[tyro : a person who has just started learning or doing something : a beginner or novice]
Meet the Tyros.
Augustus Loi
augustus.loi [@] tyro.vc
Gree Ventures
Augustus started in the digital space in 2004 when he became editor and community lead for a website with some 750k monthly uniques. Since then, he has gone on to represent such media properties as Supermodelme, a multi-platform fashion reality programme that airs in over 27 countries, and HungryGoWhere, Singapore's no. 1 food portal. Upon graduation, Augustus and his friend started Fashionspace, Asia's first fashion affiliate programme. There, he brought on board over 40 fashion and beauty brands. As part of the launch effort, he developed 20 By Two - Fashion Beyond Borders, the first cross-cultural fashion and technology showcase of its kind. The event hosted 28 brands and 12k shoppers over four days in two countries. Now, at Social@Ogilvy, Augustus has advised on social media and community engagement efforts for such clients as the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (for the Singapore 50 campaign), Toblerone (which achieved sales record in Hong Kong and Singapore as a result), and the Health Promotion Board (for the iQuit programme, which won an EFFIES in 2014). He also leads influencer strategy and deployment for the unit. Augustus graduated from the National University of Singapore in Communications & New Media.
Benjamin Chua
benjamin.chua [@] tyro.vc
Clickstream Ventures
Benjamin Chua is the Executive Manager of Adiuva Pte Ltd; heading the tech-innovation and social enterprise divisions of the company. His current portfolio includes an event management platform and a social enterprise providing event-related services. Mr Chua was educated at the State University of New York (Bsc Business Administration) and Nanyang Technological University (Msc International Political Economics). Prior to entering the private sector, Mr Chua served as a Senior Manager at a statutory board, handling policies and regulations. He currently serves on the AVA’s Multi-stakeholder Collaboration Committee (MSCC) for Animal Welfare and also serves as a community leader in the Yew Tee Community Club Management Committee (CCMC) and as the Chairman for the Yew Tee CC Youth Executive Committee (YEC).
David Ngo
thanhtrung.ngo [@] tyro.vc
Golden Gate Ventures
David obtained his Bachelor Degree (First Class Honors) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from NTU in 2010. After working in GLOBALFOUNDRIES as a semiconductor process engineer for two years, in 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Nanyang President's Graduate Scholarship to pursue the doctorate degree in Integrated Circuit Design and has been working on his research since then. While building up the engineering background, he has developed a great passion in entrepreneurship. In 2009, David started JointTech Pte. Ltd. to commercialize an innovative pressure-mapping system to improve the quality of total knee replacement surgery. The company secured $15,000 funding from SPRING for prototype development. The business was awarded semi-finalist title in ideas.inc Business Challenge and finalist title in Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition. Recently, together with his PhD colleague, David has started a project to develop a low cost RFID solution to be used in retail sector and supply chain management. The project has received a grant and lab space support from Garage@EEE. Besides, his current interest also includes RF/mm-wave transceiver front-end design and hardware development for the future internet of things ecosystem. David is passionate about hi-tech startups. He loves exploring various technological innovations and bringing their values to the market. A nerd, an entrepreneur, a Tyro - they are all in him.
Derek Chia
derek.chia [@] tyro.vc
Gree Ventures
A highly inquisitive individual, Derek has no shortage of questions. Ask him anything, and he will double the questions back. With that, it is no wonder that he likes to challenge status quos, seeking answers to difficult questions. Fortunately for him, he channels his inner rebellious kid to a useful cause - he believes that any problem will have a solution and any solution can always be improved. Driven and sharp, Derek is also a perfectionist. His natural curiosity and eye for details goes a long way in helping him pick out hidden gems to fine-tune to perfection. Coder by nature, he also has a strong business acumen which makes him a rare breed indeed. This strategically positions him to acquire the best of both worlds. As such, Derek had decided that the Tyro.VC Competition would be the perfect platform for him to develop his business prowess while empowering start-ups that are set on solving the problems of the world. Derek is very involved in the local start-up culture, often frequenting Blk71 to understand the start-ups in the local scene. He likes to browse Y-combinator, read Paul Graham’s words of wisdom and watch Guy Kawasaki’s talks in his free time.
Derrick Kwa
derrick.kwa [@] tyro.vc
Infocomm Investments
Since leaving school at 16, Derrick's been forging his own path. He's a firm believer in doing what you love - and he loves the web because it provides opportunities for anyone to do that. Derrick's a computer geek who's been coding since he was 11, and became involved in the social media scene at 17. He was the co-organizer of the Social Media Breakfast Singapore, a contributor to the Age of Conversation 2, a participant on the StartupBus 2011, has been a virtual intern with Seth Godin, and worked with Jessica Mah. After spending most of the past 3 years traveling (going through over 10 countries in the 3 years), doing freelance work and playing poker semi-professionally, he moved back to Singapore in March. He now runs a fan engagement consultancy, Thousand True Fans Pte Ltd, where he helps businesses build deeper relationships with their customers, win their customers' hearts and convert them into true fans who will love the brand. He loves helping others pursue their passions and do what they love, and has great interest in human behaviour and psychology - and how to quantify and profit from those behaviours.
Goh Wei Jian
weijian.goh [@] tyro.vc
Red Dot Ventures
Driven, analytical, creative, passionate. Wei Jian is an avid explorer with an insatiable hunger for knowledge and development. His experiences with startups were brought about by Enactus NTU, a student chapter of a global organization that pushed for sustainable solutions for our world. At Enactus NTU, Wei Jian co-headed a Project Incubator and managed 7 social entrepreneurship projects. These varied experiences in Enactus NTU intrigued him and sparked his passion for startups. Wei Jian's journey in startups continued as he advanced to Top 10 in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition, which involved devising a technological solution to solve social problems in Singapore. He was also privileged with the opportunity to participate in the Enactus World Cup, a global platform for social entrepreneurial ideas. To him, startups shape our future world. They represent the innovativeness and drive of people wanting to contribute to positive changes in our lives. Wei Jian aspires to a venture capitalist in this exciting area where he immerse himself amongst passionate change makers, opportunistic venture capitalists and the entire startup ecosystem. He am ready to embark on a voyage into the prospective venture capital industry in Singapore and to take the first learning step as a Tyro.
Jackson Kwa
jackson.kwa [@] tyro.vc
Red Dot Ventures
Jackson Kwa is a tech-entrepreneur and has driven multiple information and communication technology projects. He is the co-founder of TechSociety Pte Ltd (Singapore), the company secured $50,000 funding from Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) and $10,000 SMU
Innovation Award for commercialization. They were featured in The Straits Times during the National Day special in 2013. The first project was with the National Taxi Association (NTUC) to develop an integrated communication platform for more than 19,000 cab drivers in Singapore. He also piloted tech education initiatives where they conducted technology entrepreneurship workshops to high schools and tertiary institutions in Singapore. His past entrepreneurial ventures include Maptify, a geosocial web application that allows users to explore place of interests and other users around the area. He also actively builds a platform for college students to provide design and technology support to companies. This includes web re-structuring, conceiving corporate slides and producing corporate videos to enhance brand and customer touch points. A Gary Kunis Entrepreneurship and Technopreneurship scholar , he is currently an undergraduate at Singapore Management University. He graduated from Temasek Polytechnic with a Diploma in Business Information Technology with SAP Certified Business Associate for ERP Systems. He is also a certified ISO9000 internal auditor awarded by Ernst & Young.
Kyle Sim
kyle.sim [@] tyro.vc
Infocomm Investments
Kyle epitomises the hustler ethic, turning any experience into a profit-making endeavour. Watching football in secondary school translated into running odds for his classmates; working on event management for a furniture expo eventually found him selling off the wares from a stall he took over. In the Army, he led the content team that populated the first iOS application for OCS and which sparked his decision to import and resell iPads and iPhones from the US and UK. While reading Law at University, he took his skill as a photographer and shot nightlife, events, calendars and sports as well as being an Airbnb host. But giving back to the community is something he believes in strongly and in 2013, ran a crowd funding campaign for the victim of the Little India riot, helping to raise over $2000 in 2 weeks. An active runner, he is aiming to participate in the VibramHK 100 Ultramarathon in 2016 on behalf of the Willing Hearts charity of Singapore. All of these qualities give him an edge in becoming The Tyro.
Valerie Pang
valerie.pang [@] tyro.vc
Clickstream Ventures
Valerie is an undergraduate student at Yale-NUS College and an aspiring entrepreneur. She is the Founder and Co-President of the Yale-NUS Toastmasters Club and Vice President of SDI Academy, a social enterprise. Representing SDI Academy, she has won the IdeasInc Business Challenge competition and was a finalist of the Young Social Entrepreneurs Programme in 2014. Valerie has an ardent love for startups and a great desire to help startups succeed. She has participated in several hackathons and startup competitions, and won the Startup Weekend EDU Singapore. Valerie is rich in working experience, having interned with the Thought Collective, a startup NGO in Hong Kong, and Flare Communications. Currently, Valerie is doing an internship with the startups at JFDI and is a campus ambassador for Glints Intern. Valerie has been actively involved in the startup community, enabling her to build a strong network of connections in the startup scene. Valerie has a curious and passionate personality, and aspires to be a global leader in doing good. In her free time, Valerie loves singing, watching youtube videos, listening to music and having deep conversations. You can often find her hanging out at Blk71!
Winfred Quek
winfred.quek [@] tyro.vc
Golden Gate Ventures
Winfred Quek is an aspiring Venture Capitalist. Aged 20, Winfred graduated from Singapore Polytechnic this year with a Diploma in Banking and Finance. He has done two internships with private equity firms that have over half a billion US Dollars under management. During his time there, he has went through deal flows, due diligence that gives him a sharp edge over his competitors. A keen entrepreneur, he started his first business at the tender age of 18 and has since went on to start two more businesses, ranging from Publishing to F&B. He has been featured on 8 Days, The Straits Time, Money Mind (On Channel 8) as well as Lianhe Wanbao. He is also big on social entrepreneurship, and has worked on developing a microfinance model that focuses on financial education and lending in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa. He is currently on shortlist to join the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Social Global Impact House Fellowship for his social enterprise model.