Military background can be of use in a startup, says former colonel

Singapore

A MILITARY background is beneficial in a management role in a startup, according to Lawrence Lim, Singapore's former chief of artillery, whose appointment last month as the new chief operating officer (COO) of crowdfunding platform CoAssets both surprised and inspired the startup community here.

"The military teaches us values, and systematic structures. CoAssets, a business of trust, requires us to be principled with strong values - people must be comfortable to invest in deals put up by us. A startup has to optimise every resource and work efficiently, so processes are important too," Mr Lim told The Business Times in an interview.