Welcome to the third feature of our USneakPeek series, where you can get a glimpse into the diverse lives of our NTU-USPians!
Meet Edward Yee, a final year student pursuing a double degree in Accountancy and Business. The 2019 Singapore Rhodes Scholar is also the co-founder of Givfunds, a startup which provides loans at low costs to social entrepreneurs.
Edward Yee, Year 4 Accountancy and Business student & Co-founder of Givfunds
Interview By: Alvin Lim, Amanda Chang
Written By: Anna Cheang, Chua Zong Xuan, Justlyn Yeo
Photo by: Niki Koh
“There were these amazing people devoting their entire lives to making a difference — and I couldn’t ignore it.”
What does your startup aim to do?
The simple answer is to provide capital to social entrepreneurs. Their businesses are sustainable, changing tens, hundreds of thousands of lives. Resources in the world should be provided to those committed to making it a better place. But this is not the case. That’s why we started Givfunds. Social entrepreneurs couldn’t get capital, so what we hoped to do was to provide resources to those change-makers.
What inspired you to build your startup in social work rather than in any other industry?
I was always interested in investing and entrepreneurship, but after I set up my first company I felt that I was lacking a purpose. I wouldn’t want to do this for the next five, six, or seven years of my life. I then started backpacking and travelling – Bangladesh, India, Asia for a couple of months. That was where I saw the social entrepreneurs. There were these amazing people devoting their entire lives to making a difference — and I couldn’t ignore it. An exceptional person I met is Elena, who works in Tihar jail and educates convicts using a blended teaching curriculum. As she teaches the convicts English, she introduces moral concepts such as women’s rights and consent to them, and it’s incredible to see the convicts use it in their vocabulary today. Seeing the impacts entrepreneurs like Elena have on the lives of their beneficiaries drives me to continue doing what I do. They’ve done so much so I can’t quit, especially if I have skills that can help them.
When did you know for sure that the typical rat race wasn’t going to fulfil you?
To be honest, it was a slow transition. I knew the problems I wanted to solve and I knew I wanted to throw myself into it. But there is always the temptation of that other attractive career path — that stability, that good life. I didn’t quite let it go, but I reached a point where I realised that if I chose another career path over what I really dreamed to do, I would regret it for the rest of my life. It’s not an easy choice for anyone.
Did you hesitate in your decision to start this in school? How do you juggle school work with your startup?
It’s the best time to start. We have very little obligations and very few conflicts. There is also very little opportunity cost right now, but when we graduate, we have to choose between having a job or starting a startup. Then we must split our time and that tradeoff is much more difficult.
I believe quite strongly in working hard and playing hard. I know what my priorities are and I prioritise them. School has slipped quite far down my list (laughs). Time management is really crucial. After you eliminate YouTube, you realise that you really have a lot of time.
How do you deal with your business overseas while you are physically in Singapore?
My co-founder is very supportive and he’s on the ground in India. We use a lot of project management software, video conferencing and remote systems to automate and lower the cost. Since Givfunds is about raising capital globally and deploying it on the ground, it is not a region-locked business. But there is no one place to base it that is able to solve everything. I have to hop around any way. That’s why I’m basically gone every summer and winter (laughs).
Did you have a background in entrepreneurship/CIP?
To be honest, no. There was the usual school volunteering, and I worked with the Dyslexics Association of Singapore four years ago to start the unit that helps adult dyslexics.
In university, I did take a Leave of Absence from school to participate in the Overseas Entrepreneurship Program (OEP) in Silicon Valley for about 7-8 months. I highly recommend it. I didn’t spend a single cent and even got paid while I was there. I got to visit Cuba, Mexico, LA, everywhere, and I really encourage you to go for it if you can fit it into your schedule.
Congratulations on obtaining the Rhodes Scholarship! How do you think this scholarship aligns with your mission as a whole?
When I heard about the Rhodes, what attracted me the most about it was the idea of young people getting in during their post-grad and masters, coming around this idea of fighting the world’s fight together. And that to me is very, very powerful because I think when you gather people who want to throw the next 30, 40 years of their lives into making a difference for the world, and you get them with a lot of resources, talents and abilities — magic happens.
To end off, what advice would you give for people who are interested in venturing onto this path?
The best advice I could give is to live life to the fullest. Follow your passion, and pursue it all the way. Don’t just follow what everyone else is doing in getting internships and everything because you might lose yourself along the way. I had a lot of fun in university and many new experiences which gave me so much fulfilment and led me to where I’m going today.
I don’t think I gave up much in terms of job opportunities; and most career options are still open to me. I think that most people (employers included) want to see that you have passion and commitment, so just pursue whatever interests you. Don’t let concerns over practicality kill your curiosity. I believe that if you follow your passion and pursue it to the best of your abilities, success and future opportunities will come with it.
Another thing also, is to not be afraid to fail. Go out there, bang your head against the wall enough times. Often times, you only see the successes of people; you don’t see their failures; you don’t see the problems they have encountered along the way. Most of the emails I send out don’t get replies. I’ve actually failed tons of times. In fact, I’ve created a failure resume for myself as a reminder. So don’t ever discount yourself because you don’t have the same accomplishments as someone else.
You can also discover more about Edward’s inspiring journey towards becoming the 2019 Singapore Rhodes Scholar at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/dyslexia-helped-him-become-who-he-today-says-first-singapore-rhodes-scholar-14-years.
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