Benjamin Croc is the co-founder and CEO of BrioHR, a new kind of all-in-one HR platform that is robust, smooth to use and colorful, helping SMEs manage all their HR processes and employees "in style" (aka, "with Brio").

BrioHR started out of Malaysia and now serves hundreds of companies in more than 15 countries across Southeast Asia and beyond.

👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

My job as a startup CEO is a bit hard to define, but it could be summed up as steering a ship towards a long-term goal, which is itself kind of a moving target, making sense of a large amount of information, considering thousands of opportunities to choose the right ones, and avoiding at least as many distractions.

All while fixing a burst pipe down in the engine room!

🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

That could be the fact that I came to Malaysia mostly due to my passion for badminton and having trained as a young sportsman with the best players in the world in the early 2000s, the Sidek brothers (for those who know them, makes me feel old).

Also, the fact that if you had asked me about becoming an entrepreneur just three months before leaving everything to co-found BrioHR, I would have said, "no way, that's not for me,"...and here we are!

🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I see one's career as a non-linear path, made of many highs and sometimes, though not always, lows.

For me, some highs would be getting accepted into INSEAD as I felt it could have a significant impact on me, and it did (I still strongly believe in the value of those!), or when we had our first client at BrioHR a few years back: that feeling of having a company run the HR processes with the tool that was just a dream not long before, that's pretty cool!

🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

I really am passionate about everything HR, so I like to follow and understand what happens in this space.

I also look at a lot of fintech topics as I believe there are stronger and stronger links between those two worlds.

💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

Brace yourself! More seriously, I think you have to be ready, whichever vertical within the space you plan to tackle, to follow an infinite thread of opportunities/possibilities, which in the end, requires a lot of effort to remain focused.

🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

A few, such as Poker, Badminton, and of course...startups! But I like listening a lot too :)

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

I watch and like many, but to this day, I'd say Breaking Bad remains a top one.

🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Straight to the point Vanilla