Virginia Cha

Background

About Virginia Cha

I am old. I used to be an entrepreneur, but you know what people say,"those who can, do; those who can't, teach."(a self-deprecating remark as a joke, so don't be so serious in how you interpret what I say). So I teach at multiple institutions - NUS Business School being the primary one. I also teach at various institutions, all around a single subject: Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Back to the "I am old" part - I've been a geek all my life - received a computer science degree back in 1980 before most people had ever seen a computer. I've switched careers and countries many times, because that's where life takes you if you are open to new ideas and experiences but yet ignorant of the concept of career ladder. I've been a tech geek (systems programmer of operating systems in a stack architecture machine - US company Burroughs - the best designed system ever), a tech transfer officer (Singapore), a serial tech entrepreneur (Singapore, China), an investment firm executive (Singapore, China), a researcher (NUS, Singapore), an angel investor/mentor (everywhere), and now an educator and author (Singapore). I love teaching - it's probably the single most rewarding work one can do - to see the transformation and growth of young people. I used to build products and earned accolades for being a great tech geek. Now I build up people, and earn friendships that are ever lasting, across time, place, and generation divide. A pretty cool way to spend my last career choice. I can share one important insight - when building projects/products/businesses, we all strive for KPIs which never satisfy because we are always comparing and trying to reach that ever elusive zenith of success. When you build up people, you achieve exponential impact and you are never disappointed, because there's no comparison. Here's the best part: building up people pays the best dividends.