Joe, co-founder and CEO of Heymax, shares his journey from Shanghai to Silicon Valley and Singapore, where he’s building a next-generation personal finance platform - Heymax - which simplifies personal finance by consolidating credit card rewards, helping users maximize points, and making financial wellness engaging. With a background spanning Expedia, Meta, and multiple startup attempts, Joe brings deep technical expertise and a passion for optimizing financial rewards. He discusses his early startup failures, lessons from Meta’s growth culture, and how he convinced top engineers to join HeyMax after being laid off. He shares insights on fundraising, rapid iteration, and aligning incentives between users, advertisers, and financial institutions. With candid reflections on the ups and downs of startup life, this episode is a must-listen for entrepreneurs tackling fintech, consumer tech, and AI-driven platforms.

HeyMax emerged from Joe's personal obsession with financial optimization. A self-described "points junkie" who has cycled through over 100 credit cards, Joe's defining moment came when he missed a flight due to baggage check-in rules, inspiring him to dive deeper into travel rewards and financial hacks. Recognizing that personal finance was unnecessarily complex for most people, he envisioned Heymax as the "Duolingo for personal finance" – automating rewards maximization and financial decisions to deliver tangible benefits like free vacations.

In this episode, the Meta veteran shares his path from Shanghai to Silicon Valley. With no early startup exposure, Joe built a career at the University of Michigan, Expedia, and Meta before co-founding HeyMax, the "Duolingo for personal finance."

The founding team—four engineers from Meta Singapore—came together during Meta's 2022 layoffs, a "black swan" event that provided access to world-class talent.

On episode 7 of The First, founders will hear insights on:

• Why finding the right co-founders trumps having the perfect idea
• How personal obsession creates business advantage
• Strategies for opportunistic team building during industry shifts
• The importance of rapid execution over perfect planning
• Building sustainable business models through incentive alignment
• Leveraging Meta's corporate innovation practices in startups

Joe’s advice to founders? Execution trumps ideas. Investors don’t back potential—they back results. Watch the episode now.