What I learnt about startups in Silicon Valley
Now based in Silicon Valley, NTU student Alen Tao is deep in the startup grind, pitching to investors, refining his product and building his medtech venture. Having met fellow startup founders and investors, he shares the key lessons he’s learning
by Kwok Pei Fang
1. Build the trust and camaraderie investors seek
Learn to make small talk with potential investors. If they feel they can hit it off with you as friends, they are more likely to see you as business partners.
It’s been said that securing an investor is like finding a husband or wife. Investors need to spend quality time with the startup team to fully understand how their money will be used – and how those investments can generate returns.
2. Have a 'never say die' attitude
Every entrepreneur here believes: “I’m the special one who will make it.” I’ve met 16- and 18-year-olds already building startups. Their mindset is: “I’m going to try first and see how far it goes. If I succeed, let’s go all the way. If it fails, I’ll just learn from it and pick myself up again.”
3. Be deeply hungry, yet willing to share
To go far, startup founders must have an infinite appetite. It’s 100% hunger and 100% passion.
Everyone here is driven by success, yet during my Silicon Valley residency, I’ve seen people help one another freely. Nobody gatekeeps resources. They share their knowledge, honest opinions and contacts.
4. Great ideas needn't be complicated
From NTU dorm to Silicon Valley startup
After noticing a gap in patient support in mental healthcare, Alen set out to improve the patient care experience.
He is the co-founder and CEO of AidMi, an artificial intelligence-powered platform that streamlines doctors’ workflows and keeps them connected with patients between appointments.
On a leave of absence from his business studies at NTU, Alen spends 12 to 20 hours a day in Palo Alto refining his pitchto investors, as he seeks pre-seed funding to roll out AidMi in the United States.
“It’s really like The Hunger Games out here. Everybody is always figuring out how to make themselves, and their products, better,” says Alen, with a glint in his eye.
Incubated at NTU’s College of Computing & Data Science Innovation Lab, AidMi was first built with grants from NTU after the idea took shape in Alen’s hall room in 2024.
Since then, it has raised US$50,000 from Quest Ventures, become the first Singaporean startup selected for a year-long Silicon Valley residency, joined Meta’s Llama Incubator, and won three awards at a biomedical engineering symposium.
This story was published in the Jan-Feb 2026 issue of HEY!.
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