What makes Alan Tsao tick? It’s on his wrist. Literally.
As the founder of Tsao Baltimore LLC, a new premium watch company located in Baltimore, Tsao says his primary passion is “to provide extraordinary timepieces at a fair price.”
Tsao, who is pursuing a Master’s degree in entrepreneurship in the University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business, launched his eponymous company in 2017 after years of designing, iterating and prototyping watches. A self-proclaimed “watch geek,” Tsao began collecting wrist-ware at about age 10, when he received his first, an orange Fossil watch. He says he spent hours admiring the look and feel of it — and taking it apart to see how it worked.
Eventually, as his obsession grew, his tastes changed and he took an interest in more elegant and complex watches. But, as he became more familiar with products available on the market, he discovered few offerings that met his quality standards and specifications. The reality of sticker-shock quickly set in, too, as he realized that his eyes were bigger than his wallet.
So he decided to create his own line of homegrown, affordable designer watches. Tsao, who currently works as the Advertising Director with Hendersen-Webb, Inc., oversees every aspect of the process, from designing the logo to carefully selecting the components and features in each watch. He’s also passionate about keeping things local, partnering with Ellicott City-based Clockwork Synergy to produce watchbands that match and help differentiate the Tsao line.
Tsao’s instincts and passion have been paying off. Since launch, he has more than tripled his initial Kickstarter campaign goal of $40,000, and is set to launch a second line this fall. Ironically, he admits, there’s one factor holding him back from achieving all of his goals: Time.
“I know I only have so much time in a day,” Tsao says. “As long as I’m able to manage my time effectively and efficiently, I’m able to accomplish all these great things.”
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