MD of Skype Asia Pacific Leaves to Pursue New Startup

Update: T would like to inform everyone that Travelmob is still in beta now. The official launch will be announced as soon as the team is ready.

Managing director of Skype Asia Pacific, Turochas “T” Fuad, is leaving to pursue a new startup, Travelmob.

In a casual chat held at NUS Overseas Colleges’ N-House last night, Turochas revealed to the students [1] that he is currently serving his last month with Skype. You guys might think this guy is out of his mind to leave a job where he enjoys a high salary and broad benefits to switch to the startup life where he’ll face uncertainty – but it’s crazy admirable, we reckon.

T is not shy to tell us what he is currently dabbling in. Travelmob, aims to be the Airbnb of the Asia-Pacific, and hopes to connect global travellers with hosts across the region who have listed their places for short stays or short-term rental. In fact, the startup has been around for the past couple of months and currently has on board a couple of power-packed individuals with a wealth of experience, hailing from backgrounds at large tech companies. I guess that is one of the perks of having experience and connections before starting up, especially after holding positions such as managing director of Skype Asia Pacific, and head of mobile of Yahoo SEA.

According to T (pictured right), there is huge potential within the Asia Pacfic online travel accommodation booking industry. In fact, according to this article, hotel booking revenue in the Asia Pacific area will reach more than US$94 billion by 2012.

This sounds very much like another cloning story, but T highlighted that the idea of the homestay has been around for a long time. It is only in recent years that Airbnb has revolutionized the idea [Ed: and CouchSurfing before that, though users did that for free] to make homestay booking a whole lot easier. Since there is huge potential within the market, why not seize the opportunity, execute, and localize fast? He also identified China and India as huge spenders within the Asia Pacific travel market.

When asked about his strategy on tackling the Asia Pacfic market, T declined to comment. He did tell us that as much as it is important to have strategic planning, startups often do not work out the way entrepreneurs planned. Instead, he advises not to think and plan too hard, but to go with the flow.

Now, instead of having a secretary to deal with the minor issues within the company, T informs us that he personally makes purchases. And assembles his own IKEA furniture! He misses the startup life he used to have prior to joining Yahoo and Skype. In fact, T used to serve as the president and co-founder of WUF Networks, a convergence software company in the U.S. which Yahoo acquired in 2005.

T, who is an Indonesian, admits that going back to startup life would also mean a lot of uncertainty. As an entrepreneur, you would think about your company a lot and it gets stressful sometimes. You would even argue with your loved ones, especially when undertaking a huge move like this; but ultimately, T says that nothing beats having your own startup. Holding high positions are awesome, but at the end of the day, you’re still working for someone, even if it is a $25 million deal.

Besides facing a future of uncertainty, T tells us that starting up would also mean you have to put your ego aside. You need to acknowledge that there are people out there who are better than you and hire people who know more than you do. He also pointed out that when dealing with co-founders and partners, it is always important to be clear and fair at the early stages of starting up. Should there be a slight hint of uncertainty or unfairness, they should iron it out before it becomes worse.

Apart from venturing out with Travelmob, he also owns a bike retail shop called TokyoBike, which is located on Singapore’s Haji Lane.

His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Be the king of something; not a prince of everything.

Know your strengths as well as your weaknesses, and play them to your advantage.