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The Startup Traveler

Spend 1 year to travel around the world, and attend startup competitions in different cities.

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The Startup Traveler

The Startup Traveler

The Startup Traveler

The Startup Traveler

The Startup Traveler

Spend 1 year to travel around the world, and attend startup competitions in different cities.

Spend 1 year to travel around the world, and attend startup competitions in different cities.

Spend 1 year to travel around the world, and attend startup competitions in different cities.

Spend 1 year to travel around the world, and attend startup competitions in different cities.

Keith NG
Keith NG
Keith NG
Keith NG
1 Campaign |
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
$661 USD 12 backers
33% of $2,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Hi Indiegogo!

I’m Keith. From Hong Kong.

As you may well know, Hong Kong is an international city, where every day, each one of us competes against each other in order to succeed. We all want to get a good grade and find well-paid jobs. However, it seems that we are all fighting without purpose, a fight in which there are no survivors. Over the past two decades this daily fight with the status quo has taken its toll on me.

Until one day when I asked myself: Why was I put on the earth?

I don’t want to live a life of regret, with survival as its goal. Instead, I want my life to be bristling with energy, adventure and enthusiasm. With that in mind, I put down my work, picked up a backpack, and set out to explore the world and embrace whatever new challenges it threw at me.

My journey began in September 2014. Since then, I have traveled to 15 different countries, to what was more than 40 cities all over Asia and Europe. Every two weeks I set out to a different place and, like most people, whenever I go to a new destination, I experience what the city has best to offer by sightseeing. However, unlike most people, the way I get to meet local people and experience these new countries and cultures, is by attending a Startup Weekend event.

Startup Weekend is an event which takes place in different cities across the world, throughout the whole year. In it, participants have a chance to make their idea a reality. For 54 hours, teams are formed and ideas are conceptualised and refined. At the end a finished product or prototype is pitched to a select group of elite judges.

Through my travels to these events, I have met thousands of interesting people, worked on dozens of projects, been presented with truly revolutionising ideas, not to mention that I have seen more than 500 live pitches. These events provided me with what I was missing back in Hong Kong: a way to turn my knowledge and skills into a business and make it a reality. With my acute engineering design sense, I have helped several projects in getting their prototype to the very next level and, having had so much exposure to this environment previously, I very much enjoy inspiring others with my experience and knowledge-sharing.

I look to experience a wide variety of cultures, challenges and ways of working. It truly has been a fascinating story and one which I am willing to share. I am going on a new adventure to the United States of America in this coming summer but for that I need your help. Every cent of your donation will facilitate my next trip to the country. You can also support me by booking me a flight, train or bus ticket, or by simply giving me a safe place to rest.

Regardless of whether you are young or old, an educator, a traveler like myself, a start-upper, or even a businessman, I believe you would like to hear my story. I will share with you my tips and tricks on how to manage money during travel and which attractions are worth visiting if you are pressed for time when you visit a city. Moreover, I will share with you my experiences with different cultures of eastern and western countries, some crucial elements in a startup company, and about anything interesting that I have learnt during my “startup travels”.

By supporting me on this journey, you can get my designed postcard, poster, and written book. I may even have the chance to lead you to experience the fast pace of life in Hong Kong. I look forward to our journey together. Thank you.

Please support me!

Kind Regards,

Keith NG


Keith was born and raised in Hong Kong, where he lived for 20 years. Currently, he is an undergraduate student at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, studying Industrial and Systems Engineering as a major subject and Product Engineering with Marketing as a minor. He is passionate about design, technology, product development, as well as entrepreneurship.

He treasures the chance of being an international exchange student, and lives a dual-life, spending his weekends traveling while catching up with studying on weekdays. He is a practical learner, who wants to "have his hands dirty" and transform ideas into reality. He is an outgoing person who likes to learn and share new cultures with foreigners, as well as exploring all sorts of new things. Upon recognising who he was and what made him excited about life, Keith decided to start a “Startup Travel”.

You are welcome to contact Keith by email, by kindly sending a message to thestartuptraveler@gmail.com 


* All donors will be listed in my book.
** The Startup Traveler will only be published if $2,000 is achieved in this campaign. (InDemand project)


Why did you launch a crowd-funding campaign?

Many of my friends and individuals whom I have met throughout my travels want to hear my story, but I don't have time to share it one by one. The solution is then to record my journey’s learnings inside a book. However this requires money. Furthermore I am passionate about what I do and I would like to share my design works, postcards and posters with the world.

How will you spend the money you earn here?

After deducting the fee to Indiegogo, part of the money would cover the cost of publication, rewards production, as well as delivery cost. The other part would go towards supporting my journey, with expenses including transportation fees, apartment rent and meals.

Why is your aim for this crowd-funding campaign $2000?

I set $2,000 as a goal because it is not too difficult to reach, so people can hear my story. I'll stay in the US for 3 months and go on a total of 10 trips whilst in the country. I estimated the expenses at $10/day for dining, $250/trip for transportation, and $2,000/month for renting an apartment (surely some days would be couch-surfing). These expenses will be complemented with my savings.

Why do I need to hear your story?

There are several reasons. First of all, I am probably the very first person to travel around the world joining startup competitions everywhere I visit. Second, I am one of a very few select group of students who studied in mainland China and Finland, two extreme educational systems. Third, I have learnt very useful methods to manage time and money as well as ways to balance study and travel. Fourth, you will be exposed to many amazing projects born in Startup Weekend events in different countries, which you treat as reference. Last but not least, you can see the power of Startup Weekend and its community. To sum up, I believe it to be a special story, which can inspire you.

What is inside the book?

I am still planning the structure of the book, but the following topics will be covered:

Travel: Introduction to the places I have traveled to, some attractions that are worth visiting when pressed for time as well as my routines whilst I was there.

Startup: My favorite projects in each Startup Weekend. The projects I worked on, things that changed my life and the way I think, interesting stories from my teams, the crucial elements of winning a pitch and tips and tricks on team management while a company is in the startup period. In sum, all of what I learnt while at a Startup Weekend event, be it business or otherwise, will be covered.

Money: The system I used to manage different currencies, tips and tricks on how to save money the “Keith way” ;)

Time: How to balance out study and travel as well as effective ways to properly manage your time and energy.

Education: What I have learnt about the different cultures across all the places I have traveled to as well as differences in education in mainland China and Finland.

Besides money, what kind of assistance do you need?

The number one thing you can do to help me is to kindly share it with your friends. While I am finding a base to settle in the San Francisco region to stay during the weekdays, I will go traveling during the weekends. I would thus highly appreciate if anyone could provide me with a couch-surfing place or with a fair rental fee.

Hey! Are you being paid to advertise Startup Weekend?

No. Startup Weekend is a non-profit event. I just want to share my story which is a travel journey with Startup Weekends.

Why is the delivery day so late?

I am confident that I can finish the first draft of the book within 3 months after I come back to Hong Kong from my USA travels. However, since I am not a native English speaker or writer, I need to send it to my friends for proof-reading and review. Hence, I scheduled to publish and deliver my first book in March 2016.


Startup Weekend is a 54-hour event where developers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups!

On Friday evening, attendees have 1 minute to pitch their new idea, and try to inspire others to join their team. With a team of designer(s), developer(s) and people with a business background, they can begin building their startup. 

During Saturday and Sunday, teams implement the lean startup methodology. They do market research, construct a business model, design prototypes, validate the concept with potential customers, etc. 

On Sunday night, each team presents their business model and demonstrates the minimal viable product to a panel of judges. The winning teams are awarded with amazing prizes and often go on to start real business after the event!

Startup Weekend is a non-profit event, where the local organizing team consists of volunteers. They seek sponsorships to reduce the ticket price, so more dreamers can gather in one place, and make miracles happen in 54 hours. They are truly awesome!

As stated in Startup Weekend’s official webpage, 1,500+ events have already taken place in over 726 cities. Out of these, over 13,000 startups were created and more than 123,000 entrepreneurs participated. Check it out and join the movement at: http://startupweekend.org/

This is where you will probably find Keith in the coming weekends ;)

By joining a Startup Weekend event, you can:

Meet a co-founder or future partners, learn new skills, validate business ideas, build up a network, be guided by experienced mentors, and much more...

Take it from me, you won't regret it after participating in a Startup Weekend. 

Please also check out UP Global, the non-profit group which organizes the events. Startup Weekend is part of a series of events they organise, alongside: Startup Next, Startup Digest, Startup Week, and Education Entrepreneurs.


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Choose your Perk

featured

SIGNATURE

$50 USD
We may have not met before, but we are connected here. What a pleasure, it is a package with my signature.
Estimated Shipping
March 2016
4 claimed

THANK YOU

$1 USD
Every cent of donation can make a miracle. Thank you for your support.
1 claimed

POSTCARD

$5 USD
I send my designed postcard to friends when I am traveling. You can have a piece of limited edition postcard - Hong Kong.
Estimated Shipping
December 2015
0 claimed

POSTER

$10 USD
Guess what, with the hidden message in my postcards, you can make a puzzle. So, you can have a copy of puzzle poster, plus a HK postcard.
Estimated Shipping
December 2015
0 claimed

EBOOK

$20 USD
The minimum donation for my written book is reached. You can read this electronic book when taking transportation. +Postcard
Estimated Shipping
March 2016
1 claimed

PRINTED BOOK

$30 USD
Show your friend with my printed book. I bet you will use my postcard as bookmark.
Estimated Shipping
March 2016
1 claimed

PACKAGE

$40 USD
You are awesome. Your name is listed in the Thank You section in my book. Package: printed book + postcard + poster
Estimated Shipping
March 2016
1 claimed

DOUBLE

$100 USD
Get one of my packages with signature, share another one with your beloved friend.
Estimated Shipping
March 2016
0 claimed

LET'S CHAT

$250 USD
I cannot imagine how great you are. Let's chat. You can have 3 sets of package, spread it to friends.
Estimated Shipping
March 2016
1 claimed

MEET KEITH IN HK

$500 USD
Besides having 2 sets of signed book + postcard + poster, I lead you to experience the fast pace of life in HK in 1 day.
Estimated Shipping
March 2016
0 claimed

3 DAYS HK TOUR

$1,000 USD
With your sincere donation, you can get 3 sets of package. In addition, I can be your tour guide for 3 days when you visit Hong Kong with your friends and family.
Estimated Shipping
March 2016
0 claimed

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