Career Panel: Startups & Entrepreneurship

Synopsis

Startups are often seen as fast-moving and exciting, but behind the scenes they require resilience, resourcefulness, and tough decision-making. This panel explores what building a startup actually looks like, the different pathways into entrepreneurship, and the challenges and trade-offs that come with starting and growing a venture.

Description

Join an open dialogue with founders and startup professionals as they share their experiences building and working in early-stage ventures. From validating ideas and securing funding to managing uncertainty and scaling a business, panelists will discuss how startups operate in practice.

Hear about the different ways people enter the startup ecosystem—whether by starting their own ventures, joining early-stage teams, or exploring side projects—and the skills needed to navigate this space. Participants will also have the opportunity to ask questions and gain a clearer understanding of entrepreneurship in Singapore and beyond.

Takeaways

1. Understand how startups are built and how they operate
2. Learn about different pathways into entrepreneurship
3. Explore the realities of starting and growing a venture
4. Gain insight into the challenges, risks, and trade-offs involved
5. Hear firsthand reflections from founders and startup professionals

Who Should Attend

1. Youth under 30 who are curious about startups and entrepreneurship
2. Students interested in building their own projects or ventures
3. Anyone exploring alternative career paths beyond traditional roles

Panelists

Durwin Ho, CEO, StartupX

Durwin is the Managing Partner of StartupX, an innovation consultancy that works with corporates, governments and startups to build new ventures, run accelerator programmes, and support founders across Asia.

Over the past decade, he has helped design and run innovation programmes, hackathons and startup initiatives for leading organisations across the region. Through StartupX, he has supported 800+ startups across 110+ countries, worked with 250+ corporates across 17 industries, and built a community of more than 10,000 founders, entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners.

He is passionate about startups, emerging technologies and helping young people understand how ideas can be turned into real businesses and real-world impact.

John Tay, Head of Partnerships, Tin Men Capital

John is the Head of Partnerships at Tin Men Capital, a Venture Capital firm that invests in Business-to-Business Technology Companies. His role involves liaising with startup founders, government policy makers, as well as other partners and service providers.

He has been an entrepreneur since his childhood, with his first formal venture at age 17. Since then he has also worked in large multinational companies as well as in public service, shaping economic strategy.

Stef Chua, Founder, Vault Personnel Pte Ltd

Stef Chua is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Vault Personnel Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based HR consulting firm with a regional presence in Malaysia. With over four years of experience running a One-Stop HR consultancy, Stef specialises in HR transformation, workforce strategy and CHRO-as-a-Service solutions.

She also actively supports SMEs in workforce development and business transformation initiatives. Stef is also a recognised thought leader in the HR space, regularly contributing insights on workforce and employment trends to national platforms such as The Straits Times Jobs and Workforce Singapore.