Matthew Low Sep 2021
Episode Title:
Matthew Low on stumbling into entrepreneurship, finding the right business partner, co-founding a chatbot tech startup with no technical background and advice on joining startups and making career moves
Episode Description:
If you are curious about joining the tech startup 🧑💻 scene, aspiring to be an entrepreneur or thinking about making a big career change 💼, do not miss this episode.
Matthew Low started his career at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore in 2009 before moving on to Resorts World Sentosa (RWS). He stumbled into entrepreneurship which led him to build a content marketing agency. In 2016, he became cofounder at AiChat, a chatbot 💬 solution for enterprises and spent the next 4.5 years being the Chief Marketing and Investment Officer.
In 2021, he joined Universal Aquaculture Singapore, a company whose mission is to build global food systems of tomorrow, producing sustainable seafood 🦐. He served as its Chief Commercial Officer.
Join Matthew and I in this episode as he reflects on his career journey across diverse industries so far, gives his honest opinion on joining and running a startup without technical background, sharing the lessons he’s learnt along the way, advice to folks out there who are considering entrepreneurship/career change and more.
Time Stamp:
01:25: Matthew’s role as Chief Commercial Officer at Universal Aquaculture
07:07: First job at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
09:47: How Matthew stumbled into entrepreneurship with his passion for photography
18:54: What made Matthew expand his business to a content marketing agency
20:47: Finding the right business partner
24:35: Becoming co-founder of AiChat (chatbot solution for enterprises)
29:59: Considerations of joining AiChat
41:28: Advice to get a job at a startup
58:25: Going from entrepreneur to being employee
01:01:59: Leadership style
01:06:45: Advice for people considering entrepreneurship or career switch
This podcast episode was recorded in Sep 2021.
About the host John Lim:
Currently based in Singapore, I’m a husband, father and a curious business and tech enthusiast. Bulk of my career so far has been centered around business development, technology, entrepreneurship and startups. I have made rather huge career switches across diverse and unfamiliar industries. You can learn more about my career journey here.
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Show Notes, Links and Resources:
Startup job portals:
https://www.techinasia.com/jobs
https://angel.co/jobs (Fun fact: I got to know about Igloohome / Igloocompany opportunity on here in 2017)
On finding business partner:
John: ideal to do it on your own, but if you MUST find a business partner, read this: 50/50 splits are lazy (& expensive lessons learned from a toxic business partnership) (one of the best articles I have come across on this topic so far, inspired by Bryan Victor)
Some articles on startup fund-raising from:
Crunchbase (platform known for information on public and private companies including startups)
Y Combinator (highly reputable and successful startup accelerator from Silicon Valley, US)
Recommendations / Mentions of books, media, persons:
The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness (highly recommended)
Aswath Damodaran, Professor of Finance at Stern School of Business at New York University on valuation concepts
Ray Kroc, American entrepreneur best known for expanding McDonald’s from a local chain to the world’s most profitable restaurant franchise operation, Author of Grinding it Out: The Making of Mcdonalds; Movie: The Founder
Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company by Andrew Grove, ex-CEO of Intel
High Output Management by Andrew Grove, ex-CEO of Intel
Disclosure:
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