{"id":1212,"date":"2024-11-25T04:13:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T04:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webdesigninsg.com\/nif\/alumnus\/?p=1212"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:07:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:07:39","slug":"transforming-and-creating-value-a-playbook-for-business-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2024\/11\/25\/transforming-and-creating-value-a-playbook-for-business-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Transforming and Creating Value: A Playbook for Business Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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For businesses seeking to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market, constant innovation and a willingness to challenge the status quo are key. That was the central message from Ms Jasmin Young, a tech company CEO, who spoke at the NUS Be A-HEAD event on 17 September 2024. Addressing an audience at the JustCo co-working space at Robinson Road, Ms Young outlined strategies for creating value and achieving hypergrowth, offering practical insights drawn from her own experiences in leading business\u00a0transformation.<\/p>

\u201cInnovation plays a crucial role in enabling companies to adapt to changing market conditions and customer preferences,\u201d Ms\u00a0Young said, adding that innovation not only fuels growth but also energises and empowers teams to take control of their roles. By fostering an environment where teams feel invested in the transformation process, businesses can navigate change more effectively, she\u00a0explained.<\/p>

Ms Young, who led the turnaround of Netreo, a California-based IT management firm, shared her extensive experience in driving value through innovation. At Netreo, a company that monitors over 15 million devices daily, she spearheaded the shift from traditional on-premises solutions to cloud-based services, a move she likened to a contractor renovating a house. \u201cWe needed to assess which areas required attention for long-term growth. For us, this meant adding SaaS (software-as-a-service) functionalities as the industry shifts towards cloud services,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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A point that was emphasised during the session was the need to create an environment where teams feel invested in the transformation process so as to navigate change more effectively. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u00a0<\/p>

Beyond her work at Netreo, Ms\u00a0Young\u2019s career at global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers involved\u00a0working with leading tech companies, helping them transition to subscription-based models and transforming customer experiences. Her journey from political science and European studies undergraduate at NUS to business leader is an inspiring story of adaptability and leadership.<\/p>

HOW SHE TRANSFORMED NETREO<\/strong><\/p>

During her four-year tenure as CEO, Ms\u00a0Young grew Netreo\u2019s workforce from 30 to over 100 employees. The company shifted from selling customised solutions to offering scalable, full-stack services, which allowed them to target larger clients. \u201cWe reshaped our strategy to focus on operational efficiency, honed in on an ideal customer profile and expanded our offerings to include full-stack solutions,\u201d Ms Young said. This approach \u2014 coupled with formalising project scopes and building relationships with industry analysts \u2014 elevated Netreo\u2019s market presence.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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(From left): Ms Tan; Ms Young; NUS Chief Alumni Officer Ms Ovidia-Lim Rajaram (Arts & Social Sciences \u201989); and Mr David Ding (Engineering \u201910), Chairperson of NUS Overseas Colleges Alumni.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u00a0<\/p>

Event moderator Ms Audrey Tan, Co-founder of PlayMoolah (Arts & Social Sciences \u201910), asked how Ms\u00a0Young led Netreo\u2019s team through such a significant transformation. Ms\u00a0Young attributed her success to three principles: accountability, accessibility and authenticity. Weekly check-ins replaced annual reviews, providing opportunities to address challenges and support team members. \u201cWe allowed people to experiment and develop new features so they could grow, and we reviewed progress weekly to move forward together,\u201d she\u00a0explained.\u00a0<\/p>

Creating a culture where failure is seen as a learning opportunity was also crucial. \u201cFailure can actually help us improve,\u201d Ms Young said, adding that an open-door policy was important to allow ideas to be shared without\u00a0fear.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The session gave participants an opportunity to tap on Ms Young\u2019s insights and experiences.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u00a0<\/p>

LEARNING HOW TO RIDE THE WAVE<\/strong><\/p>

When asked during the subsequent Q&A session about how she transitioned from a political science graduate to an IT business leader, Ms\u00a0Young said that while much of her university learning was memory-based, her career demanded deeper, more practical engagement with knowledge. \u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed learning over studying, and I immersed myself in the evolving body of knowledge quickly and intentionally to drive results,\u201d she said. Industry mentors, such as Thomas Archer and Romit Dey, also played a pivotal role in guiding her through challenges and shaping her approach to leadership \u2014 for example, by pressure-testing her ideas.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Audience members interacting with Ms Young after the talk.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u00a0<\/p>

Another participant asked about the challenges of managing Netreo\u2019s sales team during its shift to a SaaS\u00a0model. Ms Young explained that guiding the sales team to sell the right mix of products was a key challenge, especially as the new SaaS product she was developing would not be ready for two years. \u201cThe margin on SaaS products is lower than on-premise services because we have to host the services, which means lower sales commissions,\u201d she said. To keep the sales team motivated, she had to think creatively about incentivising them during the transition. \u201cSometimes, companies even need to double-compensate their on-premise and SaaS teams during the transition,\u201d she added.<\/p>

In closing, Ms Young stressed that creating value means understanding the fundamental financial aspects of a business. Attendees left the event with their own valuable insights on leading business transformation, managing sales force challenges and adapting to industry shifts such as SaaS and artificial intelligence. Ms\u00a0Young\u2019s candid sharing of her journey provided practical takeaways, leaving those who attended inspired to tackle their own business challenges with\u00a0confidence.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Photos by Kelvin Chia<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Participants gained valuable insights on business innovation, team accountability and navigating the software-as-a-service (SaaS) transition from tech CEO Ms Jasmin Young\u2019s (Arts & Social Sciences \u201997) talk at the NUS Be A-HEAD event. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","category-news-events"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1212"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1944,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212\/revisions\/1944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}