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or all his talk about impact and his desire to create helpful frameworks to solve problems, Neoh is at heart, a people’s person. He cares about the people he encounters and wants to be helpful, which is why he makes it a point to get to know his employees. At the company’s open office in Bangsar South, Neoh does not have an office; he sits next to anyone at random, using this opportunity to get to know his staff on a heart-toheart level. He lets them access his calendar too, so they can schedule one-on-one sessions with him, and makes it a point to engage with different teams and individuals in the office, and beyond. “We do lots of home parties too,” he adds. Transparency of information is important to him as a leader. “The key reason is so that our team has a locus of understanding in what we do as a company. We also try to make them feel like they are also participants in the decision making,” he expresses. Danny Yeung, founder of Prenetics and a close friend of Neoh’s residing in Hong Kong, has this to say about him: “Joel loves to listen to ideas from everyone and then from those ideas, he articulates a message or executes a plan in an easy-to-understand fashion. He also has a natural knack for leadership and is highly trusted. For example, when he decided to start his new businesses, he made calls to some of his former colleagues at Groupon and in two days, he already had a team of 20-plus people to join him.” A cofounder of Fave, Yeoh Chen Chow agrees with Yeung’s description of Neoh. In fact, Yeoh came onboard with the business because he believed in Neoh’s vision. “He is a very visionary person, who is able to see the big picture and communicate that effectively to motivate the team,” says Yeoh. To Neoh, the company’s goals can only be met if his employees’ personal goals are aligned. “The only way we can achieve goals is when people step up. We are bringing in a lot of good people—young, smart and ambitious, but when they are not growing into their role fast enough, I always ask myself what else can I do to get them to achieve their goals and push boundaries for personal growth.” As we are wrap our interview, our talk turns to the future generation, a subject Neoh thinks a lot about. “I think they are a very talented and passionate group, they form a huge part of the company and society at large. They have great energy,” he states matter-of-factly. Currently, he is musing about how to inspire the next generation to take action and seize opportunities that come their way as his companies begin to embark on the next frontier.