SmartBite

Key Problems I’m working on
•Outdated food and benefits programs that waste time and money
•Fragmented vendor management with no real-time insights
•Low employee engagement in hybrid, distributed, and fast-paced teams
•Lack of cost control and ROI visibility for HR teams

Key Responsibilities:
•Lead SmartBite’s GTM (go-to-market) strategy across SG, MY, and PH
•Design and deploy modular workplace engagement tools
•Align product, sales, and operations around HRBP needs
•Drive corporate partnerships with Fortune 500 and mid-sized companies
•Oversee margin strategy, vendor quality, and last-mile delivery innovation

Co-Founder

• Spearheaded SmartBite's post-COVID recovery and regional expansion into the Philippines and Singapore.  
• Transformed the company from a food marketplace to a comprehensive workplace engagement platform.  
• Launched innovative services like SmartCanteen, now serving over 100 companies, including Fortune 500s.  
• Focused on enhancing profitability and scalability while fostering smarter, more human workplaces.

Co-Founder | Group CEO

SEA Founders

Member

• Co-founded SmartBite, a centralized food ordering platform for corporate clients in KL.  
• Developed a vendor onboarding framework ensuring quality and variety for meal options.  
• Launched pilot programs with startups and MNCs, enhancing meal coordination efficiency.  
• Established an operational backend to streamline logistics, payments, and vendor performance.

Intuity Lab

Setup off-shore companies in Labuan (Malaysia)
	
About Labuan Companies
A Labuan company: 

- Company limited by shares or by guarantee or an unlimited company. 

- Can facilitate in business activities and enjoy attractive tax benefits provided under the Labuan Business Activity Tax Act 1990 (LBATA).

- Can establish any business that is legal in Malaysia in, from or through Labuan. 
would need to be license if it intends to undertake specific businesses as define under the Labuan Financial Services and Securities Act 2010 or the Labuan Islamic Financial Services and Securities Act 2010, which may include the banking, insurance/insurance-related, fund management, leasing, factoring and company management businesses.

Business Consultant | Non executive Director

Kuazoo Sdn Bhd

Marketplace for health and wellness products and services. Active until 2016
- Over 200 vendors on board
- Over 500 special deals within Malaysia

Kuazoo is Malaysia’s most unique online destination for Health & Well-being. With a wide range of high quality, affordable products and experiences on offer, Kuazoo aims to be your answer to heart, body, mind and spiritual well-being.

Managing Director | COO | Head of BD

10EQS

Remote business analyst.
- Market research projects in several industries

10EQS works with leading corporations, consulting and investment firms. We support large and small to medium sized organizations with their market intelligence needs.

Business Analyst | Part time

Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan
- Support Sales team with identification of clear leads and communication plan for over 1000 leads
- Business development and Sales
- Part of the project team for GIL Event in Milan 2013

Growth Diagnostic Executive | Pre-Sales

Willis Towers Watson

Large clients team of 2012 - Fortune 500 companies
- Focused on F&B industry (90%)
- Focused on Aerospace (10%)

Some of the clients in 2012.
- Perfetti VM
- Autogrill SpA
- Amadori

Large Client Team | Broker team 

Bain & Company

Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps change-makers define the future.

Across 58 offices in 37 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition: to achieve extraordinary results that outperform their competition and redefine their industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a curated ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster and more enduring outcomes to our clients.

BIZ 2011 | Participant 

Rizzani de Eccher

Thesis project for Rizzani De Eccher.
Sales Forecast and planning in construction business.
- Analysis of political risks
- Analysis of Growth & Expansion of RdE over the last 20 years
- Prepare a report of 30 pages 
- Rizzani de Eccher grew 10X in revenues in the last 2 decades 

Final Thesis: The sales planning and forecasting in construction companies-the case of Rizzani de Eccher.
Supervisor: Paolo Guenzi

MSc Student | Thesis author

Chief Workplace Officer of SmartBite, Southeast Asia’s workplace engagement platform helping HRBPs, admins, and workplace managers simplify food programs, team events, gifting, and employee allowances—all in one modular system. 

Trusted by over 100 companies, including Fortune 500 clients. We operate across Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines—combining real-time delivery, cost control, and a better employee experience.

Workplaces today are extremely dynamic. 

Engagement strategies must evolve, and food—once a perk—is now a critical part of workplace culture and employee retention. What started as a solution for operational efficiency has become a must-have for companies that care about people and performance.

I’m passionate about go-to-market strategy—having launched in multiple markets, onboarded hundreds of merchants, and distributed thousands of meals per day. 

I’m also compiling a regional report on modern workplace engagement and HR trends—connect with me if you’d like early access or want to contribute your insights.

Italian based in Southeast Asia, I enjoy food, sports, learning, and building meaningful connections with people in the space. 

Gabriele FD

Michael Houck

Megaphone

We create high-converting LinkedIn, X, and newsletter content for over 50 founders and send it viral with the help of over 400 creators with tens of millions of followers.

Founder

Founding Journey

Helping founders build, grow, and raise capital for their startups.

launch house

An early stage venture fund for companies building the New Silicon Valley. It began as a membership club built around IRL coliving residencies in LA, NYC, Tulum, Aspen, Miami, and Lisbon.

Airbnb

Product Manager

Uber

Product Analytics, Uber Eats

TherapyNotes, LLC

Software Engineer

85,000+ founders read my free weekly newsletter. Follow me to learn about startups and venture capital.

I didn't know what a startup was until after college. I wasn't lucky with connections or mentors.

But within a few years my startup raised $23 million from a16z + other investors.

Along the way I:
· Cold emailed my way into an early role at Uber Eats
· Got laid off by Airbnb during COVID
· Built an audience of ~100K across LinkedIn and X
· Started a coliving residency for startup founders in Tulum
· Co-founded a venture fund and made over 50+ early stage investments (incl. Figure and Beehiiv)

More recently I've bootstrapped my personal holdco from $0 to $100K MRR in under 2 years. We help founders through content, connections, capital, and services:

· megaphonestudio.com → let my content agency build your newsletter or social media audience
· megaphone.network → partner with big creators in your niche

· join.foundingjourney.com → get my weekly playbooks and advice alongside 75k founders (for free)
· upgrade.foundingjourney.com → get ~100 fundraising case studies from founders I interviewed
· go.foundingjourney.com/fundraising → get connected with investors (including me)

I'm also building a new YouTube channel. Here's a recent video on the history of Silicon Valley: youtu.be/alUQxEldEMM

taplio

The Battle

Gabriele FD

Michael Houck

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