Disruptrs: Raymond Ng and Maharis Azman, Branding and Innovation Architects of Superhumans
What inspired them?
- After over 20 years in the advertising industry, we made the decision to embark on a journey to reinvent and pivot into a new domain.
- This saw the birth of a branding and innovation entity we call – Superhumans.
- It’s where we strategise and develop branding and innovation architecture, which help startups unlock opportunities to support their growth roadmap.
What has the journey been like?
- The concept behind our company attracted the attention of an underserved market – the startup community. We discovered that every startup faced different headwinds. But there was always one commonality; the challenge of unlocking an organisation’s branding ecosystem.
- This saw the start of many productive partnerships where we helped start ups navigate through the complexities of branding and digital disruption. The journey has been fast, agile and exciting. We needed to think, develop and execute at the speed of startups.
- It was an adopted belief about getting ideas made first and constantly improving as we go. And the concept of perfecting before executing is an outdated mindset. Constantly evolving our ideas is a critical part of our process.
- We believe that consumers and market forces will guide us in ways that can never be unearthed in the controlled environment of idea development.
Biggest achievement and what is one regret that you wish you had or had not done?
- Our measure of success is being part of the our clients’ journey from a 2-person set up (and eating cup noodles every day) to growing into different stages of funding and business growth.
Where do you see yourself in the next 1 year?
- The coming year will be interesting. Not so much about us but for the startup community.
- When the world saw the birth of new ideas and ventures from the pandemic, we believe that it was just the tip of the iceberg.
- With over two years of pause, waiting, recalibrating, reinventing and reconnecting; the startups are poised to grow exponentially with new innovations and disruptions. As the saying goes, “Watch This Space.”
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
- If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s that change can happen in a moment. Hence, we dare not take a chance on predicting the future. But what we can do is have the agility to prepare for it.
What is one local startup you would like to work together with and why?
- Naluri is a great startup that disrupted the healthcare system. We’ve been their partner since 2021 and we’re proud to see how Naluri has evolved into a regional healthcare disruptor.
Who is one founder (local or international) that you look up to?
- On a global scale, Thrasio is an amazing case study. In 2021, it was listed on CNBC’s top 50 disruptors.
- Operating on an ‘Acquisition Entrepreneurship’ model, Thrasio begins with an extensive research about the various Amazon sellers, who are gauged against three parameters — reviews, rating, and rank.
- Once the acquisition process is completed, Thrasio acts as an entrepreneur and runs the acquired business to take it to the next level; everything from business development to brand design and marketing. This is truly a testament to the concept of “Think Big, Act Small, Grow Fast”.