Buy Smart. Operate Boldly. (Entrepreneurship through Acquisition)

​Are you at career crossroads and want more control over your life?

• Heard about baby boomers selling their businesses and feel curious to find out more?
• Curious about what search fund is about?
• Do you wish to run a business but don't know whether if building from scratch is really for you?

​We invite you to learn from seasoned entrepreneurs who have acquired and operated successful SME businesses or set up their own search fund.

Since our last two bootcamps, we are excited to share the following achievements/ features:

• The Business Times - https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/singapore/smes/new-wave-sme-buyers-mining-diamonds-rough-singapore-asean
• One of our participants have acquired a SME!
• Search Fund News - https://searchfundsnews.com/interview-zachary-lee-eric-koh-founders-of-gen-capital-partners

Program

1.30pm - Introductions of Gen Capital Partners and Asia Startup Network

1.45pm - 3 fireside chats, moderated by Eric Koh, co-founder of Gen Capital Partners

• Diana The, M&A lawyer - What are the hidden terms to look out for?
• Malcolm Wong - How to grow business on steroids?
• Jerry Tan - from corporate to SME acquisition - the Insider scoop

What you will gain - Hear from our speakers:

✅ ​How they screened for suitable, profitable business to buy

​✅Assess ​Seller readiness & trust-building

​✅ Navigate the financing process & manage their investors

​✅ Tailored what they know about Entrepreneurship through acquisition to Southeast Asia’s business landscape and acquisition

​✅ Post-event support

• Stay connected with a supportive network
• Join our advanced course in Entrepreneurship through Acquisition.
• Regular meet ups with like minded folks
• • Monthly events such as pitching events, panels and fireside chats with investors and entrepreneurs to continue learning and growing.

Sponsor

We thank SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for venue sponsorship.

Our Speakers

(Note that we may add/ swap out speakers with similar backgrounds/ experience for an enriching event)

Eric Koh, cofounder, Gen Capital Partners

Eric is a seasoned operational leader with 10 years as COO across multiple high-growth startups in Web3, SaaS, adtech, and payment infrastructure. Eric's achievements include transforming a struggling business from -80% to +30% profit margins and successfully raising over US$10M in funding from Seed to Pre-Series B rounds.

At GenCap, Eric leverages his experience acquiring and operating Southeast Asian SMEs to preserve and scale lifelong business legacies. His versatility shines through his experience as a fractional COO across diverse sectors including corporate secretarial firms, AI-based startups, IT management ventures, angel syndicates, and biomedical device companies. Having led a startup to successful acquisition by a European multinational corporation, he has built and managed diverse teams of 50+ professionals spanning eight countries throughout Southeast Asia.

With an Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business & Technology and a Bachelor of Engineering from the National University of Singapore (where he studied as an ASEAN Scholar), Eric combines practical operational expertise with strategic vision to help SMEs reach their full potential through acquisition and operational excellence.

His LinkedIn profile is accessible on https://sg.linkedin.com/in/koheric

Video Interviews with Eric Koh

Visit www.instagram.com/asiastartupnetwork

Jerry Tan | RSM

Jerry has over 15 years of experience as a private equity investor, business operator, and advisor to growth companies, with over $1.2 billion in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings successfully completed.

He is passionate about helping businesses unlock their potential and has worked with hundreds of founders and CxOs on growth strategy, M&A, and capital raising across a broad range of sectors including manufacturing, healthcare, education, renewable energy, and consumer goods.

Prior to joining RSM, Jerry was a Vice President at Novo Tellus, a private equity firm with over $1 billion in assets under management, focusing on industrial and technology investments across Asia. Before Novo Tellus, Jerry served as Deputy Director at Enterprise Singapore, where he led strategic initiatives such as Scale-up SG, a growth and transformation programme for over 60 companies, and an M&A programme to originate investment opportunities across Southeast Asia, the US, and Europe.

Earlier in his career, he held roles in M&A and corporate finance advisory, impact investing, strategy and product development, risk management, and corporate governance.

Malcolm Wong, M3I

Malcolm Wong is a seasoned professional in business transformation and the visionary Founder of M3I. Drawing on a rich background from strategic roles at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Temasek to leadership positions in high-growth startups, Malcolm brings a unique blend of corporate discipline and entrepreneurial agility. His hands-on experience scaling SMEs, which he describes as "business building on steroids," inspired him to launch M3I to acquire high-potential enterprises using a sophisticated "buy-and-build" strategy. Targeting deals between S$5 and $15 million, M3I addresses core SME challenges by providing access to a powerful "operations council" of experts in finance, marketing, and digitalization. Malcolm’s approach is guided by a philosophy that balances the "brain and the heart," combining data-driven strategy with the emotional intelligence needed to align with the people behind the business, making him a truly transformative force in the SME landscape.

His LinkedIn profile is accessible on https://www.linkedin.com/in/malw/

Read this Interview with Malcolm: https://www.connectone.com.sg/insights/from-scaling-startups-to-reinventing-smes

Diana The

Diana The brings nearly 30 years of legal expertise across law and financial services. After starting as a disputes lawyer, she pivoted to corporate finance, fund management, and banking, holding Chief Counsel positions at Harmony Capital Partners, Eastspring Investments, Aon, and Tyme. At Aon, she expanded into business leadership as Director of Business Operations & Strategy for Asia.

Following her role co-heading Investment Funds at Eng and Co (PwC), where she led fintech and digital assets advisory, Diana founded The Legal Concierge LLC to serve funds, family offices, and financial services clients.

Her expertise spans private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, insurance, and wealth management. Recognized twice in Legal 500's GC Powerlist Southeast Asia (2017, 2019), Diana also teaches at Nanyang Business School and leads at Science Centre Singapore and the Equestrian Federation of Singapore.

Adrian Thoo

Adrian Thoo is a seasoned strategist and visionary leader with a proven track record in guiding startups to success. As a Business Strategy Director at Blazing Conversions and Senior Advisor at Beltap Capital, Adrian brings a wealth of experience across diverse industries, including luxury fashion, education, media, finance, consulting, and technology.Author of the Amazon #1 "Smart Business Startup Founder's Guidebook," Adrian's expertise lies in crafting effective business strategies, mentoring startups, and fostering entrepreneurial growth. With a deep understanding of the startup ecosystem, he works closely with Venture Capital firms to create accelerator and mentorship programs that empower entrepreneurs to achieve their full potential.

Joe Low is a dedicated investment strategist and mentor with a strong focus on nurturing and investing in startups. With extensive experience in guiding early-stage companies, he leverages his expertise to help entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of launching and scaling their businesses. As a passionate supporter of innovation, he actively engages in mentorship roles, providing invaluable insights and strategies to aspiring founders. His commitment to fostering a collaborative environment encourages creativity and growth, empowering startups to thrive in competitive markets.

Founders

Andrew Tan and Elise Tan

Elise Tan and Andrew Tan

​Elise Tan and Andrew Tan are the co-founders of the Asia Startup Network (ASN), an active platform dedicated to accelerating the growth of early-stage tech startups in Asia.

Elise Tan brings over a decade of experience in running accelerators and assisting early founders in scaling their businesses. Prior to ASN, she served as the Director of Communications and Community at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, where she developed thought leadership content and launched the "Hard Truths by Vertex" podcast, which became a top 10 entrepreneurship podcast in Singapore.

Her LinkedIn profile is accessible on www.linkedin.com/in/elisetanyl.

Andrew Tan has more than 10 years of leadership experience, including founding his own social enterprise, building startups, and managing scale-ups. As the Country Manager at Wantedly, he oversees international business operations outside of Japan, leading teams across Business Development, Marketing, and Client Success. His prior roles include growing a travel technology startup, BeMyGuest, into a Series B company valued at $30 million, and establishing One Belt One Road Venture Capital, securing partnerships such as the Tencent Open Platform to invest in SINO-ASEAN startups. ​

Together, Elise and Andrew have cultivated ASN into a community of over 4,000 founders, investors, and partners, fostering collaboration and providing vital resources to the startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia. ​

His LinkedIn profile is accessible on www.linkedin.com/in/andrew10.

What our past participants said

Average Rating: 5.0/5.0 on Luma

Chris: 1. Better clarity on deal lifecycle - from sourcing to closing. The most important aspect for me was the deal structuring part as the ETA model is fairly unique. For instance, I want to know how much equity is a searcher entitled to and how it evolves over time with vesting

2. Search criteria - how to identify a high quality business and how much to acquire them for

3. Firechats with various guests - I really enjoyed those segments as I feel that you learn the most from actual case studies and experiences

Natalie: "the workshop felt welcoming and I was blessed to connect with 2 lovely ladies who shared similar interests with me. And got to know everyone with their self introduction was likeable, friendly, willing to learn despite being in various backgrounds regardless from finances, tech, VC investments and startup scenes. I was in awe that everyone was very experienced and had individual learning objectives."

Sign up now

If you're ready to embark on this transformative journey or have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to marketing@asiastartupnetwork.com. Let's unlock your full potential together. Visit www.asiastartupnetwork.com/accelerate for more details.

Why The Pre-Founder Catalyst Bootcamps?

Our curriculum stands out for its blend of Eastern and Western philosophies, offering a comprehensive approach that extends beyond technical skills. Led by a team of seasoned operators and investors, we prioritize not only business acumen but also personal development, helping you uncover your passions and craft a sustainable business idea aligned with your life goals.

About Asia Startup Network

ASN didn’t start as an educational institute or training centre. ASN is a living, thriving startup ecosystem. Their founders have spent more than one decade coaching and supporting entrepreneurs and created one of the largest communities of > 3,000 startup founders, operators, investors and partners in Southeast Asia to collaborate and support each other’s growth. Since 2020, ASN has been organising 100s of startup workshops, events and programs to help entrepreneurs leapfrog their growth and raise funding. Join ASN for the knowledge, but stay because of the network. These are the reasons why taking a course at ASN and quickly plugging into the community would move the needle more than you expect.

ASN is founded by Elise Tan and Andrew Tan. Elise has experience designing programs and personally coaching hundreds of founders at incubators and accelerators for over 10 years. She assisted more than 40 companies in raising more than US$1 million each. Andrew has more than 10 years of leadership experience founding his own social enterprise, building start ups and managing scale ups, as well as running ground up initiatives and communities, Andrew has a proven track record of driving growth and success and this will be transferred directly to this accelerator and its startups.

ASN began firstly with Mentor For Hope in 2020, an impactful mentoring initiative initially supported by the Temasek Foundation under the OSCAR grant. The initiative facilitated 525 mentoring hours for 300 founders adversely affected by the COVID crisis, connecting them with invaluable insights from 250 investors, partners, and experts.

In 2021, Elise and Andrew organised Makan For Hope Festival (with zero budget), a series of 30 virtual roundtables featuring VC managing partners and founders from notable startups like PropertyGuru, Shopback, and Carousell. The festival drew participation from 500 attendees, raising $123,000 in charity donations.

Photos from our past bootcamps

(March bootcamp)