The MBA that changed the plan
At 28 I moved to the US for an MBA focused on entrepreneurship. I planned to launch my own company. Instead, a decade inside Johnson & Johnson and Philip Morris International taught me how large organizations make decisions and scale. At PMI in Singapore I led IQOS — a team of 20–30 growing to 50+, $100M+ in budgets, 40+ suppliers across Asia, 50M devices per year capacity. IQOS now generates over $17B ARR.
Building independently
I joined MDS+, a 3-person engineering firm. One month later COVID hit. We took a reusable face mask from idea to first sale in under 60 days — S$1.5M in sales, 20+ countries, ISO 13485 certified. Over five years I expanded MDS+'s European client base and grew the business 8x. I also co-founded three hardware ventures: Gill Lab, InnoCity Lab, and MDS Safetech — all built from zero, all focused on commercialization.
Back where it started
I relocated to Switzerland as MDS+'s European client base became our strongest market. I mentor at ETH Zurich, invest in early-stage hardware companies, and judge venture competitions. My work sits at the intersection of European innovation and Asian manufacturing — a gap very few people have crossed from both sides.