CEO of Singapore's multi-million dollar homecare start-up shares top tips for success

After spending 15 years abroad, Singaporean entrepreneur Gillian Tee decided to instrumentality location successful 2016 to beryllium person to her family.

It was what she called "the cleanable storm." 

Three of her adjacent relatives were surviving with chronic illnesses and Tee rapidly discovered the "pain points" of caring for individuals who request specialized care. 

"Let's accidental you fell and broke your hip, the aesculapian portion is rather clear. You person to find specialists, you tin spell to… [a] nationalist infirmary oregon backstage hospital," Tee said. 

"But what happens erstwhile you request to travel home, erstwhile you request to modulation backmost to your assemblage and your home, what is the attraction plan? What is the close happening to adjacent deliberation about, successful presumption of proofing the home, mobility aids?" 

That's erstwhile she decided to commencement Homage, a institution that matches patients who request semipermanent location attraction with qualified caregivers. 

Since 2017 erstwhile the institution was founded, the startup has raised $45 million, she said naming notable investors specified arsenic Golden Gate Ventures Sheares and Healthcare Group — a Temasek wholly owned subsidiary, arsenic good arsenic aboriginal signifier task steadfast 500 Startups.

Homage is present valued astatine much than $100 million, according to Tee.

But this is not the 40-year-old's archetypal foray into entrepreneurship. She was a absorption advisor for Accenture erstwhile she chanced upon a publication that changed the people of her career.

"I started disconnected arsenic a bundle developer and I was conscionable precise drawn to it due to the fact that I liked gathering things. But what truly deed maine was this conception of application," she told CNBC Make It. 

She was referring to the publication Founders astatine Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days, written by Jessica Livingston, who co-founded effect signifier concern steadfast Y Combinator. 

"How bash I usage exertion to physique thing that radical tin use, and it impacts their lives?" 

And truthful began Tee's entrepreneur journey, which includes spending 2 years successful Silicon Valley, wherever she co-founded Rocketrip successful 2013. It is simply a website that incentivizes concern travelers to prevention their employers wealth connected travel expenses. 

The institution raised $32 million — including $15 cardinal from Google Ventures — earlier being acquired by Mondee Holdings successful 2020.

This serial entrepreneur shares her apical tips for moving palmy startup.

Be it gathering an app for question oregon wellness care, the concern fundamentals ne'er change, said Tee.         

"You request to cognize your marketplace truly well. Know your outgo drivers, maturation drivers and request drivers." 

Homage is presently successful 3 markets — Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, wherever determination are "unique characteristics" that link good to the occupation that the institution is trying to solve, Tee added. 

"We looked astatine caregiver shortage, the quality of the aging colonisation and chronic illnesses — which interestingly, is not conscionable caused by age, but highly correlated with urbanization."

While users of Homage widen beyond seniors, the accidental successful eldercare technology continues to turn arsenic radical unrecorded longer. In Asia alone, one successful 4 radical volition be over 60 years old by 2050, according to the Asian Development Bank.

However, Tee said she is "a large instrumentality of going heavy and not overspreading" the business.  

"Focus is everything. We bash person a precise wide presumption of what the markets are, if we should grow to much [countries]. But close present the existent absorption is connected deepening our existent markets," she added. 

Business fundamentals are important, but entrepreneurs should "anchor archetypal connected people," said Tee. 

This has served Homage good successful providing the champion attraction for its clients, and for Tee, who had nary anterior acquisition successful the health-care industry. 

"It's important to thin connected specialists for objective governance and compliance. That's wherefore we person our manager of nursing, for example, who has 20 years of acquisition crossed antithetic aesculapian settings," Tee shared. 

"A large portion of what we bash is we request to synthesize attraction prime with the merchandise and technology. That's the squad you request to physique — I effort to bash the champion I can, but I bring connected radical who are overmuch amended than me." 

Being an entrepreneur tin beryllium isolating, said Tee, particularly truthful erstwhile you are a woman. 

"You get snide comments, but of course, little truthful present due to the fact that there's a estimation and respect that's been built up." 

But things were not ever casual successful the beginning. "For example, [a director] erstwhile told me, 'You know, present I cognize wherefore the newspapers diagnostic you, due to the fact that your eyes are truthful beautiful.'" 

"This is my mantra similar everything I spell through: I person to beryllium doubly arsenic assertive, much data-driven and beryllium ace sharp. I bash deliberation we [female entrepreneurs] person to bash much to beryllium our point." 

Even so, Tee has learned to instrumentality things successful her stride and thin connected the radical who matter. 

"There's 100 problems, but there's besides 100 bully things. You got to truly tune retired the sound and beryllium good going done that intensity," she added. 

"It's exhilarating successful immoderate ways, but tiring successful galore others. Lean connected your team, beryllium open, vulnerable, transparent with them. I deliberation that's the astir important thing." 

What does innovation mean to Tee? It's astir making an interaction connected users.

"The ngo of Homage is truthful adjacent and beloved to me. At the extremity of the day, there's thing amended than gathering thing that radical tin get a solution retired of," she said.