Arghhh..I have not been able to write much on this. My demanding schedule and frequent travels allow for very little downtime to indulge myself in leisurely writing.
Come next week, it will be the tenth anniversary of Sept 11, which was quite a defining moment in the Viztel story.
Alas, I will get the story out before it all disappears from my less reliable memory nowadays. This blog shall live to "write" another day. I promise. Whatever it takes.
Viztel: The Startup Story
Viztel was a regional telecom software startup, it expanded rapidly into a Southeast-Asia regional telecom software powerhouse but later only to suffer the dotcom crash in the 2001 period. It scaled back but perservered. Viztel eventually launched a very successful IPO on the MESDAQ market of Bursa Malaysia in year 2004. Viztel was made for young people and the young people made Viztel. This is their story.
Viztel: The Last Bell - Party
[emailed]
Dear friends,
This coming Friday 27th May 2011 marks the last day of Viztel shares being traded on Bursa Malaysia. It will be delisted as part of a RTO exercise and a new company will take over its listing status thereafter. Hence it marks the close of the final chapter of the amazing Viztel story that many of you had contributed to.
For some of you that are uniformed, the founders had little to do with Viztel since 2006, and we had moved on to a number of other ventures. We had recently sold our entire Viztel stake in the open market. However, Viztel remains the most spectacular and exciting time of our lives I have to say. Many of you were there along our side, toiling for nothing short of a big statement to tell the world that against all odds the young and inspired can change the status quo and shape the future. We started Viztel in our early 20s and many of the employees through out Viztel's history were no older than mid-20s. I remain inspired till to date at the thought of the challenges, hardship, and determination that many young Viztel employees had put up with through out Viztel's early days. Sleeping in the make-shift data center in our Philieo office, working over Christmas eve, listening to Jordan's rumbling, fighting near-disaster of the Tsunami Disaster Alert System, answering Julia's endless questions, selling SONIA/AUDRIE etc etc, it was nothing short of a difficult but extremely fulfilling journey. That said, no gem shines without enough grinding and I am glad that many of the Viztel employees went on to do great things.
Well, enough of reminiscent tale, We would like to invite you to a final party we host in Viztel's name at her final trading day. As per the Viztel culture there will be plenty of food and booze, and feel free to bring along your partner/spouse. Venue and time are as follow.
Dear friends,
This coming Friday 27th May 2011 marks the last day of Viztel shares being traded on Bursa Malaysia. It will be delisted as part of a RTO exercise and a new company will take over its listing status thereafter. Hence it marks the close of the final chapter of the amazing Viztel story that many of you had contributed to.
For some of you that are uniformed, the founders had little to do with Viztel since 2006, and we had moved on to a number of other ventures. We had recently sold our entire Viztel stake in the open market. However, Viztel remains the most spectacular and exciting time of our lives I have to say. Many of you were there along our side, toiling for nothing short of a big statement to tell the world that against all odds the young and inspired can change the status quo and shape the future. We started Viztel in our early 20s and many of the employees through out Viztel's history were no older than mid-20s. I remain inspired till to date at the thought of the challenges, hardship, and determination that many young Viztel employees had put up with through out Viztel's early days. Sleeping in the make-shift data center in our Philieo office, working over Christmas eve, listening to Jordan's rumbling, fighting near-disaster of the Tsunami Disaster Alert System, answering Julia's endless questions, selling SONIA/AUDRIE etc etc, it was nothing short of a difficult but extremely fulfilling journey. That said, no gem shines without enough grinding and I am glad that many of the Viztel employees went on to do great things.
Well, enough of reminiscent tale, We would like to invite you to a final party we host in Viztel's name at her final trading day. As per the Viztel culture there will be plenty of food and booze, and feel free to bring along your partner/spouse. Venue and time are as follow.
Why the story
The year was 1999. Four young engineers returned home from the UK and decided to start a company. There were many reasons of wanting to start a company. For the Viztel founders it was the idealistic thought of creating a platform for them and their young contemporaries to excel at their own pace without going through the bullshit career-ladder that promoted seniority rather than capability. Hence Viztel was created. Fueled by its young founders and equally by its hordes of young employees, it expanded rapidly to become a Southeast-Asia regional telecom software firm but later only to suffer the dotcom crash in the 2001-2000 period. It scaled back but perservered. Viztel eventually went on to a very successful IPO on the MESDAQ market of Bursa Malaysia in year 2004. The company's fate took a unexpected twist when it was the subject of a hostile take-over in year 2006.The founders left. The new controlling shareholders fumbled and it was eventually delisted in May 2011, marking the close of the final chapter of an amazing tale.
Viztel was about young people struggling against all odds to challenge the status quo. This site intends to share some of their experiences with the intention that perhaps among the readers another group of young people could be inspired to challenge rhetorical conventions that exist in many form out there.
Viztel was made for the young people and the young people made Viztel. This is their story.
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