Meet our MSc TIP alumnus, Abhilash Pillai

 

Empowering. Increased ability for risk-taking. Reliable Business Network

This is how Kerala native Abhilash Pillai described the main takeaways he gained from NTU’s Master of Science in Technopreneurship and Innovation Programme (MSc TIP). Since graduating from the programme, Abhilash has started four companies – with plans to start a fifth, continued to grow the broad network of contacts he developed during the course, and is now more willing to take calculated risks.

The seed of having his own business was planted while he was pursuing the MSc programme. “It motivated me to do something on my own,” said Abhilash. Although he is not a lawyer by training, Abhilash has over a decade of extensive experience in the legal industry. In May 2020, he and two friends, one of whom is a lawyer, founded Regal Law LLC, a boutique law firm specialising in Corporate, Criminal and Family law.

Becoming an entrepreneur

Today, close to 3 years since setting up the law firm, Abhilash is a busy man. He manages a mid-size law firm with six (6) lawyers and about ten (10) support staff.  He is responsible for the general management of the law firm, overseeing various portfolios from marketing to administration to human resources. In addition, he also supervises the related businesses he set up including a secretarial firm, a digital marketing firm, and a legal tech firm. He is now looking into developing a comprehensive interactive database management for law firms. 

This was not what he had envisaged for himself when he first came to Singapore in 2008. At that time, the commerce graduate had been honing his marketing skills working for two pharmaceutical multinational companies in India, and felt it was time to upgrade. So, he signed up for a Masters programme in business at a private school.

When the quality of the programme proved less than satisfactory, Abhilash was stuck. But on the recommendation of a friend, he decided to apply to the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at NTU, which proved to be a turning point for him. This is where he met a lawyer, one of his classmates, who went on to start his own practice, and invited Abhilash to join him at the firm. As a manager, Abhilash dealt with the paperwork, research, and liaison with the clients, including entrepreneurs who were consulting on business legal matters such as the incorporation of the companies, set-ups and contracts.

When the time came to upgrade himself again, Abhilash was deciding between a law degree and the MSc TIP programme. Eventually, he decided on MSc TIP because it had relevance to his work. “I was working with entrepreneurs, and I found that it helps you think like an entrepreneur. So, that is where I actually came across this mailer and decided to do the programme,” he said.

 

Stepping up to the next level

It was not difficult for Abhilash to study entrepreneurship given his constant interaction with entrepreneurs as part of his job. “I was working with entrepreneurs, so I knew their challenges. I knew what made them entrepreneurs, what made them think about entrepreneurship… what are the issues, what are the challenges that an entrepreneur faces,” he said.

Abhilah’s original aim in pursuing the MSc TIP was so that he could be a better service provider; he had no intention of doing something on his own. But along the way, inspired by lecturers such as Dr David Gomulya, Dr Toh See Kiat, Professor Inderjit Singh, and his fellow course mates, Abhilash started to consider otherwise.  

“When I was working elsewhere, I was living someone’s dream. It was not my dream,” he said. “The job that you have is a parachute, you're falling and it's holding you. But when you don't have it, what happens?”

Abhilash’s advice for prospective entrepreneurship students is: don't look at it as just a programme; look at it as a stepping stone to a different level in life or a different stage in life. “When we started the programme, all of us were working for people. We were not entrepreneurs; some of us were intrapreneurs working for companies that (gave us) the liberty to innovate or bring creativity to the work. But most of us were working with a company. We did not have the courage to let go of that… (the programme) empowers you to take the risks, it empowers you to take a decision towards the next stage in your life if you are really keen.”

 

 Read the rest of our NTUpreneur Student and Alumni Stories.