Over the last two decades, the serial entrepreneur’s many ventures have helped Southeast Asia go online to do things better, simpler and faster—things that we take for granted today but were nascent in the 1990s, when the magical land called the World Wide Web was first created. Grove borrowed concepts from the West and, over the years, has brought much of the SEA’s digital and e-commerce ecosystem into being: from accessible subscription-based streaming service (iFlix) or facilitating the buying and selling of vehicles (iCar Asia and Carsome) to simplifying property search and transactions (iProperty, which was sold to Australian property advertising firm REA Group for AU$751 million, or RM2.5 billion in 2016), to name just a few. 

Along the way, he’s built a powerful network of influential partners and collaborators; other prolific technopreneurs frequently associated with him include Khailee Ng of 500 Global, Vishen Lakhiani of Mindvalley and Joel Neoh, best known as the founder of Groupon Malaysia. For the latter, empowering people means making them partners and shareholders, and creating something greater together. “When iProperty was finally sold for over RM2.5 billion, I realised we had created over 50 millionaires in the company.  That is how you empower people.” It’s no wonder he has become a beacon of inspiration for technopreneurs, or that his name is a symbol of digital disruption.

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The Malaysian government has also taken notice. On July 6, Catcha announced i-Gov, a new business unit focused on working to develop technology solutions and software for the Malaysian government and public sector. “I think we’re quite respected by the political establishment and they know us, they know what we do… very often they seek our advice on digital matters. Numerous times over the last five years, various ministers, including prime ministers, have come to me for advice, which is nice.” Catcha has long maintained a meaningful dialogue with the Malaysian government on matters related to the digital economy and government digitisation, the technology ecosystem and opportunities for improving the government’s digital initiatives. 

For one particular government plan, the New Industrial Master Plan, announced in September 2023, to be successful, Grove thinks that it’s important for key builders of the tech ecosystem to be local and regional players, and “not global players that don’t really care about our markets. From my chats with Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his team, they are very progressive and pro-technology, and this is great to hear. We hope to remain a key component in helping Malaysia move headfirst into the digital future.”

The entrepreneur has always been an advocate for emerging players in the region. Born in Singapore to a Singaporean/Malaysian Chinese mother and an Australian father, Grove spent the majority of his formative years in Indonesia, then headed to Australia for his undergraduate studies. Returning to Malaysia to start work, he then married a Thai-British woman, with whom he has four children under four years old. He describes himself as a product of Southeast Asia, and “a catalyst, a promoter, a problem-solver, an investor and a creator. I invest in people and companies, and push them to go harder.”

So how does Grove think up his next billion-dollar idea? While the popular “disruption” ethos is a value ingrained into the startup community, Grove requires a serene, organised mind. The journey to his first US$10 million was, in his words, “ten years of blood, sweat and tears. No holidays, no weekends; just constant hustle—and, of course, journalling to stay on track.” Once, he sat in a Starbucks with an empty notebook and literally wrote “How to make US$100 million in 12 months”, then executed the plan, which resulted in iCar Asia’s listing in 2012. He continues to use journalling and visualisation frequently for deep thinking—he says even great disruptive ideas need time to bloom. “As an entrepreneur, I’m always wanting to disrupt things or problem-solve… but I can’t problem-solve in two minutes. My thoughts need to get into a creative frame of mind. And so, it takes a while to get there… [but] when I’m uninterrupted for 30 to 60 minutes, my brain can get to a very creative state.

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“When you drive a car and you want to go at a fast pace, you’re starting from zero, then you go 10 kilometres an hour and then 20 kilometres an hour. So you’re accelerating the car to get to 100 kilometres. So I feel like the brain is the same: if you want to have great ideas, you can’t be like, ‘I have a great idea right now.’ It’s like a car accelerator. You need to start something and then just think of something else, so the idea gets better and better as you go.” For this reason, he loves long showers. “It’s like the only place where no one can find me. No one can message me—it’s also my fault that I’m always checking my phone. But then when I’m in the shower, I just can’t check it. So it’s quite peaceful and therapeutic.” 

Whenever he can, Grove goes on a digital detox as well and this is why he also loves long-haul flights. “I will always say to the cabin crew, ‘I want you to bring me everything at once at the same time. I’m going to eat it and please take it back in five minutes.’” And then he uses the time on the plane to read and journal. “I don’t watch any movies. I don’t watch any shows. I use it for deep thinking time.” Long-haul flights are his sanctuary, “So no one can find me. I go on silent mode, no emails, no WhatsApp, like no distractions. And then the brain can finally be at its purest from a creative point of view.”

View Patrick Grove's full profile on Asia's Most Influential here