Not only because he is Toby’s gym buddy, although that is quite an important factor.
I hope you enjoy this conversation, because I did. And this can become a replacement for your Netflix and doom-scroolling nights. Or if you want something to accompany you in (Jakarta’s) traffic.
We have been posting a series of videos on YouTube called I CAN RELATE. It is a series where we talk to our customers, most of whom are entrepreneurs and working professionals, about their lives. They are exceptional but also ordinary human beings, who go through experiences in life that are unique yet also relatable. We talk about their career, life decisions, relationship with people and money, self-improvement, etc etc.
Talking to these people, oftentimes I will think in my head “Omg I can totally relate to that” but have to restrain myself from cutting into the person’s speech midway, so usually I just think that in my head.
This time, I talk to Wilson, who is Recompound’s first ever full-time employee. If you do not know, Recompound is mostly a 2-men business between 2023 and 2024. We did have a couple of part-time soldiers, but in the office it is just me and Budi. As much as I like Budi, I need to see a face that is not just Budi’s. Plus, in 2025, I was hit with a crude reality that I was not a superhuman after all. I realised that I can’t code, research companies, write blog posts, make videos, take client calls, answer client questions, talk to our investors, clean the office (and many more tasks, you get the idea), all on my own. Budi did a lot of the heavy lifting focusing on coding and investments, but he has inflicted a couple of collateral damages with his less-than-ideal diplomacy skills when interacting with clients.
So we took the leap of faith and hired our first ever full-time employee. We also did not randomly hire a random person. I have known Wilson since my university days, where we worked on a social project together. Ever since then I always had a keen memory of him: a can-do guy not deterred by uncharterred territories. So when I think of the person that I want to see in the office daily, and the person that can make me feel secure to hand over the day-to-day running of Recompound while I work on growing the business, I rang him up.
I masked it as a “catch-up” session, with a very clear agenda in my mind. I was secretly happy to hear that he was feeling stuck and wanted a change in his then job. I did try to sound empathetic to his predicament. Then it was his turn to ask me about what was going on in my life. I tried to be low-key but yet did not miss the opportunity to brag about Recompound slightly. I mean, he has to think that we are cool to want to join us, right?
I will leave the rest for you to listen in the conversation. But my long-entrenched faith and admiration for Wilson proved true even until today, almost 2 years into our working together. Some things never change: Wilson’s can-do attitude, as seen in his transformation from someone who does not how to code to calling pull-requests like that’s his daily breakfast.
If you want to decide whether this is something worth listening to, below is a summarised points of the topics we talked about.
Developing grit and resilience — Wilson studied chemical engineering but pivoted into tech during COVID when oil & gas companies stopped hiring. It took him 11 months to land a job, eventually joining Shopee as a PM with no prior experience.
Career pivoting and self-discovery — Wilson went from chemical engineer → product manager → data analyst, learning SQL and coding largely through LeetCode, HackerRank, and sheer determination — without the help of AI tools that exist today.
Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) — Wilson’s mantra on approaching life is by having PMA. When life throws balls at you, get through it with the help of PMA.
Going deep vs. wide — A key lesson from Shopee: it’s better to master one area deeply than to spread yourself thin across many topics (”jack of all trades, master of none”).
Finding your strengths — His advice is to try many things cheaply and quickly while you’re young, so you can identify what you’re genuinely good at before life responsibilities pile up.
Healthy habits and accountability — Wilson is Toby’s gym buddy, and loves the Tobyfit catering that is provided by Bu Tina (Toby’s beloved cook). Maybe Recompound is a cult, but we are a cult that sees core habits (exercise, sleep, eating well, and surrounding yourself with people who have good habits), as key factors directly affecting your clarity of thought and decision-making.
Humility and continuous learning — He believes humility comes from reading books, meeting inspiring people, and acknowledging that nobody can know everything. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho his life-changing book.
Legacy and kindness — He wants to be remembered as someone who brought positive energy and was kind, even to strangers. He encourages starting with small acts of kindness within your own family first.
If you read this far, you are genuinely awesome. I hope you managed to listen to our conversation too.
Do leave us comments if you find this relatable!
