One Sneak Peek Into Venture Capital: Beyond the Myths

A common misconception that people outside of the industry have of venture capitalists is that they are “sharks”.

Mean bullies who are out to get people and the companies they own.

Well, I’m glad to say that I’ve met many VCs who do not fit that stereotype.

And Nison here is one of them!

He is currently Head of Partnerships at E27, an online and offline platform that equips entrepreneurs with the tools to build and grow their companies.

He was an entrepreneur for 7 years before joining Singaporean venture capital firm SEED Ventures and working his way up to the title of Partner.

He is also a startups aficionado who often creates content regarding entrepreneurship and venture capital on the platforms Instagram, Tiktok and LinkedIn.

He was even invited to be an Adjunct Lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic, where he taught from October 2022 to June 2023.

Here’s what I learnt from our conversation together:

1. Strive to come up with solutions for your own problems

“Business is demand-driven, and founding a startup is basically about solving your own problems.

I used to love socks, and hence I started this kickstarter concept store called Talking Toes. I have always been a fan of crowdfunding and loved cool gadgets, but I would have this issue of not receiving my gadgets after buying them.

This actually inspired me, as well as two other kickstarter brand owners to start We The People. We met at an event, and thought that we should solve our own problems by helping others get quality kickstarter products.

60 percent of our revenue came from selling physical products, while the rest came from marketing packages. Our yearly revenue was around 3 million dollars.

This company took me to Silicon Valley, where I was based for 2 years.”

2. Be willing to do whatever it takes to make things work

“When I came back from Silicon Valley, we had to close We The People because of the pandemic. I was grateful that I had a connection from SEED Ventures who gave me a job there.

At the age of 30, I only had $2.55 in my bank account. When I was given the chance to enter venture capital, I couldn’t say no, and ended up staying for 3 years.

It was tough for me at first as I had no background whatsoever in finance. I studied Event Management for my undergrad. Neither did I have any connections in the field. But I was in the role of a fund manager, where I had to gather funds from investors, do all the marketing and look through investment decks. Luckily, I have knowledge on how a business should function from my experience with We The People. I think fellow venture capitalists value my experience.

When we first founded We The People, no one believed in our concept. The only way to overcome this was through sales, which I also did not have experience in. I soon grew into the role as I realised the need to hustle”

3. Adjust language used depending on the stakeholder you are talking to

“I would always look into the business model of every stakeholder and what they value first. If I am speaking to government officials, I will speak about higher level mandates, insights and trends. If I am speaking to an accelerator, I have to know that they have cost to cover and will only deal with startups that are low budget.

Government agencies tend to take a long time to make decisions, which is normal because they are managing money from taxpayers. For accelerators, however, they tend to make decisions faster.”

4. Be authentic

“People will know if you are faking it.

Especially on Tiktok. I have gained many genuine friends and good connections from Tiktok. Back then, I started the SEED Ventures Tiktok without my boss’ permission. One of my videos went viral and got 30k views, and my boss told me to carry on making videos. Soon, we reached 10k followers and 2 million views in total on our account within one and a half years. Tiktok soon became a revenue source for us, one that allowed us to source for deals, consult startups and gain shareholder agreements.

Being authentic and real with my voice, tone and expressions has allowed me to demonstrate who I truly am on Tiktok. I generate content based on myself and my experiences, and sometimes I talk about mistakes that startups tend to make as well.”

5. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help

“I once invited Matt Higgins, a well-known venture capitalist who was featured on ‘Shark Tank’ to one of my crowdfunding events. All I did was send him a private message on LinkedIn, and he came for free. I just had to send a limo to fetch him. Matt even helped to promote my event to his contacts.

I would encourage most people to just reach out. What do you lose from it? Nothing!

Being proactive in taking initiative matters a lot in entrepreneurship.”

Connect with Nison here: linkedin.com/in/nisonchan

Follow our telegram channel: https://t.me/onesneakpeekinto

And that is all for today’s One Sneak Peek Into.

Stay tuned for more insights from our interview series as we continue to explore the stories of trailblazers breaking barriers and redefining success.