We had the good fortune of connecting with Maki Kaplinsky and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maki, what do you attribute your success to?
Not giving up and working hard! I’ve worked as en entrepreneur more than 20 years now, and ASKA is my third company. Starting a new company, building a good team and creating innovation is not easy and you need to overcome many obstacles. Each time I faced doubts from others, I trusted my instinct, business model as well as the uniqueness and advantage of our product, and just kept going. I believe in not giving up till you have results – that is an important factor behind my success.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I founded three companies so far: 1st company in Israel in 2001 (defence-related company), 2nd company in Japan in 2011 (IoT platform), and ASKA is my third company in the US established in 2018.

My career is unique I think because I had three companies in different fields, different countries. Each time my cofounder and I started a company, it was in a new country and with zero network.

How I overcame these challenges is that each time we had an innovative new idea for business and technology and we worked hard to form a team with whom we developed the innovative product, and continued to work hard until we had success. When you develop a disruptive technology, you face many a lot of negative feedback or doubts in the beginning. I think that believing in the logic behind your business and constantly working hard, refusing to give up was the key to our success.

Today we are developing a flying car, a vehicle that can drive on the road, do vertical takeoff and landing and fly efficiently as an aircraft. I believe that our flying car ASKA can change the way people live, improve our quality of life. I feel so fortunate to be able to be able to do what I do!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to where I live – the Bay Area. Apart from the advanced technologies and interesting and exciting people, we have the most beautiful and magnificent nature around us. We have so many great parks and hiking courses where you can enjoy the wonder of nature and wildlife.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My cofounder Guy Kaplinsky who I have worked with for more than 20 years (this s our third company as cofounders!), my amazing team who are so dedicated and talented, my supporting friends, and last but not least, my wonderful children!

Website: www.askafly.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maki-kaplinsky/

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