Alumni Spotlight Stories: Eugene Ng

Eugene is the Head of Growth at StaffAny where he deals with Business Development and Marketing. His day-to-day engagement includes meeting clients, managing the productivity of my team, empowering them to do what they want to do yet at the same time helping the company to achieve our objectives. He aims to achieve maximum results with minimum resources. Being someone who believes in a flat structure, he loves to give his colleagues the empowerment to unleash their creativity. This is his 4th attempt of starting a company.

Q: How were your experiences at the NUS Business School like?

Prior to joining NUS Business School, I always wanted to start something, yet I was unsure of what that ‘something’ was. I wanted to make use of the school platform to broaden my horizons and utilise the certain frameworks I learnt in school to solve problems. These frameworks definitely helped me think and make decisions clearly.

I began my entrepreneurship journey as a Financial Consultant. I was exposed to mentors and the job gave me the idea of exploring jobs that bring value to people’s lives. Subsequently, I had a break and thought about the direction I wanted. My team and I began to start a kitchen-sharing concept called Foodhole in Kent Ridge Hall! The concept came about from the late nights in Kent Ridge Hall. Since we frequently headed out for supper and my team had cooking skill sets, we started a food business there given the limited food choices near school. The business went well but it ended after all of us went for exchange.

Q: What was the greatest decision you made?

The greatest decision I made was to work outside of Singapore. I wanted to put myself in an uncomfortable situation. NUS Overseas College (NOC) really gave me an insightful journey where I made many friends. We pro-actively joined local events to expand our horizons and made it a point to attend events at least once per week. I actively sourced those events through WeChat and I have been very fortunate to network with the locals there. Whenever I learnt something new, I would look it up on the Internet, understand the new concepts and eventually apply it in my next networking session.

Furthermore, my NOC experience empowered me to make my own decisions. I am thankful that my colleagues were supportive. Before I went for the trip, I had different expectations – I was prepared to face a regimental and hierarchical system. Instead, the organisation operated with a flat structure. They trusted and empowered their colleagues just like their family. In terms of organisational impact, I managed to set up an entirely new email marketing process for the company.

NOC also taught me to learn independently. Travelling to different parts of China allowed me to understand the predicament the locals faced and see things from different perspectives. I remembered travelling and joining a start-up competition and did an initial pitch alone in Mandarin. I was satisfied that I clinched the third place.

Q: Do you regret not taking the conventional path of climbing the corporate ladder?

I enjoy what I do and I do not regret my choice. Nonetheless, on second thoughts, I realised that I would have received mentorship if I had joined a huge corporate. Going to a corporate might have accelerated my learning as compared to being in a start-up where I am responsible for my own learning, however, I believe that learning is very much dependent on ourselves. With the right attitude and growth mindset, I believe that everyone could optimize their learning potential.

Q: Do you have any advice to undergraduate students?

Life is exciting if you take your first step towards entrepreneurship. Many of you will be influenced by the big names in the corporate world. I am unaffected by the achievements of my peers in the corporate world. In fact, I am happy that my peers are growing well. Everyone will make it someday and be successful in our own ways.

Start-ups are looking for people with initiative and hunger. Technology is always changing and the ability to adapt quickly to circumstances is key. More people nowadays are working for multiple companies and freelancing at the same time. I would recommend people to continue to get more hands-on experience. If you want to do entrepreneurship, do not think too much and start taking action.

If there is something I would redo, I would learn to think differently and deeply so that I understand the rationale behind things. I would take more calculated risks when I invest and not venture into the business blindly.

P.S: I would love to welcome you to check out what’s StaffAny is doing at www.staffany.com. Alternatively if love traveling or want to go on an exchange program, hop on to www.exchangebuddy.com or checkout our useful Instagram account @exchangebuddy.