WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.940 Hey everyone, welcome back to Buzzworthy. I'm 00:00:02.940 --> 00:00:06.860 your host, Shalicia Harris. I dive into the rare 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:10.119 stories entrepreneurs tell about building their 00:00:10.119 --> 00:00:13.019 businesses, but most importantly, themselves. 00:00:13.419 --> 00:00:17.839 Let's get into it. Hello again, everyone. Welcome 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:20.940 back to Buzzworthy. I'm your host, Shalicia Harris. 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:25.219 And today we have a pair of entrepreneurs who've 00:00:25.219 --> 00:00:29.579 co -founded a company called COOCO. And today 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:34.280 we have Allison Leigh and Ria Wu, who both originate 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:38.000 from Vietnam, but have found their way into Hamilton 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.359 through a journey where they met each other and 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:45.179 traveled across the seas and now creating a cooking. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:50.320 community for us here digitally. So welcome to 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:52.659 the podcast. Welcome to Buzzworthy, Alison and 00:00:52.659 --> 00:00:57.880 Rio. Thank you. Thanks for having us. It's such 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:01.759 a pleasure. I was so happy when I was introduced 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:05.420 to both of you and got an opportunity to learn 00:01:05.420 --> 00:01:08.620 a lot about your story and how you even came 00:01:08.620 --> 00:01:11.780 together as co -founders. But your story sort 00:01:11.780 --> 00:01:14.120 of started way back when, which we'll dive into 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:17.260 a little bit later. But I want to ask you the 00:01:17.260 --> 00:01:20.879 question both individually. Either one of you 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:25.629 can answer first. But what do you think? helped 00:01:25.629 --> 00:01:29.849 you become an entrepreneur or allowed you to 00:01:29.849 --> 00:01:35.530 become an entrepreneur in your past? So I can 00:01:35.530 --> 00:01:41.549 go first. Honestly, I think that nobody born 00:01:41.549 --> 00:01:47.590 as an entrepreneur. Yeah, before become have 00:01:47.590 --> 00:01:51.530 my own company and I worked for all the company 00:01:51.530 --> 00:01:54.569 about eight years, starting from my university 00:01:54.569 --> 00:01:58.310 days and before launching my own marketing agency. 00:01:58.849 --> 00:02:03.469 And that's what over a decade ago and from there 00:02:03.469 --> 00:02:06.950 I graduated, found myself diving into the startup 00:02:06.950 --> 00:02:11.560 world. At first, I realized the corporate environment 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:15.819 didn't suit me. I care deeply about the efficiency 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:21.500 and client satisfaction. And I wanted more flexibility 00:02:21.500 --> 00:02:24.960 to spend time with my family, not to spend hours 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:30.240 navigating corporate politics. process needs 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:34.719 from my own experience i would say that 40 up 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:38.199 to 60 percent of your time in a traditional job 00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:41.120 is spent managing people not the actual work 00:02:41.819 --> 00:02:45.460 so i'm very focused and quite introverted so 00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:47.900 it makes sense for me to build something on my 00:02:47.900 --> 00:02:51.580 own term and as i said before that i have time 00:02:51.580 --> 00:02:55.400 to live in japan and i can see that a lot of 00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:58.639 people that have a busy life in japan they don't 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:02.520 have time for repair every meal so they need 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:07.819 to make some new plan they need to go for go 00:03:07.819 --> 00:03:12.379 to the supermarket like just one or two times 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:16.520 per week. And after that, they need to make a 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:20.659 meal plan and food preparing, just put into the 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:22.719 fridge. And after that, they can use it for the 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:25.379 whole week. So that's why it come up with me. 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:29.900 And during the COVID time, I came up with my 00:03:29.900 --> 00:03:36.610 collectors, Alison, to do our old business. That's 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:41.090 amazing. That's amazing. It's, it's incredible 00:03:41.090 --> 00:03:46.490 that you really chose entrepreneurship Rio, because 00:03:46.490 --> 00:03:50.150 you wanted to spend more time with your family. 00:03:50.229 --> 00:03:53.449 And you realize in your day to day, you weren't 00:03:53.449 --> 00:03:57.110 actually doing the things you loved the most. 00:03:57.129 --> 00:03:59.069 And that's when you first started your marketing 00:03:59.069 --> 00:04:02.889 agency, where then you actually hired Allison. 00:04:04.110 --> 00:04:10.159 as an intern. And so, Alison, how... Was it, 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.240 you know, I know you didn't necessarily start 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:16.019 off with entrepreneurship right away, but you 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:18.939 met an entrepreneur who had, you know, these 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:21.980 incredible goals and values for herself and her 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:24.759 family. And, you know, we talk a little bit more 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:28.300 about it in terms of work life balance. She wanted 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:33.259 to own her time a lot more. But what do you think 00:04:33.259 --> 00:04:38.060 in your own experience set you up to be an entrepreneur? 00:04:38.670 --> 00:04:44.889 with who was previously your boss? So looking 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:48.569 back, it wasn't a single moment, but rather a 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:51.810 series of experiences that shaped my perspective 00:04:51.810 --> 00:04:56.269 and fueled my drive. So just like Rio, I graduated 00:04:56.269 --> 00:05:00.930 with a marketing degree and landed an internship 00:05:00.930 --> 00:05:04.350 at a big corporate firm, OTV. So that's where 00:05:04.350 --> 00:05:09.180 we met. i was her intern at ogilvy and then after 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:14.180 that when she quit a job um i just looked around 00:05:14.180 --> 00:05:18.420 the office and i asked myself like do i really 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:25.540 want to stay here and become the corporate employee 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:31.540 like all of the other people in this office and 00:05:32.589 --> 00:05:36.870 unfortunately the answer is no like i'm even 00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:39.730 i had a chance to work with the global brands 00:05:39.730 --> 00:05:43.790 like obv and crap while i learned a tons of about 00:05:43.790 --> 00:05:47.730 the system scaling and strategy something just 00:05:47.730 --> 00:05:51.230 didn't click for me so i just felt like i was 00:05:51.230 --> 00:05:55.810 a small cock in a massive machine executing the 00:05:55.810 --> 00:06:00.250 task within the system that was already set um 00:06:00.250 --> 00:06:05.990 in the motion it it was stable and but it it 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:09.689 just wasn't me at all i craved being a small 00:06:09.689 --> 00:06:14.610 like being a part of a small dynamic team where 00:06:14.610 --> 00:06:19.550 we can create a big impact where every like every 00:06:19.550 --> 00:06:23.110 decision of us matter and every idea could shift 00:06:23.110 --> 00:06:26.930 to a bigger thing that we rebuild so that's why 00:06:28.649 --> 00:06:33.209 I also quit my job at Ogilvy. And then later 00:06:33.209 --> 00:06:38.069 on, I met Rio. We became friends in the beginning. 00:06:38.370 --> 00:06:41.350 And then after that, when I learned about she 00:06:41.350 --> 00:06:44.610 was opening her own agency, marketing agency, 00:06:44.949 --> 00:06:49.370 I was like, OK, let me help you. I wouldn't ask 00:06:49.370 --> 00:06:53.829 to become an official employee at first because 00:06:53.829 --> 00:06:56.970 I don't want to become a burden for her payroll. 00:06:57.089 --> 00:07:00.290 I just want to help. And then after that, when 00:07:00.290 --> 00:07:03.110 we received more and more projects together, 00:07:04.110 --> 00:07:12.689 we became like colleagues. And then our relationship 00:07:12.689 --> 00:07:15.529 became like a colleague and mentorship. And then 00:07:15.529 --> 00:07:20.389 now we become partners in our business. So the 00:07:20.389 --> 00:07:23.389 restlessness pushed me to rethink about what 00:07:23.389 --> 00:07:26.350 I want to do with myself. I just don't want to 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:30.459 optimize. someone else we don't want to optimize 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:32.980 someone else's system we want to build something 00:07:32.980 --> 00:07:38.180 that solves real human problems so that's that 00:07:38.180 --> 00:07:43.540 mindset um shape us to the path we become today 00:07:43.540 --> 00:07:49.639 yeah that's um that's very inspirational because 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:53.949 you know a lot of people just sort of go about 00:07:53.949 --> 00:07:58.170 life doing exactly you know what is expected 00:07:58.170 --> 00:08:01.110 of us we go to university which you both did 00:08:01.110 --> 00:08:04.449 you and got those corporate jobs like we're all 00:08:04.449 --> 00:08:07.430 you know we all dream of when we're in university 00:08:07.430 --> 00:08:10.410 but there was something else that was really 00:08:10.410 --> 00:08:14.389 missing from your experience there and it's your 00:08:14.389 --> 00:08:18.569 ability to really provide value that you can 00:08:18.569 --> 00:08:23.060 feel really proud of and you can say that What 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:27.500 I did today in the office is making the world 00:08:27.500 --> 00:08:31.060 a better place with the actions that I took. 00:08:31.339 --> 00:08:35.440 And like you said, Alison, you felt like a little 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.440 bit of a cog in the wheel in this big machine. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.240 And when you sort of stepped out from that and 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:47.100 eventually. yourself and Rio working in your 00:08:47.100 --> 00:08:50.860 marketing agency together, you really got to 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:54.679 stretch your flexibility, stretch the strategies 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:58.840 that you have done and be creative in your own 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:02.940 right and see the direct line of impact with 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:06.820 what you did and the results of that. And that's 00:09:06.820 --> 00:09:10.220 something I think you're very much right in big 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:12.799 corporate environments, which I've worked in 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:17.080 as well. don't always get to see the direct effect 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:23.139 of what you have specifically contributed yeah 00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:27.100 another thing that we want to add to other people 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:32.700 that um to be an entrepreneur is not easy so 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:37.620 uh we do appreciate the time that we worked in 00:09:37.620 --> 00:09:40.720 the corporate uh company something like that 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:45.629 because uh we can saw that a lot of people after 00:09:45.629 --> 00:09:50.049 graduating from college or from university they 00:09:50.049 --> 00:09:55.230 want to be an entrepreneur or they want to get 00:09:55.230 --> 00:09:58.870 a startup firm or something like that but i think 00:09:58.870 --> 00:10:02.350 that they should have time to work for all the 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:09.169 company to get more information to get more experience 00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:12.230 yeah experience and get more connection also 00:10:12.230 --> 00:10:17.190 and after that they will be sharpened to open 00:10:17.190 --> 00:10:20.730 their own company yeah yeah absolutely absolutely 00:10:20.730 --> 00:10:24.750 you wanted to add to that Allison yeah my opinion 00:10:24.750 --> 00:10:28.830 is pretty much the same like even though the 00:10:28.830 --> 00:10:34.210 corporate life isn't for us but working for the 00:10:34.210 --> 00:10:36.710 corporate in the short time really helped me 00:10:36.710 --> 00:10:39.990 to sharpen my mindset and learning about the 00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:44.789 system how the big company work how those teams 00:10:44.789 --> 00:10:48.110 and those employees connect and work together 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:54.850 in um and create a big impact for for the big 00:10:54.850 --> 00:10:59.409 firm and then like i i brought all of those in 00:10:59.409 --> 00:11:03.730 my experience in working for small firms so uh 00:11:03.730 --> 00:11:07.629 that's why in kuko and in our previous marketing 00:11:07.629 --> 00:11:12.970 team the our firm is quite small but we we work 00:11:12.970 --> 00:11:16.529 in system so we can really solve a lot of problem 00:11:16.529 --> 00:11:20.230 with the small team and that's our motto for 00:11:20.230 --> 00:11:24.889 now Yes, yes. I love that you both focused on, 00:11:24.990 --> 00:11:28.070 you know, it's really important for entrepreneurs 00:11:28.070 --> 00:11:31.649 to sharpen their skills before they even jump 00:11:31.649 --> 00:11:34.370 into it. Because like you said, entrepreneurship 00:11:34.370 --> 00:11:40.129 is very risky. And it's risky, and you require 00:11:40.129 --> 00:11:44.470 a lot of flexibility. And if you haven't necessarily 00:11:44.470 --> 00:11:49.529 got the experiences, or you don't know how certain 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:53.159 big organizations or different size organizations 00:11:53.159 --> 00:11:57.700 work or function, you are only operating in your 00:11:57.700 --> 00:12:01.879 own small world. The knowledge of saying, how 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:06.340 do I get from where I am to as big as they are, 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:09.860 it sometimes helps, like you said, sharpen your 00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:13.080 goals, sharpen your experiences, sharpen your 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:18.019 skills. And for me, I would say that is absolutely 00:12:18.019 --> 00:12:21.879 true. Getting experience before becoming an entrepreneur 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:25.179 definitely gives you a different line of sight. 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:28.799 And it prepares you for so much more success 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.820 than if you didn't have those experiences. And 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:35.299 not saying that somebody brand new out of the 00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:38.720 world with a work experience can't be successful. 00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:42.639 But having something under your belt absolutely 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:47.299 helps you even more so. So I'm glad that you 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:50.000 see that your corporate experience was just simply 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:53.419 part of your journey to be able to get to where 00:12:53.419 --> 00:12:58.440 you are now. And before you even created Koku, 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:05.419 you had your marketing agency where you helped 00:13:05.419 --> 00:13:09.639 other startups. grow their business like that 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:14.100 was the niche that you had focused on so tell 00:13:14.100 --> 00:13:17.340 us a little bit more about that and how you found 00:13:17.340 --> 00:13:21.539 yourself simply becoming a growth machine for 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:25.500 these big um these these startups that were scaling 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:31.789 their businesses um actually that um Most of 00:13:31.789 --> 00:13:35.370 the startup that we worked before when we are 00:13:35.370 --> 00:13:40.009 running a marketing agency is like now they become 00:13:40.009 --> 00:13:45.070 some unicorn startup in Asian market. But you 00:13:45.070 --> 00:13:52.429 know that if you want to get more consumer or 00:13:52.429 --> 00:13:56.110 customer just based on the advertising, it's 00:13:56.110 --> 00:14:00.490 kind of... losing a lot of money you're just 00:14:00.490 --> 00:14:05.450 throwing the money out to the a lot of the money 00:14:05.450 --> 00:14:09.049 from the pocket will go out and try to buy some 00:14:09.049 --> 00:14:12.350 customer like this but actually that we found 00:14:12.350 --> 00:14:19.250 another way to utilize the money for them like 00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:24.090 we focus on the community more than the advertising 00:14:24.090 --> 00:14:30.159 only for example For example, before launching 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:33.159 the products or before launching their application, 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:36.899 we try to create some community for them on the 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:41.740 social network like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:44.139 or something like that and sharing about their 00:14:44.139 --> 00:14:48.460 function, sharing about their features and help 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:53.539 people with the same interest that they can connect. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:58.559 together and in this community we try to share 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:04.220 some tips tricks or make them feel that they 00:15:04.220 --> 00:15:08.299 was become a part of the community and after 00:15:08.299 --> 00:15:11.480 a short of time like three months or six months 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:17.399 when we grow a huge number of the people in the 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:21.559 community we inject the content of the brand 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:25.720 into there And after that, they will be upset 00:15:25.720 --> 00:15:30.580 with the brand without their knowledge. And after 00:15:30.580 --> 00:15:36.379 that, we try to convert them to be the customer 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:42.840 for our clients. And that's worked really great. 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:50.460 And after, we help these firms to get attraction 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:54.159 from there. they will go with some like some 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:58.820 fund or some capital to get more money. And after 00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:01.340 that, they burn their money into the normal advertising 00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:06.779 later. Yeah. Wow. So what you did was always 00:16:06.779 --> 00:16:11.100 community first. So you really know how to build 00:16:11.100 --> 00:16:14.200 a community from scratch and make sure that, 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:20.460 you know, every, every. every level of work that 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:24.259 you do pouring into that community delivers value 00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:27.580 to them. And it's sort of a testing ground that 00:16:27.580 --> 00:16:31.559 you've created for a lot of these startups that. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:35.139 push them into that mode of growth and for them 00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:37.860 to go and get more investments so they can really 00:16:37.860 --> 00:16:41.559 build their company really focusing on that community 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:45.440 aspect of it where the community proves the value 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.559 um they test it out and they give you feedback 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:53.500 all at the same time yes so for example if you 00:16:53.500 --> 00:16:57.799 want to launch an e -commerce platform if you 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:02.419 just If you just give the customer that very 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:07.720 low price or just the gift vouchers or just buy 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:11.180 the user by spending a lot of money on advertising, 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:17.619 this will be very costly and the customer just 00:17:17.619 --> 00:17:22.180 come to you to utilize this coupon or utilize 00:17:22.180 --> 00:17:25.700 this benefit and after that they will go away. 00:17:26.190 --> 00:17:28.750 and never come back but actually that when we 00:17:28.750 --> 00:17:32.930 work for a unicorn e -commerce in vietnam for 00:17:32.930 --> 00:17:36.849 example we pick up some category that we think 00:17:36.849 --> 00:17:41.130 that very interesting and can build up a community 00:17:41.130 --> 00:17:46.809 in the social network for example we create a 00:17:46.809 --> 00:17:50.509 committee for the garden lover we build up a 00:17:50.509 --> 00:17:54.730 committee for the to selling the skin in the 00:17:54.730 --> 00:17:58.490 game for the gamer or something like that. And 00:17:58.490 --> 00:18:01.650 we can gather a lot of people that have the common 00:18:01.650 --> 00:18:06.190 sense or common interest into a community. And 00:18:06.190 --> 00:18:10.630 after that, they believe the admin of the group 00:18:10.630 --> 00:18:14.849 more than the advertising. I can say that. So 00:18:14.849 --> 00:18:17.589 that's why we can save a lot of money for the 00:18:17.589 --> 00:18:21.490 brand, but also have a very loyalty customer 00:18:21.490 --> 00:18:25.740 there. Yeah. Because like you said, it's not 00:18:25.740 --> 00:18:28.880 buying the customer. It's. It's that constant 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:32.920 value building and the trust that you actually 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:35.920 create within that community. And that's often 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:39.200 very hard to do. So knowing that you have done 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:42.559 this so many times over and over and over again 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:47.140 for companies that are unicorns in the Asian 00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:50.640 market, that's that's absolutely exciting. And 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.680 I think even more so exciting for the company 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:57.799 that you're building, because. Cuco is for stands 00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:01.779 for cooking community, right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:08.119 So, Alison, you know, over the time, you know, 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:11.200 you're working with Rio in the marketing agency 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:15.099 back in Vietnam, doing these incredible things 00:19:15.099 --> 00:19:18.380 together, building all of these different communities. 00:19:18.779 --> 00:19:25.380 Tell us about what really started. cuco because 00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:28.220 we know you like to spend you know some of your 00:19:28.220 --> 00:19:30.680 free time just strolling through grocery stores 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:35.259 and yo is really like you know a solid home chef 00:19:35.259 --> 00:19:38.599 everyone loves her cooking she tries different 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:40.500 things all the time and she'll tell us a little 00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:43.180 bit more of her background there but where did 00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:47.700 the real idea of cuco start like what problem 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:52.880 were you guys seeing happening in the market 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:56.319 for a new community like this to be developed? 00:19:57.900 --> 00:20:03.579 Actually, I must give the credit to Adira, to 00:20:03.579 --> 00:20:07.319 Rio, because she was the one who think that we 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:10.839 should do a virtual fridge. And then from the 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:15.160 virtual fridge, we kept... expanded to the cooking 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:18.779 community. But the moment that Crystal Light, 00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:22.119 the problem Google solved, helped me in my own 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:28.259 kitchen. During the COVID time, when we had a 00:20:28.259 --> 00:20:33.319 limitation from going out, so we couldn't get 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:38.279 access to the fresh food as it used to be. Because 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:45.380 in Asian countries, you can go to the supermarket 00:20:45.380 --> 00:20:47.859 or you can go to the wet market like every single 00:20:47.859 --> 00:20:51.400 day to get the fresh food so the fresh ingredient 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:55.779 of the fresh food is not our big concern but 00:20:55.779 --> 00:21:00.500 it was in during the coffee time so and at the 00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:05.079 same time when I open the fridge at my house 00:21:05.079 --> 00:21:09.900 like it's full of food but i was frustrated because 00:21:09.900 --> 00:21:13.039 like half of them all just went back because 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:17.500 we we bought it we took it all the way back in 00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:20.539 the fridge and then we tend to far forgot about 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:25.680 it so i was holding like a half used bag of spinach 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:29.640 and the other salad the other veggie and they 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:33.160 all turned slimy and i had to throw it away and 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:37.250 throw them away so on On the other side, on the 00:21:37.250 --> 00:21:44.190 new grocery haul, my parents just came home with 00:21:44.190 --> 00:21:48.390 another bag of peanuts. They didn't even think 00:21:48.390 --> 00:21:51.829 of checking the fridge before going out to buy 00:21:51.829 --> 00:21:57.680 new food. So I was like... Half of my energy 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:02.640 was sorting the fridge, pouring the spoiled ingredients 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.500 away. And half of the other energy was sorting 00:22:06.500 --> 00:22:08.900 the ingredients that my parents just brought 00:22:08.900 --> 00:22:11.700 home and placed them in the fridge. And I was 00:22:11.700 --> 00:22:16.240 so frustrated. And it's not just me, but when 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:20.000 I discuss about this problem with Rio, with my 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.940 other friends or family members, they all do 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:26.039 the same. They think like... pouring food in 00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:29.140 the fridge is normal if it went bad just throw 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:35.480 it and buy the new ingredient and that just struck 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:39.720 something for uh from me that this is this isn't 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:44.579 good like just because we have the ability to 00:22:44.579 --> 00:22:47.400 access to the wet market or the supermarket doesn't 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:50.400 mean that we can throw away the food without 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:55.039 feeling guilty So I think that we need to have 00:22:55.039 --> 00:23:00.079 a plan to use up everything we have before we 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:05.160 go to the supermarket for the next trip to avoid 00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:07.640 wasting food because wasting food is wasting 00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:11.819 money and time. And at the same time, like at 00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:16.200 a friend's dinner party, I watched that friend 00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:21.089 of mine scribble a grocery list. admitting that 00:23:21.089 --> 00:23:25.609 they had no idea what was in the pantry so they 00:23:25.609 --> 00:23:28.789 had to bought everything they had to buy everything 00:23:28.789 --> 00:23:33.109 new to create the dishes for the party even though 00:23:33.109 --> 00:23:36.230 that they already have the food at home so yeah 00:23:36.230 --> 00:23:39.569 i think that is a universal problem that nobody 00:23:39.569 --> 00:23:43.490 talked about it we always talk with each other 00:23:43.490 --> 00:23:46.589 between me and rio that is an elephant in the 00:23:46.589 --> 00:23:50.559 kitchen and no one ever see it And we need to 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:52.839 talk about it. We need to really do something 00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:55.779 about it. And I couldn't stop thinking about 00:23:55.779 --> 00:23:57.900 it, like throwing the money away, throwing the 00:23:57.900 --> 00:24:01.539 food away, because we have the privilege to do 00:24:01.539 --> 00:24:06.740 that. And now we need to stop it, not only in 00:24:06.740 --> 00:24:10.369 Asia, but also in North America as well. Yeah, 00:24:10.369 --> 00:24:14.170 it's like you said, it is truly a universal problem 00:24:14.170 --> 00:24:19.009 for anybody that really has access to food all 00:24:19.009 --> 00:24:23.819 the time with a supermarket right nearby. And, 00:24:24.059 --> 00:24:27.160 you know, as you were describing, you know, you're 00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:29.779 throwing out slimy spinach from the fridge and 00:24:29.779 --> 00:24:32.019 your parents are bringing home fresh spinach 00:24:32.019 --> 00:24:35.740 at the same time. That is absolutely something 00:24:35.740 --> 00:24:39.660 that's happened in my house multiple times. Sometimes 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:42.160 I'm the one doing the grocery shopping and I 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:44.859 don't actually even know what's in the fridge 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:48.559 myself either. So from a problem perspective. 00:24:49.930 --> 00:24:52.769 there there should be something that helps us 00:24:52.769 --> 00:24:56.490 sort of keep track of that because you know more 00:24:56.490 --> 00:24:59.109 and more I'm seeing that becomes a lot of mental 00:24:59.109 --> 00:25:03.650 work that women typically take on in the household 00:25:03.650 --> 00:25:07.789 that others in the house don't really keep track 00:25:07.789 --> 00:25:11.109 of but what if you know your kids have to go 00:25:11.109 --> 00:25:13.970 and do the groceries that day or you know your 00:25:13.970 --> 00:25:16.170 partner has to go and do the groceries that day 00:25:16.839 --> 00:25:19.279 They might not even decide to check the fridge 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.859 to see what's there and what's not or what's 00:25:21.859 --> 00:25:25.440 in the pantry or what's not. So knowing that 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:28.119 that specific experience and you couldn't get 00:25:28.119 --> 00:25:33.799 it out of your mind. Was this before or during 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:38.299 the time that Rio had the idea of a digital fridge? 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:42.099 And how did you sort of bring those things together 00:25:42.099 --> 00:25:46.680 to eventually evolve into the cooking community? 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:52.200 Actually, I have the idea of the virtual fridge 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:56.960 a long time ago. Before that, I... When I worked 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:00.859 for the marketing agency in Vietnam like Ogivi, 00:26:01.140 --> 00:26:07.180 we worked with some very big electronic companies 00:26:07.180 --> 00:26:10.660 and they do a smart fit already but that just 00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:16.779 allows their customers who purchase intelligent 00:26:16.779 --> 00:26:22.980 fish and it costs a lot of money. to use the 00:26:22.980 --> 00:26:26.299 smart function but actually that the smart function 00:26:26.299 --> 00:26:29.900 that just help you to see through the fish and 00:26:29.900 --> 00:26:33.779 know what's still on the still on your fish that's 00:26:33.779 --> 00:26:37.539 it so at that time i thought that why don't we 00:26:37.539 --> 00:26:43.559 have everybody can access into a smart fish even 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:47.619 even if they don't have a smart fish physically 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:53.059 So I come up with that idea. And another thing 00:26:53.059 --> 00:26:57.859 is because we were born in an Asian country, 00:26:58.059 --> 00:27:02.859 a place that don't allow us to just throw the 00:27:02.859 --> 00:27:06.059 food, just throwing the food into the garbage. 00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:11.299 Because when we were young, our mom always said 00:27:11.299 --> 00:27:14.380 that never waste the food because it's not just 00:27:14.380 --> 00:27:18.450 the money. It's also, yeah, you will... you will 00:27:18.450 --> 00:27:24.029 become like when you die you will go to hell 00:27:24.029 --> 00:27:26.230 because just because you're throwing the food 00:27:26.230 --> 00:27:28.990 something like that's a very interesting story 00:27:28.990 --> 00:27:32.990 in England so that's why every time that we just 00:27:32.990 --> 00:27:40.190 take some expired food in our fridge or pantry 00:27:40.190 --> 00:27:43.450 and put it into the garage bag we feel a little 00:27:43.450 --> 00:27:48.750 bit guilty and Day after day, day after day, 00:27:48.769 --> 00:27:51.730 I think that it's a very, very big problem. It's 00:27:51.730 --> 00:27:54.910 not just a small problem that people think, oh, 00:27:55.029 --> 00:27:57.750 it's just a little bit money. We can go to shopping 00:27:57.750 --> 00:28:01.109 or something like that. So that's why we came 00:28:01.109 --> 00:28:05.869 up with that idea. And I can see that Alison 00:28:05.869 --> 00:28:12.930 is also a girl that I know that she loved. She 00:28:12.930 --> 00:28:18.009 loves to do something for the Earth. She's the 00:28:18.009 --> 00:28:21.670 one who gave me some reusable bag in my home 00:28:21.670 --> 00:28:25.589 country and asked me to use it. Don't use the 00:28:25.589 --> 00:28:28.609 nylon bag or something like that. So I think 00:28:28.609 --> 00:28:31.750 maybe she will like this idea and why don't we 00:28:31.750 --> 00:28:36.710 collaborate to make this happen. I love that. 00:28:37.089 --> 00:28:40.450 I love that. And Alison, what made you say yes? 00:28:44.970 --> 00:28:49.190 Rio just told the whole story, but I think like 00:28:49.190 --> 00:28:53.450 when we create Cuckoo and we work on this journey 00:28:53.450 --> 00:28:57.890 together, the virtual fish not only help you 00:28:57.890 --> 00:29:01.470 not to waste food but also help you to keep track 00:29:01.470 --> 00:29:04.890 of the quality of the food also because you you 00:29:04.890 --> 00:29:08.670 know like because we we asian and asian moms 00:29:08.670 --> 00:29:13.269 they tend to sell everything in the freezer like 00:29:13.269 --> 00:29:16.970 i mean like basically everything sometimes i 00:29:16.970 --> 00:29:23.390 can't find a canopy in in my freezer and the 00:29:23.390 --> 00:29:31.130 inspire day it's like 2022 oh wow yeah so yeah 00:29:31.130 --> 00:29:34.849 and i had to tell my mom to throw it away and 00:29:34.849 --> 00:29:38.349 she denied because she she was like yeah i put 00:29:38.349 --> 00:29:41.829 it in the freezer how can it went bad yeah they 00:29:41.829 --> 00:29:45.670 just open it and it is to smell good so they 00:29:45.670 --> 00:29:50.009 will use it yeah i also said to alison that is 00:29:50.009 --> 00:29:54.769 when you become a mom you will have the same 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:59.359 idea with them and thinking with them because 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:02.839 you need to control the money you need to save 00:30:02.839 --> 00:30:05.440 something for the kids there's something for 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:07.799 the study for them or something like that so 00:30:07.799 --> 00:30:11.500 you need to save a lot of money so why don't 00:30:11.500 --> 00:30:14.460 people use the cuckoo app right now because they 00:30:14.460 --> 00:30:17.259 can save the money but they can still use the 00:30:17.259 --> 00:30:20.859 good food at a good time and yeah they can save 00:30:20.859 --> 00:30:24.180 a lot of for the kids also yeah because like 00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:29.140 In the beginning, Kuko is just the virtual fridge. 00:30:29.299 --> 00:30:32.819 So our main idea is to help people keep track 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:36.500 of what's on their fridge. But because we see 00:30:36.500 --> 00:30:40.359 a lot of mom's behavior around us like this one, 00:30:40.420 --> 00:30:45.880 even for my mom, she put like the food in the 00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:51.539 freezer from 2020 to 2023 until now. And she 00:30:51.539 --> 00:30:55.490 was hoping one day she can use them. so we think 00:30:55.490 --> 00:30:59.109 that yeah people should also keep track of their 00:30:59.109 --> 00:31:03.789 the expiry date so they can know like when the 00:31:03.789 --> 00:31:08.170 food went fast when the food go back and we can 00:31:08.170 --> 00:31:11.269 encourage them to do that to use all the foods 00:31:11.269 --> 00:31:13.289 they have at home so they don't have to toss 00:31:13.289 --> 00:31:16.450 everything in the freezer and forget about and 00:31:16.450 --> 00:31:18.650 forget about the food that they already have 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:24.279 So that's why when we built Kuko, it's a journey 00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:27.680 that from day to day we observe our own behavior. 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:32.019 We observe the behavior of the people around 00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:35.359 us, like our moms, our aunts, our friends. And 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:40.019 we come up with the new function for Kuko based 00:31:40.019 --> 00:31:45.329 on those observations and experiences. Yeah. 00:31:45.329 --> 00:31:50.549 And so you went from, you know, the idea of the 00:31:50.549 --> 00:31:53.950 digital fridge and now the community based on 00:31:53.950 --> 00:31:57.509 all of these different experiences of people 00:31:57.509 --> 00:32:01.710 around you that are a little bit anecdotal in 00:32:01.710 --> 00:32:04.190 terms of, you know, there are people close to 00:32:04.190 --> 00:32:07.029 you. But again, you know, this is what happens 00:32:07.029 --> 00:32:12.230 to almost everybody that. responsible for a kitchen 00:32:12.230 --> 00:32:15.670 and one of the things you mentioned earlier was 00:32:15.670 --> 00:32:19.369 you know the elephant in the kitchen is sort 00:32:19.369 --> 00:32:22.490 of just throwing food away and nobody's really 00:32:22.490 --> 00:32:27.029 talking about it but now you're utilizing your 00:32:28.140 --> 00:32:31.039 you know, your previous experience in creating 00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:34.299 communities and now creating a new community 00:32:34.299 --> 00:32:37.740 about how you manage the fridge, how you utilize 00:32:37.740 --> 00:32:41.160 everything in it, and how do you save money around 00:32:41.160 --> 00:32:45.720 that as well? But not only that, but how do you 00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:49.980 use the food as effectively as possible so it 00:32:49.980 --> 00:32:52.400 can give you the most nutrition? Because the 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:55.220 fresher the food, the more healthy the food is 00:32:55.220 --> 00:32:59.430 for you as well. Oh, these are so many different 00:32:59.430 --> 00:33:04.609 aspects of how you can bring food together to 00:33:04.609 --> 00:33:07.410 bring more life to people to bring more joy to 00:33:07.410 --> 00:33:12.349 people. So what are one of the first big steps 00:33:12.349 --> 00:33:16.390 for, you know, creating this cooking community? 00:33:16.529 --> 00:33:18.849 What are some of the things you hope people can 00:33:18.849 --> 00:33:24.789 use the cooking community for? we will have our 00:33:24.789 --> 00:33:29.210 website launched hopefully at the end of this 00:33:29.210 --> 00:33:32.990 month and application will by the end of this 00:33:32.990 --> 00:33:36.369 year but now we are helping people that we are 00:33:36.369 --> 00:33:44.329 create some some community in our social platform 00:33:44.329 --> 00:33:47.690 to help people to connect together and sharing 00:33:47.690 --> 00:33:53.829 the tips tricks how to utilize this coupon for 00:33:53.829 --> 00:33:58.789 shopping or utilize the flyer and actually that 00:33:58.789 --> 00:34:04.769 as i said before for people they um two main 00:34:04.769 --> 00:34:07.549 important thing that i think that's the first 00:34:07.549 --> 00:34:12.489 thing is community every peop every people was 00:34:12.489 --> 00:34:16.070 born and they need to communication so a community 00:34:16.070 --> 00:34:19.610 for them for communication and sharing their 00:34:22.640 --> 00:34:25.460 like hobbies or something like that. We have 00:34:25.460 --> 00:34:29.039 them a lot. They are not feeling lonely in this 00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:33.059 journey. For example, they don't feel like they're 00:34:33.059 --> 00:34:38.800 just like a weird guy who is just trying to find 00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:43.840 a lot of flyers to save money, save every single 00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:47.159 loonie, something like that. Yeah, they can come 00:34:47.159 --> 00:34:51.630 in the community that every people will be. like 00:34:51.630 --> 00:34:55.650 exactly the same sharing the tips sharing the 00:34:55.650 --> 00:35:01.409 coupon or sharing the flyer and share and help 00:35:01.409 --> 00:35:04.110 each other how to save the money in this inflation 00:35:04.110 --> 00:35:08.610 time and in that community they can have other 00:35:08.610 --> 00:35:13.909 people to explore the new things like try the 00:35:13.909 --> 00:35:18.079 curry not just in an indian way or in japanese 00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:22.559 style or in thai style or vietnamese style something 00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:25.199 like that and we want to make something that's 00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:29.739 very fun in a smart way so the slogan of us is 00:35:29.739 --> 00:35:33.079 also the make home cooking smart and fun like 00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:36.639 that smart is for the ai for the chatbot that 00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:42.940 can help you and fun is help you to know to know 00:35:42.940 --> 00:35:46.800 that cooking is not just the, you're responsible 00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:51.119 for just doing it every day. It's a choice. It's 00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:53.559 a fun. It's have to connect the people in the 00:35:53.559 --> 00:35:59.380 home. Yeah. I love the idea of, you know, having 00:35:59.380 --> 00:36:03.559 a space where people that just love food and, 00:36:03.619 --> 00:36:06.880 but also want to save money can do both of those 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:11.840 things in one place. Because like you said, inflation 00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:15.260 is very high right now a lot of people don't 00:36:15.260 --> 00:36:17.920 have a lot of jobs so where you can save money 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:22.480 becomes very very critical and eating is something 00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:26.739 we all have to do on a daily basis so no matter 00:36:26.739 --> 00:36:30.719 how high inflation goes we still have to eat 00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:34.559 so how can we make sure we're throwing away less 00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:38.260 food but and using the food in a very creative 00:36:38.260 --> 00:36:42.099 way by seeing what is my neighbor down the street 00:36:42.099 --> 00:36:46.360 who's also in this community doing with you know 00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:50.199 i don't know their empty jar of peanut butter 00:36:50.199 --> 00:36:52.380 where they're just like there's still some peanut 00:36:52.380 --> 00:36:54.980 butter in this jar what can I do with it maybe 00:36:54.980 --> 00:36:59.059 they can make a sauce using peanut butter like 00:36:59.059 --> 00:37:01.320 the slightly empty peanut butter jar and just 00:37:01.320 --> 00:37:04.159 shake all the ingredients up in there and make 00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:07.940 a salad dressing or something like that that 00:37:07.940 --> 00:37:12.559 I think is It's really exceptional because there's 00:37:12.559 --> 00:37:15.760 so many reasons for us to come together around 00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:19.579 food, but we don't always have to do it at restaurants, 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:23.199 right? We can start to do it inside of our own 00:37:23.199 --> 00:37:26.159 houses. And like you said, sharing the kitchen 00:37:26.159 --> 00:37:29.280 and sharing the experience with the people in 00:37:29.280 --> 00:37:33.340 our own homes when it comes to the kitchen. And 00:37:33.340 --> 00:37:37.219 I remember Allison saying to me the other day, 00:37:37.980 --> 00:37:41.500 You know, the kitchen felt like a space where 00:37:41.500 --> 00:37:46.340 only somebody that knows how to cook should be 00:37:46.340 --> 00:37:49.219 in. Right. And a lot of people are scared of 00:37:49.219 --> 00:37:53.880 the kitchen and believe this community really 00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:58.280 releases the fear from stepping into the kitchen 00:37:58.280 --> 00:38:02.639 and starting to cook. How how do you think somebody 00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:05.590 who. wants to cook but is scared they're just 00:38:05.590 --> 00:38:09.090 gonna burn everything they burn water they burn 00:38:09.090 --> 00:38:11.429 their eggs they don't even know how to make eggs 00:38:11.429 --> 00:38:15.050 how can this cooking community help them feel 00:38:15.050 --> 00:38:20.570 more comfortable in the kitchen I think yes you 00:38:20.570 --> 00:38:25.150 can go first and then I'll add up actually that 00:38:25.150 --> 00:38:33.050 I think that cooking is not just like very hard 00:38:33.050 --> 00:38:40.670 thing. I think the kids need to be taught how 00:38:40.670 --> 00:38:44.789 to cook when they were young. And actually that 00:38:44.789 --> 00:38:49.210 in Coco, we also have a session for kids, a mini 00:38:49.210 --> 00:38:52.670 chef or junior chef or something like that because 00:38:52.670 --> 00:38:56.250 we want everybody, want every mom, every dad 00:38:56.250 --> 00:39:01.010 to encourage their kids to help them. First thing 00:39:01.010 --> 00:39:05.050 first that they will have, they will be, they 00:39:05.050 --> 00:39:08.090 need to have the responsible for their food every 00:39:08.090 --> 00:39:10.909 day. And after that, they can help mom and dad 00:39:10.909 --> 00:39:15.130 to prepare for the food for them, for the lunch 00:39:15.130 --> 00:39:18.230 box or something like that. It's very fun. And 00:39:18.230 --> 00:39:26.190 another thing is we want them to join in. in 00:39:26.190 --> 00:39:29.809 a very soon time because cooking is not just 00:39:29.809 --> 00:39:32.869 a cooking they can learn how to be patient they 00:39:32.869 --> 00:39:36.989 can learn how to be sharpen their skill and learn 00:39:36.989 --> 00:39:41.510 to how to explore more information in the internet 00:39:41.510 --> 00:39:45.550 utilize them to make a new dishes something like 00:39:45.550 --> 00:39:50.909 that so for your question i think that if you 00:39:50.909 --> 00:39:54.840 have a try let them download the google app and 00:39:54.840 --> 00:40:01.980 learn some fun cooking recipe. If you are an 00:40:01.980 --> 00:40:05.539 adult now but you don't cook for your whole life 00:40:05.539 --> 00:40:10.280 and now you wanted to start, just start it. Just 00:40:10.280 --> 00:40:16.079 do it. Don't be afraid because no one wants to 00:40:16.079 --> 00:40:22.440 be a home cook. I just want to add up that right 00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:26.480 from the start, For both Rio and I, we didn't 00:40:26.480 --> 00:40:29.760 want to build just a product. We want to foster 00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:33.260 a moment around reducing food waste and making 00:40:33.260 --> 00:40:37.739 mindful, impactful cooking accessible to everyone. 00:40:38.119 --> 00:40:42.719 So even for me, the first time I entered the 00:40:42.719 --> 00:40:46.460 kitchen and cooked something for myself was when 00:40:46.460 --> 00:40:50.679 I was 18. I was forced, not forced, but I was 00:40:50.679 --> 00:40:56.340 sad. to the state as an exchange student. And 00:40:56.340 --> 00:40:59.920 before that, I lived with my parents. So basically, 00:41:00.079 --> 00:41:04.340 my parents put the food on the table and I just 00:41:04.340 --> 00:41:07.980 need to enjoy the food. And that's the way it 00:41:07.980 --> 00:41:11.039 is. But when I was living alone in the state, 00:41:11.159 --> 00:41:16.599 I had to feed myself. And that's when I first 00:41:16.599 --> 00:41:19.739 go to the grocery store. That's when I first 00:41:21.420 --> 00:41:25.960 create my own dishes and it wasn't perfect like 00:41:25.960 --> 00:41:29.480 you you don't need to be perfect for the first 00:41:29.480 --> 00:41:32.099 time when you when you work when you learn how 00:41:32.099 --> 00:41:37.980 to drive it it isn't perfect so why should you 00:41:37.980 --> 00:41:40.659 expect that your first cooking need to be perfect 00:41:40.659 --> 00:41:45.659 so you can burn the egg you can still the milk 00:41:45.659 --> 00:41:49.320 or so ever but you you will learn for the next 00:41:49.320 --> 00:41:53.329 time so for our community even though that we 00:41:53.329 --> 00:41:56.090 have the small community but some people just 00:41:56.090 --> 00:41:59.869 don't don't just sharing their perfect cooking 00:41:59.869 --> 00:42:03.170 perfect dishes or tip and trick sometimes they 00:42:03.170 --> 00:42:10.269 just share photos of their their messed up fried 00:42:10.269 --> 00:42:14.329 rice and they ask the other people like yeah 00:42:14.329 --> 00:42:18.619 i create the fried rice with um eggs with fries 00:42:18.619 --> 00:42:23.300 but they all became messy what did i do wrong 00:42:23.300 --> 00:42:26.860 and how can i improve it for the next time and 00:42:26.860 --> 00:42:29.840 you will see the other people with skills will 00:42:29.840 --> 00:42:34.039 analyze like why is the rice so messy why why 00:42:34.039 --> 00:42:37.760 is the fried rice so wet and what can they improve 00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:42.099 so they will give out the tip and trick and that's 00:42:42.099 --> 00:42:44.880 the community that we we want to build and we 00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:48.659 are building it And we are proud of it. So people 00:42:48.659 --> 00:42:51.619 are connecting and helping each other through 00:42:51.619 --> 00:42:58.579 the dishes. It's not just a place where you show 00:42:58.579 --> 00:43:01.760 up your cooking skill, but it's a place that 00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:05.239 you can help people enhance their cooking skill 00:43:05.239 --> 00:43:09.139 as well. Yeah, I really like that because you 00:43:09.139 --> 00:43:12.860 never really see the failure of the processes 00:43:12.860 --> 00:43:17.219 before people become these exceptional cooks 00:43:17.219 --> 00:43:20.679 that share all of their recipes and things like 00:43:20.679 --> 00:43:24.460 that in the kitchen. And I know that happened 00:43:24.460 --> 00:43:28.000 to myself. So I've really gotten into making 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:34.239 sourdough breads over the last year. earlier 00:43:34.239 --> 00:43:38.420 this year i made my first big batch of sourdough 00:43:38.420 --> 00:43:42.739 breads which was about 10 loaves i made all at 00:43:42.739 --> 00:43:50.019 once and i made the unfortunate mistake of not 00:43:50.599 --> 00:43:54.059 letting them raise enough out of taking them 00:43:54.059 --> 00:43:56.920 out of the second fermentation long enough. Those 00:43:56.920 --> 00:43:59.000 that know sourdough bacon will know what this 00:43:59.000 --> 00:44:03.059 means. But and I just put it into the oven. And 00:44:03.059 --> 00:44:06.619 so my bread came out really flat. I was documenting 00:44:06.619 --> 00:44:09.900 the whole journey up to that point. And then 00:44:09.900 --> 00:44:14.699 I never posted the photo of. The 10 breads that 00:44:14.699 --> 00:44:17.139 came out, they were still very delicious, but 00:44:17.139 --> 00:44:19.699 they weren't big and round and fluffy. They were 00:44:19.699 --> 00:44:24.480 very flat. And it's moments like that, that I 00:44:24.480 --> 00:44:27.679 think we should share a little bit more knowing 00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:31.500 that, you know, the journey is not perfect every 00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:35.639 time. And now what, like you said, Alison, I've 00:44:35.639 --> 00:44:39.280 learned from that experience to that I need to 00:44:39.280 --> 00:44:45.179 give my bread at least. four hours outside to 00:44:45.179 --> 00:44:48.880 get nice and warm and fluffy again before I put 00:44:48.880 --> 00:44:53.019 it in the oven to bake. And I didn't share that. 00:44:53.079 --> 00:44:56.079 And I think if I were just learning and didn't 00:44:56.079 --> 00:44:58.559 know enough about it, that's something I could 00:44:58.559 --> 00:45:01.500 take and post in the group and say, I tried, 00:45:01.619 --> 00:45:04.239 this is what happened. And maybe an expert chef 00:45:04.239 --> 00:45:07.219 can, you know, not an evenness or an expert chef, 00:45:07.280 --> 00:45:09.820 but somebody more experienced than me in this 00:45:09.820 --> 00:45:13.659 specific thing can come in and say, well, maybe 00:45:13.659 --> 00:45:16.480 you could do this next time or do that next time. 00:45:16.500 --> 00:45:20.119 And I think that's exactly how communities are. 00:45:20.460 --> 00:45:25.199 are created is people saying, raising their hand 00:45:25.199 --> 00:45:27.800 to say, I need help here. And then somebody actually 00:45:27.800 --> 00:45:31.539 showing up to help, which I think the kitchen 00:45:31.539 --> 00:45:34.440 is a place that a lot of people feel like they 00:45:34.440 --> 00:45:37.670 need a lot of rescue from. And they're scared 00:45:37.670 --> 00:45:42.449 of it. And I think you're absolutely right for 00:45:42.449 --> 00:45:46.949 creating a space where people can feel more comfortable 00:45:46.949 --> 00:45:51.130 in the kitchen. And like Rio talked about, bringing 00:45:51.130 --> 00:45:53.710 your kids into the kitchen a little earlier, 00:45:53.829 --> 00:45:57.150 because our moms, of course, our moms love to 00:45:57.150 --> 00:46:01.170 cook, we love their food. But maybe we aren't 00:46:01.170 --> 00:46:04.929 doing the kids, you know, good service by not 00:46:04.929 --> 00:46:08.519 teaching them how to cook at younger ages and 00:46:08.519 --> 00:46:11.199 then they're afraid of the kitchen once they 00:46:11.199 --> 00:46:15.380 once they get a little bit older as well yeah 00:46:15.380 --> 00:46:23.300 yeah Amazing. So Cuckoo is launching very, very 00:46:23.300 --> 00:46:27.599 soon. At the end of May, your website will be 00:46:27.599 --> 00:46:30.860 ready for people to come in and start tracking 00:46:30.860 --> 00:46:33.619 like what's in their fridge, what's in their 00:46:33.619 --> 00:46:37.559 pantries. They'll be able to share some of their 00:46:37.559 --> 00:46:41.809 recipes as well in the cooking community. And 00:46:41.809 --> 00:46:45.469 so get get help from a safe space, you know, 00:46:45.469 --> 00:46:48.230 somebody that has a lot of experience, hopefully 00:46:48.230 --> 00:46:54.980 in that area to help them. build up their confidence 00:46:54.980 --> 00:46:59.360 in the kitchen. And I can absolutely see a world 00:46:59.360 --> 00:47:04.239 where Kuko can can absolutely create this opportunity 00:47:04.239 --> 00:47:08.800 for so many people. So on this journey now, you 00:47:08.800 --> 00:47:15.179 know, going from you know, Rio being your boss 00:47:15.179 --> 00:47:20.760 at one time, and now Alison and Rio coming together 00:47:20.760 --> 00:47:25.500 to co -create a community and a company. How 00:47:25.500 --> 00:47:31.119 has that experience worked for you guys? Because 00:47:31.119 --> 00:47:36.099 I see... I see this as very exceptional, especially 00:47:36.099 --> 00:47:40.739 on your behalf, Rio, to see that Alison, who 00:47:40.739 --> 00:47:45.690 you first got into, got... introduced to um during 00:47:45.690 --> 00:47:48.889 her internship when he worked corporately to 00:47:48.889 --> 00:47:53.230 now trusting her as you know a co -founder in 00:47:53.230 --> 00:47:56.230 a company and approaching her with that problem 00:47:56.230 --> 00:48:00.829 how how did you decide that allison had all of 00:48:00.829 --> 00:48:04.610 these skills and she was the right partner for 00:48:04.610 --> 00:48:08.909 you in in this business venture actually that 00:48:08.909 --> 00:48:14.059 um When I worked in Olivia, I had more than four 00:48:14.059 --> 00:48:20.639 interns, not just one. And besides interns, I 00:48:20.639 --> 00:48:25.579 also had some executives who worked for me at 00:48:25.579 --> 00:48:32.360 that time. I see some things in Alison, that's 00:48:32.360 --> 00:48:36.699 why I invite her to jump out with me and open 00:48:36.699 --> 00:48:40.539 the marketing agency, not all the people, because 00:48:40.539 --> 00:48:47.420 I can see that she's kind of people that love 00:48:47.420 --> 00:48:53.599 to explore the new information, love to adapt 00:48:53.599 --> 00:49:00.000 the more. the new information the new knowledge 00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:03.420 or something like that and use into our system 00:49:03.420 --> 00:49:11.679 but yeah sometimes you know that um sometimes 00:49:11.679 --> 00:49:14.960 you don't have enough the energy to do that like 00:49:14.960 --> 00:49:19.159 her she can go around she can work with other 00:49:19.159 --> 00:49:24.659 people she can explore more new um connection 00:49:24.659 --> 00:49:28.780 it's not It's not work for me, but she can do 00:49:28.780 --> 00:49:32.579 that. And I can do something like back office 00:49:32.579 --> 00:49:35.519 or something like that. And after that, we can 00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:40.880 work together to make things done. And another 00:49:40.880 --> 00:49:50.000 thing is I can be her mentor, but I cannot be 00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:55.519 the mentor for a lot of people. a lot of a lot 00:49:55.519 --> 00:49:59.739 of other people so but she kept the ability to 00:49:59.739 --> 00:50:04.219 do that so when I taught her how to do this how 00:50:04.219 --> 00:50:09.199 to do that she can share that spirit share that 00:50:09.199 --> 00:50:14.019 kind of style of work to all the people behind 00:50:14.019 --> 00:50:18.360 her and she helped me a lot in that so I think 00:50:18.360 --> 00:50:22.639 that we are kind of Yeah, perfect couple in walking. 00:50:24.059 --> 00:50:29.099 I really like that. And I think it's so impressive 00:50:29.099 --> 00:50:34.179 because people often see people that are younger 00:50:34.179 --> 00:50:37.900 and less experienced and they don't see them 00:50:37.900 --> 00:50:43.019 as having the opportunity necessarily to elevate 00:50:43.019 --> 00:50:47.960 to that level of. of being an equal. And I think 00:50:47.960 --> 00:50:52.139 your ability to trust Alison and see her potential 00:50:52.139 --> 00:50:56.199 and actually give her the experience and the 00:50:56.199 --> 00:51:02.190 space to do what she's doing. And now working 00:51:02.190 --> 00:51:05.050 with you, she's obviously proved herself over 00:51:05.050 --> 00:51:08.809 the years. But I think it's, I think it's incredible. 00:51:09.030 --> 00:51:12.610 And because you didn't underestimate her in any 00:51:12.610 --> 00:51:16.949 way, you really leaned into her potential. And 00:51:16.949 --> 00:51:21.730 now your partners in this and I think a lot of 00:51:21.730 --> 00:51:24.630 people can learn from that. It's not necessarily 00:51:24.630 --> 00:51:28.719 about age, it's not necessarily about what experience 00:51:28.719 --> 00:51:33.360 they have, but can this person use the skills 00:51:33.360 --> 00:51:37.280 they have and really know what they're good at? 00:51:37.380 --> 00:51:40.340 And you identified what you're not good at as 00:51:40.340 --> 00:51:44.420 well, Rio. You saw that in Allison and you said, 00:51:44.539 --> 00:51:49.559 she's the perfect partner for me in this. So 00:51:49.559 --> 00:51:53.400 Allison, I'd love to turn it over to you to see, 00:51:53.559 --> 00:52:00.070 you know. Were you a little bit scared to work 00:52:00.070 --> 00:52:03.230 with Rio, who was, you know, sort of your boss 00:52:03.230 --> 00:52:07.909 at some time? Were you scared to step into this 00:52:07.909 --> 00:52:26.110 role as a partner in this business? as we all 00:52:26.110 --> 00:52:29.590 just mentioned before our pros and cons complement 00:52:29.590 --> 00:52:34.650 each other and also our mindset our working styles 00:52:34.650 --> 00:52:38.309 also click so that's why we can work together 00:52:38.309 --> 00:52:41.989 for over 10 years even though that uh for those 00:52:41.989 --> 00:52:44.909 10 years of course we are not the perfect couple 00:52:44.909 --> 00:52:49.409 we um we fight sometimes we disagree sometimes 00:52:49.409 --> 00:52:56.820 but eventually um we pocket out and we find the 00:52:56.820 --> 00:53:01.900 solution that matches both of our expectations. 00:53:02.539 --> 00:53:07.280 So that's the way it goes. And for me, I'm thankful 00:53:07.280 --> 00:53:11.920 to meet Rio because, as you mentioned, she trusts 00:53:11.920 --> 00:53:16.940 me enough to delegate and build the skill set 00:53:16.940 --> 00:53:21.500 for me. And she knows what I'm good at and what 00:53:21.500 --> 00:53:29.539 I'm... not good at to to upgrade enhance my good 00:53:29.539 --> 00:53:34.199 skill set and eliminate my limitations so yeah 00:53:34.199 --> 00:53:38.179 it's good to have someone um like that and the 00:53:38.179 --> 00:53:43.440 the way i'm working with real um is that until 00:53:43.440 --> 00:53:47.699 now even though that we are people other people 00:53:47.699 --> 00:53:52.530 can see us as equal partners but for for me in 00:53:52.530 --> 00:53:55.829 my portfolio she's still my mentor and i can 00:53:55.829 --> 00:53:59.389 still have a lot to learn from her yeah yeah 00:53:59.389 --> 00:54:04.940 i'm not sure that um this way is um Not just 00:54:04.940 --> 00:54:08.159 for me and Allison, it's also applied for all 00:54:08.159 --> 00:54:11.760 the people in our team. Actually that for the 00:54:11.760 --> 00:54:17.559 UI UX designer or from the tech team or the content 00:54:17.559 --> 00:54:23.980 team that we work like this. Every people in 00:54:23.980 --> 00:54:27.500 our team will have the voice and they will have 00:54:27.500 --> 00:54:31.239 the pros and cons and we try to find what they're 00:54:31.239 --> 00:54:34.019 good at. what they're not good at and try to 00:54:34.019 --> 00:54:39.000 help them and we are we like a family exactly 00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:45.719 because when we try to mentor anyone we put a 00:54:45.719 --> 00:54:48.500 lot of effort on that so that's why we don't 00:54:48.500 --> 00:54:51.780 usually have a lot of intern or usually hire 00:54:51.780 --> 00:54:56.059 a lot of staff because we need to have the responsibility 00:54:56.059 --> 00:55:01.139 for them and try to help them to roll off yeah 00:55:01.659 --> 00:55:05.380 that's i think that's Absolutely paramount when 00:55:05.380 --> 00:55:09.059 you're growing a company. And you've done this 00:55:09.059 --> 00:55:12.659 before as well, Rio. So to be doing it again, 00:55:12.840 --> 00:55:15.760 I think is very exciting. And you've certainly 00:55:15.760 --> 00:55:18.480 learned. And I hope everyone listening to this 00:55:18.480 --> 00:55:23.119 podcast can absolutely learn, especially from 00:55:23.119 --> 00:55:28.739 learning how to trust and bring people into your 00:55:28.739 --> 00:55:32.039 team and really being able to look at yourself 00:55:32.039 --> 00:55:35.650 to say, what am I not good at and how do I find 00:55:35.650 --> 00:55:38.809 those opportunities in other people where we 00:55:38.809 --> 00:55:41.730 can work together and we're all willing to continually 00:55:41.730 --> 00:55:45.909 learn and grow. And to see that goes beyond just 00:55:45.909 --> 00:55:49.269 your relationship and partnership with Alison 00:55:49.269 --> 00:55:53.750 and extended to the rest of the KUKO team is 00:55:53.750 --> 00:55:57.130 very, very, very exciting to hear about and something 00:55:57.130 --> 00:56:01.969 I will learn because as a founder myself, I struggled. 00:56:02.119 --> 00:56:04.820 and never actually there was a point in time 00:56:04.820 --> 00:56:09.300 I was actively looking for a co -founder for 00:56:09.300 --> 00:56:13.579 over over two years consistently very very hard 00:56:13.579 --> 00:56:17.380 test -drived a couple people but it never it 00:56:17.380 --> 00:56:20.380 never worked out so I'm always very curious about 00:56:20.380 --> 00:56:25.400 what how these partnerships that come together 00:56:25.400 --> 00:56:29.260 work really well. Um, and for that to happen 00:56:29.260 --> 00:56:32.440 with you guys over such a long period of time, 00:56:32.679 --> 00:56:37.760 um, is I think very exceptional. So as we wrap 00:56:37.760 --> 00:56:40.940 up the podcast, um, we have the three questions, 00:56:41.119 --> 00:56:46.179 um, we want to ask you. So, and you can provide 00:56:46.179 --> 00:56:50.219 a one word answer or short sentence. Um, what 00:56:50.219 --> 00:56:55.440 is one thing, um, You are leaving behind from 00:56:55.440 --> 00:56:59.340 last year in your entrepreneurship journey. What's 00:56:59.340 --> 00:57:01.139 the one thing you want to make sure that does 00:57:01.139 --> 00:57:06.099 not come with you into the future? For me, it's 00:57:06.099 --> 00:57:10.679 overthinking. Yeah. Last year, I spent too much 00:57:10.679 --> 00:57:14.360 time second -guessing decisions, trying to find 00:57:14.360 --> 00:57:17.199 the perfect path before taking the first step. 00:57:18.639 --> 00:57:21.860 I've learned that clarity often comes after action, 00:57:22.000 --> 00:57:26.219 not before. Yeah. Yeah. So now I'm leaving overthinking 00:57:26.219 --> 00:57:29.559 behind and choosing the momentum over the hesitation. 00:57:31.440 --> 00:57:37.400 I really, really like that. Yeah, I think we're 00:57:37.400 --> 00:57:39.780 going to have to clip this one because I think 00:57:39.780 --> 00:57:43.679 it's so... powerful is clarity comes with action 00:57:43.679 --> 00:57:47.659 um i love that a lot rio i'm gonna take that 00:57:47.659 --> 00:57:50.619 one away from me for sure and what about you 00:57:50.619 --> 00:57:54.360 allison what are you leaving behind so what i'm 00:57:54.360 --> 00:57:59.260 leaving behind is also perfection so um like 00:57:59.260 --> 00:58:02.880 before that we have worked together for over 00:58:02.880 --> 00:58:09.150 nine years in advertising agency so we basically 00:58:09.150 --> 00:58:12.789 create plans and strategy for other companies 00:58:12.789 --> 00:58:16.190 on the clients of us and we need to make sure 00:58:16.190 --> 00:58:19.070 that everything is perfect everything has a backup 00:58:19.070 --> 00:58:23.190 plan so that we can deliver the best to our clients 00:58:23.190 --> 00:58:25.929 and i brought up myself into my first year as 00:58:25.929 --> 00:58:28.969 an entrepreneur i chased the idea of the version 00:58:28.969 --> 00:58:32.929 of our product our pitch and our strategy and 00:58:32.929 --> 00:58:36.900 that pursuit of perfection often paralyzed process 00:58:36.900 --> 00:58:40.599 and prevented us from getting valuable real world 00:58:40.599 --> 00:58:43.659 feedback. So that's what I'm trying to leave 00:58:43.659 --> 00:58:46.880 behind the perfectionist myself and trying to 00:58:46.880 --> 00:58:50.159 embrace the progress, trust the progress and 00:58:50.159 --> 00:58:55.809 accept the thing that is good enough to go. 80 00:58:55.809 --> 00:58:59.769 % is better than spending more time just to get 00:58:59.769 --> 00:59:03.170 to 100 % because 100 % is probably never going 00:59:03.170 --> 00:59:06.929 to happen, right? Yeah, and it's a different 00:59:06.929 --> 00:59:10.050 perspective also because now we are an entrepreneur, 00:59:10.150 --> 00:59:15.690 we need to speed up. And time is not our friends 00:59:15.690 --> 00:59:18.889 anymore. It's our enemy. So the faster we can 00:59:18.889 --> 00:59:21.929 launch our product, the better. But before that, 00:59:22.050 --> 00:59:24.929 when we work for our clients, we need to perfect 00:59:24.929 --> 00:59:27.690 everything because they also trust us with our 00:59:27.690 --> 00:59:31.250 expertise. So, yep, that's the different mindset 00:59:31.250 --> 00:59:34.070 that I need to work with. Sometimes we just blend 00:59:34.070 --> 00:59:40.550 all of them. They also don't be a professional 00:59:40.550 --> 00:59:46.949 like us. Yeah. Because we don't know. Yeah. Interesting. 00:59:47.090 --> 00:59:50.650 That's a very good one too. Okay. So our next 00:59:50.650 --> 00:59:55.829 question is, what is one thing that you have 00:59:55.829 --> 00:59:59.849 learned? The biggest thing that you've learned? 01:00:00.610 --> 01:00:06.230 Yeah. Resilience. The Chinese had taught me how 01:00:06.230 --> 01:00:09.849 to bend without breaking. There were tough days, 01:00:09.989 --> 01:00:14.679 unexpected. pivots and moments of down, a lot 01:00:14.679 --> 01:00:19.099 of moments of down. But I kept going. Resilient 01:00:19.099 --> 01:00:22.380 isn't just about enduring challenges. It's also 01:00:22.380 --> 01:00:26.739 about growing stronger because of them. Yeah. 01:00:26.860 --> 01:00:30.119 Yeah. So you can bend a little bit more and a 01:00:30.119 --> 01:00:33.039 little bit easier and it's not going to hurt 01:00:33.039 --> 01:00:37.440 as much. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. How about 01:00:37.440 --> 01:00:41.420 you, Allison? So it's the same but different. 01:00:41.719 --> 01:00:44.639 For me, it's persistent. So the most valuable 01:00:44.639 --> 01:00:48.300 lesson I learned was that entrepreneurship is 01:00:48.300 --> 01:00:51.800 fundamentally about continuing to move forward 01:00:51.800 --> 01:00:55.820 despite the obstacles. So someday you will feel 01:00:55.820 --> 01:00:58.460 really tired. Someday you will doubt yourself, 01:00:58.599 --> 01:01:03.059 like, why are you doing this? But every day is 01:01:03.059 --> 01:01:07.530 a fresh day to start. So if you... have that 01:01:07.530 --> 01:01:12.889 moment just think that maybe I just need to work 01:01:12.889 --> 01:01:16.329 for five minutes today and if I still don't feel 01:01:16.329 --> 01:01:21.070 like it I can stop and do something else and 01:01:21.070 --> 01:01:24.070 then while working for the first five minutes 01:01:24.070 --> 01:01:27.710 you will get into the zone where you keep working 01:01:27.710 --> 01:01:31.469 and working and another day has passed and it 01:01:31.469 --> 01:01:36.320 wasn't the technical uh challenges emerged or 01:01:36.320 --> 01:01:39.500 wasn't the expertise or connection that got us 01:01:39.500 --> 01:01:43.719 through it's just simple the persistent showing 01:01:43.719 --> 01:01:47.539 up from day after day to solve the problem gradually 01:01:47.539 --> 01:01:52.079 transform the impossible into the achievable 01:01:52.079 --> 01:02:00.719 yeah the impossible into the achievable um that 01:02:00.719 --> 01:02:05.210 is um I just need to have a word wall with all 01:02:05.210 --> 01:02:08.510 the things that our entrepreneurs are saying 01:02:08.510 --> 01:02:13.289 on these podcasts. But though like this, like 01:02:13.289 --> 01:02:16.010 your answers right now, and I know we have one 01:02:16.010 --> 01:02:20.250 more question to answer is one of the absolute 01:02:20.250 --> 01:02:23.869 reasons I love doing this podcast and getting 01:02:23.869 --> 01:02:27.429 to speak to entrepreneurs because this is such 01:02:27.429 --> 01:02:33.619 a hard journey and having hear other entrepreneurs 01:02:33.619 --> 01:02:37.199 say the things that you have to say to yourself 01:02:37.199 --> 01:02:40.179 or say the things that really resonate with you 01:02:40.179 --> 01:02:44.800 is, I think, so important to keep you going. 01:02:45.659 --> 01:02:48.960 And a lot of people that listen to this podcast 01:02:48.960 --> 01:02:52.099 are actually other entrepreneurs as well, too. 01:02:52.320 --> 01:02:57.219 And so this is why I ask these questions, because 01:02:57.219 --> 01:03:01.230 I realize that other people are thinking about 01:03:01.230 --> 01:03:04.849 them, but not necessarily thinking about them 01:03:04.849 --> 01:03:09.849 in this structure. But when you can, it helps 01:03:09.849 --> 01:03:14.550 you create like this marker of where am I going 01:03:14.550 --> 01:03:17.449 to start this thing? And then next year, I'm 01:03:17.449 --> 01:03:19.889 going to look back and say, this is how I actually 01:03:19.889 --> 01:03:22.949 did it and achieve it. So in a way, just setting 01:03:22.949 --> 01:03:26.050 goals for yourself, but personal goals to like 01:03:26.050 --> 01:03:29.960 help you keep moving forward. And so our last 01:03:29.960 --> 01:03:33.679 question is, what is one thing you are taking 01:03:33.679 --> 01:03:38.039 into the future with you and that you hope will 01:03:38.039 --> 01:03:42.159 show up in every single way in your future selves 01:03:42.159 --> 01:03:46.139 in this entrepreneurial journey? For me, it's 01:03:46.139 --> 01:03:50.500 clarity. After everything we built and learned, 01:03:50.699 --> 01:03:54.019 I'm moving into the future with a sharper sense 01:03:54.019 --> 01:03:58.019 of purpose. I'm clearer than ever about our mission 01:03:58.019 --> 01:04:03.059 with Coco, who we are serving, and the kind of 01:04:03.059 --> 01:04:06.980 positive change we want to create. The clarity 01:04:06.980 --> 01:04:12.440 is my compass now. Oh, I love it. Love it. Alison? 01:04:13.360 --> 01:04:17.579 So for me, it's connection. And we all know, 01:04:17.599 --> 01:04:19.739 because we're entrepreneurs, we all know that 01:04:19.739 --> 01:04:22.940 it takes a village to build a product. And it 01:04:22.940 --> 01:04:26.460 takes a connection to build a village. So the 01:04:26.460 --> 01:04:31.099 magic doesn't happen in the feature or in the 01:04:31.099 --> 01:04:34.000 code. It happens in the space between people. 01:04:34.340 --> 01:04:37.219 So connection is the difference between making 01:04:37.219 --> 01:04:40.320 something that people need. and making something 01:04:40.320 --> 01:04:44.159 that people care about so at Google we are not 01:04:44.159 --> 01:04:46.800 just connecting the ingredient with the fridge 01:04:46.800 --> 01:04:49.639 or with the recipe we have cooked now we are 01:04:49.639 --> 01:04:54.000 connecting the human to the possibility so in 01:04:54.000 --> 01:04:58.280 the world of transactions we are betting on transformation 01:04:58.280 --> 01:05:02.739 and because when we are now connecting the dots 01:05:02.739 --> 01:05:06.599 we hopefully we can solve the problems but when 01:05:06.599 --> 01:05:09.789 you connect the people we can create the movement 01:05:09.789 --> 01:05:16.409 and what a better way to end the podcast in you 01:05:16.409 --> 01:05:20.730 know leaning into transformation and leaning 01:05:20.730 --> 01:05:25.230 into creating a movement I I absolutely love 01:05:25.230 --> 01:05:28.590 it. I have no other words other than that. And 01:05:28.590 --> 01:05:32.849 so it has been such a pleasure chatting with 01:05:32.849 --> 01:05:37.349 both you Rio and Allison about Cuco. And we can't 01:05:37.349 --> 01:05:40.429 wait to see what Cuco is going to be doing in 01:05:40.429 --> 01:05:43.869 the future. We're excited to celebrate your launch 01:05:43.869 --> 01:05:49.349 with you as we help people save more money, reduce 01:05:49.349 --> 01:05:52.849 their food waste and make sure that people are 01:05:52.849 --> 01:05:56.059 just feeling. more confident in the kitchen through 01:05:56.059 --> 01:05:59.860 the community that you're creating, where newbies 01:05:59.860 --> 01:06:03.320 and experts and home chefs can all come together 01:06:03.320 --> 01:06:08.039 and help people create connection around food 01:06:08.039 --> 01:06:11.800 again, because that's what that's ultimately 01:06:11.800 --> 01:06:17.670 what you're building. So we will be sure to Definitely 01:06:17.670 --> 01:06:20.809 put all of your social media handles and everything 01:06:20.809 --> 01:06:24.210 in the podcast description. That's where you 01:06:24.210 --> 01:06:28.510 can find Kuko and absolutely support their launch 01:06:28.510 --> 01:06:31.070 and start knowing what's inside your fridge. 01:06:31.389 --> 01:06:34.550 So thanks again, Alison and Rio. It's been a 01:06:34.550 --> 01:06:39.389 pleasure. Thanks for having us. Thank you. And 01:06:39.389 --> 01:06:45.050 just want to shout out to your listener who is 01:06:45.050 --> 01:06:48.619 also entrepreneur. I just want to say that for 01:06:48.619 --> 01:06:51.460 everyone out there thinking about starting something, 01:06:51.699 --> 01:06:55.280 just focus on the community, building something 01:06:55.280 --> 01:06:58.679 that people can feel a part of, whether it's 01:06:58.679 --> 01:07:02.500 food, art, or tech. If people feel seen and supported, 01:07:02.800 --> 01:07:06.159 they will help you to grow it. And as Hokuko, 01:07:06.320 --> 01:07:09.889 as you said, before right now we are super excited 01:07:09.889 --> 01:07:13.070 about our upcoming web and application launch 01:07:13.070 --> 01:07:16.570 and we already built a community of nearly 200 01:07:16.570 --> 01:07:20.710 000 people who are ready to join we hope you 01:07:20.710 --> 01:07:26.829 will be a part of it too wow wow um so if you 01:07:26.829 --> 01:07:31.679 miss that You need to be part of over 200 ,000 01:07:31.679 --> 01:07:37.079 people that have already registered to be part 01:07:37.079 --> 01:07:41.320 of the Cuckoo Launch. So don't miss out. I will 01:07:41.320 --> 01:07:44.239 be joining and we will certainly be reminding 01:07:44.239 --> 01:07:47.820 you once we launch this podcast. We will see 01:07:47.820 --> 01:07:53.219 you next week. Take care. Bye. Bye -bye. Thanks 01:07:53.219 --> 01:07:56.119 for tuning in everyone. We're so glad to have 01:07:56.119 --> 01:07:59.159 you as part of our Buzzworthy community as we 01:07:59.159 --> 01:08:02.980 grow our network of Buzzworthy businesses. Continue 01:08:02.980 --> 01:08:05.400 to follow us on all the social media platforms 01:08:05.400 --> 01:08:09.639 at buzzworthy underscore pod and follow us on 01:08:09.639 --> 01:08:12.739 whatever platform you're listening to so that 01:08:12.739 --> 01:08:15.880 you can get the new episodes as soon as they're 01:08:15.880 --> 01:08:19.239 out. This Buzzworthy podcast could not be done 01:08:19.239 --> 01:08:22.220 without our incredible team, starting with our 01:08:22.319 --> 01:08:27.460 Music by Khaled Imam, our video and sound engineer, 01:08:27.739 --> 01:08:32.600 James Clark, Yvette Robichaux, our social media 01:08:32.600 --> 01:08:37.180 manager, Cesar Cardania, our brand and creative 01:08:37.180 --> 01:08:41.800 lead, and finally, your host and executive producer, 01:08:42.119 --> 01:08:44.500 Shalaisi Harris. We'll see you next week.