Wearing Many Hats: Thriving in the Startup Multiverse

Joining a startup has reshaped the way I think about work, growth, and innovation. It’s fast-paced, unpredictable, and at times overwhelming — but it’s also the most enriching environment I’ve ever been part of. Startups challenge you to not just work harder, but work smarter. There’s no “that’s not my job” mindset here. You build, break, fix, and improve — all in real-time. And the best part? You see how your work directly influences the company’s progress. It’s a refreshing departure from the rigid structures of traditional industries, and a true test of agility and grit.

Wearing Many Hats

As the founding AI/ML Architect & Full Stack Developer, I find myself constantly switching between roles. One moment I’m refining user interfaces using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript; the next, I’m structuring backend logic in Django or building AI models for predictive drug pricing. This exposure has shaped me into a better generalist — someone who understands how each layer of a system contributes to the larger product. It’s not always easy, but it’s incredibly rewarding. Every challenge introduces a new tool, a new framework, a new idea — all of which sharpen my technical edge and problem-solving mindset.

Building for Impact

At the heart of what we’re doing is something deeply meaningful: solving the issue of drug pricing transparency in Malaysia. It’s a multifaceted problem, affecting patients, general practitioners (GPs), pharmaceutical players, insurers, and TPAs. While I can’t reveal much, I’ve been involved in building infrastructure that cleans, structures, and analyzes medication data. From dashboards to pricing engines, everything we create is designed to bring more clarity, efficiency, and fairness to the healthcare ecosystem. Knowing that my work contributes to a national-level impact keeps me grounded and motivated.

Growth Through Challenge

Every project, every task pushes me a little further out of my comfort zone. I come from an academic background in Bioinformatics with a foundation in deep learning and computer vision, but startup life demands more than just technical expertise. It calls for independence, speed, communication, and clarity. I’ve learned how to self-teach quickly, ask the right questions, and build things that actually work. And more than anything, I’ve learned that growth happens when you stop waiting to be ready and start acting. The startup culture doesn’t hand you a ladder — it lets you build your own.

Looking Ahead

Being part of an early-stage startup means being part of something bigger than just a job. We’re building a product, yes, but we’re also shaping a company — its direction, its values, and its future. I don’t know where this road leads, but I know I’m building the skills, experience, and mindset to take on whatever comes next. For now, I’m learning, growing, and most importantly — contributing.