Here’s who they are and what they contribute to the local economy. Immigrants have an outsized place in Hawaii’s history. In the 19th and early 20th centuries they came from Japan, China, Puerto Rico and the Portuguese Azores and sustained…
Students compete to demonstrate their entrepreneurial chops Rose Wong’s first job was at 14 working as a cashier and sushi roller for Kozo Sushi. Three years and seven jobs later, tired of minimum wage, she launched Kolohe Ocean Gems while…
Meet the 27 winners and finalists of the Hawaii Venture Capital Association awards. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and flourishing in Hawaii, aka Startup Paradise. A total of 27 companies and individuals were honored at the Hawaii Venture Capital Association’s annual…
Day two of the East Meets West Conference was held appropriately at the East-West Center in Manoa, Friday,…
Hawaiians believe that when it rains on an event day that is the aina (that which feeds us) acknowledging your presence, and the land made attendees of the East West Conference 2018 Summit feel recognized. Venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, techies and…
Rose Wong started her jewelry business while a junior at Kaiser High and now that she’s in college, she’s launching a line of fine jewelry that she hopes will become “the next Cartier.” Wong won the Global Student Entrepreneurs Awards…
East Meets West Conference: Interview with Blue Startups Managing Partner Chenoa Farnsworth The annual East Meets West Conference brings together tech industry entrepreneurs and investors from markets in Asia, the U.S. Mainland and Hawaii. The event will take place on…
The Hawaii brand is beloved around the world and there are mom and pop enterprises that want to give that love back but don’t know how. Enter Mana Up, a new accelerator aimed at promoting homegrown Hawaii products and transforming…
The JamBio for JamBios goes a little like this: An entrepreneur with successful ventures sees ideas everywhere. As she walks down the street, Beth N. Carvin pulls ideas from her surroundings, her daydreams, and the people and things in her…
THIS MONTH’S EXPERT: Omar Sultan Co-founder and managing partner, Sultan Ventures and XLR8UH sultanventures.com xlr8uh.com Q: I'm an independent entrepreneur with a great business plan. How do I get into an incubator? A: First determine whether an accelerator is the…
It’s Sunday morning and the aisles of Kauai’s Kukuiula Market are empty, save for a middle-age man scoping out the beer selection and a teen devouring a giant acai bowl. As a six-pack and a Spam musubi land on the…
Kalin Uluave didn’t let business failures stop him. Good thing, because the fourth succeeded, and the fifth and sixth are on track, too, with a seventh on the way. Uluave, a business-management major at BYU-Hawaii, topped three other contestants to…
Startup Paradise Is Good for All of Us. Everyone in Hawaii can and should be an advocate and champion for Startup Paradise, because we all benefit from…
Kainoa McGee’s life always revolved around the ocean. In middle school, McGee was already making surfboards. He would buy a stock board, reshape it and seal the board with Sunday newspaper comics and wax. The board didn’t stay sealed, but…
Harry Weinberg amassed a fortune in local real estate and was renowned for being a financially savvy guy, who cajoled and exasperated the top executives of companies he invested in. However, what most surprised Kit Smith, who covered him for…
It’s hard to tell if it was her business model or her impressive multimedia presentation that won Jana Lam the second annual Pitch Panel at Honolulu Fashion Week. Whatever did it, she received an impressive package of business services, advertising…
Asian and Mainland entrepreneurs and investors will experience a different East Meets West startup conference next month – and that’s not just because some business ideas will be pitched in outrigger canoes. Honolulu-based Blue Startups is hosting the third annual…
Eric Rose can’t forget the day a year and a half ago when a group of Japanese businessmen walked into Morning Glass, his trendy coffee house in Manoa, and suggested taking the concept to Japan. “They came in out of…
There are a million stories in the white-collar gig economy. Let me introduce you to one. Alison Chock has two jobs: One is in retail, where she works nights at a boutique. Her other job is more unpredictable. The work…
How a public-private program called Creative Lab accelerates entrepreneurs in six creative areas: screenwriting, broadband, interactive media, fashion, producing and music While Hawaii is known worldwide for its rainbows, aloha spirit and beautiful weather, Georja Skinner hopes to add “creative…
In the high-tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success.” That’s how HBO describes its buzzy TV show, “Silicon Valley,” but is this characterization true? Ryan Louie shed…
Owning and running a brewery or brewpub is a lot of people’s idea of a fantasy job. The reality is there are casualties spread across the Hawaiian Islands. Companies that recently failed include Alii Brewing, Pacific Breach Brewing, Aloha Beer…
If you want your new business to make the world better, not just make money, consider launching it at Impact Hub Honolulu. That’s where social entrepreneurs will find inexpensive office space, training and other resources, and a network of like-minded…
It’s no surprise the same ocean that inspires surfers, paddlers and swimmers has also inspired entrepreneurs to make a living off what they love. They start surf schools, design canoe paddles, cultivate marine livestock, run fishing charters or develop technology…