When we first started Glints, we were living and working out of a shophouse (known locally in Indonesia as a “ruko”). Here...
Oswald’s All Hands Address to Glintstars
This morning Oswald delivered the following address to Glintstars: My fellow Glintstars, Today is a difficult day for us all. As a company, we have always believed in persevering through challenges and being resourceful in the face of adversity. But as we stay optimistic, we must also face the brutal reality in front of us. It is with [...]
Oswald Yeo
Growing Beyond Borders: From a Local Shophouse Operation to a Series D Funded Regional Talent Ecosystem
When we first started Glints, we were living and working out of a shophouse (known locally in Indonesia as a “ruko”). Here are some of my favorite photos from our journey at Glints so far: This is a photo of one of our first product managers holding a product meeting. The team was growing rapidly and there weren’t enough [...]
Oswald Yeo
Glints Raises US$50 Million to Scale Regional Talent Ecosystem for 120 Million Professionals in Southeast Asia
Singapore, 30 August 2022 – Glints, the most trusted and active end-to-end regional talent ecosystem in Southeast Asia for career development and recruitment, raised US$50 million in a Series D oversubscribed round co-led by DCM Ventures, Lavender Hill Capital, and returning investor PERSOL Holdings. “Our mission at Glints is [...]
Oswald Yeo
New funding, new beginnings – getting more done to empower the 120 million professionals in SEA
Like for many startups out there, 2020 was a challenging year for Glints. Fortunately, thanks to some market tailwinds for our products and the hard work of the Glints team, by year-end, we managed to scale up to having over 4 million professionals visit Glints’ platform every month in pursuit of career development, and have served [...]
Oswald Yeo
Glints Raises Series B – What’s Next?
“Hey good news we have closed our first sale!” “Great! Now you can send the customer an invoice..” “Huh what’s an invoice? Ok let me google…” “….” That was way back in 2015, when we first left college to launch Glints. Glints was not only our first company, but our first work experience. So there were many [...]
Oswald Yeo
How this Startup’s Founders Broke Up, Stayed Friends and are still Going to Bali Together
It’s the dreaded after-lunch dessert conversation. Hearts thumping, saliva swallowing, and a bittersweet feeling that no amount of sweet raspberry cheesecake seemed to help. “It’s not you, it’s me” “What could we have done differently?” “Can we still be friends?” The breakup conversation. It’s the founders breakup [...]
Oswald Yeo
My Tour of Duty with a Startup
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” – Steve Jobs In August 2013, a startup was founded by 3 founders, and 2 years later, I decided to join them officially as a part-time intern in their marketing team, and [...]
Oswald Yeo
On Firing
Firing is as important as hiring. It is impossible to build a company without letting go of people, as difficult as the decision is. Those who have been in relationships will know that when there are problems, the right action is not give up on the relationship right away, but to communicate openly and work on changes together. However, if [...]
Oswald Yeo
The Glints Experience
Giving An Internship A Shot The approach of Summer – a long, 3 months break – signalled the end of my fourth semester in university. Friends around me had all made their plans for the school break; some of them were taking up internships while others were packing up their passports and luggages to see the world. It was time for [...]
Oswald Yeo
An Unbeatable Experience
I remember vividly how eager I was when I stepped into the office during my first day. I was awed by their trust, flexibility and cooperation. I immediately hit it off with my fellow colleagues and interns. It was an enjoyable experience working with this group of young talents who are as excited as I was about the future. Best of all, we [...]
Oswald Yeo