#11 Should founders be the faces of their brand?
1 July 2025
Entry #11
1 July 2025
Status: Staring into a distance thinking if I should still be the face of my brand in the future.
I know a lot of you ask me about dUCk but unfortunately, I can’t tell you what the status is. Because the truth is things are still unfolding, even for me. It’s been taken over by the new owner since last year and I promise to share once I have clarity myself.
But it made me think a lot about my journey thus far.
As I think about the next era for me, a question kept lingering in my head – for my next ventures, do I still want to be the face of the brand?
This question is so hard to answer.
On one hand, dUCk (and FV) was so tied to me that I do believe its fast rise was because there was a face to it. The brand “had a soul”, people would tell me. And the more I was in the media, the brand had great tag-along effects. Even if at times it was bad press, the brand would get a lot of eyeballs that convert to customers.
On the other hand, there was a huge reliance on me. “Key man risk”, the men in suits would say in every investor meeting. I was that key man and I was the biggest risk to everyone. I could be the best thing for the brand, and at the same time the worst thing for it. When the Group hit over RM100 million in revenue, I was happy but I had a lot of sleepless nights thinking if I died, would the company die? If I mess up, I’d be ruining so many rice bowls. If I make a mistake, will we get to IPO? What crazy pressure on one’s shoulders.