Over the course of 6 years, I have (co-)founded 3 startups.The first one is Virgla, a Flipboard for fans of brands. We went through Startupbootcamp's accelerator in 2016.In 2017, with a university friend, I worked on the second: HitchFly, a last-minute flight ticket startup for students.Maesh β an online payment gateway in Singapore β is my latest and most successful. Starting out as a one-man show in 2019, I have been able to partly exit the business to Rapyd in 2021.As founder/CEO, I was fortunate to:
Raise US$75K in pre-seed funding π°
Lead a team of 7 Maesh potatoes π₯
Build the company to 63 active merchants and US$110K in GTV (Gross Transaction Volume) π
In a post-mortem article, I shared my learnings and f*ck-ups during my 2-year journey with Maesh:
I spoke about my ambitions for Maesh on the 10Fin.Tech podcast:
After Maesh, I joined Brick for 9+ months as VP of Commercial to build the financial infrastructure of Southeast Asia. I shared how I look at Open Finance here:
End of 2022, through serendipitous circumstances, I joined my brother's longevity e-commerce business For Youth. The first stint was for 6 months, the second stint was for 9 months. I spearheaded Operational, Technical, and some Strategy projects.In that first half year, we grew revenue 3.5x by churning out 3 additional products all the while improving operational efficiency. I also built our proprietary Inventory Management System from scratch.In the second ΒΎ year, I focused on solidifying operational excellence by improving supply chain, logistical, and customer care processes.
End of March 2022, together with 15+ others, I started in Batch 3 as one of Saison Capital's VC Scouts.Having been a founder myself, I know what it's like to be in the throes of startup life. Fundraising is no picnic.While I won't be able to solve all of your problems...let me be your friendly neighborhood founder!Are you looking to fundraise? Do you think SEA's leading corporate venture capital arm can be that strategic partner for your startup's journey?Feel free to ping me on LinkedIn or e-mail and let's chat.P.s. Do you want to know more about what it's like to be a VC Scout (at Saison Capital)? Have a peek at the article below!
Lately, I am writing short-form content on LinkedIn. But I've also penned down a couple of longer articles in the past. Plus, my friend Santiago and I had our very own podcast!
Long-form content
Or go to my Medium account to see even older stories. π
Podcasts
LinkedIn posts
On this page, I have tried to summarize who I am as a founder.While I'm aware the perfect one doesn't exist π, I've also gathered my thoughts around who'd be my ideal co-founder.
π’ Strengths
Leadership
Hands-off No micromanaging
No bullshit Transparency
Clarity
Fairness
Honesty
Personally engaged in people Vested in their success
Caring
Interested
Open/vulnerable Personal life
Struggles
Asking for feedback
Strong communicator Visible
Available
Responsive
Organization
Creating structure out of nothing
Using thought patterns to solve problems
Execution
Relentless, even when I donβt feel like it Dedicated
Passionate
Persistent
Ownership
Creativity
Combining the verbal with the visual
Attention to detail
Comment by a fellow entrepreneur: βYou are a true artistβ
Product / Customer focus
Caring about their experience UI/UX
Understanding their needs/wants Product Management
Worked in the hospitality industry for 7 years Michelin restaurant
Troubleshooting
Highly analytical
Quickly getting to the root cause of issues
Startup Expertise
Understanding all the ins and outs of starting a business
Connected with fellow entrepreneurs SG
SEA
NL
π΄ Weaknesses
Extrovert and Introvert
Not somebody who wants / can be βonβ 100% of the time
May be shy and/or observant under circumstances
I can be too serious. I can smile / relax more often
Good sleep is very important for my mood. Poor sleep can make me grumpy
Planning and structure
Don't always plan ahead, as I like to do things on the fly
But I can also be too rigid in an effort to keep myself away from chaos
Should apply tight deadlines/schedules more to improve speed
I tend to synthesize much more bottom-up than top-down
Competitive
I tend to compare myself a lot with others and have that determine my success
I rely on praise / recognition
Areas of Responsibility Exercise
I am a true jack-of-all-trades. As a former single founder, I am familiar with all aspects of running a business. I know how to sell to customers and I have been able to setup a website, database, and cloud environment. However, out of the 3 personas Hipster, Hacker, and Hustler, I lean most towards Hipster (Product).
My perfect business partner in crime might be you! But who are you? Although I know I might be asking for the moon, it's the only way we can make this company a moonshot ππ You can be either of these 2 types:
1. sales and marketing guru
You are very comfortable selling to people. You love setting yourself targets and overachieving them. You enjoy prospecting and bringing a sale to a close. You might even call yourself a "hunter" π―
2. Strong Technical Leader
You are well-versed in development and technology. You enjoy drawing out the big-picture architecture and finding the right stack. You take pride in choosing the best tools to enforce code practice. Scalability, reliability, and maybe even security are second nature to you π»
Other Values and Traits
Company values
The following company values might resonate with you:
Radical Transparency
Open to feedback / Humility / Willingness to learn
Loyalty / Trust / Keeping promises (not flaky)
Leadership
Meritocracy
Personality traits
You might identify with the following personality traits:
Bubbly / Cheerful
Decisive / Driven
Reflective / Self-aware
Structured
More rational than emotional
Bias for action