Saison Capital

Saison Capital is an early stage fund with a focus on emerging markets. We back ambitious founders solving big problems, with deep fondness for web3, fintech and embedded finance - non-fintech companies expanding into fintech. Our team comes from an operating background, and we are unafraid to roll up our sleeves to support our founders. We are backed by Credit Saison, a Tokyo-listed 30b AUM consumer finance company with extensive financial services across Asia.

Partner

Principal

BCG Digital Ventures

Started in classic management consulting with BCG, before being the first full-time convert in Southeast Asia to BCG Digital Ventures. At BCG, launched a nationwide sales program for one of the largest banks in Southeast Asia, driving improvements to performance management, culture and internal communications. At BCG Digital Ventures, built 0-to-1 pre-seed ventures in sustainability, agetech and FMCG.

Venture Architect

Glints

Glints is Southeast Asia’s largest talent platform for career development and recruitment. Founded in 2013 in Singapore, Glints has empowered more than 1.5 million professionals and 30,000 organizations to realize their human potential. 

We were the youngest to have raised venture capital in Southeast Asia from East Ventures, 500 Startups, SPH Media Fund, Gobi Partners, Golden Equator Capital, Wavemaker Partners, SG Innovate.

I led marketing, operations and human capital - team building, recruiting, compensation, onboarding, management, culture, and internal communications.

As seen on Forbes, TechCrunch, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Yahoo News, The Straits Times, Business Times, Today, Tech In Asia, e27, and Digital News Asia, Channel News Asia.

COO & Co-Founder

Institute for Infocomm Research

The Institute for Infocomm Research is a member of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) family. I published 13 research papers (11 of which I'm first-author) and presented 4 projects in human-computer interaction at international peer-reviewed conferences and journals.

Researcher

Partner at Saison Capital

The 0 to 1 journey as a founder can be lonely and challenging. I’ve been there.

At Saison Capital, I partner with founders to grow from 0 to 1. Need talent? I'll help recruit key hires and advisors. Need customers? I'll hustle alongside you to find your first 1,000 true fans. Need capital? I invest pre-seed / seed, especially in fintech, B2B platforms and web3.

My 0 to 1 experiences include co-founding Glints (Series D), Southeast Asia's largest talent platform for career development and recruitment, and venture building with BCG Digital Ventures. I also finished my Stanford undergraduate degree with distinction (top 15%) in 2 years.

Connect with me at qinen@saisoncapital.com

Previously recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 and Entrepreneurs 27 Under 27. Featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Yahoo News, The Straits Times, Business Times, Today, Tech in Asia, e27, Digital News Asia, and Channel News Asia

Qin En Looi

Equinix

As a Senior Technical Product Manager, I oversee the Smart Hands service, a vital offering generating $80M annually. My role encompasses managing the commercial aspects and product offerings while ensuring seamless day-to-day operations. I leverage my deep understanding of our entire technology stack to refine user stories, driving the development of new requirements for our global customer portal. In addition, support and manage the API strategy of the service.

In September 2024, I successfully launched a global sustainability initiative that empowers customers to self-serve secure and responsible electronic disposal. This initiative not only creates a new revenue stream but has also led to a reduction in overhead costs by over 50%, all while reinforcing compliance standards. I am committed to delivering innovative solutions that enhance customer satisfaction and drive business growth.

In addition, I utilize generative AI to enhance our competitive analysis and market research efforts. This technology streamlines story grooming and automates various processes, enabling my teams to work more efficiently and make data-driven decisions faster. I am committed to delivering innovative solutions that enhance customer satisfaction and drive business growth.

Senior Technical Product Manager (Smart Hands)

Responsible for maintaining the product vision of the Equinix Customer Portal (ECP) while supporting the various asks of different business stakeholders. Operationally support and resolve incidents or feature upgrades.

Conduct regular grooming and discovery sessions with stakeholders for solution brainstorming and maintain detailed documentation of decisions, tasks and designs. Act as the bridge between business owners and backend engineering to deliver MVP and subsequent iterative improvements adopting the Agile process framework.

Successfully completed key projects ranging from compliance dashboards, converged support portal to legacy MFE upgrade.

Platforms used: AHA, JIRA, Confluence, Amplitude, Miro, Sharepoint

Senior Product Manager

Singtel

Responsible for every aspect of software-defined cloud connectivity from product development, portal enhancements, cloud provider partnerships, financials, billing, processes, GTM, sales training to select direct customer engagements at times. Plays the role of key product evangelist. 

Successfully launched and became one of the first local providers that onboarded Oracle FastConnect as a cloud on-ramp to drive new revenue streams. Also completed and launched IBM Cloud Direct Link connect as a cloud on-ramp.

Being a relatively new product, directly involved major accounts deployment from opportunity spotting, requirement gathering, presales solutioning, order loading, production roll out and initial project handover stages to ensure customer success.

Product Manager, Software Defined Networking

Driver for all commercial related activities across entire Singtel suite of L2/L3 cloud connectivity services from sales engagements, briefings to pricing and user interviews. 
With cloud connectivity being a new subject to staffs that are too familiar traditional telco offerings, acted as a key cloud connectivity evangelist for all sales segments across the board to enquire and even co-engage customers with.  To further bring up the product awareness, conducted monthly sales segment forums to acquire mindshare, track funnels and gather feedback for product managers to develop on.

Grade Promotion in 2020.

Commercial Product Manager (Cloud Connectivity)

Responsible for every aspect of SIP Trunking services from product development, reporting, financials, billing, processes, GTM, sales training to selected direct Presales customer engagements at times.
Being an substitute product to traditional voice services, I worked closely with other PMs to ensure a smooth and seamless transition from legacy services while protecting the topline for the company from threats of younger competitors with no legacy to lose. Within my tenure, I achieved close to 2x OR growth YoY, won over thousands of competitor lines, launched multiple hardware bundles and ran a successful partner's program for a year that led to 15% YoY subscription growth.

Spot Awardee for Excellence in SIP Project Rollout
Spot Awardee for Excellence in VIP Customer Support

Product Manager, SIP Trunk Services

Responsible for every aspect of UC & Video Conferencing services from product development, hardware partnerships, financials, billing, processes, GTM, sales training, opportunity spotting, application selling to selected direct Presales customer engagements at times.

Products supported include VCaas, Hosted PBX & UC desktop/mobile applications.

Product Manager, Communications and Collaboration Services

RansNet Singapore Pte Ltd

Product management: Develop clear product positioning and messaging that differentiates mfusion and mbox in the market.

Pricing management: Maintain product pricing for key accounts and ensure competitive edge against competitor products in the same domain.

Brand management: Design and Build a strong and clear identity for the company and its products, mfusion and mbox. Manage market communication channels (social media, website, etc.) and materials. Design and create company page, product brochures, product introduction videos.

Product launch: plan the launch of new products, releases and updates

Market intelligence: understand and quickly access competition in the cloud networking and monitoring industry.

Demand generation: develop the strategy and manage the marketing campaigns that drive demand for your mfusion and mbox

Sales enablement: communicating the value proposition of the mfusion and mbox to the sales team and channel partners. Further develop the sales and marketing tools that support an efficient selling process.

Channel management: Negotiate contracts with vendors and distributors to manage product distribution, maintaining a healthy relationship with channel partners.

Marketing and Business Development Manager

OSINet International Pte Ltd (Group)

Responsible for every aspect of Cloud services from product development, cloud SaaS partnerships, financials, billing, processes, GTM to selected direct customer engagements at times.

Product Manager (Cloud & Managed Services)

M1 Limited

Responsible for every aspect of DC & Cloud services from product development, cloud SaaS partnerships, financials, billing, processes, GTM to selected direct customer engagements at times.

Corporate Marketing Executive

NCS Group

Responsible for the gathering and implementation of user requirements.

Development of custom API, batch jobs and code changes.

Consultant, Applications

Samsung

Responsible for improvement of logistic processes of spare parts for repairs.

Parts Support Coordinator

With over a decade of B2B product management experience spanning startups to multinational corporations, I bring a deep understanding of the telecommunications sector and its inherent processes and constraints. My expertise encompasses a broad range of services, including Cloud services, SaaS, IaaS, enterprise networking, voice services, unified communications, and data center solutions.

In my roles, I have successfully navigated product management, development, marketing, business development, analytics, and solution design. My diverse experience across applications, networking, enterprise voice, and Cloud technologies, combined with a robust technical background, empowers me to quickly grasp new technologies and identify customer opportunities. This allows me to effectively translate insights into actionable plans for technical teams.

One of my most significant career achievements was doubling revenue to nearly $4M for a new product, which served as a substitute for a legacy service within just one year of taking on the role. By diagnosing internal performance issues rather than attributing them to external factors, I was able to foster strong relationships with operations, engineering, and sales teams. This collaborative approach proved instrumental in turning the product around and achieving remarkable results.

In addition to my professional pursuits, I am passionate about photography, videography, music, and sports, which fuel my creativity and drive.

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Qin En Looi

Whai Kit Tham

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