23-year-old Taiwanese blockchain genius Hu Yaojie reveals the hardships of starting a business: Nothing progresses smoothly

23-year-old Hu Yaojie is the founder of three blockchain companies in Taiwan and abroad. His team, "Turing Chain," has developed a "one-click blockchain certification" technology, which has been adopted by 22 Taiwanese universities. This year, they have also launched educational courses in Taiwan, aiming to cultivate blockchain talent in the region.

Reported by Yvonne and Momo

Inspired by Robot Camp, Achieving Perfect Score in College Entrance Exam, "Kicking" into Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Hu Yaojie, born in Taipei, is a true Taiwanese kid. At the age of 9, he participated in a robot camp and discovered a strong interest in engineering and mechanics. While studying, he also attended engineering training courses, eventually making his way from Hsinchu High School to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. When asked why he chose HKUST despite having many other options with his perfect college entrance exam score, Hu Yaojie mentioned two reasons. Firstly, because the global ranking of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is even higher than that of National Taiwan University's Electrical Engineering department. The second reason was football.

During high school, Hu Yaojie would stay at school for an extra two hours every day to play football. Recalling his first visit to the campus, he said, "Because the school is located on the east coast, with mountains on one side and the sea on the other, and a super beautiful football field, I felt that this place was very dreamy at that time. I had to play football at this place, which is the second reason for choosing HKUST."

Venturing into Silicon Valley and J.P. Morgan Asia Headquarters, Jokingly Calls Himself the "Survivor"

While studying at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hu Yaojie applied for an overseas internship opportunity in his sophomore year, which was only available to 9 students in the entire university, and he was the only one assigned to intern in Silicon Valley, USA. In 2016, he went to the medical company Augmedix in Silicon Valley alone. "That was my first time going to the United States alone," he said, and continued, "When I got out of the airport, I felt like there was no turning back and I had to move forward. After all, I couldn't go back through immigration. It was also the first time the school organized this, and they probably chose someone who looked like they could 'survive,' and that person was me!"

After a brief rest back from the US, Hu Yaojie flew to Switzerland for a half-year exchange program. In the second semester of his junior year, he applied for an internship at J.P. Morgan's Asia headquarters in Hong Kong. Leveraging his experience in the "Human Brain Project" as an exchange student, he assisted J.P. Morgan in developing an artificial intelligence system that automates one-on-one customer service functions and produces customized responses tailored to customer conversations, significantly reducing operation time.

Blockchain Meets Education Entrepreneurship! Certificates and Resumes on the Chain for Easy Verification

In 2018, Hu Yaojie and co-founder Li Tingting officially established "Turing Chain Limited" in Hong Kong, utilizing blockchain technology to solve the time-consuming resume verification problem. Hu Yaojie mentioned that when applying to foreign schools, students need to submit their academic history for verification. Based on experience, just submitting data from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to the University of California, Berkeley, would take 5 to 6 days, along with hefty transportation costs, often causing distress to students. The biggest problem in the overall process lies in the "overly cumbersome verification process."

Hu Yaojie proposed the idea of putting resumes on the chain. Through the tamper-proof and transparent nature of blockchain, once the school provides students with basic information, they can search for relevant verification data on the chain, obtaining clear and detailed source records.

ERC Protocol Supported by Academic Papers - ERC 860 Blockchain Application Resolves

At the same time, Hu Yaojie and his team members Li Tingting, Dr. Dimitris Chatzopoulos, and Professor Xu Bin jointly developed the "ERC 860" protocol. They were honored with the "Best Paper" award at the ACM MobiSys CryBlock 2018 forum in Munich, Germany. ERC stands for "Ethereum Request for Comments," which is a collective term for the "protocols" written by smart contract developers on Ethereum, followed by a serial number when the protocol is published. The most prominent feature of ERC 860 is its ability to act as a manager between multiple smart contracts, enabling smooth interaction among them.

Hu Yaojie mentioned that the initial motivation for publishing "ERC 860" was not only to apply blockchain to certificate and resume certification and traceability but also to apply it to ticket systems. However, they found that the framework was not suitable for ticket systems, so they urgently shifted to game development. Blockchain games typically involve the interaction of multiple smart contracts. However, smart contracts are closed. If the interaction between contracts is not smooth, it can cause disruptions in the game. By linking multiple smart contracts with ERC 860, the interaction between multiple smart contracts can be smoother.

During the interview, Hu Yaojie mentioned, "In the future, ERC 860 can also be used in Decentralized Oracle Networks," allowing the blockchain to fetch real-world information for instant updates, such as stocks, exchange rates, etc. This concept also applies to scenarios like the Internet of Things (IoT), significantly increasing the feasibility of blockchain application.

Reflecting on the Entrepreneurial Journey, Hu Yaojie: Nothing Progresses Smoothly

Prior to the establishment of Turing Chain, Hu Yaojie had previously collaborated on entrepreneurial ventures with friends in his freshman and junior years, both of which ended in failure. He mentioned during the interview, "The reason for the company's dissolution was due to issues with direction and organization, so at that time, I thought if I couldn't start a business with others, I would do it myself!"

Facing a fiercely competitive market, he also admitted that "nothing progresses smoothly." When looking for a business model for the product that puts resumes on the chain in Taiwan, they faced the dilemma of having market demand but no one willing to pay. They eventually turned to overseas development.

Returning to Taiwan to Establish a Blockchain Academy, Dedicated to Cultivating Professional Technical Talents

Currently pursuing a master's degree in engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, Hu Yaojie returned to Taiwan earlier this year to establish a blockchain academy, actively investing in professional talent development. He pointed out that Taiwan's blockchain industry's disadvantage lies in the scarcity of top technical talents, coupled with the skepticism caused by some people being deceived in early ICO and Ponzi schemes. He hopes to accelerate the industry's progress through education.

Two Pieces of Advice for Young Entrepreneurs:

1. The worst thing in life is death. I will try anything that does not directly involve death.
2. The sole purpose of life is to find a way to gain happiness and a sense of accomplishment, and become someone with a great story in the future.