Raya (Ten) Chantaramungkorn is no stranger to the startup life. Her career began at Lazada’s newly set up office in Bangkok in 2012, before she moved on to e-commerce enabler aCommerce. It was there she met Sheji Ho, and along with their co-founders, they launched HD, a healthcare services startup modelled after a combination of JD Health and Shopify, in 2019.
“The running joke is that I have never worked at any company that is profitable before, and I’m committed to making HD the first one,” quips Chantaramungkorn.
HD, where she is the chief marketing officer, connects patients with doctors, clinics, surgeons, and hospitals with vacant operating rooms. Last year, the Thai startup raised $6 million from Partech Partners, M Venture Partners, AC Ventures, iSeed, and Orvel Ventures for growth and expansion.
In an interview for DealStreetAsia’s upcoming report on female founders in Southeast Asia, Chantaramungkorn talks about the challenges faced by women in the region’s startup ecosystem, balancing perfectionism and growth, and the importance of asking for what you want.
“It took me so much courage to ask at the beginning… It’s as simple as if you don’t ask, you don’t get,” she said.
“I used to be so scared of rejections because I took them personally and felt I wasn’t good enough. But once you’ve dealt with that, got stronger, and know your self-worth, I really don’t see any other downsides of asking for what you want. Life is too short. It’s better to shoot your shot and not regret it!”
The full interview with Chantaramungkorn is below:
What inspired your journey into entrepreneurship, and how did you connect with your co-founders?
My entrepreneurial life started early! Growing up, my mom would encourage me and my brother to do business. During summer holidays, mom would pay us to do “internships” at our family business… in the home theatre department, where we spent most of our time playing video games. But at the end of the day, mom would ask questions like what we sold that day and why did the customers buy. When we were back in school, mom would also get us to sell different things in front of our house, from eggs to roses, on Valentine’s Day. I didn’t realise it then, but now I believe those experiences have shaped me to become the entrepreneur I am today.
Fast forward to when I was doing my Master’s at Imperial College Business School, Rocket Internet was hiring on the campus, and they sent me to Lazada, whose office was just set up in Bangkok. So since my graduation in 2012, I have been working only in startups. The running joke is that I have never worked at any company that is profitable before, and I’m committed to making HD the first one!
I have always liked the fact that I can get my hands on solving challenging problems and getting things done quickly, but those can sometimes come with physical and mental strains. Even in my 20s, I had chronic health issues and several burnouts every year. That’s how I developed my personal interests in health and well-being. At one point, I was into biohacking, experimenting with different diets, supplements, and exercises. So then, when Sheji, the CEO of HD, who was then the CMO of aCommerce and my colleague, asked me if I wanted to build a healthcare startup with him, I said yes on the spot!
Sheji was the one responsible for assembling our dream team together, combining people with different domain expertise whom he trusted at aCommerce. The fact that all co-founders had worked together before, I believe, is one of HD’s strengths. (This year will mark a decade of me and Sheji working together!) At HD, I don’t have chronic health issues anymore, and I significantly have less burnout because I can focus on doing my part well, knowing that other parts of the business are in good hands.
I like solving problems and healthcare is the most challenging one yet in my entire startup experience.
I like solving problems and healthcare is the most challenging one yet in my entire startup experience, yet it is the most rewarding one. Every marketing campaign that I do and every sale that I make, I know I am empowering my customers to take control of their health to live their full lives.
At every COVID outbreak, we all went all hands on deck doing customer service, including myself, handling tens of thousands of people contacting us because they couldn’t reach the government hotlines, asking for the most updated information and asking us to find them PCR tests or hospital beds. Even though we couldn’t accommodate every request, we tried our best. I remember this one customer whom I helped find PCR tests for her family thanked me profoundly because she was so worried for her family. I screenshotted it and keep it as a reminder that what I am doing has a real impact on the lives of many, and that keeps me putting in the work to do better and better.
Everything that led me to this point made me understand what kind of entrepreneur I want to be: the one that makes people’s lives better, and I am already one with HD.
To what extent has your experience as a female professional influenced the way your company is run? What has been the most challenging aspect of your role as a co-founder?
At aCommerce, I was running the online marketing agency business unit quite independently, and most of my peers responsible for other business units were female (good job, aCommerce!), but at HD, I am the only female in the management team, and that’s when I started to really see that I have a very different working style compared to others.
The stereotype that female business operators plan and pay attention to details applies to me. When we launch a campaign, I make sure that our communications are clear, with as little potential misunderstandings as possible and that different teams are aligned many times so we can give our customers the best experience possible.
Most of the time, delivering quality work is all good and well, but sometimes too much of it slows down the process. We’re late for the target launch dates because our assets are not “ready” (read: perfect). Once launched, the teams that were “aligned” have to realign anyway when we start optimizing the campaigns. My co-founders were frustrated that things didn’t get done in time, and I was frustrated that my work wasn’t valued.
“This has been the most challenging aspect of my role as a co-founder: to find a balance between being confident in my strengths and being humble enough to know that they are also my weaknesses.”
This has been the most challenging aspect of my role as a co-founder: to find a balance between being confident in my strengths and being humble enough to know that they are also my weaknesses. I went through a phase where I doubted my capabilities until I learned to believe in myself. (Special thanks to my co-founders for having to reassure me multiple times!)
Although painful at first, it’s these differences that helped me grow as a person and helped us grow as a team/company. I’m thankful that I’m getting better at not having my perfectionist tendencies paralyze me, take action, and get more things done. Even though my male co-founders are not great at showing emotions, I’m sure they learn a thing or two from me too. I once shared a list of topics for small talks with Sheji, and I hope he can socialise better now because of it!
Why do you think there’s a scarcity of women-led startups, and are there any unique factors in Southeast Asia contributing to this trend?
There’s an article in the Bangkok Post saying Thai women accounted for over 40% of SMEs. I have the same experience seeing very entrepreneurial women everywhere, but they just are not in startups. Here are some of my observations.
Many women are more interested in lifestyle businesses like fashion or consumer goods. These businesses can be wildly successful too! I don’t think it’s a bad thing because I believe people of any gender do their best when they work on something they’re genuinely interested in.
“Many women are more conservative… they are not comfortable aggressively using someone else’s money to hit aggressive targets.”
Many women are more conservative. I know a lot of women who chose to play the long game and grow their businesses sustainably using their own resources, (partly also because they can do that in lifestyle businesses where winners don’t take all). They are not comfortable aggressively using someone else’s money to hit aggressive targets.
Many Southeast Asian women feel responsible for their families, especially their parents. We might decide to pursue a career that our parents want us to have to not disappoint them. We might decide to work in a family business to not feel guilty for not being a good daughter. Luckily my parents are understanding and let me choose my own path, but I felt the need anyway to prove to them, just so that they wouldn’t get worried about me, that I have made the right decisions.
What advice would you offer to aspiring female entrepreneurs?
This advice is for my younger self and other female entrepreneurs: don’t be scared to ask.
I used to be scared of annoying someone or wasting their time. It took me so much courage to ask at the beginning. But I promise you, our fellow human beings are nicer than you think, and it gets easier and easier once you start asking. It’s as simple as if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
“Life is too short. It’s better to shoot your shot and not regret it!”
This year, I have identified topics I’d like to learn more about, and I reached out to people in my network. Most of them are more than happy to share what has worked for them and what hasn’t – which helped me learn very quickly. It’s good to let others know what you’re looking for so they can help you, connect you, or involve you in the future. It’s the same thing as when I’ve established among my friends as a cat person, they keep sending me cat memes! So you need to let others know what’s important for you.
But of course, you won’t get what you ask 100% and you will face rejections. I used to be so scared of rejections because I took them personally and felt I wasn’t good enough. But once you’ve dealt with that, got stronger, and know your self-worth, I really don’t see any other downsides of asking for what you want. Life is too short. It’s better to shoot your shot and not regret it! (Same goes for dating advice!)
