From Rig Rescues to Startups: The Exciting Adventures of Allen Qu

The Great Gulf Rescue

The interview with Allen began with the story of a young engineer who had just finished a project at an offshore rig. The helicopter assigned to fly him and his colleagues back to land had technical difficulties, and young Allen was not about to sit around and wait. So what did he do? He hitched a ride on a cargo ship.

What was supposed to be a one-day journey soon turned into two weeks when one of the nearby rigs exploded. For two weeks, Allen and the crew floated back and forth on the Gulf in the Middle East, transporting the injured and necessary supplies. It was freezing, they had no communication with anyone on land, the ship was unstable, and it was scary. But Allen just took it as another day at work.

When I asked if he was terrified, he replied, "Well, I mean, yeah. But I'm used to that because I was an engineer."

The Trail Of Triumph

Like all great adventurers before him, Allen, after spending five years as an engineer, decided he needed more excitement in his career—a challenge. In a quest to find himself, he got an MBA in Singapore and became a management consultant. He worked as a consultant at McKinsey for two years before discovering his true passion: Nurturing startups.

"I think it's also because of my early experience in a very mature company. When I worked at a Fortune 500 company, everything was very organised and mature. But it's also boring. There's only so much you can play with. It's also related to my personality. I'm actually quite creative and very adventurous. If I see something that makes sense, I will push and give it a try. So, you know, those things will never happen in a very mature environment," said Allen Qu.

Filled with enthusiasm from his newly found passion, Allen quit his job at McKinsey. He has since worked for Kie.com as the right-hand man to the CEO, was a VP at Opera, was the Chief Operating Officer of Opay, and is currently the VP of Growth at LemFi, leading a successful entry into the Chinese market.

The Time Travelling VP

If you haven't dabbled in time travel, can you call yourself an adventurer? I think not! Although Allen hasn't time-travelled yet, he's interested in the idea. That is the superpower he'd want.

"Well, I mean, honestly speaking, I'm not a very patient person. Right? So, especially with my work today and other things, when I start trying something or when we start putting things together, I would like to fast-track and see if it eventually worked out or what could happen over there if it doesn't happen, as I thought. Then, I can go back to recreate or correct it."

In addition to time-travelling into the future to improve the world of startups, Allen wouldn't mind going back to late 2000 BC Egypt to satisfy his curiosity about how the pyramids were built.

The Man who is Allen

When Allen isn't building successful startups, he spends time with his beautiful family and takes long walks to reflect on the day.

Intrigued by new cultures, he’s considering a Swahili language class and plans to explore the South Pole and South America, two of the few places he has yet to visit.

Allen may also be notorious for some questionable food choices, but when it came down to picking one cuisine to be stuck with for a lifetime, he went with the wholesome hotpot. As he put it, "You put everything and cook it together."

If he had to recommend a book, it would be "Xiaomi's Ecological Chain Battleground Notes". With his love for startups, it's no surprise that the book is about Xiaomi, a smartphone brand that rose in record time from an underdog to number 3 in the smartphone industry.

It was also interesting to know that if I ever convinced Allen to go karaoke with me, his first song pick would be Sincere Hero by Jackie Chan.
"It actually means that everyone can be a hero, even though they have an ordinary life. But that's if you really live your life and live in every moment," says Allen Qu.

Allen and the Dragon

As Allen's inspiring journey unfolds, picture him riding a majestic dragon, a creature he would have loved to have as a pet given a chance, with a trail of successful startups behind him.

We look forward to his incredible impact in LemFi and will wrap up with his favourite quote from Game of Thrones: "What do we say to the god of death? Not today."