What happens when a mall's layout changes overnight, and no one knows where to go?
In this episode, Chris Sugden, Managing Partner at Edison Partners, speaks with Hongwei Liu, CEO of Mappedin, about how his company is reshaping how we navigate inside buildings.
Hongwei shares how Mappedin started as a side project and grew into a leader in indoor mapping, helping organizations manage dynamic spaces. He explains the technological challenges and opportunities, the evolution of their mapping tools, and how Mappedin serves thousands of venues worldwide.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Jump into the conversation:
(00:00) Building your own tools in the AI age
(01:11) Introducing Mappedin and Hongwei Liu
(03:10) How Hongwei became CEO
(06:54) Starting at BlackBerry/RIM
(09:05) Lessons from RIM's dysfunction
(10:27) Advice for aspiring founders
(13:29) The loneliness and irrationality of being a CEO
(16:11) Hiring philosophy: low ego, high potential
(19:43) Mentorship and the world being a friendly place
(22:10) Transitioning to Mappedin's story
(23:18) The aha moment: indoor maps as a data problem
(27:23) Safety and security use cases
(29:21) Why Mappedin chose B2B over consumer
(31:05) AI as a tailwind: computer vision models
(33:04) How AI transformed the engineering team internally
(36:01) Building your own tools instead of buying software
(39:13) What Hongwei looked for in an investor
(43:01) Working with Edison's operating partners
(45:49) Final advice: go work at a good company first
