Leveraging past experiences to lead a top startup

They started off as a doctor, a TV personality, an eSports Shoutcaster, a tutor and a professional sportsperson. Today, they run some of the top startups in the region.

Deciding to make that jump from employee to employer is a big step and there are many motivational factors.

Most of the founders of LinkedIn’s Top Startups 2022 started their companies to fill gaps in their respective sectors. For example, the lack of scalable personalised education services for students, an opportunity to bridge the gap between shopping and traditional broadcasting as well as the chance to create opportunities for a future generation.

The diverse backgrounds of these founders bring a certain uniqueness to their leadership and management styles as well as transferable skills when transiting from staff to management. We spoke with a few founders of our Top Startups 2022 honorees and got them to share how they leverage their past experiences to view things from a different perspective.

Tryke Gutierrez went from being a Dota 1 shoutcaster to events organiser to eventually becoming the co-founder and CEO of Philippine gaming and esports startup Tier One Entertainment .

“During my shoutcasting days, I learned how proper storytelling works. Later on, I realised that storytelling is crucial in any industry as there is power when the relevant stories reach the right people. Communities, clients, and all the other people out there will always resonate to great stories.

“My former job as an events organiser made me encounter different kinds of people. That experience has given me the maturity of knowing how to deal with different situations, and how creating allies who can share the same vision can make our organization achieve goals faster.”

Mesty Ariotedjo , the co-founder and CEO of Indonesia’s all-in-one parenting startup Tentang Anak , has over 10 years’ experience as a medical doctor.

“I noticed that I have a similar approach both as a doctor and a CEO. I always start from addressing the symptoms (or the problems/pain points) and then make a diagnosis.

After that, there are so many options of treatment (or action), then we need to assess which one will bring more benefits, do no harm and in the most efficient way.

As medical doctors, we are also trained to be calm in a crisis and also to make the most efficient move with the best outcome ASAP. What I heard from our Tamily, Tentang Anak is really a fast-paced company, but we don't work too much, we need to work in a reasonable amount and in a strategic way.” 

Neo Zhizhong (Neo) , the co-Founder and CEO of Singapore edtech startup Geniebook , spent nearly a decade of teaching close to 1,000 students. He elaborates on the similarities in managing a team and a classroom:

"For example, some managers suffer from the curse of knowledge; they forget what it was like not to have certain skills or knowledge. This creates a lot of frustration for the managers and the teams.

A good teacher, like an effective manager, will not have unrealistic expectations on what prior competencies a student has. We learn students’ strengths and gaps by being observant, thoughtful and respectful. Then we work together with them to close their gaps and allow them to shine through their strengths.”

Hiyasmin Neri-Soyao (Yas), co-founder and CEO of Philippine livestream shopping startup Shoppertainment LIVE , started her career as an actress and then went on to become a successful pioneering host on a TV home shopping channel.

“Being an actress in front of the camera and also seeing through the lens which is the backend, made me more prepared in becoming a CEO of livestream shopping network. Being exposed on the digital side of media also made me aware of managing expectations of brands.

This proved to be very useful as I established the business development and account management side of Shoppertainment.

Being a shop host myself also made it easier to transition into becoming a livestream shopping presenter. Skills that made me more prepared is my curiosity to understand how things work, like how I got curious how a production works coming from an actress and a shop host point of view. Being curious always makes me want to learn more innovations which Shoppertainment prides itself as always being at the forefront of livestream shopping.”

Dr. Julian Hosp , founder and CEO of Singapore fintech startup Bake , was a professional kitesurfer and he shares that even becoming a world champion and writing a bestselling book does not guarantee success. He did however take away some valuable lessons from those experiences which he applies to his current role.

"I trained hard to become one of the top 10 kitesurfers in the world, but I would have never won my competitions if I did not have kitesurfing gear that was the best. When I became a recognised name in the sport, especially after writing the bestselling kitesurfing guidebook to date, I collaborated with water sports brands to design my own range of gear with the best features possible.

Despite all my marketing to recreational kitesurfers, the products did not sell. After multiple failed marketing attempts, I realised I was creating products for people like me – experienced kitesurfers – and not beginner or intermediate kitesurfers like my target audience. I took this failure and went back to the drawing board, adjusting the gear so that they are retail-friendly. That move made me my first million. 

This lesson follows me everywhere, even in my current business. The crypto industry is filled with technical jargon and difficult-to-understand products. There are so many barriers to entry that prevent new adopters from using crypto assets as a store of value, investment or payment method. My co-founder and I saw this opportunity to create a product that would address these barriers to entry, making it simple and easy for anyone - especially complete beginners - to join the crypto revolution."

What transferable skills are most valued by startups? Join the conversation using #LinkedInTopStartups.

Reported by: Adrian Tay