Patrick Grove, Entrepreneur and Catcha Group Co-Founder Saying “JUST DO IT”.

• His net worth now exceeds S$600 million.
• Wasn’t all smooth sailing… tells Grove with years of endurance and of course losses and a whole lot of persistence, this is why he is where he is today.

Mr Grove explains that his mother never encouraged his ‘dream’ of becoming an entrepreneur…wanting him to be “a doctor, lawyer or banker” although none of those career paths where ever an option. In 1999, he invested a bulk of his savings… S$100,000 to be exact to start Catcha.com, and Internet search engine for South-east Asia, which gained traction to become a leading portal in the region. Just as Catcha.com was about to flourish for its initial public offering in Singapore estimated to raise over S$50 million, the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, forcing it to “abort its listing plans”.

Mr Grove states “The initial business lost about S$20 million over eight years. We had to cut costs, grow revenues and used creativity to keep the business alive. When I look at my entrepreneurial journey, we lost money for eight years. You can’t pay yourself a bonus or salary. It was embarrassing to tell people what you do. But we kept going,”

Mr Gove and his team were constantly seeking funds from investors to keep the company running. In 2006, Mr Grove set up iProperty Group through Catcha, with the real estate portal making its debut on the Australian Stock Exchange the following year.

The IPO shot Mr Grove to further success, now being the owner of a string of sizable businesses, some of them being listed on stock markets across the region. Along with media impresario Rupert Murdoch Group announced they would buy up the rest of the Malaysia-based iProperty in which already had a stake- for A$578 million.

Wise words from the man himself, Mr Grove, “My advice for entrepreneurs is to JUST DO IT. Always have a mindset that whatever it takes to get there, get it done. No excuses… You just have to put the fears aside and just do it. Everyone has an idea, but very few of them do something about it. Just take action and do not worry about what other people think. If you are really passionate about doing something, just do it. Stop thinking and just do it.”

Catcha Group had an amazing year during 2016 along with making some tremendous achievements as follows:

• Iflix became one of the fastest growing Internet companies in the region.
• Frontier Digital Ventures made their debut on the ASX (our fifth IPO!) and made news globally.
• iCar Asia raised new capital, appointed a new CEO to position itself for its next stage of growth.
• REV Asia is growing in strength, dominating the Malay and Chinese market in Malaysia.
• Wild Digital 2016 was an amazing event, with phenomenal growth in attendees (including the Malaysian PM).