#26. Ting Yan and Elva Qi and their Values, Passion, and Purpose

SG60’s theme is a refreshed spirit, and by celebrating Singapore’s journey to date, Wantedly also wants to spotlight some of those who have contributed to the past, and will be shaping the next chapter of the Singapore story. And as a nation, we reflect on our shared values of multiculturalism, boldness, resilience and openness, which allowed us to prosper…

We love featuring people who have been shaped by Singapore, and are making a difference in Singapore. The stories serves as a platform for individual reflection on what our own values are, and how we discover our passion and strive towards our purpose.

Wantedly’s mission is to create a world where work drives passion, and whether you are a founder or creator, a leader or a gig worker, a consultant or a teacher, discovering and aligning your values, passion, and purpose will give you the best chance at having a fulfilling career, and more importantly, a meaningful life. On top of that, organisations can achieve their mission, and society and beyond will benefit in the long run.

Values are your non-negotiable foundation, passion is about what excites and motivates you, and purpose is your deeper reason for existence.
- Harvard Business Review

Introducing Ting and Elva

Ting is the co-Founder and CEO of Ketchup AI, a voice-first personal CRM for salespeople. Before Ketchup, Ting was the Head of BD/CFO of Evercomm, an energy AI startup invested by Mitsubishi and EcoWise, and the first investor in Illuminate Financial’s Asia team. Ting holds an MBA at INSEAD. 

Elva is the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Ketchup AI, where she leads go-to-market strategy, sales, and marketing. Before founding Ketchup, Elva built over a decade of consulting expertise at McKinsey & Company and Deloitte, leading projects in business strategy, operations, and large-scale transformations across industries. She holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Ting and Elva preparing for Ketchup AI’s Youth Action Challenge demo day presentation

In their own words

Ting: I am a die-hard baseball fan! I know in Singapore nobody watches baseball but hit me up if you are down watching a game together!

Elva: I used to play table tennis competitively, if anyone is up for a game of ping pong, you know who to find. 

1. What are your top 3 values?

Ting: 

Sincerity – always giving my best without hesitating about what I can get in return.
Curiosity – never lose the desire to explore the world and to seek out the meaning and rationale behind what I find interesting.
Gratitude – cherish everything, especially the heritage of people who have paved the way before me that enables me to stand here today.

Elva:

Authenticity – being true to who I am and what I believe in, and expressing myself with honesty.
Open-mindedness – embracing new ideas, perspectives, and people with curiosity and respect.
Humility – recognizing that I always have more to learn, and valuing the contributions of others.

2. What keeps you up at night?

Ting: Most of the time I am too excited to fall asleep when I get on bed as I can’t stop thinking about the upside potential our startup Ketchup can be.
However, sometimes I will also stay up at night thinking, "am I actually building something that solves people’s problem?" Other nights I am thinking, "What can I do tomorrow that will make me become 1% better than myself yesterday?"

Elva: What keeps me up at night is how fast things are changing in the AI era. A great product alone isn’t enough, everything from distribution to customer experience has to keep pace.
Every day brings something new to learn or adapt to, and staying relevant means constantly evolving our knowledge. Achieving that is something that is always on my mind, even late at night.

3. What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Ting: I believe that you can't fill from an empty bucket. Running Ketchup is my way of filling that bucket every day. No matter how things are going, each challenge is a new lesson. That learning is what gets me out of bed, because I am driven to scale Ketchup, and share the ups and downs with the community to let other aspiring founders know what might work and what mistakes they can avoid.

The Ketchup AI team participating in the YAC Participatory Budgeting Exercise

4. What fills your cup?

Elva: What fills my cup is seeing a product I’ve envisioned come to life, sleek, simple, and intuitive in design, and knowing it genuinely helps people. I’m particular about UI/UX because I believe great design should feel effortless, and it excites me when people experience that ease. It brings me joy to see an app that reflects my personal sense of style solving real problems and creating meaningful impact in people’s lives.

Ketchup AI and friends — strong believers in our vision

5. As someone who has lived and worked in different countries, what makes Singapore home for you?

Ting: Singapore’s tolerance to different cultures and values is really second to none to me. It welcomes people from all around the world regardless of background to pursue their startup dream and embraces different ideas and innovative technologies. This tolerance makes Singapore home to me, as everyone is given equal opportunities to realize their targets. 

Ketchup AI on our first business trip, meeting sales teams and exploring real-world use cases

6. As someone who has family in different countries, what makes Singapore home for you?

Elva: Although my family has been living abroad for some time, I grew up in Singapore during my teenage years, the period when my values and perspectives first began to take shape. Having studied, worked, and traveled to many places, I find Singapore the most familiar and comforting, because being here brings me back to those formative years. To me, home is a safe place where you can try, make mistakes, and continue to grow. I’m deeply grateful for the safety, diversity, and opportunities this country has given me.

Final words

Ting: From my experience, here's an advice I would give to other young entrepreneurs: Never be afraid to pursue a goal that seems impossible. Every successful founder started with a small idea and built it up brick by brick. Along the way, they were constantly warned by critics and even investors that a larger company would crush them tomorrow. But the only person who can truly stop you is yourself.

Elva: Happy 60th, Singapore! My wish is that Singapore continues to be a place where people feel at home, safe to dream, safe to grow, and safe to be themselves, while remaining a shining example of unity in diversity for the world.

Ketchup AI is available on the App Store here, download and start your free trial. We would love to have your support on our startup journey, please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram!

Once again, in celebration of SG60, let us strive to be bolder and kinder to one another, for Singapore and ourselves.

This series was brought to you by Wantedly Hire - an application tracking system optimised for modern hiring practices. Experience seamless hiring with tailored workflows designed to align with your recruitment structure, automated interview scheduling, and actionable insights to optimise hiring performance!