#OnTheContrary campaign reveals the ‘real struggles’ of entrepreneurs

Rags to riches stories are fabulous, but here’s the real deal.

Sure, we've all heard of the huge amount of money made by famous men who have overcome difficult odds to make a true rags-to-riches story: the likes of Sam Walmart, Henry Ford, Walt Disney and Steve Jobs. But how much do we really know about the struggles they have had to face as entrepreneurs?

The #OnTheContrary campaign is inspired by the current misconception of ‘entrepreneurship’ that most people have, with related topics fast becoming one of the most searched terms in the world today. News of Whatsapp being bought by Facebook for a whopping $19 billion, Alibaba setting world records with its largest US-listed initial public offering and many other prolific acquisitions make entrepreneurship sound glamorous and overhyped.

According to Arvin Tang, CEO of Akin, the agency behind this campaign, they want to shift people’s focus from all the glorified “rags to riches” stories to the real struggles that most entrepreneurs face. “We want to differentiate the word “entrepreneur” as a noun and “entrepreneurship” as a skillset. While it is true that passion, ideas and experience can never be taught, learning how to identify or create opportunities, acquire resources, and build a team to create something of economic and social value, can be,” he said.

Supported by the Nanyang Technopreneurship Centre (NTC), and the Master of Science in Technopreneurship and Innovation Programme (MSc TIP), this campaign will feature 24 entrepreneurs who will share their stories and struggles in their entrepreneurial journey. These entrepreneurs include Joelle Pang, co-founder of GetKlarity, Fannie Kue, general manager in JFDI, and Tang Shiuh Huei, managing partner at S H Tang & Associates, to name just a few.

More information about the campaign be found here.