Thomas Jeng is General Manager, Singapore at Aspire, a Series C fintech company that provides business accounts, corporate cards, and other financial tools to startups and digital businesses throughout the world.

Before Aspire, he worked in strategy consulting at BCG and Gartner, global VC firm 500 Startups (now 500 Global), and EdTech startup Gnowbe. He also founded Junction, a talent matchmaking startup.

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

Aspire provides financial tools to startups and companies of all sizes to help them run their businesses. My job is to lead the teams that look after our customers. 

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

One thing that often surprises people is how diverse our customers are. They come from well beyond Singapore - in any given week, we're working with businesses from throughout Southeast Asia, Greater China, South Asia, the US, Europe, and even the Middle East.

On a more personal level, I have three young children and so (naturally) know the lyrics to the Disney anthem "Let it Go" by heart.

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

My own experience is that being able to "build" - to create and shape something lasting - is the greatest benefit of working in the startup world. Along these lines, leading teams and businesses as they scale has been incredibly gratifying.

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

It's pretty hard *not* to pay attention to all the advancements in generative AI happening right now. I spent a significant part of my early career as a management consultant, a job that entails building thousands of PowerPoint slides, designing graphics, and organizing large amounts of information.

The prospect that AI tools could do the job better than the average entry-level analyst isn't something that I ever expected. These technologies will have profound implications for the way value chains in the knowledge economy are structured - in ways that we're only beginning to grasp.

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

As a startup operator, try to find roles where you can create feedback loops between strategy and execution. Getting exposure to first principles-based thinking will make you stronger at execution, which in turn will help refine the way you think - creating a virtuous cycle. 

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

I can nerd out about how to align go-to-market strategy, organization, and incentives for hours.

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show? 

Most recently, probably The Mandalorian, a Star Wars series.

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

Ginger ice cream (when I can find it)!

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