Karl Loo, co-founder and CEO of ServisHero

Karl Loo is the co-founder and CEO of ServisHero, a mobile application that links consumers with local service providers like plumbers, electricians and cleaners.  The app is live in Malaysia and Singapore and serves customers in 4 cities – it is currently one of Malaysia’s fastest growing start-ups.  Karl graduated with an MBA from Said Business School in 2014.

What is your background? Why are you doing this?

I have a background in internet start-ups. My first career was as a technology lawyer, but I discovered my passion was in business building, and not just business advising!

What is your definition of entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is about being able to identify opportunity in a problem, then to execute on providing a solution to the problem with limited resources!

What made you decide to become an entrepreneur?

I enjoy business building and bringing people together to pursue a common purpose.

So what would you say are the top 3 skills that needed to be a successful entrepreneur? Why?

Decisiveness; Interpersonal Skills; Excellent general knowledge.

What is your favourite part of being an entrepreneur?

I enjoy the fact that no day is the same and that there’s always some exciting new challenge to solve.

What individual, company or organization inspires you most? Why?

As an entrepreneur based in Malaysia, I admire Anthony Tan who started GrabTaxi. GrabTaxi is the leading car-hailing app in South East Asia and has been able to fight off competitors like Uber by providing a technology solution that is truly localized.

If you could have 5 minutes with the above indiv/company/org, what would you want to ask or discuss?

How do you maintain confidence in both your investors and your employees when you operating in such a fiercely competitive space against a competitor with a seemingly endless amount of funding.

What has been your most satisfying or successful moment in business?

I have been involved in many startup businesses, but getting ServisHero off the ground has been my most satisfying. It has been most satisfying because of the huge amount of learning we’ve achieved in such a short space of time.  Neither I or my co-founders had ever build a mobile app before – through sheer grit and determination we were able to build our first MVP within 9 weeks, and deploy the business to 4 cities and 2 countries within 2 months after launch.  The pace at which we were able to learn, execute and scale was thrilling.

What would you say have been some of your mistakes, failures or lessons learned as an entrepreneur?

Getting the team right, is the most important part of building a startup.  If you have someone that isn’t working out, don’t wait too long before you take action. Take swift action in order to maintain momentum in developing your business.

Any last words of advice?

Progress over perfection!  The hardest part is taking the first step – so just get things done, and you’ll figure out a (more) perfect solution later.