Looi En
Founding CEO in Half Grand
Stanford / United States
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About me
Dedicated to master the art of branding and marketing, Qin En started from delivering consumer insights through behavioral research for massive multi-player online games. During his 4 year stint, he published 13 research papers in international conferences and journals, won numerous awards and was featured by mainstream media.

Transitioning from insights to action, Qin En focuses on branding and marketing on two fronts: thematic and tactical.

On the thematic front, Qin En executes brand development, brand positioning and consumer insight strategies. On the tactical front, he specialises in copywriting, copyediting and search marketing to elevate desirability.

His work is industry and scale proof, having been heli-inserted into nascent startups and Fortune 500 corporate behemoths, ranging from education consulting to FMCGs.

Qin En is also a Certified Associate in Project Managment (from Project Management Institute), a Certified Behavioral Consultant (to administer DISC personality analysis), Certified Google Adwords Individual, Google Analytics Qualified Individual and Google Apps Certified Administrator.

He is always on the look-out for opportunities to deepen his domain expertise and stoke his fiery passion for problem solving.

Recently, he has been picking up SEO & SEM chops.

Personal Website: www.qinen.me
Email: hi@qinen.me
Amazon Author Profile: https://www.amazon.com/author/qinen

Specialties: Business Development, Brand Development, Guerilla Marketing, Consumer Insights, Behavioral Research, Project Management, SEO, Search Engine Marketing, User Experience Development, Human Computer Interaction, Google App Deployment
Education
Stanford University 2014 - 2018
Hwa Chong Institution 2010 - 2011
Science
Catholic High School 2006 - 2009
Science
Experience
Founding CEO, Half Grand 01/2014 - current
We are a different type of web design & development agency.

Today’s customers are overloaded with information. Everyone is trying to sell them something. The information overload is dizzying.

It takes simplicity to cut through the noise, and convey what really matters. To create that rational and emotional connection.

We help small and medium enterprises build simple yet engaging websites to do just that.

Within 3 months of establishment, our team of 7 to achieve profitability. Having built up our core management and technical team, I have transitioned from operations to advise the agency on new business development.
Associate, Alacrity Capital 11/2013 - current
Alacrity Capital is a next generation integrated venture capital firm based in Singapore that focuses on Pan-Asian based start-ups which are passionate in developing commercially viable products and services encompassing new technology and innovation. For start-ups that are launched Seed to Series-A stage, Alacrity Capital aims to provide key investment from a pooled funding of angel and corporate investors.
Chief Marketing & Operations Officer | Co-Founder, Glints Intern 04/2013 - current
Glints is a platform for youths to start building useful and recognized experiences, skills and connections through internships, skill accreditation and mentorships. Our vision is to democratize higher education and empower youths with career capital.

We are the youngest founders to be incubated by the Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI.Asia) and have been recognized as the Top 50 Startups in Asia during Echelon 2014.

We have also been featured on Yahoo News, The Straits Times, The Business Times, Digital Life, Today, e27, Singapore Business Review, Deskmag and Digital News Asia.

Leading the team in operations, I am also responsible for driving user and revenue growth through marketing.
Chief Branding Strategist, Training Edge International 09/2013 - 09/2014
Training Edge International is a leading corporate training consultancy with the goal of growing people and transforming organisations by using leading-edge knowledge to provide proven and tested solutions to improve productivity and performance.

Over the past 12 years, we have empowered thousands of professionals from Asia's top companies such as Hilton, Standard Chartered, Knight Frank, Gucci, Singapore Airlines, SAP, IBM, etc.

In October 2013, I led the brand transformation and revamp of Training Edge, creating an integrated branding and marketing campaign that included the website, logo, EDMs and marketing collaterals, as well as published insights on leadership and branding on a variety of media platforms such as The Straits Times, The Business Times, STJobs and The Singapore Marketer.
Marketing & PR Strategist, IN2NITE 03/2014 - 07/2014
IN2NITE is a Series A venture-backed startup based in Singapore for travelers around Asia to book hotels on the same day at discounts of 50% or more.

We are responsible for their go-to market strategy, social media marketing and public relations.
Founder & Director, PACE Initiative 12/2012 - 12/2013
PACE (Pen Appealing College Essays) is a non-profit initiative, dedicated to inspire and assist high school students in their college applications. As a nation-wide on-going program, PACE includes a college essay competition and a series of seminars & workshops held in schools and educational organizations.

To date, we have delivered over half a dozen seminars & workshops and impacted 500+ high caliber students who are determined to experience a premier overseas education at top universities worldwide. We are also proud to partner with educational organizations such as Science Centre Singapore.
Information Systems Administrator, Singapore Armed Forces 01/2012 - 11/2013
Together with my Command & Control Information Systems team, we are responsible for the operational readiness of an infantry battalion's Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle fleet. As one of the pioneers in driving the 3rd-Generation Army vision, I am trained in wireless communications, CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) and IBM server architecture.
Brand Strategist, The Hummingbird Perspective 04/2013 - 10/2013
The Hummingbird Perspective is a boutique strategy and creative consultancy, recognized throughout Asia for its innovative brand solutions. The Hummingbird Perspective served global FMCG companies and large regional organizations.

After rapid growth, Hummingbird became part of SGK in mid-2013 and the services offered by The Hummingbird Perspective are available through SGK.

We believe in vision led collaboration, with agency partners and clients, where we together we roll up our sleeves and deliver powerful thinking and world class creative solutions.

We deliver robust strategic business or brand plans, groundbreaking innovation and new product concepts, and break through engagement and communication ideas.

We can then lead the journey from ideation to execution, ensuring the idea is brought to life with its purity and intensity intact.
Student Mentor, Collegify 10/2012 - 10/2013
Key driver of sales and marketing for a global start-up venture in the college consulting industry. Developed marketing and public relation skills, capitalizing on my understanding of the local student population to effectively outreach, resulting in significant increase in sales revenue. Highly versatile as the first employee of the start-up.
Freelance Copywriter, Scribers International 10/2011 - 09/2013
Completed copywriting and editing projects for clients including Fortune 500 IT corporations, homegrown luxury fashion brands, CBD shopping centers and office spaces and automobile associations.
Student Researcher, Institute for Infocomm Research 01/2008 - 03/2012
Student Researcher at I2R, a member institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

Conducted 4 human-computer interaction research projects with a focus on social and online games. Studies include user engagement analysis, contextual inquiry, focus group discussions and user diary logs.

Published 13 research papers and presented 4 projects at international peer-reviewed conferences.
Founder, Youth Global Research 09/2009 - 01/2012
Founder of Youth Global Research.

I started a platform for passionate and dedicated high-school researchers to gather, interact and exchange. Successfully recruited over 200 members and partnered 8 Asia high schools (including schools from Taiwan, Indonesia, Brunei)
Skill Game Framework Developer, Build-It-Yourself 03/2010 - 08/2010
Game framework developer and research student at education-technology enterprise.

Under the Research Science Institute program, I interned with Build-It-Yourself to develop educational games and a game development framework for educators to develop relevant classroom games intuitively.