My FoFty Moment

Coming Out of Retirement to Judge a Hackathon

Keynote speaker. Mentor. Judge. I used to be plugged into the innovation and startup scene. From hackathons, accelerator demo days, startup conferences and more, I went from event to event being a mentor, a speaker, or a judge - over and over again.

I convinced myself that I was doing all the work because I was contributing to the development of the startup ecosystem here in Southeast Asia. To be fair, that was true to a degree. Of course, it also helped that I worked for some of the region’s largest investors in the startup and innovation space. I’m sure that they benefited from the public exposure I brought whenever my title and their company names were mentioned.

To be completely honest, a large part of why I did what I did was to build my personal brand. Ah yes, personal branding - isn’t that what we are told is key to develop one’s career? At least, that’s what you may be led to believe if you’ve read enough LinkedIn posts where everyone and their grandmother is jockeying to advertise themself as some sort of thought leader.

I was part of that game, and to keep things 100% real, a lot of it was ego driven now that I reflect back on that time. I wanted to be known as “that startup” guy. Thing is, I obfuscated the ego driven nature of my endeavors and convinced myself that all that I was doing was for “the good” of the region. Perhaps this was how I manufactured meaning and purpose behind why I was doing what I was doing.

The truth was, I wasn’t being completely true with myself. I was chasing the clout. I was chasing the likes. I was chasing the followers. I was chasing my ego.

Then, one day, after I resigned from my job and started FoFty, I couldn’t keep the charade going on any longer. One of FoFty’s Principles is to “Live from the inside-out, and not outside-in.”

The game was over.

I stopped responding to requests and stopped participating in events. I stopped posting on LinkedIn, the go-to place to build your brand as an XYZ thought leader. I didn’t want to play anymore. Perhaps that was a drastic move, but it was a necessary move for me to factory reset myself and practice what I preach through FoFty.

Then one day about a year later, I saw a message from an old acquaintance who I recall to be a genuine person - someone who wasn’t playing the game. He asked me if I could be a judge for an upcoming hackathon at Switch, one of the largest annual innovation events in Singapore. I was about scroll away when out of the corner of my eye, I saw “Singapore Polytechnic.”

Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the Singaporean education system, Poly is somehow viewed as “lower tier” in the education hierarchy for some reason. Without getting into details, it is considered as the less preferred path to get into a university. I’m not Singaporean, but I’ve come to understand that this is the prevailing underlying mentality I’ve observed after living in the country for a decade.

And that interested me. FoFty is all about travelling the less trodden path, looking where others aren’t looking, developing original and alternative ideas, and most importantly, breaking free of “norms” that have been boot-loaded into our minds since we were children. Thinking that Poly as a sub-standard educational pathway is a norm that I don’t agree with. I explain why in one of my earlier videos:

Now, I’ve participated in Switch events in the past - only the marquee, center stage events of course. The point was to maximize exposure in order to build my personal brand and stroke my ego, n’est ce pas? This event is not even with a top notch university such as the National University of Singapore. It’s a side event and not in the main hall. Yet, it is an event sponsored by a donation - The Batey Challenge - that is all about seeking talent from unconventional channels. In fact, previous winners include a student on the spectrum who built a gaming platform from the ground up.

You know what? This may be the most meaningful contribution I could make. If I could inspire even one of the students in attendance to break free from whatever chains that have been boot-loaded into his or her mind, that would be such a win. It would be, as Bob Marley said, emancipation from mental slavery. This would be a real contribution, without the fakery. This would be an example of Fofty’s Principles. Most importantly, this wouldn’t be about me, but about the students. The very people we are handing our future to.

Yes, there’s a lot of humble bragging on LinkedIn - but this time, I can truthfully say that I am indeed honored to be able to contribute and participate in the upcoming event as a judge.

FoFty was never about quitting what you are doing - the outcome could be to actually continue what you were doing, but with a newfound and genuine underpinning behind why.

And that is precisely why this is one of my FoFty moments.

Come check out the event and support the students if you can!