Aaron Sarma is a serial entrepreneur who made his mark with the online travel startup Touristly. Now, he is looking to help other startups raise their game
Being a tech entrepreneur wasn’t something that Aaron Sarma naturally aspired to be. Still, it was a path that was always intriguing, and appealed to him because he always loves a good challenge.
Over the years Sarma has worn many hats, working his way up from a network marketing company to starting his first company, Touristly, which was subsequently acquired by AirAsia and renamed Vidi. As an entrepreneur, he doesn’t mind exploring different fields including organising gigs for bands, producing a music album and even dabbling in retail fashion, selling men’s clothes.
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“I don’t think I can box myself into one particular field. I love a challenge, the art of creation and building something new. That is what excites me,” he explains.
Sarma attributes his can-do attitude to his early career when he was tasked with starting up the local operations for a Singaporean deal site. As the first employee through the door, he knew he had to hustle and get his hands dirty. His first month on the job saw him knocking on the doors of countless restaurants and beauty saloons to sign them up on the deals platform.
Though he was initially hesitant to accept the job, as he did not have experience in digital marketing, he told himself the prospect of building a business from the ground up would prove invaluable.
Indeed, he was right on the money as the entrepreneur bug bit him in 2013. During a party celebrating another year of success for the company, the itch to start his own business came over him. “It dawned on me that despite working so hard to build up the company, it was not my business. That spurred me to take the plunge to be an entrepreneur,” he recalls.
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