The Taiwanology podcast is produced by Taiwan’s CommonWealth Magazine, where we discuss Taiwan’s geopolitics, technology and culture, and why they matter to the rest of the world.
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The Taiwanology podcast is produced by Taiwan’s CommonWealth Magazine, where we discuss Taiwan’s geopolitics, technology and culture, and why they matter to the rest of the world.
Powered by Firstory Hosting

Taiwan is renowned for its world-class semiconductor manufacturing, but it’s not often recognized as a hub for software startups. So why did Appier, an AI-driven marketing tech company, choose Taiwan as its base—and how did it become the island’s first AI software unicorn? In this episode, co-founder Chih-han Yu shares the lessons learned from eight (!) failures.
- What is Appier, and who are its customers? [4:30]
- Eight failures and their lessons [10:54]
- The ‘aha’ moment: Combining AI and marketing [14:32]
- Why Taiwan? Returning from the U.S. to build a software startup [19:40]
- Why Tokyo was the go-to market [26:14]
- Looking ahead: How Taiwan can foster more software unicorns [34:00]
Host: Kwangyin Liu, Senior Managing Editor of CommonWealth Magazine
Guest: Chih-han Yu, CEO and Co-founder of Appier
*Read more about Appier's journey: https://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=2950
*Share your thoughts: bill@cw.com.tw