"Shao Ning and I still want to support the ecosystem because being a founder has taught us a lot. It influences every part of our lives, even when it comes to how we deal with our family, our children, and each other, for the better. We want to help pay it forward by sharing all these experiences by giving talks and then engaging with the founders after that. What has changed is how systematic we go about in terms of finding and picking deals, how we do asset allocation, how we decide how much to invest and when to follow on, and what are all the factors we look out for. Those are the things that are being refined, but the underlying reason and philosophy, is still the same. We just want to share our knowledge, keep learning, and stay relevant. We believe in our ecosystem. We hope to get a return from it because when we cashed out, then we have no more stake in the ecosystem. We want to still have our chip in the game, but of course, we participate with a different role now." - Der Shing Lim
"The biggest change would be the quality and quantity of talent we are getting both at the founder and employee level. That's most important because the people drive tech businesses. When we started back in 2000, there was one boom, but it died very quickly, and even then, the great talent was still going to the banks, the consultancies, and the investment banks. Now, we routinely see very good quality talent from Ivy Leagues, or for mid-careers who want to start a business, or who are willing to join a business. That's the single biggest differentiating factor. It's both a consequence and a reason for why the ecosystem is where it is now because the more successes you get, the more stories of people coming out and doing well, and the more people going in." - Der Shing Lim
"It’s tricky. There's no hard and fast rule. Founders need to look at their own business and figure it out for themselves. Is their company a winner? Take all. Is there already a winner that has taken all? If they truly are in a blue ocean and brand new, then yes, by all means, carry on the great way, because there will be people who will find you because there's always risk capital that way. If you can't find it, that means there's there's something off. You better figure out what's off. I think most businesses think they're that kind, but they're actually not. So you have to decide if your business belongs to the category that needs to hunker down and scale down dramatically, and then preserve the options for what you’ve built rather than relying on your VC funding because if they decide not to fund you, you're in trouble." - Der Shing Lim
In this episode, Jeremy Au speaks on the founder to angel syndicate leader path, disrupting yourself, and shifting identities.
Keywords: Founder to Angel Syndicate Leader, Disrupting Yourself, Shifting Identities, Singapore, VC, Founder Story
