"He wasn't very happy with me so that's how it all started," Liao says.
The 23-year-old dropped out of uni to start developing Tzukuri, a line of "unlosable" glasses which went on sale this week.
Tzukuri integrates hand-crafted glasses with Bluetooth technology. The glasses are connected to an iOS app, which notifies the owner if they are left behind, records the last GPS location and shows proximity when searching for them indoors.
Manufacturing
The range is manufactured in Sydney from cellulose acetate which is a 100 per cent renewable and recyclable natural biopolymer manufactured from cotton and wood pulp.
Tzukuri creates both glasses and sunglasses priced at $485 including prescription lenses. They are available online and from a pop-up at Sydney's Old Clare Hotel which opened this week.
"If you look at technology like your phone, it is made from lots of different components," Liao says. "But when you make a pair of glasses you only have three pieces to work with. We invented a new process to seal the electronics inside one piece of material which allows us to make a very light pair of glasses."
The reality
Liao says he's nervous now his vision has become a reality.
"You've got to be nervous, you just don't know what people will expect," he says.
The signs are good so far, with Tzukuri breaking even the first day it started trading. Liao has plans to open three pop-up stores in the next six months and is aiming to sell 13,000 pairs of glasses in Australia, bringing in over $6 million in revenue.
If his plans for international expansion come off there are more commercial opportunities.
"We are looking first at New Zealand and Asia-Pacific and then looking very closely at the United States and Europe," Liao says.
But the process of developing Tzukuri has not been without its challenges for Liao. His initial co-founder left the business and went back to finish his university course.
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