Recipient of the Forbes magazine 30-Under-30 Asia list for his work in the financial sector, we sat with Mohamed Abbas to understand his entrepreneurial journey.
The son of a roti-prata man and a hawker lady, and living with his family of five in a one-room rental flat. Abbas overcame the odds and found his passion for serving the underserved.
"It is my belief that democratising credit and accelerating financial inclusion will help the region progress"
Tell me about your start-up journey
It started when I learnt how tedious it was for low income-households to apply for loans. This section of the society were excluded from mainstream financial services as they had low income and thin credit history, thus unlikely to get a bank loan. For the banks, it was not cost-effective to extend these small loans. Thus, I decided to launch Onelyst, the Skyscanner for loans, which is an online interest-free loan rate comparison platform.
It was on this journey that led me into launching my second start-up, Rely, a buy-now-pay-later checkout option for online purchases, allowing individuals who do not meet minimum income requirements for credit cards to buy items via instalment plans.
The main rationale is that people who lack access to affordable credit are unable to lift themselves out of poverty and give back to their communities. It is my belief that democratising credit and accelerating financial inclusion will help the region progress.
How was your experience with raising money?
It took us 6 months to finalise on our first investor. It is about building that credibility, and convincing your investors that you would manage their investments efficiently. After that, it was much easier to raise subsequent rounds as we had the foundation and reputation from the first investment. Ultimately, it was about who you know.
This was indeed a steep learning curve as I had to independently learn about fund-raising from scratch. Understanding the legality and conditions of a term sheet, to learning about the different classes of shares in a company. This is immensely important as I have heard too many founders screwed over by their investors due to some hidden clauses.
A funny story was that I was once invited to speak at a post-graduate class, to debate with MBA students on start-up financing. We had to negotiate a term sheet by role-playing as investee and investor, and I remember seeing the professor shaking his head as I had negotiated such good terms for my case.
"I saved a woman's life"
What was the highlight of your start-up journey?
I saved a woman’s life! We had a user who tried to commit suicide due to debt problems, and came to our platform to source for a suitable bank loan. Our site flagged her out and rejected her loan application because of her poor credit history. But she was relentless and got in contact with our team. In the end, we managed to follow up with her and connected her to a debt advisory centre. Such stories are a validation of our efforts, and keeps us motivated everyday.
What peaked your interest for entrepreneurship?
During my time at Nanyang Technological University, I actually took a 6 months Leave Of Absence (LOA) for a cruise trip! It was a 60 days programme to live aboard a cruise, and travel the region for social work. It was a highly selective initiative in Southeast Asia, inviting only a few representatives from each country. This trip changed my perspective of life, as I interacted with the participants all over the world, who were scholars, entrepreneurs and royal members of their countries.
Even as a child, I used to sell popsicles to my schoolmates in primary school. I still remember buying in them bulk and selling it individually to each of my friends.
Top 3 advice for entrepreneurs
1) Find your reason
Entrepreneurship is a tough and lonely journey, which really requires conviction. It is just something that is so difficult, that you will give up if you lack a purpose. You must resonate with the reason. If money is the reason, it will be strenuous as you will have no money in the initial years.
2) Talk to founders & your customers
It is a common mistake to build features before validating the product need, and often, founders are so focused on their own product that they become myopic and narrow minded. Hence, it is imperative to receive feedback from fellow founders, and most importantly, your customers.
3) Hire for culture
Start-ups have to hire the right people, which is especially critical when the company is small. It sets the work ethic and environment for everyone.
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