Aseem Thakur, Serial Entrepeneur — Creativity & Curiosity
Aseem Thakur, serial social entrepreneur and co-inventor of two bio-medical device patents and startups, shares what gives a person an entrepreneurial edge.
“Make something people want,” says Aseem K. Thakur, 30, on the best advice ever given to him. The serial entrepreneur has a knack for identifying what people want, and crafting a strategy to meet those needs.
Venture #1: Suppers at PGP
In 2006, the Prince George’s Park resident brought the unrivalled Sheares Hall supper experience to fellow National University of Singapore (NUS) students’ doorsteps with his first enterprise, Jumbo Supper. “It was my first brush with entrepreneurship and I still remember the rush of excitement I felt,” he recalled. “They loved the service.”
“Through Jumbo Supper, I learned how amazing it is when you do something that affects people’s lives in a positive manner.”
Venture #2: Uplifting stories (but no lift-off)
Aseem then tried his hand at a media startup, Spread E Love, which curated positive, inspiring stories. This was 2007, when the mechanical engineer was a NUS Overseas Colleges student reading entrepreneurship modules in Stanford and interning at a start-up in Silicon Valley — Voyage Medical Inc. This idea failed to take off the ground as the team was not able to find a product-market fit. However, it sowed the seeds for his next project to make impact across Asia.
“Looking back, I feel that we did not put in the amount of effort that was required. In order to make big ideas happen, you have to be 100% committed.”
As the co-inventor of two bio-medical device patents during his time in Silicon Valley, he would know.
Venture #3: Making Giving Simple
Undaunted, Aseem returned to NUS to partner with Jumbo supper kaki Pong Yu Ming to start an online peer-to-peer philanthropy platform, GIVE.asia (then GIVE.sg), in 2009. Its aim was to make online giving “more accessible, seamless and social”. With funding from a NUS professor, GIVE.asia took off. Drawing from his past failed experience in Spread E Love, the team went in with full commitment this time, putting in the work needed to understand users intimately.
With Jumbo Supper and GIVE.asia, he and his team found themselves “scratching (their) own itch”. “If we could build a solution that we wanted to use, most likely other people will use it too.” In both cases, Aseem and his team made good friends with the customers and users. This open channel of communication meant that users were actively sharing their feedback with the team. This in turn helped them improve their service.
The team’s hard work paid off. They emerged winners of the Start-Up@Singapore Social Enterprise Challenge 2009, and finalists at the Start-Up@Singapore 2010. With further guidance and exposure to industry contacts from the Social Venture Lab @ NUS, GIVE.asia took flight.
Venture #4: Interesting projects, interesting people
In 2014, Aseem and partner-in-crime Yu Ming started software development and design agency Givola Labs, an innovation consultancy that does “interesting projects with interesting people”. The illustrious company gained clients like UBS, Metlife, A*Star and WPP within a year. “We work with an experienced, passionate and very ambitious team at Givola Labs and that has made a world of difference contributing to the success of the company.”
One such person is Aseem’s co-founder, Yu Ming. Their track record of projects together dates back to Victoria Junior College days. Yu Ming’s optimism, team spirit, perseverance, and knack for problem solving make him a great co-founder. “You definitely want a co-founder in a startup with whom you are okay with getting into trouble,” recalling the tough days that they had to overcome as a team.
Also, he recommends, always hire people better than yourself.
Secret Ingredients to Creativity
Aseem’s accomplishments in a short span of time is amazing — how does he do it?
Two ingredients: reading and travel.
“Reading is a major source of creativity in my life. I read lots of books and they constantly give me ideas to improve things by trying out something new.
In addition to books, I travel quite often and that always puts me in a creative state as well.”
Two habits help translate his insights to real-world application: consolidating his ideas in a notebook, and acting on his curiosity.
GIVE.asia — and the interviews with around 50 charities in Singapore that led to it — began with one question: why do charities in Singapore still use antiquated ways of collecting funds through flag days when there is the efficient channel of the internet? Thanks to Aseem’s questions and courage, the world is a better place.
Apart from these daily routines, Aseem also puts on future-focused lenses each day. Quoting cyberpunk author William Gibson, Aseem observes that “the future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.” Entrepreneurs have to be constantly looking around for the future which may “show itself in bits and pieces,” he said.
“Once you have identified the future, it’s about distributing it to the people.”
Is Assem’s ability to exploit opportunities nurtured? Or are they part of his natural giftedness? Entrepreneurial skills can be built over time, he replied. These skills can be honed through having a bias toward action, constantly iterating, and learning from other entrepreneurs.
An “Experimentation Mindset”
Unafraid of change, Aseem sees experiments as a way of life, which constantly push him to improve. “I am a big supporter of an experimentation mindset and at work, as well as in my personal life. I am always running experiments and adapting my approach based on the results.”
Right now, in Givola Labs and GIVE.asia, he and his team are experimenting with work itself. “We are transitioning completely into a remote organization with 100% distributed workforce. This move has forced us to constantly challenge our beliefs of how work gets done, and every day we are finding better ways to be more effective.”
This mindset helps him to celebrate failure, and to harvest his learnings for continuous improvement. “If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing your boundaries enough,” he reflected. “When failure happens, I learn from it and move on.”
Aseem wants to urge fellow social entrepreneurs to be creative and curious about what makes stakeholders’ lives better.
“We live in a world that has so much noise, so in order to grab people’s attention, one has got to be creative.”
Aseem’s “Four Steps To The Epiphany”
Aseem’s advice to social entrepreneurs comes in four steps:
- Take a social problem that you care deeply about
- Hack products, services, business models and test them in real life
- Learn how to work as a team with people who have skills that are complementary to yours
- Always keep iterating and improving
How can you help?
Aseem says…
“We are always looking for passionate, ambitious and driven people to join our team. If you are interested in what we are doing at GIVE.asia or Givola Labs, please drop me a line at aseem@giveasia.org. I’d love to speak with you!”
Follow GIVE.asia & Givola Labs online…
GIVE.asia:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Givola Labs:
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Ready to develop your social enterprise idea?
If you are seeking support for your social enterprise idea, NUS Enterprise has a host of events and funding opportunities to equip you on your journey.
One such programme is the DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia — take part and stand a chance to grow your innovative, scalable solution with sustainable impact.
Another programme is the NUS Enterprise Start-Up Runway, which supports start-ups at any point of your entrepreneurial journey.
More information on the Social Venture Lab @ NUS is available at our website.
