China's tech landscape is often misunderstood in the West. This essay looks at the country's innovation ecosystem, from the super-app phenomenon to the pace of hardware development in Shenzhen. I explore the cultural and economic factors that drive China's tech industry and what the rest of the world can learn from it.

The unique ecosystem of technology and innovation in China.

China

From the visionary to the executor, the disruptor to the builder, successful founders often fit into certain archetypes. This essay looks at the different types of founders who have built enduring companies, and what we can learn from their stories, strategies, and mindsets.

Archetypes of successful founders and the lessons from their journeys.

Pantheon

Disgo is a crypto-powered restaurant loyalty platform. Diners tap NFC tags in-store to check in, climb membership tiers, and earn on-chain rewards. I built it as the sole engineer using Expo React Native, Convex, and Web3 integrations. Launched on the App Store and Google Play.

Crypto-powered restaurant loyalty app with NFC check-ins and on-chain rewards.

Disgo

BuildrFi was an AI-powered cash flow management and lending platform for construction contractors. I was the first engineer and owned the entire product from concept to live MVP. I integrated Plaid, Stripe, and QuickBooks to gather underwriting data, and built an LLM-powered document parser to analyze contracts and invoices for automated loan decisions.

First engineer at a fintech startup building AI-powered lending tools for construction contractors.

Collin Rijock

BuildrFi

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China

Pantheon

Disgo