Suggestions
Ervin Lim
Uber TW | ex VC, ex Operator
Ervin Lim is currently the Head of Delivery Operations at Uber, where he plays a crucial role in overseeing the logistics and operational strategies that enhance the efficiency of Uber's delivery services. His professional background includes significant experience in various leadership roles, demonstrating expertise in operations management and strategic planning.
Professional Background
- Current Role: Head of Delivery Operations at Uber.
- Previous Experience: He has held various positions that showcase his expertise in operational strategy and management.
Education
Ervin Lim graduated from the National University of Singapore, which has equipped him with a strong foundation for his career in operations and management.
Skills and Expertise
- Operations Management: Extensive experience in managing complex operations.
- Strategic Planning: Proven ability to develop and implement effective strategies to improve service delivery.
Lim is recognized for his leadership skills and contributions to enhancing operational efficiencies within the companies he has worked for. His professional journey reflects a commitment to excellence in the fast-paced environment of technology-driven services.
Highlights
Exciting news! I am thrilled to share that I have recently joined Ace Turtle as their Chief Strategy Officer, based in both Bangalore and Singapore.
As a licensee holder of Lee, Wrangler, Toys R Us, and Baby R Us (and more to come), Ace Turtle is changing the India retail landscape with their direct-to-consumer omnichannel retail experience with a single point of inventory.
I have been cheering on the sidelines, watching the company achieve greater heights year after year ever since I invested in their Series A back in 2017. I am excited to bring my experience in strategy development and execution to help drive the company's growth and continued success. With the massive growth in the Indian economy, there is no better time to be a part of Ace Turtle's rocket ship journey.
Drop me a connect/comment if you are keen to understand more about Ace Turtle's omnichannel journey or about India in general.
Special thanks to Nitin Chhabra and Berry Singh for bringing me on board.
#omnichannelretail #directtoconsumer #retailinnovation #retail #strategy
Photo: Mandatory photo of company swag
"History never repeats itself, but it does often rhymes." - Mark Twain
When I look around at the startup ecosystem now, I hear a lot of investors telling their portfolio companies to underweight on growth and overweight on profitability. I have been in discussions where broad statements like "everyone is targeting a minimum of 4 years of runway" or "I want to see you hit profitability ASAP" gets thrown around.
However, as with everything in life, the most appropriate answer to the question of "should I focus on growth or profitability" is most likely a "it depends".
A startup company is a team of people coming together to constantly iterating on a series of hypothesis with the goal of demonstrating PMF at the early stages and demonstrating TAM at the later stages. Capital is the resource that determines the number of experiments you can run to test those hypothesis.
In a time when capital is scarce (a period we are at now), the number of experimentation you can do, the number of do-overs possible, becomes limited. This means that we should be extra diligent and conscious on our batting averages but it doesn't mean that we do not go to bat or wait until the market turns before batting. We just have to pay extra attention, seek more proof points, be sharper in our metrics, be sharper in our follow-throughs etc.
So back to the original question of "Should I focus on growth or profitability", the answer could very well be a question back, "What is giving you confidence on pursuing growth?".
Additional reading materials in the comments below. This was a pretty hot debate back in 2010 when the article was first published.
