 3 Million Patients, One Standard of Care.
28 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
With a massive network of 30 hospitals serving over 3 million patients annually, KPJ Healthcare faces the massive challenge of ensuring consistent, hi...
Building the Waze of Malaysian Healthcare
27 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After spending decades in clinical medicine and digital health, Dr. Raymond Choy analysed over three million data points on drug pricing and uncovered...
How Two Skaters Built a Business to Fund the Dream Malaysia Wouldn't
25 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
To compete at the international level, Malaysian National Figure Skaters Eunice and Edmund Lai train six hours a day on ice that costs money, with coa...
From Bedroom YouTuber to a Seven Figure Finance Group
24 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2017, Spark Liang quit a comfortable job as a Thomson Reuters analyst to make financial literacy videos from his bedroom. Within six months, he org...
What A Horse Knows About Your Leadership, That You Don’t
21 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Malaysia's corporate training market runs on slides, seminars, and motivational talks. It is also, by most accounts, not working. Burnout is at record...
Two Childhood Friends, A Game & A Million Views in Japan
20 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Childhood friends and lifelong gamers Kashif Khairul and Rizal Azlan co-founded 1+1 Studios in 2024 with one conviction: that the best co-op games sho...
The Stage Has Changed. Define’s Principles Haven't.
19 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Anthony has been in the events industry since 1995 — when he was still in school, working as an event crewmember to fund his own education, w...
The ESG Firm That Was 15 Years Early, Then Right On Time Time
18 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
ESG guidance and advisory firm Joshua Rayan Communications (JRC) was established in 2007 with one clear conviction: that sustainability reporting shou...
Two Pilots, A Grill & A Burger Place
17 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In November 2022, two grounded pilots came on Open For Business to talk about a smash burger stall they'd started from a home kitchen during the pande...
The Immigrant Story Behind America's Most Unlikely Aerospace Company
14 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1977, Theresa Padilla moved from Mexico to the United States with nothing. Three years later, she took a job as a press operator at a small plastic...
Not a Nursing Home. Not a Daycare. Something Better.
13 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
By 2048, Malaysia will officially be an aged nation, yet currently, only 14.7 percent of our elderly are actually ageing healthily. The traditional el...
The LEGO Alternative That Went Global Before It Had An Office
12 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
LEGO is one of the most valuable toy brands in the world. It is also, for a large portion of its most devoted fans, out of reach — either because th...
It Takes Shallot of Work to Fix Malaysian Agriculture
11 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Malaysia spends over RM1 billion importing onions every single year. For decades, it was assumed that our local soil and climate were fundamentally ho...
The Computer That Runs On Your Brain Cells
10 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Most conversations about the future of technology are framed entirely around Artificial Intelligence. But what if the next massive leap in computing i...
Unlocking Land Value and the Future of Cyberjaya
07 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For three decades, Cyberview has operated primarily as the landowner and custodian of Cyberjaya. Now, the agency is making a massive strategic pivot t...
Selkirk’s Garage Origins, $200M Valuation & KL Expansion
06 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How did Selkirk scale a "mom-and-pop" hobby into a $200 million pickleball performance powerhouse?In 2014, long before pickleball became America's fas...
The RM250K Nursery That Refuses to Scale Wrong
05 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In Malaysia's RM6 billion early childhood education market, the default playbook is simple: pack in as many children as possible, keep educator costs ...
Senang: From Micro-Insurance to Financial Supermarket
04 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Senang has quietly become one of Malaysia's most interesting insurtech stories. The company hit EBITDA profitability in 2024. Gross Written Premium re...
Automating the Front Desk for Visit Malaysia 2026
03 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For independent hotels and boutique operators across Southeast Asia, managing guest communication can be a logistical nightmare. Understaffed front de...
How a TikTok Math Tutor Built a Seven Figure Business
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Debbie Soh started her career as a home tutor before pivoting to an online model during the pandemic. By leveraging free, short-form math content on s...
Why Good Pet Groomers Are Harder to Find Than Customers
28 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Adrian Goh has been in the pet care game since 2004, eventually launching Wet Nose in 2011 to create a completely bootstrapped, neighborhood pet hub.&...
The Real Hustle Behind Malaysia’s Biggest Indian Food Court
27 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Virunthu at KL Town is currently recognised as Malaysia’s largest Indian food court, operating a vibrant, community-driven dining ecosystem. The pla...
Getting High-Spending Tourists to Sleep in the Forest
26 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Hooton Retreat is a premium glamping and eco-tourism site in Negeri Sembilan. By leveraging its direct adjacency to a permanent forest reserv...
Baking Cakes That Actually Taste As Good As They Look
23 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Transforming a creative passion into a sustainable business requires strict pricing strategies and solid operational systems. Lakhshmi Priya Suppiah, ...
Why Investors Just Put RM10M Into This Malaysian Accounting School
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Founded in 2020, TYMBA Education Group entered the market to address low pass rates and limited access to accounting qualifications outside major citi...
Inside Malaysia's Multi-Million Ringgit Preschool Empire
21 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Ministry of Education recently updated its guidelines to allow optional Standard 1 enrolment for six-year-olds. While this policy provides familie...
Putting the Yellow School Bus in Your Pocket
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Every single day, millions of students step onto a school bus and embark on what is largely an "invisible journey." For the hour they are on the road,...
The ROI of the Skyline: 14 Years of The Marini’s Group
19 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Kuala Lumpur F&B industry can be brutal. Most trendy dining spots survive for two or three years before becoming obsolete. Yet, 14 years on, T...
I Dreamt of Washing Shoes (And It Made Me 5 Figures)
16 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Gurcharanvir Singh built his company because he had a dream about washing shoes.Three years later, Guchi Cuci is a highly profitable, 5-figure home-ba...
The PropTech Rebellion: How MyRumahBaru is Changing Real Estate
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For years, the Malaysian property market has been dominated by a legacy "discovery-only" portal model. Real estate agents are forced to pay RM3,000 to...
The FMCG Playbook: How Fukuro Scaled to RM14M Without VC Funding
14 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Fukuro Malaysia was founded in 2019 to fill the "missing middle" in the kitchenware market. Co-founders Daryl Lai and Kevin Lau recognised that local ...
Preserving Amachi's Legacy One Appam At A Time
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Amachi’s Palagaram is a brand dedicated entirely to preserving traditional Indian sweets and savories. What began as a heartfelt weekend project ope...
Polar Cold: The Agritech Startup Rebuilding Urban Refrigeration
12 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In Southeast Asia, nearly 40% of food is wasted before it ever reaches the consumer. Much of this spoilage happens in the "last mile"—the chaotic jo...
Life After VC: How BloomThis Scaled to 8 Figures Solo
09 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2023, after years of utilising seed and VC funding to scale their operations, BloomThis co-founders Penny Choo and Giden Lim executed a rare strate...
Menopause Asia: No, It’s Not Just Burnout
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Perimenopause is rarely discussed in boardrooms, yet it causes 1 in 4 women to consider leaving the workforce — often at the absolute peak of their ...
Inside the Revival of Mum’s Place
07 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, Mum’s Place was an institutional dining destination in Petaling Jaya, famous for its comforting, Peranakan-influenced Malaysian dishes....
The Messy Middle: Bootstrapping Cuura to 7 Figures
06 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The local Malaysian beauty industry is dominated by aggressive marketing, promising consumers "flawless skin in 3 days" and chasing the latest viral T...
Can AI Save Malaysia’s Overstretched Hospitals?
05 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Healthcare systems globally are buckling under the weight of administrative tasks. In Malaysia, where the doctor-to-patient ratio hovers around 1:450,...
The Ecosystem Play: Why Gelatomania Is Building More Than Just Outlets
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Most F&B founders measure success by the number of retail outlets they open. But Christine Tham and Leong Hoo Yin quickly realised that relying so...
Unstaffed And Profitable: Inside Malaysia’s Pre-Loved Book Empire
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to run a highly profitable retail business in premium shopping malls by selling products for just RM5 on the honour system?Adrian Ung, ...
The 8-Figure K-BBQ Empire: How Gu On Hacked The F&B Growth Curve
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Gu On is not your average Korean BBQ joint. Launched in July 2023, the brand specialises in traditional Korean smoked meats, rich bone broths, and mod...
The Science Of Waste: How Bina-BioX Is Replacing Plastic With Coffee And Mushrooms
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Sustainability is often treated as a corporate branding exercise, but in reality, it is a deeply operational, systems-level problem. Replacing plastic...
The Sticky Business Of Scaling: From Pasar Malam To 7-Figure Corporate Gifting
29 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Malaysia is sitting on a goldmine of natural biodiversity, yet local functional foods often suffer from a massive "trust deficit" due to adulterated p...
The Business Of Play: How Litt Tak Built A 41-Year Toy Empire
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Since 1985, Litt Tak has been the silent engine behind Malaysia’s toy industry. As the official distributor for global giants like Bandai, Takara To...
How Dáo Desserts Took Tau Fu Fah To The Cafe Scene
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, tau fu fah and soy milk were largely considered traditional Chinese street food, but as dessert cafes booming with bubble tea, bingsu, an...
Monetising Intimacy: How Construct KL Turned A Balcony Into A Business
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a city overflowing with cafes and brunch spots, how does a home-cooked pancake on a balcony become one of KL's most talked-about dining experiences...
Randy’s Laundromat: Elevating The Malaysian Laundromat Experience
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For most Malaysians, a trip to the local laundromat means sitting in a stuffy room staring at a phone while a machine spins. But what if you could tur...
Marketing The MICE Industry: Why General Marketing Fails B2B Events
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When the pandemic decimated the events industry in 2020, Melissa and Ethan found themselves retrenched. With just RM500 and no grand ambitions, they b...
How To Sell Canopies On TikTok: Joo East’s RM1.6M Hustle
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For over two decades, Joo East has been the silent architect behind Malaysia’s vibrant pasar malam and street food scene. Founded in Kuantan by a fo...
The Policy & The Pitch: Scaling Angsana Health
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In January 2026, Series A digital health company Angsana Health executed a strategic move - they acquired MiyaHealth's subsidiaries and its Managed Ca...
How A Marketing Veteran Turned A "Lonely Mall" Massage Shop Into A 6-Figure Brand
15 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Two years ago, DS Willie Tan left a 20-year career in media advertising to take over Master Ee, an ageing reflexology shop located in a notoriously qu...
Turning iPhone Videos Into A 6-Figure Wedding Empire
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When Muns and Pareesha started The Wedding Diaries in 2023, the concept of a "wedding content creator" didn't really exist in Malaysia. Betting on a g...
How Decube Is Unblocking Enterprise AI
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Major enterprises are rushing to deploy AI, but many are hitting a brick wall: their underlying data is a mess. AI is only as smart as the context it’...
Is Regenerative Business Just A Luxury? A 50,000km Quest For The Truth
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Is "regenerative business" a practical reality, or just an ESG buzzword? Benjamin Parent decided to find out by doing something extreme: quitting his ...
From Hipster Tea To RM3 Million: WonderBrew’s Mass Market Formula
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For years, kombucha was dismissed as a niche, "hipster" health drink. Now, WonderBrew has transformed it into a mainstream Malaysian beverage, scaling...
12 Studios, 8 Figures, PE-Backed: Inside The Flow Studio
08 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How do you scale "good vibes" & namaste into a sustainable, 8-figure business? On the surface, the boutique fitness industry looks like a beautifu...
Can This Startup Democratise Diagnostics?
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Advanced diagnostics often remain locked inside centralised laboratories and are technically impressive, but inaccessible to many who need them most. ...
20 Years, 300 Stores: Inside Coolblog's Post-Founder Era
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How does a homegrown, 20-year-old beverage brand survive the influx of massive foreign competitors like Mixue? Coolblog CEO Sueli Lew joins us to unpa...
Beyond Dead Batteries: The Business Of Roadside Rescue
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
BateriHub doubled from 100 to 200 branches in a year, promising roadside battery support within the hour. But what does it really take to scale reliab...
The Growthpro Strategy To Combat Traditional SEOs
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Most digital agencies sell rankings and traffic. Growth.pro sells visibility within AI systems.Founder and CEO, Alvin Koay, has built an AI-first SEO ...
30+ Years Of Serai: Building A 9-Figure F&B Family Biz
01 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Running a restaurant is notoriously brutal. Running one successfully for over three decades is rare. Scaling it into a 9-figure, multi-brand F&B e...
Foodie Media: From RM1 A Day To RM75M IPO
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From making less than RM1 a day as a Penang food blog, to ringing the bell on a RM75 million ACE Market IPO. Foodie Media’s co-founders share their ...
How AquFish Is Turning Fish Farms Smart
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food production sectors, but it’s also exposed to volatility, rising feed costs, water quality risks, and ...
Carsome, But For Car Servicing? ServAuto's RM24M Raise
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Would you trust a TikTok live streamer to sell you car servicing? Armed with US$6 million (RM24 million) in recent funding, ServAuto is betting that y...
The Evolution Of Oxwhite
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Once known for its 120-day pre-order white shirts, Oxwhite has since evolved into an omnichannel retail brand with physical stores, a broader product ...
Using “Tiny Homes” to Build a RM150M Hotel Chain
22 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2017, Adrian Chia turned a holiday joke into Big Tiny, a "tiny house" hospitality group that now manages over 1,000 keys across 22 countries.With R...
15 Clinics and Counting. What’s Next For Kyno?
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In Malaysia’s fragmented primary care landscape, Dr. Saifulhaziq Noorman is building something more structured. Through Kyno Primary Care and its 14...
Pulling The Rug From Tradition
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For many heirs in Malaysia’s family businesses, the biggest decision is not how to grow what they inherit, but whether to stay at all. Kelvin Khandh...
Battery Subscription For Commercial Trucks & Vans?
15 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What if your truck battery never failed again?For a logistics firm, a dead battery is more than just a nuisance, it’s a broken timeline, spoiled car...
Can A Catering Business Really Scale? RunningMen Did
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Building a catering business is easy to start, and notoriously hard to scale. For Andrew Chee, Founder and CEO of RunningMen Celebrations Group, the c...
The Business of Slow Blooms: Why Nook Flowers is Choosing Principles Over Profits
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In an industry often defined by high-speed logistics and international imports, Brenda James of Nook Flowers is carving out a different path in Malays...
It’s Not About Coffee. How ZUS Beat Starbucks.
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From a single kiosk to beating Starbucks and becoming Malaysia’s largest coffee chain in just 6 years.The journey began just months before the pande...
Can This Startup Rewire Medical Tourism?
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Malaysia has top hospitals, competitive pricing, and a strong reputation in medical tourism yet much of the demand is still controlled by foreign inte...
Her Duit: Why Money Is No Longer Enough
08 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when you’ve built a loyal audience and 5 years of momentum, but you feel trapped by the very niche that built you?Michelle Chin, foun...
Her Duit: Why Money Is No Longer Enough
08 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when you’ve built a loyal audience and 5 years of momentum, but you feel trapped by the very niche that built you?Michelle Chin, foun...
Applecrumby’s New Chapter: Scaling Past E-Commerce
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Two years ago, Applecrumby was navigating its transition from a long bootstrapped journey into its next growth phase. Today, the company is expanding ...
How This Marketer is Turning Practitioners to Paid Professionals
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Many professionals have deep expertise but struggle to turn that into a credible, sustainable career as a trainer, facilitator, or industry practition...
Turning Banking Apps Into Billboards? The Buzz Pivot
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2022, brothers Joshua and Joel Lim set out to eliminate single-use plastics with BeeBag, a gamified reusable bag venture. But after facing a hard t...
Scaling the Sweet Spot: The Discipline of Gula Cakery
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In an F&B landscape often defined by rapid burnout and aggressive discounting, Arieni Ritzal has taken a different path. Since her last visit to t...
Building Huddle: AirUpThere’s Startup Journey
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Grassroots sports have always had the talent, the passion, and the stories but rarely the technology.AirUpThere Technologies is trying to change that....
From Gaming Chairs to Building Ergonomic Lifestyles
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Two years ago, TTRacing was already a fast-growing gaming chair brand making its mark across Southeast Asia. Since then, the business has continued to...
1.9 Million Empty Homes: How Urby Rescues the Ruins
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
1.9 million. That’s how many living quarters are vacant here in Malaysia, nearly 20% of the total, according to the 2020 Census. This puts hard numb...
Milk, Money, and Kid-Genius Ideas
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What does it really take to bridge the gap between a child’s imagination and a viable business model?In this episode of Open For Business, we explor...
Halogen's Crypto Moat? 0 to RM400M AUM in 3 Years
25 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to reduce an investment portfolio's risk by adding a highly volatile asset like Bitcoin? Halogen Capital Co-Founders Hann Liew and Luca...
Bonus Checks and Bass Lines
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to build a business when the stakes are high and your time is already accounted for? In this episode of Open For Business, we s...
When Passion Gets Professional
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What does it really take to turn passion into a sustainable business?In this episode of Open For Business, we sit down with Janice Siew, founder of Pe...
From 2 AM Curry Puffs to Siti Li: 23 Years of F&B Survival
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The F&B industry is often romanticised, but for Shareen Ramli, the reality is far grittier. Yet, for 23 years, she has stayed in the game, evolvin...
From Cargo Drones To Passenger In The Sky
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Open For Business, we sit down with Dr Shian Lee, the aerospace engineer behind Alphaswift Industries.This is not a shiny drones co...
$176M: How an “Accidental Founder” Built Doctor Anywhere
18 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Founded in 2017 as a simple telemedicine app, Doctor Anywhere (DA) became a pandemic darling, raising nearly $176 million from heavyweights like IHH H...