
Resilient Leaders: Fave under the Leadership of Joel Neoh
A resilient business organisation cannot be built without resilient leaders, and this innate human capacity is an aspect that can be learned and developed by anyone. It is a crucial characteristic that transforms mediocre individuals into high-performing leaders. These resilient leaders are identified by their ability to persevere through difficult times, adapt to challenges and thrive in the end.
A stunning example of a resilient leader is Joel Neoh, one of Asia’s most recognised and successful young entrepreneurs, and the founder of the fast-growing fintech company, Fave. Founded in 2015, Fave is a smart payment app for the new generation of consumers to connect with their favourite brands. For businesses, Fave’s solutions allow them to accept various digital payments, acquire new customers, retain loyal users, and grow their trade with technology.
Empowering offline businesses to grow and digitally connect with their customers like never before, Fave is on a mission to maximise the joy and value consumers encounter via their everyday shopping experience, ultimately, accelerating the offline world’s transition into the digital economy.
Over the last six years, Joel has exponentially grown his million-dollar business venture. Today, Fave operates in over 35 cities across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and soon India. With over 40,000 merchants accepting digital payments and offering interest-free installment payments. The platform has about 6,187,000 users and offers more than 21,000 deals, encompassing various categories from food, spa, massage to travel.
Overcoming Challenges with Perseverance
Despite his current success, Joel’s journey has not always been a bed of roses. He too had to go through a fair share of challenges to transform Fave into the platform it is today. Not one to rest on his laurels, he resiliently persevered through adversities like acquiring support from investors, continuously producing products that are relevant for users and finding the right business mix to come out on top.
“The tech entrepreneurship journey is a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs. In the tech space, only one out of 100 companies succeeds. The reality of it is because tech companies are competing on a larger scale. Since day one, these companies are forced to contend with some competition, either on a global or regional scale,” said Joel.
“In addition to that, the tech industry moves very quickly. If you’re not constantly innovating, you may find yourself left behind,” added Joel while reminiscing about the challenges he went through. He believes that although the field is filled with high risks, the rewards reaped make it worthwhile.
The second most challenging aspect of the tech entrepreneurship journey, according to the Fave founder, is getting investors onboard. He explains that in every fundraising round, tech entrepreneurs like himself approach about 50 to100 investors, but the rejection rate can be anywhere from 90 to 95%.
Joel finds the trick to getting through a tough period like this is to be comfortable and embrace uncertainty. He reveals that when he first started the company back in 2015, his vision evolved around developing a fitness platform – KFit. However, along the way, they ran into some issues and decided to make the hard call and pivot elsewhere to seize bigger opportunities.
When growing Fave, a company that Joel gets inspired by is Virgin Galactic’s motto. He said, “I like the concept behind Virgin Galactic – daring to dream big and to do the impossible, and that is what I am also hoping to achieve”.
Key Milestones Over the Years and The Launching of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)
Fave has reached numerous milestones over the years, in terms of capital raised and growth. For example, the company secured funding from major investors like Sequoia India, Venturra Capital, SIG Asia Investment, and was recently recognised as one of the ”Top 5 Fastest-Growing Mobile Wallets in The World” in the next couple of years.
Fave was also recently acquired by Unicorn Pine Labs, the Indian merchant commerce platform, for RM185 million. With this acquisition, the company will be expanding its services across India.
“This is a significant milestone for the company as India is growing to be one of the largest consumer markets in the world, and we are very excited to begin the next phase of Fave,” Joel said of the recent development.
Poised for growth, the fintech company also recently unveiled their latest service – Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). Allowing consumers to pay in instalments, Fave users will now have instant access to interest-free credit.
Joel stated that there are two key projections behind the launching of Fave’s latest service, “Firsty, we want to make things a bit more affordable for consumers to purchase, to make everyday shopping even more convenient. Furthermore, using our flexible payment option, we want our users to have more control over their finances.” Accessible via the Fave app, the new feature can be utilised at over 40,000 merchants.
Digital Payment Gateways and Digital Strategy
Malaysia’s digital payment gateway sector is booming and fast developing. Consumers now have numerous digital payment options to choose from to complete their purchase of goods. Of the digital payment sector, Joel is of the opinion that the space is very competitive, crowded, but eventually, there will be a few leaders dominating the market soon. “It is a very fast-growing space, and even global payment gateways have started to localise themselves, catering to each country’s market and the region.”
“Any company that wants to grow has to be digitally driven because, in this tech era, we cannot run away from working or adopting digital tools. If not, in the long-term, outdated business models may soon find themselves obsolete,” said Joel regarding his opinion about the rise and need for a digital and data-driven strategy for businesses.
Rising Young Entrepreneurs
Joel categorises members of the entrepreneurial ecosystem into three aspects – the generation before us, the current generation and future entrepreneurs.
Of the previous generation, he says “Rewind back a few decades ago and you will find the word entrepreneur did not even exist. Those starting a company were called businessmen or businesswomen.” Commenting on the current generation, he finds entrepreneurs to be more idealistic, as many are looking to build a regional company, growing it beyond Malaysia.
However, of the future generation of entrepreneurs, he thinks they will be starting from a point that is more altruistic and will be more impact-driven. He notes that this is because the future entrepreneurs are more global and are currently growing in a world that is more connected than ever before. “Due to the vast availability of information and knowledge, they have more of an understanding of what is going around the world and will be looking to start more socially-driven businesses, aiming to make a difference.”
Finally, of the journey he has gone through thus far, he concludes that it is sometimes a bit of a lonely journey, but that it is truly rewarding. The awards and achievements he has received over the years, he says, are a testament that he and his team are on the right track to taking Fave towards new heights.