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Yingqi Wang
Yingqi Wang is the founder and CEO of ONES.com, an all-in-one software development and R&D management platform used by teams to plan, track, test, and ship software. A self-taught programmer since fifth grade, he spent seven years at Kingsoft working on WPS and antivirus products, then founded Zhengdian Technology, whose Zhengdian Alarm Clock app reached over 100 million users. After a stint as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Morningside Venture Capital, he launched ONES in 2015 to give engineers and technical managers a single connected toolchain. ONES has raised roughly $100M+ across rounds and serves large enterprises across China and beyond, positioning itself as a direct challenger to Atlassian.
How Jake Built 'Early,' the Push-Up Alarm App Making $50,000 a Month
In this Starter Story episode, host Pat Walls interviews Jake, a 24-year-old self-taught developer and former accountant who built 'Early,' an iPhone alarm clock app where you must do push-ups to turn off your alarm. Launched at the end of 2025, the app went from zero to over $50,000 a month in just four months, racking up more than 200,000 downloads. Jake breaks down how he found and validated the idea, why he shipped an MVP in 19 days, how iOS 26's AlarmKit API made a reliable alarm app possible, and why influencer marketing and top-of-funnel views were the true secret to his growth.