Brian Soo is the Chief Innovation Officer at Fire Fighter Industry, a 49-year-old fire safety company leading in the B2C space.Β
Being part of Cohort 3 of Endeavor Malaysia's ScaleUp Program, Brian is injecting startup DNA into the company.Β Brian has brought Fire Fighter to lead the B2C space by innovating how fire safety equipment looks and is acquired.
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ππΌ How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?
We're disrupting and challenging how fire safety is perceived, acquired, and used.
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π§ What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?
We're a 49-year-old company, but we were also the first to embark into e-commerce in Malaysia in 2014 when Lazada opened its doors. We were the first company to list an industrial, pressurized item on their site. We have since sold tens of thousands of fire extinguishers over the internet.
We also have 4 million views on TikTok.Β
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π What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?
Proving the industry wrong by launching a matte black fire extinguisher for festive seasons. We have collectors who collect our fire extinguishers. Apart from this, we're now leading in the B2C space for fire safety as we're honing into the e-commerce space being on all major platforms.Β
Our B2C segment of the company grew from 0% to now 10% of the total revenue for the company.Β
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π What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?β
Electric Vehicles β as EVs grow in demand, there will also be an issue of electric car fires. Hence we are looking for solutions that we can implement in our country.Β
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πΌ What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?Β
It's not an easy industry to be in, and also not the "hottest" industry to be in. Capital cost is high. However, to succeed in the industry in today's world, you need to be creative in the products, solutions, and customer acquisition.Β
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π£ What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?Β
Making something boring, like the fire safety industry, exciting.Β
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π₯ What's your favorite movie/TV show?Β
Inception. Time is relative, and time is the 1 thing everyone shares as a constant. And it's how we make use of it that determines our futures.Β
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π¨ What's your go-to ice cream flavor?β
Anything Black Sesame.Β
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