{"id":23599,"date":"2016-10-04T08:17:23","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T12:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=23599"},"modified":"2020-04-03T16:08:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T20:08:36","slug":"40-40-mike-nguyen-creates-google-maps-steroids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/40-40-mike-nguyen-creates-google-maps-steroids","title":{"rendered":"40 over 40: Mike Nguyen creates ‘Google Maps on steroids’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI\u2019m a little older than the average startup founder,\u201d admits Mike Nguyen, who didn\u2019t launch his first company until he was in his forties. But he and his business partner Allen Lee made up for lost time by selling it a few years later. At Syllabus Software, their second startup, they\u2019re developing a platform that Nguyen describes as \u201cGoogle Maps on steroids.\u201d They\u2019ve patented the cutting-edge technology behind HiaMaps<\/a>, which can be used for everything from tracking a transit system to revamping a badly outdated 911 system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mike<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You have to get out there with your product. With technology, there is a limited amount of time before other people catch up.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nguyen got to where he is by a circuitous route, working as everything from a tutor to a firefighter. (\u201cI was one of the guys with chainsaws trying to stop wildfires from spreading,\u201d he says.) At 38, he decided to go back to school, taking courses from three different community colleges to keep from being bored. As a Columbia University grad student studying traumatic brain injuries, he came up with an idea for a game to measure hand-eye coordination. \u201cWe got lucky our first time and sold it,\u201d says Nguyen. Their WeWork Wall Street<\/a>-based team has continued to grow, but the way they work together hasn\u2019t changed. Lee handles the software. \u201cI am the idea person,\u201d says Nguyen. \u201cAll of our products are based on me saying, \u2018Wouldn\u2019t it be cool if we had something like this?\u2019”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos: Emanuel Hahn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m a little older than the average startup founder,\u201d admits Mike Nguyen, who didn\u2019t launch his first company until he was in his forties. But he and his business partner Allen Lee made up for lost time by selling it a few years later. At Syllabus Software, their second startup, they\u2019re developing a platform that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":895,"featured_media":23634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43903,43911],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-stories","category-member-spotlight"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n40 over 40: Mike Nguyen creates 'Google Maps on steroids'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"HiaMaps creator Mike Nguyen: \u201cAll of our products are based on me saying, \u2018Wouldn\u2019t it be cool if we had something like this?\u2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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