A Look Into An Entrepreneur’s Mind Interview with Mr Lee Junxian, Co-founder of Moovaz

To many, actualising our ideas and embarking on a start-up career seems like a distant dream. Fret not! Today, we delve into the experiences of Junxian, co-founder of Moovaz, a global human mobility platform that provides seamless relocation-related services via their digital platform., We will learn what it really means to be an entrepreneur and how to get started, through his ventures into our local start-up scene, insightful perspectives and reflections.

The Beginning

Junxian’s journey in entrepreneurship started in Year 2 of university when, together with a partner, he spotted a business opportunity for a cafe at an on-campus student residence. Although the existing cafe was not profitable then, he and his friend decided to take a leap of faith and drew on their life savings to acquire the business. Needless to say, there was intense trepidation accompanying this drastic decision. However, they stuck to their optimism (perhaps over optimism in Junxian’s words), and that kickstarted his entrepreneurship journey.

The Journey

When Junxian graduated with a business degree, he found himself grappling with the paralysis of choice across many different fields. Eventually, he pursued a career in finance which was a comfortable choice at that time by societal standards. Yet, he increasingly realized that it was not suited for him. Taking a step back, he wanted to give himself a moment for recalibration. Ultimately, he found the right balance - leveraging what he was good at doing and engaging in meaningful work to serve the worlds’ needs. He decided to further his studies in Boston and then in China. During his time abroad, he noticed the increasing prevalence of technology and the immense change it brought about to the man-on-the-street in China. This was when realization struck him that technology was here to stay and that it would play an increasingly bigger role in all businesses. Consolidating his interests and bringing them back to Singapore, Junxian strived to dive deeper into the sector.??

Junxian returned to Singapore and became a venture capitalist at Sea Group. This experience galvanized him with in-depth knowledge of the business workings of a startup and he subsequently got the opportunity to work with brilliant minds on an e-commerce project, now known as Shopee, the multinational e-commerce giant. This jolted his operational tech journey and he benefited immensely from the wealth of knowledge. His extensive experiences in the running of a business, both from the investment and the operation fronts equipped him with essential skill sets. Most importantly, his familiarity with the commercial value of technology and its role, both from an operator and a market perspective propelled him into his subsequent ventures, including Moovaz, CashShield, a global big-data analytics, enterprise risk management firm and Fundnel, Southeast Asia’s biggest private investment technology platform.

Checking the box

Undoubtedly, the entrepreneurial path is not all rosy. One has to be comfortable with the high chance of failing. Secondly, being able to distinguish between being an entrepreneur and being entrepreneurial is key. Being an entrepreneur is a career choice. Conversely, you can be entrepreneurial in any setting with your problem solving, innovative and nimble mindset. Hence, by being able to differentiate the two, you will be able to choose the path best suited for you.

Getting started

As a first-timer, the biggest hurdle would be yourself. Overcome your own inertia and inhibitions in your mind. Ultimately, figure out why you want to be an entrepreneur. Are you chasing the entrepreneurship lifestyle? Or have you identified a problem through your experience, and you want to solve that problem? Once you have gotten that down, get started, and the course will run itself.?

A Jack Of All Trades

Be a generalist! When starting a company from ground zero, you have to cover all aspects of the business - finance, product, operations, human relations, and accounting. As it grows, you will be able to relinquish that responsibility to a professional. However, it remains crucial to be able to empathize with these roles. Your prior experiences should breed respect and mutual understanding, which then solidifies the foundation of your partnership.?

Even as you progress into working with larger companies at a later stage as a leader or strategist, you will need to make decisions with huge implications on the entire business. Being well versed in the different divisions will enable you to make the best broad based decision for the company as a whole.

And in order to do so, embrace curiosity! Google everything and anything when in doubt. A consistent approach to learning will make you an extremely good jack of all trades.

Making decisions

Identify your decision-making criteria at each juncture in your life. It could be profit or loss maximization, regret minimization or pleasure maximization etc. Fundamentally, be clear of your criterias at every stage to be accountable for your decisions.?

Secondly, always make your own decisions! Unfortunately, there is societal pressure for university graduates to be employed, which drives students to embark on a career that may not necessarily lead them to the right destination. Thus, find your true interest. Read up about it, get more information about the specific company, industry, or even leadership style. This provides you with more clarity and brings your interviews alive as an appealing job applicant.?

Finding Courage and Strength

This journey will be fraught with failures. The loss of confidence can be crippling but you must recover from these setbacks. Identify your pillars of support early, be it friends, family, or even your religion. When faced with a mental block, take one step at a time. In Junxian’s case, he aimed to do 10 things each time. Although 8 may fail, he identified the 2 that worked. Repeating the process to discover and maximize his strengths, he leveraged this as his source of encouragement to spur on.

Unconventional? Not anymore!

Statistically, the jobs undertaken by graduates in start-ups are higher now more than ever. With an ecosystem comfortable with fundraising and extensive governmental support, the only cost today is opportunity cost. This is a stark contrast from before, when businesses had to draw on their own savings, an actualised loss, to keep their companies afloat.?

Moreover, your experiences as an entrepreneur will be highly valued. Employers recognise the sheer grit and determination it takes to venture into start-ups. Your unique experiences will provide unparalleled insights that set you aside from your peers. This will boost your appeal as a candidate and even accelerate career advancements.

Advice For The Dreamers:

1. Reflect on your motivation and ambitions.?
2. Venture beyond academics and invest in your CCAs, like NES!?
3. Enrich your university life with meaningful memories from different avenues.

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Article by Samantha Vun, Researcher/Writer under Content Creation Division in NES.

Founded in 1992, NES is the Premier Tertiary Entrepreneurship Organisation in Singapore. NES promotes entrepreneurship at the National University of Singapore to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs. The society is a hub for entrepreneurship with an abundance of learning and networking opportunities. We organise large conferences and hackathons to bring our members closer to the business community.

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