I help founders build their startups from scratch. Ask me anything!

NOTE: This AMA has ended. Find the Q&A with Alex here.

Hello TIA community!

I’m Alex Crompton, managing director at Entrepreneur First (EF) Singapore. EF helps the most ambitious individuals build startups from scratch—even before you have a team or idea (yes, really!). We do so on the premise that our six-month program will help you do three things: find a co-founder, develop a commercially viable idea, and get a seed investment.

Being pioneers of this model, people thought we were crazy, but after seven years, 120 companies collectively valued at US$1 billion, 1,000 alumni, and four international locations, it’s pretty safe to say that EF works.

I was employee number one at EF, and I moved from London to set it up in Singapore. Prior to joining EF, I worked in finance at an engineering consultancy in Tokyo, and then sales and marketing for a property company in London. I studied philosophy in Canada and the UK, and I’m interested in topics such as effective altruism, industrial applications of machine learning, and human-computer interaction.

Feel free to ask me anything, including questions about:

• Why do we prioritize people over ideas or companies?
• What are the biggest mistakes that first-time founders and early-stage companies make?
• What should one consider before taking the path of entrepreneurship?
• What startups should consider before attempting to raise funds from VCs and angel investors?
• What are the differences between the startup cultures in London, Singapore, and Silicon Valley?

Something personal:

• What are my favorite books?
• Who are my favorite philosophers?
• What’s it like being employee number one and seeing a company grow for five years?
• What’s London like and why is the weather always so miserable?

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Note from Putra, TIA’s head of community content: The host may choose at his preference to not answer particular questions. The AMA is moderated by the community managers, so let’s keep the questions friendly. 🙂

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Find the Q&A with Alex below.

Hi Alex, what is the best way to calculate market size? Thanks

– Nguyen AnhDung

This is a good starting point.

Thanks again for this AMA, Alex! To close the session, here’s my final question: What advice would you like the TIA community to take away from this AMA?