Melvin Poh

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Melvin Poh
MelPoh Wiki.png
Born
Malaysia
NationalityMalaysian
OccupationEntrepreneur, investor, barrister, public speaker
Years active2013–present
Known forCrowdsourcing, open-access knowledge, publishing
HonoursForbes 30 Under 30, Prestige Hong Kong 40 Under 40, Tatler Gen.T Leader Honouree

Melvin Poh is a Malaysian entrepreneur, barrister, investor and speaker. He is best known for his work as a media entrepreneur in crowdsourcing knowledge in Asia[1][2][3] and his efforts to create greater accessibility to knowledge in the region.[2][4][5] Poh is also known to be an active proponent of the access to knowledge movement in Southeast Asia and has regularly advocated for the democratization of knowledge in public media as well as in his work.[6][7]

Early life and education[]

Poh was born in Malaysia but had emigrated and spent most of his years living in New Zealand, Australia, United States and United Kingdom.[6][8] He attended Hale School.[9] He later pursued studies at Harvard University, Imperial College London and University of Cambridge.[2][3][10][11] Poh then became a Barrister-at-Law in the United Kingdom and a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn.[6]

Career[]

The Asian Entrepreneur[]

In 2013, Poh founded The Asian Entrepreneur with another student at Harvard University.[3][2][12] The Asian Entrepreneur began in the United States as a print publication covering business knowledge in Asia.[8][13] The print publication was later developed by Poh into a digital crowdpublishing platform that allowed users to participate in the production of content and the editorial process through an open collaboration model.[8][14][15] The Asian Entrepreneur became an open access platform for accessing, exchanging and publishing business knowledge across Asia.[2][16][17][18][19] The organization had worked with Southeast Asian governments on various startup initiatives for open access knowledge and education.[1][20][21][22] In 2021 after raising funds, The Asian Entrepreneur was further expanded and officially rebranded to Empirics Asia.[2][17][16]

Empirics Asia[]

In January 2021, Poh and his team raised US$8 million for The Asian Entrepreneur to expand its publishing scope further and it was officially renamed to Empirics Asia.[17][23][24][25] Empirics Asia was launched as an open access knowledge platform modeled on empiricism that incorporated social journalism, open publishing and crowdsourcing from Asia to publish direct insights on social scientific fields.[2][3][26] Through the expanded publishing coverage, Empirics Asia works with authors and experts to crowdsource knowledge and publish topics ranging from technology, psychology, philosophy, sociology, business, literature, economics, science and arts.[27] Without operating a conventional paywall, content sponsorship and advertising, the platform aims to enable and contribute to the democratization of knowledge.[7] The organization also established a publishing and distribution arm for sourcing original titles and books from authors in Asia.[4] In July 2021, Poh launched Empirics Podcast, an open access knowledge podcast produced and hosted by a machine learning artificial intelligence that was developed by the organization to study knowledge trends.[5][3][28][29][30] As of September 2021, the organization has crowdsourced and published 1 million open access knowledge content from its network of writers and volunteers.[4]

Public Keynotes[]

Poh regularly shares his insights on economics, business, sociology, technology and philosophy in the public forum. In 2018, Poh was invited to speak at The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations Conference organised by Harvard University.[31][32] In May 2018, he spoke at TEDxSUTD in Singapore on knowledge creation through digital media.[33] In March 2019, he delivered a speech on the evolution of entrepreneurship at TEDxUMSKK[34] and was also a keynote speaker at TEDxHeriotWatt sharing his views on sustainable economic developments.[35] In September 2019, the Securities Commission Malaysia invited Poh to speak on panel at its Business Foresight Forum held at the Securities Industry Development Corporation.[36] In 2020, he was invited to share his views on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on entrepreneurship at the Enterprise Asia Center Of Entrepreneurship organised by HELP University and Enterprise Asia.[37]In 2021, Poh delivered a keynote on the transformations of human meaning in the digital age at TEDxAIMST.[38]

Investments[]

Poh has been an active private equity investor.[2] In 2013, he co-founded an investment company that specialised in sourcing private equity for collegiate entrepreneurs and startup companies from Australia, United Kingdom and United States.[9] In 2018, Poh officially became the second largest shareholder of De Clout, a SGX publicly listed company in Singapore by acquiring a 11.8% personal stake in the company.[39][40] In August 2018, he had joined other investors in the development of several real estate in Singapore and later co-founded a property development firm specializing in Singaporean real estate development.[41] [42] In 2021, it was revealed that Poh had an invested stake in a textile manufacturing plant based in Malaysia that specialized in interior building materials.[43]

Recognition[]

In 2019, Poh was among the 30 entrepreneurs named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for fostering education through crowdsourcing knowledge in Asia.[19] In the following year, he was recognized on Prestige 40 Under 40 list for contributing to open access knowledge in the region[44] and pioneering digital crowdpublishing in Southeast Asia.[2] In 2021, Poh was named among the 30 honourees of industry leaders on Tatler's Generation.T Leaders Of Tomorrow list for his work in creating an open access knowledge hub for Asia and contributing to regional education.[45][4] In 2022, Poh received a Business & Innovation Award from the British Council for his efforts in improving accessibility to knowledge in Asia.[46]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Melvin Poh". Forbes. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Melvin Poh transforms the Asian Entrepreneur into Empirics Asia and here's how he is doing it". Prestige Online – Malaysia. 5 April 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Jayatilaka, Tania (13 July 2021). "Melvin Poh: What The World's First A.I-Run Podcast Means For Malaysia's Future". Tatler Malaysia. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d T, Generation (8 September 2021). "Melvin Poh". Generation T. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b "This AI was so good at its content-based job, its M'sian creator gave it its own podcast". Vulcan Post. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Khoo, Natalie (14 May 2019). "How Melvin Poh is crowdsourcing business insights with The Asian Entrepreneur". FirstClasse. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b Xiung, Chong Jinn. "Melvin Poh of Empirics Asia Makes Knowledge Accessible To Everyone". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Dayangku, Sade (18 July 2019). "Bad Info Killed His First Business, So His Second Shares Insider Info On The Asian Market". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Melvin Poh – founder of Volition Ventures". Ideas Hoist. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Melvin Poh | Harvard University - Academia.edu". harvard.academia.edu. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Melvin POH | University of Cambridge, Cambridge | Cam | Cambridge Judge Business School". ResearchGate. Retrieved 24 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "缺乏市场知识导致失败，他用他的失败让其他人获得成功！". 老板的故事 (in Chinese (China)). 22 April 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  13. ^ Shea, John (22 March 2014). "Interview with Melvin Poh, founder of the Asian Entrepreneur Media Group". Voices Of Marketing. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Open For Business: The Asian Entrepreneur, Revisited". BFM 89.9. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Open For Business: The Asian Entrepreneur". BFM 89.9. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  16. ^ a b "The Asian Entrepreneur Rebrands After $8m Fund Raise". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  17. ^ a b c "The Asian Entrepreneur raises $8 million; rebrands to 'Empirics Asia'". BEAMSTART. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Top 20 best funded startups in Malaysia". ASEAN UP. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  19. ^ a b Bernama (2 April 2019). "11 Malaysian entrepreneurs make the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2019". New Straits Times. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Melvin Poh". New Entrepreneur Championship Conference. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Security Commissions Malaysia" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ "Melvin Poh – Founder, The Asian Entrepreneur". Cyberjaya Startup Summit 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2021.[dead link]
  23. ^ Lee, Faye (4 June 2021). "23 M'sian startups who earned investor confidence and got funded during the pandemic". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Top 20 best funded startups in Malaysia". ASEAN UP. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  25. ^ "Empirics Asia Company Profile: Valuation & Investors | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  26. ^ "PressReader.com – Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  27. ^ "World's Leading Newsstand | Online Magazines | Digital Magazine for iPad, Android, Windows 8 and Web". reader.magzter.com. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  28. ^ "Catch these new podcasts, virtual tours and concerts right from your home". Lifestyle Asia Kuala Lumpur. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  29. ^ "Tech Talk: A.I. Robot". BFM 89.9. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  30. ^ "Empirics Asia on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  31. ^ Harvard Conference 2018 Keynote Speaker – Melvin Poh, retrieved 10 August 2021
  32. ^ "HPAIR | The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations". HPAIR. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  33. ^ Poh, Melvin, Exploring knowledge creation through Digital Media, retrieved 10 August 2021
  34. ^ Evolution of Entrepreneurship | Melvin Poh | TEDxUMSKK, retrieved 10 August 2021
  35. ^ Is Richer & Bigger really Better? | Melvin Poh | TEDxHeriotWattUMalaysia, retrieved 10 August 2021
  36. ^ "Business Foresight Forum (BFF) 2019: New Business Directions 2025 – Catalysts for Change". SIDC – Delivering Professional Excellence. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  37. ^ "Enterprise Asia Center for Entrepreneurship | Enterprise Asia". 19 February 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  38. ^ "TEDxAIMSTUniversity | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  39. ^ "Bloomberg – Melvin Poh DeClout". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  40. ^ "Business Times Singapore". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 24 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  41. ^ "Melvin Poh | GCB Development". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 16 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  42. ^ "Sales of detached houses over last four months double in volume compared to a year ago".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  43. ^ 与楼有关EP17 上集 - 到底墙纸有多少种类？ 墙纸的材质你知多少？, retrieved 30 November 2021
  44. ^ "PressReader.com – Prestige 40 Under 40 2019". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ^ T, Generation (8 September 2021). "Meet The Malaysia Honourees On The Gen.T List 2021". Generation T. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  46. ^ "British Council Awards 2021 - 2022".
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