Founding & Managing Partner

Mike is innovation management consultant as well as business & management coach specializing in transformational leadership, exponential growth innovation, team breakthroughs and start-up scaling. He has served 3x as CEO of global business units in multinationals (Philips Electronics, Siemens), he founded and/or led 4 technology start ups and has 3 decades of leadership experience with at least 3x fast turnarounds. He worked in both B2C and B2B industries (consumer electronics, digital communications, energy efficiency, digital lighting solutions and IoT sustainability solutions, healthcare), has created and led innovative scalable global portfolios and systems, he is reinventing, simplifying, automating, growing effectively and leveraging the community as well as external assets. Currently additionally to leading the TenX2 business accelerator and advisory board member, he is actively involved with the start-up ecosystems in Hong Kong and Asia through mentoring start-ups of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, Deep Tech Lab (connected with innovations originated from various universities: CUHK, HKUST), the Founder Institute and chairing of the corporate collaboration advisory board of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Master's degree program in Business Analytics. He has 3 university degrees, has lived in 5 countries in Europe and Asia and now lives in Hong Kong.

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Avijit has over 28 years in executive positions across APAC and proven track record of leading complex & disruptive initiatives, in alignment with ecosystem partners. Growth catalyst with the experience of building profitable & high value digital businesses from scratch (PCCW, Tata group, Bakrie group), by providing strategic direction, diverse perspectives & positive leadership. Motivational team leader, who is at ease in navigating through diverse multi-cultural work environments. Avijit specializes in SaaS strategies and global alliances.

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Wilson is a seasoned business leader and product innovation expert, having served over 25 years in leadership capacity in high technologies MNCs (Philips, Siemens Osram and Belkin) and startups. He possesses wealth of B2B and B2C experience across diverse industries including Consumer Electronics, Telecommunications, Digital Lighting, Energy Saving, Mobile Apps and FMCG, with proven track record in creating innovative global product portfolios with market leadership positions, as well as to propel businesses with exponential growth.

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Andrea is director of Clarity, a company based in Hong Kong creating custom web and mobile applications for startups & other businesses in Hong Kong and beyond. He is active in the start-up community as co-director of Hong Kong’s chapter of Founder Institute, an early-stage startup incubator and global launch network that helps entrepreneurs create meaningful and enduring technology companies as well as advisor and former CTO of Spacebox, a startup providing on-demand valet storage to households and businesses in Hong Kong. He has worked as investment product structurer at Brevan Howard and Credit Suisse in London and he studied mathematics at the University of Oxford.

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Girish is a leading marketing ,sales and general management professional with over 25 years of experience most of it as head of marketing and sales and head of profit centre across consumer goods and service sectors. Among the leadership roles that he has played are assignments with Reckitt & Colman, Johnson & Johnson, Scottish & Newcastle, Godrej Properties and Knight Frank. In most of these roles he has been involved in building brands and business units via launches of products and new verticals and go to market strategies which have delivered business turnarounds. Girish has a rich and diversified background panning across sectors and in all his roles he has been able to demonstrate unusual achievement in both sales ,market share and profit growth. He has done that with an approach of innovation and infusing passion and dynamism in the teams he has led. Girish has numerous industry awards and recognition to his credit and is a highly sought after speaker at international forums.

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Carolyn is an innovation management and technology scouting consultant specializing in cross-industry high tech trends, digital transformation, new business & product development, and corporate-startup engagement. She has 15 years dedicated working experience on corporate innovation in mainland China and in the US (Faurecia, Siemens Osram, Philips) as the Fortune 500 Asian innovation center managing director, global corporate venture capital strategist, Head of strategic marketing China and senior scientist. She has been working on global corporate-startup collaboration for 10 years in the fields of AI, IOT, health & wellbeing, advanced sensors, robotics, etc., across different industries (automotive, consumer healthcare, home appliance, commercial building, baby & mother care, etc.). Her qualifications include a Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering from Tsinghua University and a Pg.D. in Corporate Finance and Investment Management from Hong Kong University.

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Faizal has over 20 years of experience in product development, product management, and business development in the Telecom Industry. For the last 10 years, he has been involved in various start-up industries as a mentor, consultant, and C-Levels position. His major milestone was launching several Blackberry packages in 3 different telecom operators, launching the first EVDO Data Service in Indonesia, and launching the first World Cup Mobile Streaming in Indonesia in 2014. His background in the telecom and start-up industry makes his personal network quite large.

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Ulrich is an accomplished sales and marketing professional with over 17 years of experience managing diversified and cross functional teams for listed MNCs namely Siemens, Osram, and Truly Semiconductors, to implement hybrid sales channels and effectively scale businesses. Ulrich has a proven track record for successfully acquiring and managing accounts across various industries, including industrial, automotive, and consumer sectors.

He supported several partnerships to establish new business ventures by developing strategic partnerships with major players such as Amazon, Alucobond, and FlexEnable. In his last corporate role, he served as Vice President of Global Business Development, based in Hong Kong. In this role, he drove value-added sales of complex, consultative technical solutions and was accountable for developing overseas markets reaching 100 million USD turnover.

He has experience with start-ups, Traxon Technologies for 4 years and in 2022 Ulrich channelled his expertise into entrepreneurship, founding and leading a start-up with a dual B2C and B2B focus.

Partner

Sumeet possesses over 23 years of BD/ GTM expertise with organization of varied sizes leading their Sales, Business Development & Marketing functions for Digital Transformation services, Smart Cities & IoT portfolio of offerings enabling clients acquire a faster, easier and more reliable way to bring a great customer experience leveraging technology.

He has led GTM strategy initiatives during all his assignments and has been providing consulting and advisory services to global firms on expansion strategies and exploring opportunities in newer markets. Previously, he established and scaled S&M functional teams at IBM, NTT Data, Technosoft Corporation, Systems America across U.S., U.K, Europe and Asia Pacific attaining revenues of $100M scaling businesses. He is the founder of CompliMentors, SaaS Edutech and is currently involved as a new business/go-to-market advisory to scaling emerging to mid size enterprises.

Aside from all the above, he is passionate about helping businesses scale by bringing in a fresh perspective leveraging his experience, leadership skills, motivating and personal development of teams through mentoring and coaching.

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Jürgen brings more than 30 years of IT industry experience, having held national, regional, and global positions mainly in Sales and General Management. He has successfully built and managed field organizations across Asia, Europe, and North America, showcasing his strong expertise in developing and implementing Go-To-Market strategies and forming and leading international teams. Jürgen has lived and worked in the USA, Germany, Austria, and Italy, and has temporarily managed a field organization in France. His four-year tenure in Silicon Valley deepened his understanding of the digital industry.

As a co-founder of a software startup, he oversaw product development and sales, gaining invaluable first-hand experience in building and scaling startup organizations. Additionally, he has served as a temporary instructor for New York University’s Executive Education branch in the U.A.E. (Dubai) and Saudi Arabia, where he taught courses on digitization and corporate strategy execution. These experiences have broadened his cultural perspective and underscored the critical importance of diversity in the business world.

Partner

Satyadev is a senior executive renowned for his strategic insights and customer-centric approach to promote growth. With over twenty-five years of experience in large Telcos in APAC, including a decade-long tenure at Smartfren Telecom in Indonesia, he has led several projects to drive revenue and maximize customer value.

His expertise extends across strategic foresight, product development, customer experience, operational excellence, and the seamless integration of cutting-edge marketing technologies. Satyadev's track record of innovation and tangible results underscores his ability to navigate dynamic markets with agility and precision.

Partner

Alex started his first entertainment (video games, music and toys) startup in the late 1990s while still in College and also has gained experience in FMCG, Tech, Fintech, Agritech, Biotech, Retail, E-Commerce and Healthtech through his involvement in various companies in Asia and Europe, including Asa Ren, Youvit, Tanihub, Universal Food, Ultrajaya Milk Industry, Neobank and Tirta Amarta Bottling Company. He moved into advisory and management consulting for a range of clients and specialises in commercial strategy and execution. Apart from running a Youtube channel on FMCG he also is the author of the 2014 bestseller Fast Moving Consumer Goods Distribution in Indonesia. Alex has strong entrepreneurial DNA and has used his practical experience as a founder and C-Level executive to translate abstract concepts into actionable steps for start-ups. Speaking the language of the founders is easier when you've walked a few miles in their shoes after all.

Associate

Yew Seng has over 25 years of experience as a technical, regulatory, management, investment and system engineering professional in the telecom/ ICT, electronics, defence and engineering industries. He has proven track records in leading organizations to provide successful collaboration and investment ventures, cost-effective products and services and sustainable operations, with superior results and often within tight time frames and limited budgets. His specializations include project management, product development and management, technology commercialization and investment, R&D, systems engineering (including lifecycle support), intellectual property management, market study and technology intelligence, regulatory and standards etc., having worked in blue-chip MNCs, GLCs, government, start-ups and academia in Singapore, USA, UK, Israel, China and Cambodia. He currently serves as the President of INCOSE Singapore and the Honorary Secretary of Association of Telecom Industries of Singapore. His qualifications include Master degree, certified PMP and CSEP (INCOSE), and a CFA member.

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Associate

SS is an industry veteran with more than 20 years in management positions with MNCs (Motorola, Philips, Techtronics Industries). He is passionate with telecommunications, control technology and he has spent most of his 28 years of career in high-tech electronics industry operations, smart manufacturing, new product development (mobile phones, digital electronics, IOT hardware & accessories etc), automotive products and health care products (Blood Glucose Meter). One of the highlights is the successful company strategy execution for a China SME (Suzhou Bescon Electronics). Based in China for the last 20 years, has acquired deep understanding of Chinese business model innovation and cultural sensitivity.

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Associate

Karim is an experienced general manager with a background in mergers & acquisitions, post-merger integration, joint ventures, IT and supply chain management. Prior to starting askme Partners, Karim worked for Midaxo (a scale-up company) as their VP EMEA and Head of Global Key Accounts. In this role he supported several Fortune 500 companies improve their M&A, PMI, and JV processes including Philips, Nokia, Hitachi, Molex, Verizon, HPE, and MAPFRE. At Philips he was one of the founding members of the New Venture Integration team where he established Philips PMI playbook and processes. His hands-on PMI/JV experience at Philips covers more than 25 integrated deals across Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. Karim has also worked at Ernst & Young and Lufthansa in various senior management roles. He is a serial entrepreneur and has co-started businesses in the decorative lighting industry as well as the consumer distribution industry.

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