A Microbrand With Major Ambitions

He may have designed watches for the Sultan of Brunei and a tennis champion, but Keeran Janin is not resting on his horological laurels.

- Farhan Shah

Keeran Janin has only worked a “real job” for three months in his life. It was 2005 and he’d just graduated from Coventry University with a bachelor’s degree in software engineering. He was minding his own business in his garden back home in Brunei when his neighbour popped by to say hello. “He heard I was looking for a job and, before I knew it, I was to report to his company the following Monday,” Keeran laughs. His neighbour owned a telecommunications firm.

That Monday, Keeran was thrown into the server room. While the job was monotonous, the role gave him the idea to start his first company. Part of his responsibilities involved trawling through bills. That’s when he noticed a pattern. “People were paying a few dollars for a simple wallpaper or a ringtone. It was a lot of money, especially for something I knew I could code over a weekend.”