From Bots to Mini Apps: My First Real Build in a Tokyo Startup


こんにちは、Timothyです。
This is my second post — and it’s about the first project I picked up after joining a startup in Tokyo.
I’m not sure what comes to mind when you think of “startups in Japan.”
Something international? Scrappy and fast-moving? Or maybe more traditional, just with hoodies?
In my case, it was somewhere in between.
While exploring Web3 use cases for the team, I stumbled on something in a product backlog:
“Telegram Mini App — let’s try one.”
No docs. No handover. But I’d built Telegram bots before — back when that was all there was.
So I picked it up, asked for a deadline, and got full freedom to run.
That’s just the beginning.
The full write-up is now live — with all the messy, fun details of building and shipping something real in Tokyo:
🧩 If you’re into Telegram bots, fast-moving projects, or curious about what engineering looks like inside a Tokyo startup — take a look.
And if you’re someone who works with developers — PM, founder, hiring
I think you’ll get a sense of how I work just by reading it.
Let’s stay connected.
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Written by

Timothy CHOW
Timothy CHOW
👋 Hi, I'm Timothy CHOW 🚀 Software Engineer | Full Stack Developer | DevOps Engineer based in Tokyo, originally from Hong Kong 🇭🇰 💡 Passionate about building and shipping meaningful products—solo or in teams. ☕ Coffee-fueled. Fast learner. Startup-hardened. Open to exciting opportunities.