By SGN | 17 Jan 2024
When he was just 18, Sean co-founded his first startup, a crowdsourcing platform that sought to outdo Kickstarter. In sharpening his pitch presentation, he decided to borrow from the best.
Emulating the flair of Steve Jobs – who back in 1977 unveiled the Apple II by dramatically pulling away a piece of red velvet cloth – Sean bought a similar length of fabric from Chinatown and draped it over a massive LED monitor displaying his platform’s website.
Upon yanking it off for the big reveal before Chua Kee Lock of Vertex Ventures, he received a response that could only be described as stunned crickets.
“He didn’t invest in us, but he was very kind,” Sean recalls with a chuckle. With 49 out of 50 VCs turning down the startup, it was a season of rejection and hard lessons that would serve him well in his subsequent venture.
Tackling the taboo with tech
After earning first-class honours in Economics and Finance at the University of Melbourne, Sean declined attractive job offers in consulting to re-enter the risky yet rewarding realm of startups.
Taking on a product and growth role, he joined Bare, a Melbourne app that simplifies funeral planning. His time there inspired him to ponder other possibilities of solving life’s problems through tech.
As digital healthcare in Asia experienced an upsurge in 2020, Sean noticed a particular untapped opportunity. “Digital health is such a good fit for addressing taboo and sensitive health problems,” he notes.
While remaining in Melbourne, he launched Ordinary Folk in Singapore. The startup’s first product was Noah, a telehealth platform for men to address issues such as erectile dysfunction (ED) and hair loss in a confidential and fuss-free manner.
The digital process helps put patients at ease. Before meeting their doctor, a questionnaire elicits more honest replies to sensitive questions and allows users to share their specific issues. After a virtual consultation, medication, supplements or other treatments are then discreetly delivered to their doorstep.
The uphill task of building trust
Noah began as a scrappy two-man operation. Sean handled everything online, while his co-founder – who left the startup shortly after, due to a family situation – took care of deliveries and on-the-ground work in Singapore.
In those early days, the pair used their savings for online advertising and personally responded to customer inquiries well into the early hours. One user, who reported a website bug and received a reply at two in the morning, correctly guessed that Sean had to be the founder. He got hired as a performance marketer.
Given the novelty of telehealth, levels of trust were low. Noah had to constantly convince users that their calls weren’t scams and that their treatments weren’t suspect. The team went the extra mile to win over every customer, offering full refunds and deliveries to anyplace, at anytime.
Once, they opened their office on New Year’s Day just so a desperate customer could obtain his ED medication. The customer came back with a positive report. Later, he found out that his wife was pregnant and decided to name the child Noah.
Another key to building credibility was enlisting doctors, not just for patient consultations, but also as advisors in designing services and formulating supplements. Over time, the pool of medical expertise expanded to include health coaches, nutritionists, psychologists and sex therapists.
The first to come onboard, Dr Kevin Chua, is now Noah’s Clinical Lead in Singapore. “We also quickly formed a Medical Advisory Board of doctors from different countries, headed by Dr Peter Lim, who was the founding president of the Society for Men’s Health Singapore,” Sean shares.
Expanding services and markets
As Noah’s customer base increased, services expanded to include aspects of wellbeing such as mental health and weight management. A sister platform, Zoey, was launched to cater to women, with offerings that include birth control pills and prenatal supplements.
Patient care also evolved to adopt a more holistic approach that sometimes involves multiple doctors. “As we grew the business, we realised that health problems are often not isolated,” Sean says. For instance, ED may be linked to poor sleep, high stress or heart disease, while hair loss could seriously affect one’s self-esteem.
The next frontier was breaking into overseas markets: Hong Kong in 2021 and Japan in 2022. Contrary to his initial expectations, user preferences – even marital dynamics – were decidedly different in each territory. Sean cites the example of Japanese customers, who generally favour cash on delivery and prefer to pore over lots of product information before making a decision.
To comply with local regulations, only video consultations are offered in Singapore, whereas voice and text options are also available in the other markets.
A taste of life in Tokyo
Sean moved to Tokyo in early 2022 to focus on the expansion into Japan, which has become Ordinary Folk’s largest market. “It’s been critical for me to be on the ground to meet the partners and doctors, and to understand the culture,” he explains.
It was challenging to find their footing, and Sean is grateful for the assistance rendered by JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) and Enterprise Singapore (“Shout out to Fabian Tan, the regional director for Japan”).
Hiring has posed a unique challenge, employment costs being relatively high. Because labour laws make it near-impossible to fire employees past their probation, each hiring decision has to be made with extra care. Furthermore, the search for bilingual talent capable of driving business growth is extremely competitive.
As for life in Tokyo, Sean became a huge fan. “What’s there not to love?” he quips. He took to the fast-paced environment and the wonderful variety of food available, even when he’s up working at 3am. There’s never a shortage of weekend activities, and on longer breaks, he would go hiking or snowboarding outside the city.
Singapore is the ideal base
Now that the setup in Japan is stable and scaling well, Sean has recently rejoined his girlfriend in Melbourne. He continues to return to Singapore every quarter to meet investors, his team, and to spend time with family.
Though based abroad since the inception of Ordinary Folk, he says Singapore has been the ideal springboard for an international startup.
“Singapore has served us really well as a home base,” he observes. “It’s a place that has allowed us to experiment, to fail, to learn, and then build a model to replicate in other countries.” Since Singapore’s healthcare standards are fairly stringent, the team is also able to apply the same bar for patient protection to new markets.
“When you look at telehealth, most countries across the region take reference from Singapore,” he continues. “In Asia, Singapore is the only country with formal telehealth regulations, which fall under the Healthcare Services Act (HCSA).” Hong Kong has guidelines, Japan’s policies are a work in progress, while telehealth remains illegal in countries like South Korea.
As Sean continues to raise funds and grow his company, ideas for the future are already bubbling up. After Noah and Zoey comes Rudy, a service targeted at patients with chronic conditions.
“I believe that personalised healthcare is really the path forward. We are already customising formats – ED medicine in a breath mint, a gummy for hair loss – but soon we’ll start customising dosages as well,” he says, noting that a dose that’s too low for one patient may produce adverse side effects in another. “Ultimately, we want to be the go-to men’s and women’s health platform in Asia.”
Interested in working in Singapore or starting a business here?
Find out more about the new Overseas Networks & Expertise (ONE) Pass as well as other work passes that may suit you.
Meet Sean
Sean is the founder of Ordinary Folk, a telehealth startup that reimagines the building blocks of care in Asia through the digital platforms Noah and Zoey. Noah addresses male health concerns such as erectile dysfunction and hair loss, while Zoey supports women’s sexual wellness and fertility journeys.
Connect with him here.
