Failure of first startup opened new doors for SGAG co-founder Karl Mak

KARL Mak is well known as co-founder and chief executive of Hepmil Media Group, the company behind meme site SGAG. But the 34-year-old's entry into the startup world in fact began with failure.

Mak's first venture, a software startup, had started out full of promise. It won a high-profile hackathon, secured pilots with large enterprises and seed funding from a venture firm.

“That all came crumbling down when we couldn't get revenue, and we couldn't get more traction,” Mak recounted in a video call with The Business Times.