Michelle Lim

Experience

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  Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs

  Jun 1995 - Jun 1996

  Officer

  Everything is confidential and classified at the MFA. And you have got to know the pecking order and your place. Mine happened to be on the administrative desk, particularly in the realm of diplomatic real estate owned by the Singapore government. It was not terribly exciting.I also learnt that taking notes has been elevated to an artform. First the posture, you huddle in between two important people who are having a dignified conversation. Sometimes, they have interpretators even though they can understand each other perfectly in English. It's a matter of national pride. Now, as they and their translators talk, you try your best to scribble down EVERYTHING they say. Every single detail must be captured. For some antiquated reason, they do not use recorders back then.Later, when they adjourn for tea or cocktails, you must scramble to some backroom to feverishly type out the notes of the meeting. After which, it will be scrutinised by everyone above your rank. When you are a rookie, that means everyone.I have learnt quite a bit in the MFA but the life of a diplomat is not for me. I would elaborate, but then it's classfied. Show less

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  IBM

  Aug 1998 - May 2003

  Program Manager, Marketing

  Big Blue owns towns. That's what I learnt when I realised that in some towns where IBM is the dominant employer, even the family dog is blue. And having an IBM badge can get you upgraded to first class on an aircraft for no other apparant reason. Being Blue has its advantages.Fresh from my newly minted MBA, I was working on ebusiness for IBM's storage division in San Jose, CA. My job was to analyse and develop metrics for revenue that can be attributed to ebusiness. I must admit that those were really very early days of the commercial internet and many liberties were taken. I did some interesting work with IBM's Almaden research scientists that warrants a mention. Back then, no one knew how to price a product on a direct website which has an existing distribution channel. How to handle the conflicts? Direct internet sales via ShopIBM opened up an entirely different sales channel with its set of problems. Almaden developed a price crawler for me and I developed a pricing strategy from that.Later, I moved into a project management role, tasked with Technology Group's Fall and Spring Plans. True blue IBMers will know what a pain that is. I did not enjoy that stint much as finance is not my forte or interest, though it gave me a lot of face and airtime with executives and SVPs. Final presentation of TG's Fall Plan for 2001 was 9/11. You can imagine chaos that morning.Hitachi acquired my division in 2002 (I think) and I was in the red team, meaning I would be under Hitachi. Ironically, this was when work got interesting for me. For the first time, I was working with branding and full blown marketing. I developed the first retail box for Hitachi drives. IBM was good for me. Where else can I get 3 different jobscopes, 3 promotions and 3 band jumps in 5 years. Show less

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  JobsCentral Pte Ltd

  Aug 2003 - May 2014

  Co-Founder/Chief Operating Officer

  JobsCentral was a company that I co-foundered in 2000 and later in 2011, was acquired by CareerBuilder. CareerBuilder, headquartered in frigid but still awesome Chicago, has over 60 market-presence worldwide and in Asia, it is present in 6 countries - Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, China and India. Singapore, of course, remains my favorite.I have regional responsibilities for Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia; and manage a few teams of young but innovative and progressive professionals across these key functions - Traditional and Digital (SEM/Social) Marketing, Content Marketing, PR, Editorial, Design and Research. I plan and drive all marketing programs across multiple platforms, manage media relations/am a company spokesperson, publish 6 magazines a year, provide creative direction for our collaterals, and in the same breath, I also oversee 5 major research projects in a year. On the business side of things, I stick my fingers in general management of the company and am also the product owner of JC Studio, a creative agency providing design services. Occasionally, I also breathe fire and leap buildings in a single bounce.One unique thing about how we have always done things in JobsCentral was the extreme reluctance to use outside help for anything. And I mean anything. If we could get running water and pound fibres in the office, we would probably attempt to make our own paper. As such, we have built internal teams and expertise for almost everything we need. That way, we have the best controls over cost, time and efficiencies. So much so that in many cases, we have been able to turn what were traditionally cost centers to revenue streams. We spend and make money. Show less

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  Cherry & Shell Inc

  Apr 2011 - now

  Private Investor/Director

  I am a full time private investor. I invest in startups as well as the usual bonds, equity, derivatives and hedge funds and private equity. This pretty much allows me to take early retirement to spend more time with loved ones and my two cats.

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  Iconic Ventures

  Apr 2011 - Jan 2016

  Co-Founder

  Angel investing is not as glam as it sounds. And in Singapore, I see too much posturing and entrepraneurs enamoured with the thought of being entrepraneurs. True story. But I guess it's a good thing that there is quite a lot of interest out there from especially young people aspiring to run their own businesses.Iconic looks to invest in interesting and high potential companies, especially in the Internet space. Looking for gems in the rough to transform into crown jewel worthy stars. Current portfolio includes DrWealth, JobsCentral Malaysia, CareerBuilder Indonesia, OneShift.com and ToGoParts.com Show less