“Entrepreneurship is a 24-hour thing. I wouldn’t say I work for my startup only for 8 hours a day, those are like working for others. Starting a business is 24 hours, 365 days, around the clock,” says Alvin Lam, HKUST alumni and Managing Director at T12M Ventures, an investment firm that aims to support growth as an angel investor in startups and to guide the success of small companies.  

Alvin has been in business for 17 years. His earliest entrepreneurial venture began as the founder and CEO of Pacific Link, which grew to become the largest digital marketing group at the time, and was eventually acquired by top global professional services company, Accenture. Now, inspired by his previous HKUST mentors, Alvin is passionate about advising current startups. He openly shares, “I’ve been through many difficulties myself – there is no money. Several HKUST alumni gave me a lot of advice in the early days of my startup.”  

Although his journey with PacificLink ended, his connections remained intact. He speaks fondly about the company’s third ever employee, Lennon Ho, now the Director of the Jervois Experience Agency Network, and a fellow HKUST alumni. Likewise, Lennon expresses admiration for Alvin, who also helped him launch his own startup. He says, “He is my mentor; I learn a lot from him. In Alvin’s network, there are a lot of alumni gathering. I feel that with the alumni from HKUST, there is a kind of brotherhood. We are from the same family, we’ll help each other.” 

This feeling of family has also impacted Alvin, who reveals that he has a soft spot for helping HKUST startups, because he is also from HKUST. As a HKUST Founder’s Club Fellow, he stresses the importance of giving back to the community. In his words, “When I started doing this start-up investment company, since many of my brothers at HKUST have helped me before. Now, as their mentor, I hope my experience, connections, and networks can help our startups.” 

With great sincerity, Alvin commends HKUST for their dedication to their students. According to him, “Because of their openness, their investment in technology, and their attitudes towards students, it encouragse them to innovate. In fact, these atmospheres not only lead to a good entrepreneurial atmosphere in HKUST, but also the quality of HKUST students’ entrepreneurship are highly recognised by society.” 

Despite admitting the difficulties in guiding a startup to break through, Alvin expresses that now is the time for aspiring HKUST entrepreneurs to launch their entrepreneurial dreams. “I think the biggest advantage of students to startup is there is nothing to lose. Students have a lot of resources related to research. Because the professors are researching new technologies in the university, something that has never been seen in the world, students can think of the application of these new technologies. 

Above all, he implores young student entrepreneurs to take advantage of the many opportunities that HKUST and the HKUST Entrepreneurship provides. He says, “When they start a business, they will help them to team up, to find mentors like us, and to look for funding applications. By joining more networking activities organized by the HKUST Entrepreneurship Center, startups can increase their exposure, and bring in potential customers, business partners, or even investors.”