When BBA Class of 2013 alumnus Preston Wong joined NUS Business School, he was also the recipient of the prestigious Dean’s Scholarship. Having excelled academically, and armed with both a business and law degree Preston was spoilt for choice when it came to career options.
Naturally, Preston wanted to make the most of what he learned in business and law school, but also provide a creative outlet to his innovative streak. He eventually found his sweet spot in entrepreneurship.
At the time, Preston also had a budding passion for social impact and sustainability. One of his most significant projects was designing an audio book library for Lighthouse School as part of his Management & Organisation foundation module requirements. Until today, this project remains one of the highlights of Preston’s Business School experience.
The inspiration behind treatsure
The idea to start treatsure came interestingly from an everyday mundane task of spring cleaning Preston’s home fridge. As his family members cleared out expiring items from the fridge compartments, Preston wondered if he could create a platform to facilitate the reselling of these food items. Together with his peer, Kenneth, an NUS Computer Science major and team of NUS developers, Preston built and launched the application within a year, with a small pool of early merchant partners.
Preston at The Hangar, NUS Enterprise’s start-up incubation facility
The rest is history. The startup, named “treatsure”, tackles food wastage and promotes food sustainability through innovative solutions. The app connects businesses with surplus food to everyday consumers. Preston and his founding team also came up with a unique buffet-in-a-box concept where users select and take away surplus food from hotel buffets in different meal slots across the day.
treatsure users in action at a buffet-in-a-box partner near NUS
On top of that, the app even a surplus grocery redistribution service for users to help save near-expiry, imperfect or excess products from suppliers. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Preston and his team rolled out stay-home treat offerings and championed a treat-bute campaign for the migrant workers. Their most recent milestone was the opening of their first concept store in the Singapore Central Business District in 2021.
treatsure users and Preston at their Robinson Rd concept store
Support from the NUS Business School ecosystem
Much of Preston’s NUS Business School experience has contributed to his present-day success. The foundation core modules gave him an appreciation of the different aspects of running a business, from marketing to management and accounting. Preston also took up the Business Leadership Development Programme, and participated in case competitions which helped sharpen his business acumen and strategic management skills.
Knowledge and experiences aside, Preston also enjoyed the support of the Business School staff and faculty. He is thankful to BBA Director Dr Helen Chai, and Mr Koh Eu Beng from the Undergraduate Studies Office for career and personal guidance, and many nurturing professors who took time for him outside of class. In addition, BIZAlum staff member Ms Hamidah Binte Puteh helped connect him with business school alumni who could offer inputs and advice on his startup idea during its conceptualization stage. To this day, Preston remains deeply grateful towards them.
Paying it forward with advice
Now that he is in a more experienced position, and able to offer his own advice to juniors with similar aspirations, Preston offers the following:
- Commitment is key. Ask yourself if you are willing to wholeheartedly commit to a project.
- Talk about your ideas, and bounce them off relevant parties.
- Build a strong founding team. Seek out like-minded peers with similar commitment levels.
- Be comfortable with rejection and being misunderstood. Persevere past the setbacks, and keep fighting against the odds!
