Glints Co-Founder's Guide To Pivots & Fundraising In SEA

From Operator To Investor: Lessons From A $150M Journey

Qin En Looi co-founded Glints, one of Southeast Asia's largest recruitment platforms, which has raised over $80M. After navigating multiple pivots, a painful co-founder breakup, and the challenges of fundraising in an emerging market, he now co-leads a $150M AUM fund.

His story isn’t just a biography; it’s a playbook on founder resilience, market intelligence, and the transition from building a company to backing them. We’ve distilled his journey into tactical lessons for founders.

The Myth of Product-Led Growth in Emerging Markets

Glints started with a common, but ultimately flawed, assumption. Fresh from observing the US tech scene, Qin En and his co-founders tried to build a product-led growth (PLG) engine. Their hypothesis was that employers in Southeast Asia would enter a credit card and pay a few hundred dollars a month for a self-serve recruitment tool.

This is a critical lesson for any founder building outside of mature SaaS markets like the US and Europe. The PLG playbook, which relies on high credit card penetration and a culture of self-service, often fails in markets where relationships and high-touch sales are the norm.

When Your Go-To-Market Fails, Pivot Ruthlessly

Instead of trying to force a model the market didn't want, the Glints team made a crucial pivot. They abandoned self-serve SaaS and shifted to a high-touch, service-based model. They began acting as a recruitment agency, actively filling roles for companies and charging a contingency fee upon successful placement.

This model worked. It aligned with the market's expectations and became the company's primary revenue driver. The lesson: listen to where the money is. The market tells you your business model, not the other way around.

The takeaway: If your core GTM strategy is showing signs of failure—low conversion, customers asking for sales reps, an unwillingness to put down a credit card—don’t be afraid to make a fundamental change. A service-led model can be a powerful wedge to build distribution and customer trust before layering on software products.

The Unspoken Challenge: Co-Founder Conflict

Growth brings new challenges. As Glints scaled, disagreements over the company’s direction emerged among the co-founders. The friction became severe enough that Qin En ultimately stepped down from the company he helped build.

He reflects that he could have been "less individualistic and more collaborative." This painful experience now informs his perspective as an investor, where he pays close attention to founder dynamics. Most founders avoid discussing this topic, but it’s a leading cause of startup death.

How to Avoid a Co-Founder Breakup: A Tactical Guide

Don't let "we'll figure it out later" kill your company. Proactively structure your relationship to withstand the pressure of a scaling startup.

Sign a Co-Founder Agreement (a "Pre-nup"): Before you even incorporate, get the hard conversations on paper. Don't just download a template; discuss these points honestly. · Define Roles and Decision-Making: Who is the final decision-maker for product? For sales? For fundraising? For hiring C-level executives? Ambiguity here creates conflict. · Equity and Vesting: All founders should have a standard 4-year vesting schedule with a 1-year cliff. This protects everyone if someone leaves early. Discuss what happens to unvested and vested shares if a founder departs. Do you have the right to buy them back? At what price? · Scenario Planning: Talk through the tough scenarios. What if you can’t agree on a major pivot? What if one founder wants to sell but the others don’t? What if one founder isn't pulling their weight?

As an investor, Qin En now sees this clearly. A team that has had these hard conversations is infinitely more fundable than one that is avoiding them. Strong chemistry isn't just about friendship; it's about having a shared framework for conflict.

Fundraising in a Nascent Ecosystem

Raising capital for Glints was, in Qin En's words, an "arduous journey." As young, first-time founders in a Southeast Asian ecosystem that was still developing, they faced a constant battle to convince investors.

Their experience highlights key strategies for any founder raising in a market that isn't Silicon Valley.

1. Sell the Narrative When You Don't Have the Metrics

The first angel investment came from a serendipitous meeting. Early on, the story was more compelling than the numbers. The narrative of three ambitious friends deferring scholarships to top US universities (Stanford, Berkeley, Wharton) to solve a problem they experienced firsthand was powerful. When you are pre-traction, your unique story, grit, and founder-market fit are what you're selling.

2. Find Your "Coach" Investor

The Glints team didn't know how to build a proper data room, financial forecast, or pitch deck. A key early investor coached them. This is a crucial, often overlooked, goal of a pre-seed or seed round. Don't just look for capital; look for a partner who has been there before and is willing to help you professionalize your operations. Often, these are former founders themselves.

3. Build a Resilient Business

Qin En notes that recruitment isn't a "100x-overnight" business, but it's resilient. Companies hire aggressively in bull markets. And in downturns, people still need to find jobs. This resilience against macroeconomic cycles is an attractive quality to investors who have seen hype cycles come and go. Frame your business in terms of its durability, not just its explosive growth potential.

4. Go Where the Growth Is

A major turning point for Glints was expanding from the small, saturated market of Singapore to Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy with over 230 million people. This move unlocked massive growth and solidified their market leadership. For founders in smaller home countries, a credible, early plan for regional or international expansion is essential to painting a venture-scale vision.

From Founder to VC: The Other Side of the Table

After leaving Glints and a stint at BCG Digital Ventures, Qin En is now on the other side of the table, investing in the next generation of founders. His experience directly shapes his investment thesis.

His focus on co-founder dynamics is a direct result of his own history. He probes teams on how they handle disagreements and whether they have a structure for making tough calls. He also appreciates the non-obvious, resilient business models that might be overlooked by investors chasing fleeting trends.

The journey from a frustrating side project during military service to a Series D company, and now to a venture capital fund, underscores a founder’s most critical assets: the ability to listen to the market, the courage to navigate painful interpersonal challenges, and the resilience to survive a thousand no’s.

How To Apply This This Week

Audit Your Go-To-Market: Are your customers behaving the way your model predicted? If not, schedule a meeting to brainstorm a pivot. Ask your team: "If we had to charge for our value today, what would be the easiest way to get paid?" · Schedule a Co-Founder Check-in: Put 90 minutes on the calendar with your co-founders. Don't talk about product or marketing. Ask: "What’s one thing that's working well in our partnership?" and "What’s one area where we could improve our communication or decision-making?" · Build a V1 Data Room: Create a folder and add your corporate registration documents, current pitch deck, and a simple spreadsheet with your P&L and financial projections. Even if you're not fundraising, this exercise enforces discipline. · Identify Your "Coach": Look at your current angel investors or target VCs. Who is a former operator that has scaled a company in your market? Prioritize getting a meeting with them, even just for advice.