Welcome to yet another exciting episode of the China Startup Pulse Podcast. Our guest today is Mikaal Abdulla, Co-founder and CEO of 8 Securities, a zero-commission mobile-only securities platform that was recently acquired by SoFi. From bootstrapping the business to raising an impressive 1st round of $8 million followed by successive rounds to finally being acquired by SoFi in April, Mikaal and 8 Securities have turned a full-circle.

In today’s episode, Mikaal shares with us his experience of starting his own business after having worked at eTrade for almost a decade, his motivations, and the highs and lows he has experienced over time. We dive deeper into the lessons he learned from the prototype of the product to successive iterations that followed. We also discuss startup fundraising, learning from competitors, and the importance of taking that leap of faith at opportune moments, which could define the future for a company as it did for 8 Securities.