Gen Y Speaks: I am a 25-year-old Asian woman and I want to make it big in Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley, the global tech capital where giants from HP to Facebook began their stories, is the dream destination of aspiring startup entrepreneurs all over the world, including me.

Ever since I was young, I had always wanted to own my own business. Reading stories about Steve Jobs, the Zuck, and other cool chief executives, my dream was that one day, this girl with a Singaporean father and a Thai mother would be in the heart of Silicon Valley, building her own business. 

Fresh out of school, I got a job as a marketing specialist at a top global tech firm. I learnt a lot, and while the entrepreneurial ambition was still burning in my heart, I got stuck in a comfort zone.

This changed earlier this year when I reflected upon my life on my 25th birthday. I asked myself what was a global issue that I cared about most. 

I realised that while most of us spend a lot of time at work, very few employers provide high-quality wellness programmes for their staff. 

This should not be the case. I strongly believe everyone deserves to be in a workplace that supports his growth and wellness.

All fired up, I decided not to drag my feet anymore. I quit my job and booked a flight to California to kickstart Flench, a startup that aims to transform workplaces around the world to be growth- and wellness-driven, caring for employees in both their career growth and personal wellbeing.

This was my first time travelling to the United States. And I was all by myself, a stranger in a strange land. I knew nobody at all. 

I realised I needed to plug myself into the startup community there quickly. 

I picked up my phone and scrolled through Eventbrite to see if there was any event I could go and meet new people.

“This is interesting,” I exclaimed as I found one startup event not very far from my apartment. I booked the ticket with excitement. 

On the day of the event, I felt motivated as I walked to the venue. 

But that quickly changed when the woman at the event registration gave me a strange vibe that I was perhaps at a wrong event. 

I didn’t quite understand until I walked in through the door. The meeting room was filled with white male executives who were all much older than me. My confidence sank.

Standing by the door, I could hear them introducing themselves.

“I’m a president of...”

“I’m a CEO (chief executive officer) of...”

“Oh, your company is impressive!”

While there were a handful of women, none was a young Asian like me. Who would care about a nobody like me, I thought to myself. 

A voice in my head started to shout: “This is not your place!”

But as I was about the leave, I suddenly realised that doing so would just be stepping back into my comfort zone.

An ambitious voice in me shouted out: “So what if I am an Asian girl among senior American executives? What is the worst that could happen?”

Being a nobody, they wouldn’t remember me even if I messed up big time. 

So I stayed. And I am glad I did. As the startup owners took turns to pitch their ideas, the lively debates and discussions between them and other investors and startup CEOs created much excitement in the air.

One hour passed. There was not yet an opportunity for me to speak. 

The last startup entrepreneur walked up the stage, and delivered an awesome pitch. But then I found one point where it could improve its growth even more.

When he was done, I was still hesitant about taking over the microphone and giving suggestions to a more experienced entrepreneur in a room full of people. 

But I took a deep breath before putting my hand up.

Everyone in the room turned to look at me. With my hands shaking, I stood up and spoke. The room turned quiet. Nobody smiled.

“I messed it all up,” I thought to myself.

As the forum came to an end, I quickly stood up, eager to leave as quickly as possible. 

But before I could do so, someone called out my name.

I turned to see one American investor smiling and walking over to introduce himself. He was not the only one. Several others later came over to talk to me. I didn’t know how to feel.

I ended up getting connected with the global director of one of the biggest angel investor networks in the world and he agreed to help me with my pitch preparation to secure funding for next year.

This was totally beyond my expectation. The price paid? Just a few minutes of facing fear. 

I realise that sometimes, when we don't belong to a place, it's only because we believe it that way. When an opportunity comes, just grab a microphone and go for it.

This was the same spirit which I adopted in approaching professors from top-tier universities such as Stanford for research collaboration on effective ways to build growth and wellness programmes, so that Flench’s products are backed by research validation from top professionals.

In the last three months, Flench has received support from laboratories from Ivy League schools such as a psychology lab from Yale University and leading enterprises on product testing.

Flench has also expanded to a five-person team. Besides me as the chief executive, I have colleagues handling user experience, marketing, psychology research and social impact.

So far, I have been relying on my savings on this business venture. My colleagues and I do not draw a salary at the moment though we have stock options. 

By focusing on prevention of mental health issues rather than cure, we believe that we can offer something our competitors can’t.

A test project we are developing seeks to combine growth mindset training with wellness activities workers love. For instance, can we teach employees who love art how to cultivate a growth mindset through a drawing class?

We are now trying to raise funds with the aim of becoming a unicorn within five years and expanding globally to help workplaces take the best care of their employees.

The path ahead is tough, but then again...what’s the worst that could happen, right?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Serena Tan, whose father is a Singaporean and mother a Thai, is the founder and CEO of wellness start-up Flench. She grew up in Thailand and hold a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Chulalongkorn Business School.