He started trading Pokemon cards at 10 Y/O & has now launched 5 businesses on his own
What counts as entrepreneurship? Is it inventing a mind-blowing idea, or just simply refusing to sit still—dabbling, experimenting, and starting over again and again?
For Then Zhi Wei, it’s definitely the latter. From selling Pokemon cards to baking cookies, designing t-shirts and running podcasts, he has spent years exploring different ventures and testing ideas.
Now the founder and marketing director of marketing agency Futurx Creatives, we spoke to the 28-year-old about how he turned childhood hustles into a lifelong entrepreneurial drive.
Where it all began
Zhi Wei’s entrepreneurial streak began at just 10 years old. Drawn to the card shop below his condominium after school, he quickly realised that classmates were desperate for Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Duel Masters cards they couldn’t find elsewhere.
Pooling his pocket money, he began reselling cards for a profit, earning up to S$7 per piece, which felt like a fortune at the time. He also struck a deal with the elderly shop owner: tagging items in exchange for packs of trading cards he could flip.
Even at that age, Zhi Wei was learning the basics of supply and demand and discovered how small opportunities could be turned into something meaningful. This early venture marked the start of his entrepreneurial journey, and by secondary school, he was channeling that curiosity into bigger experiments.
Moving on to bigger ventures
During his teenage years, Zhi Wei taught himself Photoshop through YouTube tutorials and launched OkieWear, a t-shirt brand with its own website.
Dissatisfied with the website, he paused the project, however, it gave him valuable insights on presentation, branding, and user experience.
At the same time, he also ran a blogshop with a partner on Carousell, importing items from Chinese suppliers, including tech accessories and clothes.
By riding online trends, he made consistent sales and learned the importance of timing and understanding customer demand. Small profits validated his instinct to test himself in a fast-paced environment, giving him confidence that any venture could be made profitable.
Opportunities, experiments, and lessons learned
By the time he entered polytechnic, Zhi Wei was ready to tackle more complex projects.
One opportunity came after spotting a Facebook post about PRYNT, a Kickstarter project for a portable photo printer with augmented reality (AR) technology, priced at over S$200. After conducting extensive research, including phone compatibility and the product founder’s background, Zhi Wei and his friends pooled their savings to import units into Singapore.
They sold the printers on Carousell, managing orders, returns, and logistics themselves, and earned a few thousand dollars in profit. At one point, they even considered becoming sole distributors—until a local distributor secured the rights. The PRYNT hustle taught him that opportunities have windows, and moving quickly can be crucial before bigger players step in.
But Zhi Wei didn’t stop there. In school, he joined Samsung Solve For Tomorrow, a competition for students to use robotics and technology to solve local problems. There, he designed a pressure mat with a light sensor to remind people not to leave valuables in public toilets. The project won second place, though he didn’t pursue it further.
Following that, Zhi Wei interned at Mobike in China, the country’s largest bicycle sharing company, where he gained firsthand startup experience.
During his time in China, he observed how technology enabled services like delivery platform 回家吃饭 (hui jia chi fan) benefitted businesses and consumers, which inspired him to briefly consider creating Singapore’s first reservation app and a home-based food delivery service.
Peers discouraged him, calling it impossible, so he put the idea aside. In hindsight, he reflected that the experience taught him the importance of filtering outside noise and trusting his instincts—a lesson reinforced as delivery platforms eventually took off in Singapore.
Reviving his father’s business
During National Service (2018 to 2020), Zhi Wei decided to revive his father’s home-based festive cookie business as Baba’s Whisk, building a small following through Instagram and a self-made website.
He experimented with flavours, designed packaging, and expanded into custom cakes, utilising his part-time baking experience at Orchard Hotel’s pastry kitchen back in his secondary school days.
The business quickly took off, and friends were asking him to bake cakes for milestone birthdays. Learning from YouTube creators like Cupcake Jemma and Georgia’s Cakes, he practiced tirelessly, studying the science behind each ingredient. Even when his first attempts failed, he persevered.
Apart from offering freshly baked goods, during COVID-19, Zhi Wei launched DIY baking kits with his own recipes, video tutorials, and Zoom baking classes, providing a crucial source of income.
At its peak, Baba’s Whisk earned S$4,000 per month and sometimes up to S$60,000 in revenue in a year. The support and feedback from friends and customers became a pillar that he will always appreciate and value.
That said, the relentless baking and deliveries on weekdays and weekends often left him isolated. He realised the importance of work-life balance—a lesson he has since taken to heart and incorporated into his life.
Returning to his marketing roots
A basketball injury in 2023 forced Zhi Wei to slow down, but he soon returned to marketing his specialisation in Polytechnic, founding Futurx Creatives from scratch with a good friend.
He noticed many Singaporean SMEs were stuck in traditional marketing while most agencies weren’t innovating. Meanwhile, China had already embraced AI-driven livestream commerce and creative marketing. Zhi Wei wanted to bridge that gap, helping businesses use storytelling and generative AI effectively on social media.
At Fururx, Zhi Wei shared that the team “meticulously studies” the science behind viewer engagement, analysing what makes people click at each moment in marketing videos.
Two years on, the strategy appears to be paying off. One of his most rewarding milestones was seeing clients like Concept Grading grow from five-figure monthly sales to half a million dollars, a testament to the effectiveness of their marketing approach.
Managing an eight-person team, Zhi Wei takes an unconventional approach to leadership: he believes in empowering his team rather than imposing rigid structures.
“It will reach a point where you shove hierarchy down people’s throats. I hate that. I’d rather assign tasks and help each other as a team.”
He values curiosity and drive above formal qualifications, explaining that a willingness to learn is far more important than a university degree. “Being a sponge is the ultimate quality,” he adds. “A degree doesn’t mean you’re ready for the job—you’re only ready to start learning the role.”
Spotlighting unconventional paths
Despite the growth Futurx Creatives has seen, Zhi Wei isn’t sitting still. By the end of 2025, Zhi Wei will be launching Off the Beaten Path, a podcast spotlighting individuals who have chosen unconventional paths.
Unlike many of his peers, Zhi Wei chose not to pursue university immediately, valuing hands-on experience over formal education. The podcast reflects that philosophy, aiming to show his audience that unconventional paths are valid.
Choosing curiosity over conformity, he shared, can open doors and reveal aspects of oneself that structured systems never can.
Zhi Wei noted that only a small percentage of people take this route, particularly in a rigid society like Singapore. “That’s why the outliers are usually only around 1%,” he said, crediting his parents for the mental support that allowed him to embrace this path.
He also encourages others to approach entrepreneurship with courage and resilience:
“Entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be one big idea,” he said. “It’s about being brave enough to start—and relentless enough to fail and keep going. It’s also about applying everything you learnt into your future businesses to help serve your customers/clients better.”
Zhi Wei’s goal is independence—not necessarily wealth—but to achieve financial freedom, a principle he’s held since childhood: making his own money, even when he didn’t have to. For him, the entrepreneurial itch never goes away, and that drive is what keeps him moving forward.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Then Zhi Wei
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