Founder

A working life spent building.

From hotel operations to international entrepreneur. Ten-plus years of building companies, making mistakes, and learning what actually matters.

Tan Mai

I started in hotels. I now build companies.

The best schooling I got in business was standing at a front desk at 6am. Guests, unhappy managers, broken systems, thin margins — you learn quickly whether the machine is working.

When I finally left to start my first company, I brought that operational instinct with me. It kept me alive through the years where everyone else was chasing valuations and pitch decks. I focused on cash flow, on solving painful problems, on building things that customers wanted to keep paying for.

Today I run multiple ventures, mostly in travel technology, fintech, corporate travel, and expense management, across international markets. Alongside that, I work privately with a small number of founders each year.

I write publicly because I think knowledge should be free. I advise privately because tailored guidance requires a real relationship.

Timeline

The chapters so far

01Early

Hotel & hospitality career

Learned the discipline of operations, service standards, and how a real business is run from the inside.

02First venture

Founded first company

Left a stable career to build. Made every classic first-company mistake, and kept notes.

03Expansion

International operations

Opened operations across multiple markets. Learned that scale is not a copy-paste of what worked at home.

04Current

Multiple ventures + advisory

Building in travel technology, fintech, and adjacent categories. Advising a limited number of founders each year.

05Ahead

The long-term vision

A durable set of businesses, a growing body of public writing, and quiet capital deployed into founders who compound.

Want to work together?

Advisory is limited each year. A discovery call is the first step.

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