1. Tech: Alvin Poh
Alvin Poh sold his company, Vodien Internet Solutions, to an Australian technology firm for SGD 30 million in 2017. He was 33 at the time. Vodien was an internet hosting company (similar to services like GoDaddy). Alvin started Vodien with another co-founder in 2002. He was only 17, and was in polytechnic.
The company actually started off as a simple web development agency. However, Alvin found that web development was not a scalable business, because each project was unique and there was a lot of man hours devoted to customising solutions for each client. It later pivoted into an internet hosting company, which was a much more scalable model. After 15 years of hard work, Dreamscape (an Australian IT firm) acquired Vodien for $30 million.
Lesson: Companies that are built on highly-scalable business models will grow exponentially; companies that are labour-intensive will likely remain relatively small
If you are a technology entrepreneur, it's useful to learn more about protecting IT companies.
2. F&B: Zhang Yong
Another person who achieved massive success is Zhang Yong, the founder of Hai Di Lao. This is tangential to your question, since Zhang is not precisely a millionaire, but a billionaire (well, I suppose you could technically define him as a thirty-thousand-millionaire). He also likely didn't achieve millionaire status by the age of 30. Hai Di Lao started as a single hot pot restaurant in 1994, in the city of Jianyang (Sichuan province). Over the course of 4 years, Zhang outflanked all the competing hot pot chains in his city by offering better food, better service, and better ambience. He opened his 2nd outlet in 1998. Today, the company boasts over 935 outlets across 11 different countries, and services over 160 million customers a year. No, that's not a typo - they serve 160 million people each year (and the numbers just keep growing). The company rode the wave of hotpot dining culture, and was one of the most successful companies to benefit from this interest in hotpot cuisine.
In interviews, Zhang attributes his success to a few factors:
Aggressively re-investing into the business over the years
Trusting staff to make key decisions, including ground-level staff like waiters (who can make decisions like giving freebies/free meals)
A singular focus on the customer experience by offering great products, great service, and great ambience
In the long run, Zhang eventually built one of the world' most prominent hot pot chains, and became the richest person in Singapore, to boot.
Lesson: Businesses that successfully leverage cultural shifts, aggressively outcompete other firms, and obsess over their customers will generate huge value for their owners
If you're interested in venturing into F&B, here's a complete guide on how to start a restaurant in Singapore.
1. Tech: Alvin Poh
Alvin Poh sold his company, Vodien Internet Solutions, to an Australian technology firm for SGD 30 million in 2017. He was 33 at the time. Vodien was an internet hosting company (similar to services like GoDaddy). Alvin started Vodien with another co-founder in 2002. He was only 17, and was in polytechnic.
The company actually started off as a simple web development agency. However, Alvin found that web development was not a scalable business, because each project was unique and there was a lot of man hours devoted to customising solutions for each client. It later pivoted into an internet hosting company, which was a much more scalable model. After 15 years of hard work, Dreamscape (an Australian IT firm) acquired Vodien for $30 million.
Lesson: Companies that are built on highly-scalable business models will grow exponentially; companies that are labour-intensive will likely remain relatively small
If you are a technology entrepreneur, it's useful to learn more about protecting IT companies.
2. F&B: Zhang Yong
Another person who achieved massive success is Zhang Yong, the founder of Hai Di Lao. This is tangential to your question, since Zhang is not precisely a millionaire, but a billionaire (well, I suppose you could technically define him as a thirty-thousand-millionaire). He also likely didn't achieve millionaire status by the age of 30. Hai Di Lao started as a single hot pot restaurant in 1994, in the city of Jianyang (Sichuan province). Over the course of 4 years, Zhang outflanked all the competing hot pot chains in his city by offering better food, better service, and better ambience. He opened his 2nd outlet in 1998. Today, the company boasts over 935 outlets across 11 different countries, and services over 160 million customers a year. No, that's not a typo - they serve 160 million people each year (and the numbers just keep growing). The company rode the wave of hotpot dining culture, and was one of the most successful companies to benefit from this interest in hotpot cuisine.
In interviews, Zhang attributes his success to a few factors:
Aggressively re-investing into the business over the years
Trusting staff to make key decisions, including ground-level staff like waiters (who can make decisions like giving freebies/free meals)
A singular focus on the customer experience by offering great products, great service, and great ambience
In the long run, Zhang eventually built one of the world' most prominent hot pot chains, and became the richest person in Singapore, to boot.
Lesson: Businesses that successfully leverage cultural shifts, aggressively outcompete other firms, and obsess over their customers will generate huge value for their owners
If you're interested in venturing into F&B, here's a complete guide on how to start a restaurant in Singapore.