An Unconventional Approach to Building Tech Products

Hear from Howjer, Founder of Planoverse to learn how he turned a game engine into an enterprise product for big retailers.

Sometimes the solution to a big problem already exists — we’re just not asking the right questions, or looking at it from the right angle.

In this session, Howjer Gu, Founder of Planoverse, shares the behind-the-scenes story of how he went from a corporate role in data analytics to building a startup that tackles a massive, long-ignored industry problem — using an unexpected approach.

Coming from outside the industry, Howjer will walk through how he spotted an inefficiency hiding in plain sight, validated it with real customers, and secured his first enterprise deal without getting stuck building one-off solutions. He’ll also unpack the unconventional technical choices behind Planoverse, including why the team chose to power the platform with a game engine.

This is a candid look at creative problem-solving in the real world — the questions that mattered, the assumptions that broke, and the decisions that shaped a scalable product.

Who should attend

• UNSW CompSci Pitch Comp participants
• Anyone building or experimenting with products
• Builders interested in startups, enterprise software, and early customer validation