Boosting Supply Chain Resiliency: Hanyin Chen of ASKaFOX Unveils AI-Powered Solutions

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podcast shorts featuring founder interviews of Canadian startups.

Welcome back to Who Are These Startups?

I'm the startup coach founder of Front-of-Start and with me today is Haiyan Chen, CEO and co-founder of Asuka Fox.

Welcome, Haiyan.

Hi, Greg.

Pleasure to be here.

What does Asuka Fox do?

Our mission at Asuka Fox is to help worldwide manufacturers increase their supply chain resiliency through AI.

And so whenever there's a supply disruption happening, we provide them with a contingency plan, a fast yet reliable one.

So how exactly do we do that?

First of all, we make supply discovery using natural language processing to better match the customer query with the best possible data points.

Then we enact an Uber-like in-factory auditing service so the previous candidate would be truly validated from an industrial point of view.

In a nutshell, if you're looking for a manufacturing partner, not only for Google, not only for trade shows and not only for business travel to the other end of the world, just ask us folks and we will get you covered.

So who is Asuka Fox really for?

I would say many manufacturing companies are from the very demanding industry who are looking for custom material or subcontracting services.

So on top of my mind, energy sectors, mobility sectors, but not only, we do also work with the operation consultancy firms leveraging AI to increase their job efficiency.

And we work equally with heart tech startups, crossing the critical path from prototyping to serial reproduction.

What is your startup story?

Myself, I'm a Chinese born French and I was trained as a material engineer and working in France for the last 20 years on supply chain management.

So my job was basically working the earth, meeting with people, visiting factories and trying to nail the hidden gem.

That process was actually long and painful and manual at an incredibly digitalized era like today.

So I wanted to make a change to that.

Also around I would say year 2020, I clearly sense the shift in global supply chain, the geopolitical tensions, the climate urgency, not even mentioning the COVID challenge afterwards.

So everything pointed at the time to a major change in terms of supply scheme.

The famous just in time was being completed, if not replaced by the just in case.

So our goal today is how to leverage technology like AI to help companies to go through this transition and knowing that the supply chain costs to spend in average counts for 60 to 80% of total cost for manufacture.

What drives you?

Good question.

I would say the belief that we will eventually be successful and make difference to the world, meaning our customers.

Plus my six year old daughter dancing class bill.

How would you define that?

Fair enough.

Let me put this in a GPT prompt way for us.

The success means if Aska folks were not here, the global supply chain will be in a much messier place.

What is the business model?

We call our business model the boomerang with three different revenue streams.

First, pay as you go for the retrieval of supplier list.

Second, take rates on in fact, three two-digit service.

And third sales rep fees for future contracts brought in to the same manufacturer.

What is your funding situation?

We are currently bootstrapping and self-funded by own revenue.

We are not seeing we will stay old school like this, but however, this so called the fast found the reason as a service is clearly not our goal.

What do you wish you knew before you started?

Hmm, maybe that large language model would be emerging in 2022.

That would definitely change a lot on how we perceive our market landscape and our current tech stack.

What is your biggest learning as a founder?

I think it's cliche, but very true.

Talking to your customers as much as you can is the most important thing.

You know, sometimes the smart guys, they tend to imagine stuff and make it sound logical.

Pretty much the same way that a GPT does hallucinations with existing material.

And thank God I'm a smart guy.

What's your biggest lesson in pitching your startup?

Well, there are two sides of it.

What I think we did right is I can always call it the courage or unconsciousness to always go for it at any occasion like today.

Someone said, hey, you want to make an interview or whatever.

Okay, let's do it.

So we leave ourselves to serendipity.

What we did wrong maybe sometimes when you pitch, you are not really convinced.

I don't know whatever reason.

People can sense that the belief or lack of it in your speech.

So maybe we should better pay attention to that kind of situations.

As an AI founder, what's your favorite productivity hack or AI tool?

There's a LinkedIn plugin called Crystal knows.

It actually analyzes your commercial prospects and LinkedIn profile and posts in order to guess his personality for you to adapt to the code email message.

For me, it's a very practical and useful tool and I suggest you guys give it a try.

What Canadian startup resources have been most helpful to you?

Great question.

Prior to my arrival in Canada, I heard that people say, you know, the Canadians, they are very nice people.

But hereby I confirm and more concretely, it's been demonstrated in their ecosystem and acceleration programs.

The one I would really like to highlight is the scale AI affiliated programs as we consider ourselves as AI for supply chain company.

So next AI, Venture Lab and Azure C National Bank, they all contributed quickly to our early settlements and integration in a Canadian ecosystem.

You're currently part of the next AI cohort.

Can you tell us a little bit about your experience?

Yeah, it's really being a fantastic tour, even though we are owning the beginning of it because next AI has a very strong component in terms of tech advisory.

We are together with more than 40 peer companies.

There's a certain vibe that making us just have the urge to progress on our current development.

So we are really happy to be part of it and we have a full faith.

This brings tremendous value to us at the end of the program.

Do you have any tips for founders?

Get out of your office and start meeting people, the more the merrier, the customers, peers, anyone you would, because you will need that energy to maintain your vibes.

What book should every founder read?

Actually, there are two books on top of my mind.

One founder has to be two things at the same time.

A conqueror, because it's your job to conquer the market, and a healer, as you would be beat up pretty badly on a regular basis by a bully called the reality.

For the former, I recommend the history of the decline for Roman Empire by Gibbon.

It's not a very recent book, but it's a very epic portrait.

For the latter, I would suggest a Japanese book.

It's called A Compass to Fulfillment by Kazoo Inamori.

So he's this, he was because it has the way last year.

The Japanese legendary entrepreneur who founded two Fortune 500 companies.

And basically in his book, he is telling you how being nice can lead to the success of your company.

And that might be a great fit for Canadian entrepreneurs.

As an AI founder, what is your reaction to the current call to pause AI development and all the fear around it?

Wow, that's a good question.

Honestly, I can sense the reason behind it, but just as an AI founder, I cannot resist the itch.

Maybe call me an optimist.

I think if my kind manage to stop each other from throwing a bombs for the last 80 years, just give us some credits for the next 80 years on AI.

Where can our listeners connect with you and ask a pop online?

Also the easiest way is to reach out to our website ASKAFOXASKFox.com and on the footer, you may hide my email, LinkedIn, everything.

I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to be on Who Are These Startups?

Thanks Craig, pleasure is mine.

This has been Who Are These Startups.

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