WHAT'S IN MY PORTFOLIO

What's In My Portfolio: Alvin Poh

Photography by Chino Sardea
10 Aug 2021

Alvin Poh, Entrepreneur and Founder of the Super Scaling brand

“I ran Vodien, a cloud hosting provider, for over 17 years. In 2017, I sold the business for $30m. While I had the fancy watches and the Lamborghini, I also decided to make a donation of a quarter million dollars to Singapore Management University.

In 2018, I decided to take things further by selling almost everything I owned so that my entire life could fit into two duffel bags. I then went travelling around the world for two years. After that journey, I returned to Singapore determined to get back into entrepreneurship.

It was a difficult process that I haven’t experienced before, but through a process of iteration, I managed to distil my business lessons into a concise framework known as the 5E Scale Engine. Now, I’m a full-time entrepreneurship coach, with over 17 clients, helping them scale their businesses and get to the next level. I conduct masterclasses on top of my coaching and I also launched a book (paperback, ebook, audio) just last month.

Through the coaching program that I conduct with them, my coaching clients have experienced these results:

  • They have become much happier while running their businesses
  • They have gained the confidence to make the right decisions to scale
  • They have a happier and higher-performing team
  • They can attract and retain A-players on their team
  • Their customers become happier and become raving fans of their business
  • They experience less stress
  • They work on, not in, their businesses
  • They have significantly higher revenues

I believe that the conventional education system is great for certain subjects, but not for entrepreneurship. Looking at my past lessons and current clients, I see that entrepreneurship is best approached like how a sport is coached. For business decisions, a lot of times it’s better to guide and demonstrate rather than just teach. One of the evolutions needed in this space is an academy that gives not just the theory, but also the practical aspects of running a business to existing business owners. I feel that is a space that is currently lacking in the business world.”