Sign In

Desmond Lim

Head of Workstream and Co-Founder, MIT - Harvard grad

Desmond Lim is the CEO and Co-Founder of Workstream, a company that provides a mobile-first platform for hiring and retaining hourly workers.12 Here are some key details about his background and career:

Education and Early Life

Desmond Lim comes from humble beginnings. His parents were hourly workers who only finished 4th grade and barely spoke English.1 Despite financial challenges, Lim was accepted to Harvard University. To finance his education, he worked multiple jobs, including as a tour guide, translator, and tutor. He also started his first business connecting tutors to students, which grew into a 6-figure enterprise.1

Academic Achievements

  • Graduated from Harvard University2
  • Also holds a degree from MIT23

Professional Experience

  • CEO and Co-Founder of Workstream (September 2017 - Present): Lim leads Workstream, which has raised over $125 million from notable investors and serves more than 20,000 businesses.2

  • Product Manager at MIT Media Lab (August 2013 - February 2017): Conducted research on product design and fabrication techniques.2

  • Product Manager at WeChat (January 2014 - December 2016): Worked on chat-based product development and partnerships.2

  • Venture Investor at Dorm Room Fund (August 2013 - December 2015)2

  • Entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard Innovation Labs (August 2013 - December 2015)2

  • CEO and Co-Founder of QuikForce (July 2013 - June 2015): Led a logistics company focused on simplifying the moving process.2

Other Experiences

  • Served as a Full Lieutenant and Infantry Officer in the Singapore Armed Forces (January 2004 - July 2006)2
  • Started Perfect Tutors, a tutor-student matching platform, in Singapore (January 2004 - February 2008)2

Desmond Lim's journey from a challenging background to becoming a successful entrepreneur exemplifies his determination and work ethic. His experiences span across various industries and roles, contributing to his diverse skill set as the leader of Workstream.

Highlights

Apr 11 · linkedin

Our Vancouver, Canada office at Workstream has grew rapidly from 2 streamers to over 30+ streamers in the past 18 months!

We are still growing and hiring!

We are a truly diverse team from over 10+ nationalities, across 5 different functions, and speaks over 8+ languages in the office.

We have a humble and hungry culture as we strive to serve and partner with the thousands of customers in the restaurant and franchise ecosystem to help them hire and pay faster, retain better and engage their hourly workforce.

Today, we are having a recruiting & networking event this afternoon 430pm at WeWork Burnaby and hiring across engineering, design, sales and more!

Please do reach out to Felicia Wijenberg, Alex Dupre, Jean Su and myself or comment on this post if you are interested to come join our recruiting event today if you are interested to join us!

Please come join us to discuss topics from AI, data, sales, engineering, design and more with Tim Rechin Kristen Basaraba Stoyan Stoyanov Prashant Shrikant Lei Xu Max Wang Angela Jun Wang Deckel Israeli Felicia Wijenberg Jin Hong Luey Bernard Tan Adam Patterson Ramen P. Adam Jones Edmund Leng and many more!

#OneTeamOneStream #DesklessDeservesBetter

Apr 5 · linkedin

It was great to share the founding story of Workstream with Tim Sweetman, Owner / Operator of Chick-fil-A Millsboro in Delaware, on the Tension Podcast!

In the podcast, we discusses the challenges of starting a company, some of our favorite failures, challenges and learnings and how we approached it.

“What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.”

This is one of my favorite quotes, and something that has kept us going as a team, as a company, to pursue our mission and purpose.

We also discussed Workstream's company purpose -- to build technology and software for the deskless workforce. We believe in the democratization of technology for the deskless workforce.

It was an honor to be on the podcast with Tim Sweetman, who's an outstanding entrepreneur running Chick-fil-A Millsboro and is also an innovator and tech-forward operator!

https://lnkd.in/gEH57dEW

Related Questions

What inspired Desmond Lim to start Workstream?
How did Desmond Lim's experience at Harvard influence his career?
What challenges did Desmond Lim face when starting his first business?
How did Desmond Lim's early jobs prepare him for his future ventures?
What makes Workstream different from other HR platforms?
Desmond Lim
Desmond Lim, photo 1
Desmond Lim, photo 2
Add to my network

Location

San Francisco Bay Area