My name is Adrienhttp://www.gogoprint.sg, I’m from Belgium and 31 years old. I hold 2 Master’s degrees: one in Business and another in Political Economy. After my studies in London, I moved to Bangkok and have been living here for the last 7 years. I’m currently the CEO of Gogoprint, an online printing company active in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Tell us about your childhood and where you grew up
I was born in Belgium, and for most of my life I lived in and around Brussels – the capital. My family is quite multicultural: my mom’s parents are Spanish and Italian, and my stepmom is Ukrainian – so I spent a lot of time in all those places growing up and soaking up the culture. While in kindergarten, I also lived in Poland for a couple of years. After obtaining my first Master’s from Solvay Business School in Belgium, I spent a year at King’s College London for a second Master’s degree.
How did you get started as an entrepreneur?
It all started right after I moved to Thailand. I was lucky enough to join a fresh new startup, called Gogoprint, and I’ve been on a growth journey with Gogoprint ever since. Over the years I became increasingly invested in the company and eventually became its CEO.
What is one business lesson you would tell a startup founder?
My advice to every startup founder would be to keep innovating. Keep an ear to the ground and be fast on your feet – pivot when you need to. When bringing a new product, service, or business model to market, you’re basically contributing to driving forward your industry, bringing it to new heights. Fundamentally, this kind of innovation is great, as it unlocks new value for stakeholders in your business. But it’s also extremely rare that you’ll hit the perfect product-market fit from the go-get. You’ll have to experiment (a lot) and this process of trial and error will mean that at some point you’ll need to ditch certain ideas and focus on what matters most and is actually helping you move the needle. Focus on that, and take it as far as you can. Linked to this, I would also say that you should always keep profitability in the back of your mind when making decisions – even if your potential investors demand revenue growth above all else. Be sure to always have a clear path to profitability – it will secure your financial independence and save you in the long run. As a bonus, it will also increase the attractiveness (and value) of your business in the long run.
