Tag: Startup

Why Renting the Digital Future Is Costing Malaysia More Than We Think

We don’t need more apps.

We need ownership.

Every day, Malaysia uses digital platforms built somewhere else.
We rent the tools.
We follow the rules.
We pay the toll.

And we call that progress.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth.

A nation that doesn’t build its own digital ecosystems will always stand on borrowed ground.

When the platform is not ours,
the data is not ours.
the roadmap is not ours.
the future is not ours.

Digital ecosystems are not just about technology.
They are about control.
Capability.
Confidence.

They decide who sets standards.
Who shapes talent.
Who captures value when the economy moves online.

This is bigger than startups.
Bigger than funding rounds.
Bigger than slogans.

It is about national muscle.

When crises hit, platforms matter.
When policies shift, platforms decide speed.
When talent grows, platforms anchor skills at home.

If we keep importing everything,
we train users.
not builders.

If we keep outsourcing thinking,
we grow dependency.
not strength.

Malaysia has engineers.
Builders.
Problem solvers.
We always did.

What we lack is belief at scale.
The courage to back our own platforms.
The patience to grow them.
The discipline to protect them.

Digital ecosystems take time.
They stumble.
They mature.
They compound.

But once built,
they become unfair advantages.

This is the moment to choose.

Do we want to remain excellent adopters?
Or do we want to become confident creators?

A strong nation does not just consume the digital world.
It shapes it.

Build local.
Back capability.
Protect the long game.

Our future should not live on someone else’s servers.

Why Some Startup “Failures” Are Actually Training

Failing Forward… Startup Mistakes I’d Make Again

Here’s a truth most founders won’t say out loud.

Some mistakes are not regrets.
They are training.

I’ve made decisions that looked wrong on paper.
Moves that confused people.
Choices that invited questions, doubts, raised eyebrows.

And yet…
I’d make many of them again.

Because those moments shaped how I think today.

I learned what spreadsheets never show.
I learned how people behave when pressure enters the room.
I learned how fast confidence disappears when certainty is gone.

There were launches that came too early.
Partnerships that felt right but weren’t.
Features built with hope instead of evidence.

Painful? Yes.
Pointless? No.

Those moments sharpened my judgement.
They taught me what signals matter.
They taught me what noise to ignore.

Growth rarely comes from getting everything right.
It comes from staying awake while things go wrong.

From asking better questions next time.
From spotting patterns sooner.
From knowing when to push… and when to pause.

Founders don’t grow by avoiding mistakes.
We grow by surviving them with our eyes open.

So if you’re replaying a decision in your head tonight…
Wondering if it set you back…

Take a breath.

Some steps only make sense later.
Some lessons only arrive through friction.
Some mistakes are simply tuition fees for better judgement.

Failing forward is not weakness.
It’s how builders are made.

And some mistakes?
They’re worth every step they gave you.

We’re Teaching IoT Wrong … And Industry Is Paying the Price

We don’t have an IoT talent shortage.

We have a relevance problem.

I’ve seen too many IoT syllabuses that look good on paper…
but fall apart the moment students touch the real world.

Slides are polished.
Exams are passed.
Graduates are confident.

Then industry asks a simple question.

“Can they deploy this?”

Silence.

Building an IoT curriculum is not about chasing buzzwords.
It’s about closing the gap between classrooms and construction sites.
Between theory and messy reality.

Students don’t need more definitions.
They need exposure.

To sensors that fail.
To networks that drop.
To dashboards that confuse users.
To data that refuses to behave.

Industry doesn’t need perfect graduates.
It needs graduates who can think, troubleshoot, adapt.

Who understand why edge matters.
Who know when cloud makes sense.
Who can justify costs, not just architectures.
Who see security as responsibility, not a chapter at the end.

TVET schools and universities hold a powerful lever.
They shape how the next generation thinks about building systems that people rely on.

If we teach IoT as a subject, we produce students.
If we teach IoT as a practice, we produce builders.

The future skills gap is not about technology.
It’s about judgement.

And that starts with how we design what we teach.

Books Written by Dr. Mazlan Abbas

When Life Feels Full of Rocks, Be the River That Keeps Moving

The river never wastes its breath arguing with the rocks.
It doesn’t complain.
It doesn’t pause to question why the obstacles are there.
It just keeps moving… finding its path one curve at a time.

Life works the same way.
Challenges appear without warning.
People disappoint us.
Doors close right when we’re ready to step through them.
Some days, it feels like every direction is blocked.

But if a river can keep flowing… so can you.

You don’t need a perfect path.
You just need the courage to keep moving, even when the pace feels slow.
Forward is forward, no matter how small the step.

And with enough persistence, even the hardest rocks begin to shift.

My Journey Through Academia, Telco, and Startup Mayhem — And Why I’d Do It Again

From Signals to Sensing: The Early Spark

Every time I look back at where this whole adventure began, I’m reminded of how simple the starting point was. I was just a young engineer obsessed with how things connected. My academic path shaped the first chapter — electrical engineering, telematics, and finally a doctoral dive into telecommunications.

Those years were filled with long nights, dense textbooks, and moments where I quietly wondered, “Is this really the road I want to stay on?” But something about networks — the way invisible signals could connect lives — kept pulling me forward.

My early years in academia gave me a grounding that I still rely on today. Teaching forced me to explain ideas clearly, question assumptions, and stay curious. It was the first real test of whether I understood the world of connectivity or was just reciting formulas.

Into the Telco Trenches

Eventually, the classroom walls felt too small. I wanted to see how these theories behaved under real pressure. That shift took me deep into the telecommunications industry.

Those years were intense: real customers, real failures, real deadlines. It wasn’t just about making a system work; it was about keeping it alive when the world depended on it.

Later, I moved to a national research agency, where I led teams working on early broadband, wireless sensor networks, and technologies that today fall neatly under the label of IoT. Back then, it felt like tinkering with the future. Testing prototypes in rural villages, deploying sensors in unfamiliar places, experimenting with wireless technologies that many considered too early or too ambitious.

Yet I couldn’t shake the thought: “What if this tech leaves the labs and enters daily life?” That question lingered for years.

The Entrepreneurial Leap

Eventually, that question grew too loud to ignore. I left the comfort of corporate structures and returned to the raw, unknown world of startup life.

First came a role in shaping a national IoT initiative. Then came the big leap: building a company from scratch.

That company was REDtone IoT. Running it taught me one of the toughest lessons — great tech means nothing if people can’t use it easily. Every client wanted IoT, but most didn’t know where to start. They struggled with device integration, cloud setups, dashboards, maintenance, and the countless hidden complexities that IoT quietly hides behind its shiny promise.

That frustration became the seed for something bigger.

The Birth of FAVORIOT

By 2017, the vision crystallised: create a platform that removes the chaos and gives everyone — students, SMEs, city councils, engineers — a simple way to bring IoT ideas to life.

FAVORIOT wasn’t built to be fancy. It was built to be practical.

I wanted a platform where a lecturer could run a complete IoT project without having to manage 10 different systems. Where a hardware company didn’t need to customise dashboards endlessly. Where a city council could monitor sensors without drowning in integration nightmares.

FAVORIOT was designed for inclusion. For accessibility. For the everyday builder, not just the big spender.

And every year since, that vision has deepened.

Wearing Many Hats

Even as FAVORIOT was growing, I continued teaching and speaking. These weren’t side gigs. They kept me grounded. They reminded me why I started.

Standing in front of students made me rethink complexity. Speaking to industry leaders challenged my ideas. Engaging with smart city stakeholders, founders, and device makers kept me aware of the real obstacles people face.

Sometimes I’d walk out of a lecture hall thinking, “This feedback is better than any consultancy report.”

Sometimes a conversation with a frustrated engineer made me go back and tweak the platform design.

Those experiences shaped FAVORIOT as much as any technology roadmap ever did.

Recognition and Reality Checks

Over time, things began to click. FAVORIOT earned recognition. My own work in IoT and smart cities gained global visibility. Industry groups listed me among the top influencers. Conferences kept inviting me to speak.

But none of that ever felt like a trophy finish. If anything, it reminded me that the journey had only just reached a new checkpoint.

“Alright, Mazlan, now don’t get comfortable,” I’d quietly tell myself.

The pressure increased. Expectations rose. The work became heavier… but also more meaningful.

Why the Story Still Matters

When I piece the chapters together, it becomes clear that every phase — the student, the professor, the telco engineer, the researcher, the entrepreneur — served a purpose.

  • Academia taught discipline.
  • Telco taught scale.
  • Research taught imagination.
  • Entrepreneurship taught resilience.
  • Teaching and speaking taught clarity.

FAVORIOT stands today as more than a platform. It’s a symbol of what happens when technology is shaped around people — their pains, their limitations, their hopes.

I’ve always believed IoT should be accessible. Not something locked behind expensive teams or giant corporations. Not something only “experts” can touch.

If we can empower everyday builders, we’re doing something right.

A Note to My Younger Self

If I could sit with the younger version of me — the one carrying textbooks thicker than his arm — I’d probably smile and say:

“Every jump you make will make sense one day. Every detour, every frustration, every late night… you’re collecting tools. Don’t rush the process.”

And maybe I’d add:

“When you build for people, not systems, that’s when the real magic happens.”

If you’ve read this far, I’m curious — which part of this journey speaks to you the most? Drop your thoughts. Let’s connect through stories.

Hi. I’m the Guy Behind FAVORIOT

And this isn’t another tech pitch.
It’s a confession… and a promise.

FAVORIOT didn’t appear out of thin air.
It was born from years of watching brilliant Malaysians fight battles they shouldn’t have to fight.

I’ve been in telco rooms where engineers looked exhausted after stitching ten different systems together.
I’ve sat with lecturers who said their students had the passion but no real platform to grow on.
I’ve listened to system integrators torn between pleasing clients and staying sane.
I’ve seen founders pour their hearts into pilots that never scaled because every new project felt like starting from scratch.

I saw all of it up close.
I asked questions.
I listened carefully.
I heard the frustration that people rarely say out loud.

One lecturer confided, “My students can build anything… but we have no common place to make it real.”

A hardware partner admitted, “We’re drowning in dashboard customisations. It’s slowing us down.”

A founder whispered what many felt, “Every pilot feels like a science experiment that no one wants to repeat.”

The pattern was unmistakable.
The problem wasn’t talent.
It wasn’t ideas.
It wasn’t ambition.

It was the weight of chaos…
devices speaking ten different languages, dashboards built for every new customer, integrations that kept breaking, and projects that died because the foundations were never steady.

Everyone was building islands.
No bridges.
No unity.
No momentum.

And it hurt to see so many capable Malaysians struggling not because of skill… but because the ecosystem never gave them a proper foundation.

So I decided to build one.

Not a platform for show.
Not a platform for slides.
But a platform shaped by every frustration I witnessed.

A platform that starts you at 60 percent instead of zero.
A platform that speaks to every device, every protocol, every idea.
A platform that lets students learn without drowning.
A platform that lets partners grow without rebuilding the same thing endlessly.
A platform that lets enterprises keep their data close and their confidence intact.

FAVORIOT wasn’t built to impress you.
It was built to lighten your load.

Because I’ve seen the late nights.
The soldering iron on the table at 2am.
The dashboards rebuilt for the fifteenth time.
The excitement in students fading because nothing works the way it should.
The startups who gave up not because their idea was bad, but because everything around their idea was too messy.

I built FAVORIOT so that your talent doesn’t get buried under problems that shouldn’t exist.

I’m not saying it will fix bureaucracy.
I’m not saying it will make everyone tech-ready overnight.
And I’m not saying it will solve every problem under the Malaysian sun.

But I am saying this:

The struggles that slow you down the most are solvable.

The confusion.
The repeated work.
The endless customisation.
The feeling of always starting over.
The platforms that fight you instead of helping you.

Those problems shouldn’t be your burden anymore.

You were meant to build solutions.
To teach.
To innovate.
To create impact.
To push Malaysia forward.

Your tools should support that… not get in the way.

So try it.
Connect a single sensor.
Send one stream of data.
Build one dashboard.

And see if something inside you says…
“This is how it should have been all along.”

My belief?
You’ll finally feel the freedom to build without fighting the foundations.

FAVORIOT exists because Malaysia deserves that freedom.
Innovators deserve that clarity.
And you deserve a platform that works with you.

No hype.
No fireworks.
Just the foundation you’ve been asking for… quietly waiting for you to take the next step.

— The guy who built Favoriot because too many Malaysians were struggling in silence.

Success is a Decision: My CEO Journey

SUCCESS IS A DECISION, NOT A MIRACLE.

I still remember standing at my own “two doors” moment.

On one side was comfort — a stable career, predictable days, and a familiar path.
On the other was uncertainty — risk, sleepless nights, and the weight of leading something that didn’t even exist yet… FAVORIOT.

Becoming a CEO wasn’t something that happened overnight. It was a choice.

A choice to leave behind the safety of titles and the illusion of stability.
A choice to start from zero when people around me thought I’d already “made it.”
A choice to believe in an idea when others only saw obstacles.

That first day as CEO, there was no red carpet waiting. No big office. No team of hundreds. Just a laptop, a vision, and an endless staircase marked by courage, patience, discipline, and focus.

Every step demanded something.
Courage to face rejection.
Routine to build momentum.
Focus to silence the noise.
Discipline to show up — even when no one was watching.
And patience… the hardest of all.

Because success wasn’t a miracle waiting to happen. It was a series of small, stubborn decisions.

Each time I faced a setback — a failed pitch, a cancelled project, a delayed payment — I reminded myself why I opened that “new life” door in the first place.

Years later, FAVORIOT stands not just as a company, but as proof that choosing the harder door can change everything.

If you’re standing between comfort and courage right now…
remember this — your new life begins the moment you decide to walk through that door.

Creating an IoT Revolution: The FAVORIOT Journey

Everyone was waiting for the IoT wave.
We decided to build the ocean.

When the world was busy talking about potential, we rolled up our sleeves and created it.

FAVORIOT didn’t start with millions in funding or a big global name. We started with an idea… that Malaysia could build its own IoT platform and lead the way.

While others waited for perfect timing, we launched training.
While others chased hype, we built real projects.
While others looked overseas, we grew our own ecosystem.

From classrooms to enterprises…
From pilot projects to national platforms…
FAVORIOT became the leap — the moment a small fish jumped into its own ocean.

We didn’t wait for opportunity.
We created it.

Building a Digital Future: The FAVORIOT Journey

It didn’t start with money.
It started with frustration.

Everywhere I looked, people talked about digital transformation…
but the platforms driving it were foreign.

I asked myself — why can’t Malaysia build its own?

That question became the spark that lit FAVORIOT.

We had no funding.
No big team.
Just conviction.

There were nights when the servers failed…
days when investors turned away…
and moments when quitting felt easier.

But we held on.

Because deep down, I believed —
if we didn’t build it, who would?

Slowly, the rise began.

Universities started using FAVORIOT for their IoT projects.
Students built real solutions.
Enterprises came on board.
Then partners from across the world joined the mission.

From Malaysia to Singapore, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and beyond…
the name FAVORIOT began to travel.

We weren’t selling software.
We were building belief.

That Malaysia can create.
That local talent can lead.
That we can be a Producer Nation… not a reseller one.

This is not just my story.
It’s the emotional arc of a dream that refused to die.

FAVORIOT — built with heart, powered by purpose.