我招的是 entrepreneur，不是 manager

At NEXEA's DisruptInvest Summit I heard mentor Alan share stories from his early days as a founder, and I wanted to write them down. Asked how he expanded into Southeast Asia, his answer was simple: respect the local culture. What moved me was his method. Not big ad spend, not launch events. On landing in a new city, he hired a taxi for a whole day. Day one, he walked the financial district, watching the buildings, the pace and the foot traffic, then wrote everything down at the hotel that night. Day two, he went into each office building and checked, floor by floor, which companies were there. Back at the hotel, he and his co-founders analysed the city's business structure and judged whether the market was big enough and worth entering. Starting a company is often not about slides and models, but about getting your feet in the mud to smell the market. He once sent Malaysians to lead new markets, and it didn't work well. So he changed strategy: hire a local as country manager and give them 25% equity, because in the early stage you need founder mode, not someone reporting KPIs. Asked what he would tell himself 20 years ago, he said: enjoy it. He has forgotten the prime moments, but remembers every hard stretch, every failed attempt and every late night spent looking for a solution.