I built a S$5M brand. Then I learned what revenue doesn't tell you.

My story

My first business was a gifting brand in Singapore. Our very first quarter did S$100,000, and I thought, "Wow."

So I did what every ambitious founder does. I put in more money and chased growth. And it grew: S$100K, then S$700K, then S$1.5M, then S$5M a year. We were on Channel 8, in The Straits Times and in The Business Times.

Here's the part nobody puts on the highlight reel. The bigger it grew, the clearer the maths got. Gifting is a brutal model, made harder by the rising cost of goods, manpower, storage and marketing in Singapore. Impressive revenue, thin margins. After nine years, I made the hardest call a founder can make. I closed it.

That taught me the lesson I now build everything around: revenue is not profit, and demand is not something you assume. Prove it first, with real buyers and real numbers, then spend.

Afterwards I went looking for something forward-looking. I co-founded IOSchool Academy to teach AI to business owners and professionals.

Crowdfunding does exactly what I wish I'd done: let buyers in new markets pay before you manufacture. Today, as Director of K3 Creative, I bring that system to product founders across Asia, from someone who's been in their shoes.