Founders Friday – Mikhail Melvin Goh
This Friday, we are excited to feature Mikhail Melvin Goh, founder of Have Halal, Will Travel.
About Mikhail
In 2015, Mikhail was in Japan with his spouse for a vacation. While having dinner with a group of Japanese businessmen a few days after the Paris terror attacks, they were asked why Muslims were killing non-Muslims. The couple had a moment of epiphany – most Japanese have never interacted with a Muslim before.
That epiphany, along with their struggles to find services that a Muslim traveller needs while travelling, shaped the couple’s vision for their then-fledgling online travel company, Have Halal, Will Travel. The company aims to help Muslims find halal food and prayer places while also enjoying new sights around the world.
Mikhail graduated with a Bachelors in Business Management (BBM) from SMU in 2014. His other entrepreneurial pursuits include Resolute, another company which he founded in 2013. Resolute is a digital marketing and technology solutions agency that builds brands and grows businesses.
About Have Halal, Will Travel
Have Halal, Will Travel (HHWT) aims to champion peace between Muslims & non-Muslims through travel. They are a lifestyle and travel content platform offering resources and tech tools to help Muslim travellers plan their perfect trip. Reaching over 9 million Muslims per month, HHWT is redefining the Muslim travel market. They create highly shareable social content to recommend the best things to do and eat, and to meet other Muslim-specific needs, such as places to pray or halal food.
HHWT’s team has worked on campaigns for global brands such as KLM, Air France, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Korea Tourism Board, Klook, AirAsia, Uniqlo and more. They specialise in native advertising, driving brand recognition and ROI for brand partners who are interested to understand and serve Muslims.
In one sentence, how would you summarise your journey so far
What has been the most satisfying aspect of entrepreneurship for you?
What do you feel is the essential quality a startup founder must have?
What advice would you have for someone contemplating leaving the corporate world to be an entrepreneur?
M: Be prepared to be slapped repeatedly in the face by users and clients. Stay grounded and focused, and most of all, keep your chin up!
How did you acquire your first customers?
What was the biggest challenge you faced in scaling your sales?
Our project with New Zealand Tourism was a perfect example of this alignment. The New Zealand Government wanted to find ways to attract more Muslims to visit their country. We sent a team down for a week to cover key points of interest as well as to interview the local communities. 2 weeks later, the shootings happened. It came as a terrible shock to us as we were at that very same mosque just 2 weeks ago. In light of the incident, we chose to rise to the occasion, covering recovery efforts and support by the local communities. This incident was also a poignant reminder of our company vision to foster peace among people.
What aspects were the most important when building your team?
If you had to build your team again, what would you do differently?
Vision alignment – those who are aligned to find more meaning in their work. The menial becomes meaningful.
Diversity – Although we’re a content platform for Muslim travellers, we hire regardless of race or religion. We find diverse teams to be more empathetic and creative.
Drive – our work may seem glamorous, but it takes a lot of hard work and guts to make it seem that way. We’ve had a few candidates drop-out because they prefer a slower paced and less challenging environment.
Pliability of mind – we have an internal joke among founders that the company evolves every 3 months. This is true for any fast paced organisation, and an absolute challenge for anyone who is not prepared to change!
What are the top 3 tips you have for investor pitching?
M:
1) Don’t chase the money. Focus on value you provide to the market . Money will come.
2) Find an investor that works with you to get things done and not tell you what they want done.
3) Find an investor you are happy to see for 5 years – it’s literally going to be that long!
According to your investors, what sets you apart from other startups?
M: The market we target (Muslims) and the quality of content that we produce.
Any other words of wisdom that you would like to share?
M: In the world of startups, there’s an unhealthy obsession with speed. While it’s generally good advice, I believe it’s more important to know “what” you’re trying to achieve and “why”. Most of us end up moving quickly in the wrong direction.
Stay tuned for next week's episode of Founders Friday
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