Drawing on her entrepreneurial experience, the venture capitalist is helping to groom the next generation of start-up leaders
Goh Yiping’s mind is constantly running. Her thoughts are mostly about new business opportunities or ways to help build start-ups. “I cannot sit still, even when I’m on holiday,” says the 37-year-old entrepreneur, who has founded several technology-driven companies. They include her first start-up, World Indigo, in 2004, which developed mobile phone roaming services for passengers on planes and ferries, and later her breakout venture, All Deals Asia, an online aggregator of retail deals she started with her brother Wayne in 2010, which was eventually acquired by Indonesia’s Lippo Group. “I want to make full use of my time because time is limited after all.”
While still running All Deals Asia and taking on the development of Lippo’s e-commerce business, Matahari Mall, the Generation T 2018 honouree decided to become a venture capitalist. “I enjoyed being a founder and being at the front line of running a business, but I started to wonder how I can make a greater impact and harness my connections and experience to help others build their businesses.”
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After hitting it off with Quest Ventures founder James Tan, she worked with the venture capital firm first as a freelance venture partner in 2015, before joining full‑time in 2018. She identifies early-stage start-ups to invest in and nurtures them with a “pro-founder” approach. “We’re strong supporters of the founders we work with because we’ve been in their shoes before. We always make sure that they know we’re in this journey with them.”
Sowing the Seeds
“I was inspired by my parents to become an entrepreneur after seeing the successes and failures of their humble hawker business when I was growing up. While it may deter some from running their own business, it mentally prepared me for the entrepreneurial journey and made me fearless.”
Business Savvy
“Entrepreneurship is tough, especially on the mind. You may start with an idea that you really love, and then realise that it has to evolve or pivot to a point where you don’t recognise it anymore, because the reality is that it also needs to be relevant, monetisable and able to gain traction with its target audience.”
