Hi,

I’m Fred and the founder of ForgeX.

I can only speak for myself, and how I view the world… I’m writing this so that I may express my thoughts, as well as to remind myself what and why I’m doing this. Afterall, there isn’t a following at all on this website haha.

I’m 26 this year, and I’ve walked a rather unconventional journey to get to this point.

My Early Years
All this while, I’ve always said I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Since I was 8 years old; and I truly have no idea how I came to that conclusion when I was young.

It could have been my family’s influence – my dad was an entrepreneur, so was his father before him. It could also have been a time when I was 8, and saw a person begging for money while I was holding my mother’s hand. She, of course gave me some money, a purple $2 note to hand to that person… which I did.

When I asked her why, why did people like that exist in this world, she said something along the lines of “some people are very poor thing because they are sick or disabled. So we should help them when we can”

Well, I think I used to be a lot more compassionate back when I was young haha. But that sorta got me started dreaming that I wanted to be someone who could make a difference for those who couldn’t. It wasn’t very noble, it just felt like… sad. I was sad.

So I started to think maybe I could be a politician. Hahahaha… that’s when I was about 11? SG was having a round of elections then, and I think Lee Hsien Loong was slated to be the next Prime Minister. Of course, once I realized I could be voted out by the majority in a democracy, then I quickly decided being a politician wasn’t the best. lol

So then I realized money was the thing that could help change the world, to make the world a better place, and make people more happy, and less sad.

So then I learnt of the word “philanthropist” – so that was what it meant to change the world by funding projects… like building schools, or creating plumbing in Africa…

My Youth
So then I went to school, and was lucky to have gone to one with quite a heritage. I had great teachers, a great culture, and great friends that have lasted since then. Mah gang gang gang gang haha

But seriously it was a time where I felt at once lost, and learnt about my limits – I obviously gunned for leadership positions in school, both in the prefecture and in Scouting.

Strangely enough, it was the first time I encountered politicking, and it helped me realize that organizations usually have issues picking the best people for positions, and instead that bootlicking, and working the corporate chicanery would get you up the ladder.

Newsflash: I hated it.

And then came Junior College.

Junior College was the first time girls were introduced to us in school. Clearly being in an all boys school stunted our skills in interacting with dem ladies… and it was seriously quite funny, some of the things we got up to. AHHA

I had times which I hated in JC, for example, being in the Student’s Council. I am very idealistic, in the sense where if an organization that has to do with something I care about doesn’t perform what it’s supposed to do / what I signed up for, I go a little crazy. I sorta lost it a little, and rebelled. Eventually of course getting kicked out of Council a day before the end of our term.

But what truly happened during JC for me was the introduction to entrepreneurship through my CCA… it was called… “Entre” haha… and my senior was part of a crew organising a national level event, called the Youth Entrepreneurship Symposium.

That’s where I met mentors, and how I started interning at a VC at 17.
It was crazy. It was exciting. It was the time when I felt that everything was possible; that I was standing at the edge, the precipice of potential.

And of course at JC2 I managed to become the Chairperson for that YES event. Which opened more doors, and found me more mentors.

These mentors existed throughout my lifespan, until now, actually. And I started a love affair with technology, (back in 2009) that has lasted till now. I believe that in tech lies the room to change the world in a huge way.

An Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living
This journey led me to find a mentor who brought me the gift of introspection. I learnt, lived, cried, shouted and grew. And realized that much of my life was a sham, at this point.

That there were narratives in the world downloaded into me by circumstance, family and society. And if I wanted to, I wouldn’t need to listen to them (within the realms of legality of course).

I found out why I have sought entrepreneurship for such a long time… beyond the philanthropic story at the start – but also because I felt like I had to help my family claw itself out of a rut, brought upon itself by bad choices and difficult circumstances.

I found out things about my relationships with my parents, and what I wanted to do with my life. and truly, truly if only for a few moments understood.

What would I have done, with my life?

At once precious beyond measure, and nothing. At once full of joy, but also with sorrow.

(INTERVAL – army army, girls girls, wasted some time blah blah then-)

Universities
You read it right, I’ve been to two Unis in my time. The first time round at SUTD, and the second and final time, at SMU. I dropped out of both of them. I’m not gonna lie.

At first in SUTD, I joined because I thought that I could be an engineer, and build the future I envisioned. Then I realized that it wasn’t what I needed. I realize that I would never be the most technically skilled person, and that my abilities lay elsewhere; it was not in embodying a full engineering role.

What SUTD left me with though, was it’s slogan – “A Better World By Design” – That, I absolutely agreed with.

I left SUTD after the first few weeks for SMU – Economics nonetheless. Why Econs? Well… that’s a story for another time. But I ended up at SMU.

In SMU, within the second week, it was strange, but I met my future girlfriend that lasted for 4 years… and the first time in class I met her I took a photo of her falling asleep in a very unglamorous way. Little did I know that this girl would occupy a central role in my story, at least for the next few years until this point.

Yet I still did not know why I was in University for. My previous experiences have led me to understand the chances of finding a conscious organization that would truly appreciate my efforts, and yet allow me to accomplish what I felt I needed to was small to nothing. My degree would not confer upon me any truly practical skills, but would of course be full of learning.

Either way, I started taking leaves of absence – you see, I had never stopped working externally, or finding opportunities with mentors and employers. I soon, in 2015, stumbled upon a mentor in the form of a man and investment banker called Jonathan Chan.

Upon first look, he was an imposing man. Driving his Lamborghini, and showing wealth and connections in society I’ve never seen before. I initially met him as a staff member in another organization, but soon, somehow formed a mentor-mentee relationship. He was someone who saw the potential I had, and I saw that I could build a vision together with him.

Jules Ventures
We ended up starting a company together, called Jules Ventures. We started with an idea, to teach kids coding. It evolved into a concept where we taught kids how to code through games, and specifically in the Kindergartener market.

Suffice to say I poured my life into this venture, because it could change the world, and I genuinely believe that coding is an important skill for everyone.

We hired people, built an MVP, and eventually Jon raised some money to make the dream work.

But after time passed, because the power balance was too skewed, our relationship started to fracture. Like any artist in charge of “his” artwork, I felt that the direction of the firm was going in a different way.

After saying some rather caustic things, I eventually ended up on my ass, back in SMU, but built relationships with a team of vision, men who saw potential, and who dared to push the envelope.

Chloe – was a girl who had expectations of herself. She wanted to live a life that was exciting, fun, and full of experiences. And you needed money to get there. Thus, she studied really hard and got all the right internships and landed herself a great job in a prestigious foreign bank.

Me? I wanted to change the world, and build a better world by design. And lived life hand to mouth, to build my dreams.

There was naturally an ongoing conflict. For she was looking for a deep relationship, and I was looking to change the world, with her by my side. We never did manage to truly, deeply agree on these two issues, and so we had arguments that kept springing up.

It did not help that many times during the Jules journey I left work at 2am, and started at 10am. (Perhaps one day I would write more about my journey in Jules)

The Real World
Eventually it became time for me to come back to SMU; and I did so for two terms, with incredible reluctance. I felt like what I needed to know, required specific founding experiences. My end goal always was to be a founder myself, and I knew that merely understanding an industry may not necessarily be enough. I felt that relationships and understanding the dynamics of founding projects were key. And the only way to learn in those areas, was to make mistakes. Again. And Again, And Again. And I of course, had my team with me, who were very forward looking too. I believe we share a common vision, and I am very grateful.

So that I did. Started one thing. Failed in it. Started another. Failed in that. (Can believe this wouldn’t have sat well with Chloe, or in fact any reasonable girl).

I then stumbled upon a project that had it roots in IoT. Which I felt had potential. But honestly, I was starting to realize that as much as it would be a more difficult journey, I probably had to start my own gig, and be able to control it. Because I had a very clear and intense idea of where I wanted the project to move towards… and of course, many people want to participate in the technology business.

who may not necessarily have the intuition and feeling for being a technologist. Many confuse technology as a business that can be easily replicated, but in truth, even for tech (software especially) products in a similar category can be absolutely different in application, direction and team.

It was very much a very artistic space, where the entrepreneur had to rally creativity to meld together thousands of variables across time to cumulate in a company that creates great value.

The standard rules of consolidation and M&A and corporate governance do not necessarily apply to as fluid and complex a space as technology. First and foremost I believe clarity of direction then clarity of vision are key. Business models are not so easily localized and ported. Precision is very important… which sadly some of the more experienced founders I’ve worked with did not really believe in.

It ended up solidifying my realization that I needed to truly do my own thing. Which cumulates in me leaving SMU, breaking up with my girlfriend, and striking it out, truly on my own, with an idea that I’ve held inside for the last few years.

and here we are –

I’m very lucky to have had the support of a bunch of people who are truly… for the lack of a better word, crazy.
So in the words of the inimitable Steven Paul Jobs:

Here’s to the Crazy Ones.
The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them,
about the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things. They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

You see, it’s not that I am being deliberately wilful, or rebellious, or being too much of a risktaker.

It’s just how I need to live to be in integrity with myself. It’s just what I need to do, in order for me to say that I’ve lived a life that’s full, and one that allows me to live up to the potential I think I have inside of me.

And I’m gonna share aspects of my journey here, as well as on the podcast. 🙂 Hope you join me, and tl;dr – i need to do this to be honest to myself. and live happy.