An Obligatory Bio…
Me in about…30 seconds:
I’m an entrepreneurship enabler, a guide through uncertainty, and a lifelong truth seeker.
For over four decades, I’ve started ventures, built ecosystems, advised governments, and coached founders and midlifers alike.
Today, I help people and organizations act meaningfully in uncertainty — using lessons from expert entrepreneurs and the power of inner shift.
I believe in building from the inside out — with presence, clarity, and purpose.
A bit more about me if you are interested:
I’ve never really had a job.
Not in the traditional sense—joining an organization, rising through structure, working within systems.
That model never quite fit. I struggled with compliance, with fixed roles, with the need to conform. I was a misfit in conventional settings.
I’ve always seen my career as a series of projects—initiatives sparked by a mission or unmet need.
I stumbled into this path not as a strategy, but a calling that revealed itself over time. Again and again, I found myself creating work that advanced human agency and potential.
It began with small ventures during my school days—selling matchbox cars, fighting fish and tutoring students. Over time, the projects grew bolder and broader: from grassroots training initiatives to national events, from startups to social movements. Each project was a learning lab, each step a deeper commitment to the work of building futures—not just for myself, but for others too.
Some of these projects flared and faded. Others became multi-million ringgit ventures. But all of them were part of the same arc: building what didn’t yet exist, and learning deeply in the process.
Looking back, each of these projects was more than an output — it was a mirror, a teacher, a step on the path. They shaped not just what I do, but who I’ve become.
Formative Fires
I grew up in modest circumstances in Kuala Lumpur. There wasn’t much money, but there was an undeniable hunger—to make a mark, to be seen, to succeed. I was driven by a need for social belonging and financial stability, but beneath it all, there was a quieter, more enduring yearning: to understand what truly matters.
That dual pull led me to both business and monasteries. I explored markets by selling fighting fish and matchbox cars to schoolboys, and I taught math tuition to students who needed help. On the other hand, I explored the world of spirituality and self-understanding through books, drawing from both Eastern and Western philosophy. While others my age imagined jobs, I was contemplating egolessness, impermanence, and the nature of the self.
That paradox—commerce and contemplation—became the quiet engine of my life. And books became my lifelong companions.
From Ventures to Movements
In 1994, I launched my first formal venture. It wouldn't be my last. Over the decades, I founded five companies—two grew into multi-million ringgit successes. But what lit me up wasn’t just profit. It was possibility.
In 2008, something shifted. I became an entrepreneurship evangelist. I didn’t just want to build companies—I wanted to build the conditions for entrepreneurship to flourish.
I:
Brought Global Entrepreneurship Week to Malaysia
Launched StartupMalaysia
Was invited by President Obama to the first Global Entrepreneurship Summit
Organized Silicon Valley Comes to Malaysia, bringing founders like Naval Ravikant and Jawed Karim to KL
Conceptualized and ran Global Startup Youth, which brought 500 youth from 100 countries to Malaysia
Each of these was a project. A bet. A signal.
And each time, I wasn’t just building ecosystems—I was building myself.
The Inner Work
Behind the events, the accolades, the public work, another journey was unfolding. I was still reading. Still walking. Still seeking.
At Cambridge, I pursued postgraduate studies in entrepreneurship. But what I really studied was human potential. How people build in uncertainty. How ventures form from fragments. How resourcefulness beats prediction.
This is how I encountered effectuation—the entrepreneurial method developed by Prof. Saras Sarasvathy. It gave structure to what I had lived: start with what you have. Work with others. Shape the future without needing to predict it.
Effectuation wasn’t just a tool. It was a mirror. And I’ve spent the last decade bringing it into workshops, boardrooms, retreats, and masterclasses across Asia.
Act 2
Today, I am 60+. The old hunger is still there—but it has matured. It’s less about scale now, and more about substance.
I founded Act2.life to help people—especially midlifers—find their next act. Not just a new job. A new way of being. A new way of acting in uncertainty.
Whether they’re stepping out of careers, recovering from burnout, or simply seeking a life of greater purpose and flexibility, I guide them to begin again — with presence, strategy, and soul.
But Act2 has grown beyond midlife transitions. I now work with entrepreneurs, founders, and organizations seeking to define their next growth engine—especially in a world shaped by churn and change. I help leadership teams explore bold new directions, navigate reinvention, and align action with intention — without needing to wait for certainty.
Whether you're a person or a company — Act2 is about building what’s next from the inside out.
Because in a world where the future is unknown and unknowable, what matters isn’t prediction. It’s preparation of self. It’s method. It’s mindset. It’s meaning.
I’m not done. I’m still becoming. But if you’re looking for someone to walk with you—to help you shift, start, or see differently—I might be the right partner.
This is my 45-year portfolio of projects. And it’s still unfolding.
Thanks for letting me build, become, and begin again.