🧋 Hello, human and artificial friends,

What do you do when princes reject your pitch?

Audrey Quan went for a walk, noticed golden portrait frames everywhere in Abu Dhabi, and turned that into a million-dollar business.

The full story on today’s founders’ insights.

Happy reading! 📰

👉🏻 See what's brewing in Asia's AI scene through our eyes—Michael | Thomas

When Audrey Quan flew to Abu Dhabi to pitch her AI technology, the response was brutal.

"Why would I need a digital version of myself? I don't even need to work."

Her team had spent years building an AI platform that could clone anyone's face, voice, and gestures into a digital human. In China, companies used it for automated video ads, virtual spokespersons, and branded content. They assumed the Gulf would love it.

Nobody cared.

Instead of flying home, Audrey walked the city. Museums, hotels, palaces, government buildings. Everywhere: golden frames with portraits. Kings, princes, national heroes. A cultural obsession with image and legacy.

She pivoted on the spot. What if those portraits could talk?

Within months, the Abu Dhabi Royal Family invested in a joint venture. The AI-powered golden frame became their official national gift for visiting heads of state. The technology? Made in Shenzhen. The brand? Made in Abu Dhabi.

✅ The "Street Research" pivot. Audrey didn't run surveys or hire consultants. She walked the streets of her target market and observed what people already valued. Most founders try to educate customers on why they should want something new. She wrapped her technology in something they already loved.

✅ Solving your own pain creates your best product. Innoaio's AI translator was never planned. The team built it because their CEO only speaks Mandarin with a Donbei accent and couldn't communicate with Arabic clients. During Ramadan, when business partners would forget conversations by the next day, response speed was everything. That internal tool is now their fastest-growing product and the #1 AI translator on JD.com during Double 11.

✅ The physical shortcut. Instead of negotiating API access with WhatsApp, WeChat, and dozens of platforms, they built a magnetic Bluetooth device the size of a coin. Press the button, speak your language, release. The translated text appears in any app. It uses the phone's native copy-paste. A hardware workaround for a software gatekeeping problem.

The translator market is crowded. Google Translate exists. Apple is adding live translation. But Innoaio found an angle nobody else saw: cross-app functionality without a single API deal. Sometimes the biggest moat isn't better AI. It's a smarter delivery mechanism.

Audrey's company now has 200 employees, offices in Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai, Paris, and LA. They're targeting a Hong Kong IPO.

She's 35.

👉🏻 Watch the full conversation

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