In 2023, 37-year-old Khairul Helmi left his directorial role in a reputable multinational advertising company to embark on a new journey in a completely different field.
Leap of faith
He took “a leap of faith” and started his own edutech platform that offers primary school students personalised online lessons.
His goal: to make education accessible and fun for kids.
But what he did not foresee was that his rival, a 33-year-old Ang Zan Yu, would become an instrumental player in his startup’s journey.
Opposite sides of the stand
While Khairul supports Manchester United, Ang supports Liverpool, which makes them arch-rivals on the pitch.
The unlikely duo crossed paths at the Action Community for Entrepreneurship Singapore’s (ACE.SG) six-week mentorship programme BACEcamp, but more on that later.
Enemies to frenemies
When asked to describe their relationship, the pair likens themselves to the dynamic duo Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.
The English sports commentators were formerly bitter rivals playing against one another on the field, but are now joined at the hip like Batman and Robin, abseiling and doing all kinds of other fun activities together.
Like Neville and Carragher, Khairul and Ang cannot resist engaging in the occasional banter, dissing the other’s club whenever an opportunity arises.
But when it comes to business matters, the pair have learnt to put their differences aside to help Khairul in his entrepreneurship journey.
Had no expectations
And Ang has indeed played a pivotal role in Khairul’s journey.
Earlier this year, he helped the latter’s company Meraki Academy wow investors and secure some S$660,000 in funding.
Khairul admitted that he had zero expectations when he first enrolled in ACE.SG.
Back then, ACE.SG was merely a stepping stone for Meraki Academy and Khairul said: “My expectation then was that I get the certificate that I need and I move on from there.”
That was when he first met Ang, who was to be his mentor for the next seven weeks.
Wanted to give back to other entrepreneurs
Ang owns a human resource company called TalentKraft and joined ACE.SG as a mentor so that he can give back to other budding entrepreneurs like himself.
Having embarked on his entrepreneurial journey at 27, when he was still somewhat wet behind the ears, Ang said he had an overly-idealistic and optimistic perception of operating a business.
After taking a few hard knocks, Ang veered towards the other extreme end of being overly cautious.
It took him some time before he found a way to balance between the two, without compromising his business.
Looking back at the lessons he has learnt, Ang said he would have benefitted and done things differently if he had a mentor back then.
“I felt that I would have benefited from learning and advice from an experienced entrepreneur, which is why I decided to enrol as a mentor to help people who are starting out on their own journey.”
Secured investment funding
Ang imparted insights and learning lessons that he had accumulated over the years from his entrepreneurial journey.
Khairul, on the other hand, said that he went into these sessions with one goal: to “absorb like a sponge”.
He also shared that he had to unlearn and relearn new things during the process.
Together, Ang and Khairul worked tirelessly at refining Meraki Academy’s pitch presentation deck.
Based on Ang’s feedback, Khairul said he was able to improve his financial modelling and the deck he used to pitch to investors.
All of these were instrumental in helping Meraki Academy make a good first impression on the investors, Khairul said.
“Zanyu assisted by pointing out potential hurdles and pitfalls when meeting investors and ensured that I knew my stuff before talking to them.”
Recommends ACE.SG to others
Looking back, Khairul said that meeting Ang was a “plus point” and highly recommends the ACE.SG programme to other entrepreneurs.
He said the programme has helped broaden his thinking and given him a different perspective on how to run a business.
Ang also answered with a resounding “yes” when asked if he will recommend mentoring to other people.
He said: “It allows me to keep abreast of the new business ideas and technologies available in the market, and also broadens my network, while at the same time providing me with opportunities to learn from the mentees as well.”
“All of these are readily available at low to no cost and with minimal time commitment. I definitely recommend mentoring, there is no harm in giving it a shot.”
In Ang and Khairul’s case, the pair walked away from the programme with a new friend and sounding board.
Khairul said: “Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey and you cannot do it by yourself. To find help and someone who is sincere to help is tough.”
“It helps that ACE.SG endorsed Zanyu. But what really sealed the deal was Zanyu’s character and it made it easier to lean on him.”
Mentoring SG
ACE.SG and BACEcamp are part of the Mentoring SG initiative.
The initiative hopes to bring together Singaporeans like Khairul and Ang to play a part in building Singapore’s future and foster a strong mentoring ecosystem.
To find out more about mentoring programmes in Singapore, visit the Mentoring SG website here.
This author of this Ministry of Culture, Community & Youth article enjoys eating prata kosong.
Top image by Mothership