FRIDAY MARCH 12, 2020 17 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF Celebrating the unstoppable The countdown to the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020 Malaysia Awards ceremony has begun. This year’s theme is “Unstoppable” and, indeed, there is much to be learnt from these entrepreneurs who have navigated one of the toughest years in recent history, and emerged triumphant. The awards will be held virtually this year, enabling it to reach a larger audience. To be part of the ceremony, which will be held at 5pm on March 25, register at ey.com/my/eoy. We introduce the nominees in the four categories. BY ANANDHI GOPINATH Eric Cheng Shannics Teh Wong Whei Meng Cindy Kua Emerging entrepreneur category ing. Recently, Khairy Jamaluddin (Minister of Sci- • Eric Cheng, Carsome Sdn Bhd ence, Technology and Innovation) fell after hitting • Shannics Teh, MuZart International Sdn Bhd a pothole during a biking session. All of a sudden, • Armi Majid, OFO Tech Sdn Bhd potholes are a big thing now, with both federal and • Wong Whei Meng, Speedrent Technology Sdn Bhd state authorities heavily investing efforts to digitalise • Cindy Kua, Sunday Ins Holdings Pte Ltd that process. Our system was developed exactly for that purpose a year ago. 1. Was there a eureka moment, when you knew you had an idea on your hands that would work? Wong: We use trends and signals to reinforce our beliefs. Consistently hearing appreciation and Cheng: Carsome started out as a car comparison web- gratitude is the true north for us, knowing that site, as we wanted to build an information hub for the we are heading in the right direction. My email is automotive industry. Within six months, we kept getting made public for direct feedback to help us achieve requests from our customers to help them dispose of mind-blowing service for our customers. Stay true their cars. That was when we realised we could do so to the mission, relentlessly innovate and non-stop much more by digitalising the used-car market, which over-deliver. The result: We let the market decide was fragmented and marred by distrust. This is one whether we deserve a spot in the industry. thing that makes entrepreneurship exciting — to be open and keep trying until you succeed. Armi Majid Kua: The idea happened when I was given the op- portunity to lead the regional insurance portfolio Teh: The devotion I have for education drove me academic abilities while having fun with art, making of my family-owned insurance companies, which to become a part-time educator at the age of 16. MuzArt a holistic education system. quickly led to Sunday being founded as a new and However, it was a struggle to find a balance between full-stack insurtech with its own sales, products, team my parents’ expectations, academic abilities and Armi: One exciting example would be the develop- and operating structure. To build an insurer for the children’s demand for fun learning. The first MuzArt ment of our EnVIS, or Enhanced Vision, system. The future, it was clear our DNA had to be driven by data syllabus emerged when I found a balance between product uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automate traditional art and creative art in order to develop pothole detection for road infrastructure monitor- CONTINUES ON PAGE 18 FRIDAY MARCH 12, 2020 18 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF FROM PAGE 17 helped address gaps in the market. We focused on demand. For industries to transform, regulations execution and building strong traction and a service should also be able to adapt and strike a balance and technology with design principles that aim to track record that allowed us to attract funding from between stability and spurring innovation. meet customer preferences that are changing rap- credible and well-known investors to further scale idly in this new era. our business and capture the market. Tech entrepreneur category • Kamarul A Muhamed, Aerodyne Group 2. As you took on what was once unusual business 3. How do you think society can better support • C C Puan, Green Packet Bhd models, how did you convince detractors that young entrepreneurs brave enough to seek out • Datuk Chevy Beh, Health4U Solutions Sdn Bhd they would succeed? business opportunities in uncharted waters? 1. What’s the hardest lesson you’ve learnt as a Cheng: During Carsome’s earlier days, getting car Cheng: Society can start by trying out new local tech entrepreneur? sellers and used car dealers to actually use and trust businesses and giving honest feedback, as open the-then new product was not easy. For car sellers, and constructive input helps new businesses grow Kamarul: When you have a common idea, every- we chose the route of transparency and convenience fast. I also believe in a strong support system or one will believe in you. But if it’s unconventional, no in our processes and pricing. We also used a lot of mentorship programmes — it would be great for one will; so, you must have a very strong conviction. time to build our inspection standards so that our established entrepreneurs to invest time in men- I experienced this a lot at the beginning. Build a reports were of high quality and reliable enough for toring budding entrepreneurs, or even just be a team of people who believe in you and grow it over used-car dealers to base their business decisions on. sounding board, as both parties can learn from time. That, together with the tenacity and willpow- each other’s experiences. er to keep solving problems, because every time Teh: Our ability to produce well-rounded students you do, you bring the company to the next level. with a holistic education is a game changer in Teh: Change begins with us. MuzArt plays an im- the art education industry. Focusing on character portant role in creating the platform to nurture Puan: There are many different reasons people building and personality development, MuzArt has confidence, charisma and moral values in children. become tech entrepreneurs. Many want to change created a new market by revamping traditional art the world, some are fascinated by a particular education into a distinctive education system using Armi: Society should include all stakeholders, problem, some seek independence, and others art as a teaching tool. whether it’s the government in terms of offering have a monetary motivation. All valid reasons, but funding support to young start-ups, or the public it’s essential to understand what your convictions Armi: Dropbox and Google Drive are both Software- as consumers to prefer local products over foreign are. Understanding your reasons will be crucial in as-a-Service (SAAS) platforms and charged their brands. We were unfortunate to have lost GrabCar, tough times. I was once faced with the decision of customers via subscription and the “pay as much as which moved to Singapore. Malaysian funders did whether to keep my company alive when times you use” business model. We saw that this model not see its disruptive potential. We need to prevent were tough and when my initial concept failed. was the most appropriate for our type of service this from happening again. In the tech scene, we have to accept that change and/or business solution. Over time, even our cli- is constant, and your motivations will determine ents preferred this method, considering it is more Wong: Three lessons. One, it starts from home — what kind of legacy you leave. flexible for their operational cost structures as well. doubt but encourage, observe not judge, support not laugh. Two, failure is the mother of success — Beh: Never give up. You are doing something new Wong: A lot of cold water was thrown on us when strangely, nobody likes to fail or fails to learn from and going against all the odds. So, as long as you we started this journey. Everyone is entitled to his mistakes. Three, paying it forward, giving back — believe in your product, keep going and someone opinion and all we can do is show a new path to more successful entrepreneurs to fund, back and will believe in you. property rental. We focused on delivering our prom- mentor next-generation entrepreneurs. ise. And we do fail, we fail very often; but we learn 2. How do you keep ahead of rapidly changing quickly and remedy our shortfalls. Kua: Society and governments can build a strong- technologies in your chosen field? er foundation for our education system to ensure Kua: We were strategic about who we targeted as that the skill sets of our generation and the gen- Kamarul: You need world-class talent and world- our first customers and ensured that our products eration of tomorrow are relevant and meet future class technology. All our focus and R&D spend has been on this as well as mergers and acquisitions, which also introduce new technologies to the group. Puan: I am convinced that the digital economy will rise. Therefore, after equipping ourselves at Green Packet with the best people and knowledge of future trends, we are fully invest- ing in the most advanced technology areas, the ABCDEFG of technology. AI, blockchain, cloud computing, big data, Internet of Everything and 5G will be our upcoming focus areas. Beh: I meet with a lot of people, I read a lot, I engage with a lot of fellow entrepreneurs. In terms Kamarul A Muhamed C C Puan Datuk Chevy Beh CONTINUES ON PAGE 19 FRIDAY MARCH 12, 2020 19 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF FROM PAGE 18 of tech, we have teams that scan global markets every day and keep an eye out for trends and ideas that we should be aware of.