Der Shing and Shao Ning on Living a Good Life

My boss Chris did an interview with AngelCentral founders Lim Der Shing and Huang Shao Ning on The Providend Conversation in iFast Central.

You can watch the interview here.

When Der Shing and Shao Ning sold JobsCentral in 2011, they became financially independent, probably with good margins.

This interview is a little different from some of the interviews that they did in the past which talk more about their entrepreneurship journey and their work at AngelCentral.

I thought that many who aspire to be financially independent or just navigating life, in general, can gain some perspectives from Der Shing and Shao Ning’s candid sharing.

Here are some of the stuff they covered:

1. Why did they leave their seemingly sturdy careers to start something risky
2. Shao Ning shared what tipped things over at IBM: “There were a lot of compliments after the work was done but proposals were never implemented.” She felt that her efforts were left unappreciated. This despite her salary being revised upwards twice.
3. There was enough sadness about selling off their first baby (JobsCentral) but they can’t complain about it.
4. It took 2-3 years to internalize after the sale.
5. They have to learn and create a new identity after so much of it is tied to their work.
6. They tried to live the kind of “portfolio lifestyle”, consulting on various matters and not spending more than 10-20% of their time on it but felt like a passerby.
7. “The rest of the world needs to label you with something but they struggle to introduce who you are”
8. Banks don’t allow both spouses to put themselves as “househusband” and “housewife” together.
9. For a lot of guys, money is a way to keep score.
10. Why they started AngelCentral
11. Shao Ning shared that technically they should be rather well-off, but she still felt financially insecure from time to time. She felt that if they are not making an income, no matter how much they have would eventually deplete. So they should be constantly working. To her, she is in the mode of only spending on what is necessary. She is forever planning for the worst. She grew up in an SME family business and part of her childhood involves handling calls from creditors. To her, having cash flow coming in is a very big thing.
12. How did they stay tight as business partners and as a couple over these years

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