Evan is the founder and CEO of Zenith Learning Group, a Singaporean education startup that provides secondary and JC-level instruction to students. Their MOE-backed learning programs cover basic subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and more.

They help students with university applications and even offer scholarship consultations. PS. They’re currently working on expanding their services to the Philippines, Indonesia, and the rest of SEA.

👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

I'm a salesman: I sell to employees (hiring), I sell to investors (fundraising), and I sell to customers (marketing/strategy).

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🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

When my students from my 2020 batch delivered the best results I've ever seen. The distinction rate was nearly twice the national average, and this is despite the vast majority of them coming from below-average schools.

Ultimately, I measure success based on impact, and I felt extremely satisfied and proud to see them succeed despite their own school teachers telling them that they would not do well.  

This gave me the motivation to grow the business further, knowing that I could continue helping future generations of students the same way I helped that batch. Even though I stopped teaching last year, that still stands out as the highlight of my career.

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🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Most people always assume I'm in my late 20s or early 30s, but I just turned 25. I guess it is a good thing that I looked older than I really am.

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🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

This is an extremely basic answer, but I think the AI space is extremely exciting and scary at the same time. I'm more interested in how AI can be integrated into education systems to enable students to learn better and teachers to teach better.

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💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

Think and do different. Don't expect to get different results from doing the same thing everyone else is doing. The only way to get different results is to do different.

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🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

This is a sad answer...anything startup or VC-related.

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🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Favorite Movie: Catch Me If You Can. Favorite TV show: Suits or Billions.

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🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Vanilla / Ripple

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FYI. We’ve edited this interview for clarity.