Cindy Kua — On Proving Herself and Succeeding without a Safety Net
This International Women’s Day 2022, we are sharing beautiful stories of our female founders overcoming the odds and obstacles to build businesses that are disruptive, yet transformative to the lives of many.
Many know Cindy Kua as the cofounder and CEO of Sunday, a successful Bangkok-based Insurtech start-up, but not much of what makes her tick as a person. Fascinated by Cindy’s remarkable journey in steering Sunday to the forefront of the Insurtech space in Southeast Asia, I (Jing Zhe) am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about her, especially how she overcame the odds to get to where she is.
In the Insurtech industry, Sunday is a trailblazer, it has not only doubled its revenue growth in 2020, but also managed to secure USD 75 million in total funding since its inception. Resilience, fortitude, and empathy are key attributes of Cindy, values that have also enabled Sunday’s remarkable growth.
Born into the family that runs the KSK group — one of Malaysia’s leading general insurers and the country’s largest motor insurer — many would expect Cindy to have a silver-spoon upbringing, and comfortably inherit the family business after her parents retire. After all, this is a common practice in Southeast Asia, with the prevalence of family- run businesses. But this was not the case for her.
Her Formative Years
Cindy grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she attended high school up till the age of 13. This familiarity was uprooted thereafter, where she moved to the outskirts of London to attend Kent College — a girls only boarding school. In her words, this was a “drastic change in environment”, but the overseas experience was key to her character building. Navigating the fundamental changes to her living environment, schooling curriculum and even medium of communication — from Bahasa Melayu to English — she returned to Asia after completing her Masters in Insurance Risk and Management as a much more resilient individual.
Acing the Family Test
From our conversation, I was surprised to discover that unlike the generations that naturally inherit their family businesses, Cindy has had to prove herself again and again, at every point of her life.
In Cindy’s family, there is a saying that goes “You will truly value something only when you mend and revamp it from its previously broken state”. This was the family mantra underpinning Cindy’s test of competency when she moved back to Southeast Asia. Cindy was posted to Bangkok, tasked with leading the digital transformation portfolio of the KSK group in Indonesia and Thailand.
What started out as a test of competency eventually became a long-term project and the birth of Sunday Insurance. Whilst modifying the business plan for digital transformation, Cindy thought to herself,
“It dawned on me that the resources of the traditional insurance industry simply would not work. I also noticed that many people in Asia are underserved, as they found it too expensive or too much of a hassle to purchase insurance products that were available on the market. I felt this needs to change.”
Cognisant of the potential for disruption and motivated by the service of underserved consumers in Southeast Asia’s insurance industry, Cindy cofounded Sunday in 2017. In contrast to traditional insurance, Sunday leverages machine learning algorithms to determine financial risk, and subsequently uses this information to offer highly personalised policies. These include novel product offerings such as tailor-made employee health insurance benefits for SMEs and larger corporates, where members are able to further customize for higher coverage at affordable rates.
Starting out was far from easy, as Cindy was plunged into the deep end — required to do her own fundraising. Most families would bestow their children with cash from the trust fund of their family’s business to aid their entrepreneurial pursuits, but not in Cindy’s case. In addition, she had the added stress of meeting her family’s expectations. But these factors ultimately made Sunday’s success that much sweeter for Cindy, who admits that the most memorable event till date has been the sale of the company’s first insurance policy — a personalized retail policy for motor insurance.
“It was proof to us that the product worked, that there was demand for it. The sense of validation for all our toil and hard work was unforgettable.”
Inculcating a People-first Company Culture
Reflecting Cindy’s people-first mindset, Sunday’s three core values are — diversity, transparency and making an impact. Perhaps surprising for such a tech-enabled company, Sunday places a premium on the diversity of their team, as they recruit from all types of industries and backgrounds. Cindy explains that
“As we are looking to change the way people buy insurance, we need people from diverse backgrounds to provide different points of view, bound by the common desire to make an impact in the insurance industry.”
Being a disruptor, Sunday has to operate on an agile methodology. Consequently, transparency and open communication are vital, and Cindy emphasises the importance of building a culture whereby there is “a safe space for anyone to speak out and defend their ideas or opinions. There is no such thing as a stupid idea.” Every year, the company also conducts a “360 peer review”, in which a handful of six to seven people whom an employee has worked the closest with over the course of the year are mapped, and will provide feedback on his/her performance. This ensures that the feedback received is the most accurate, as opposed to conventional top-down feedback given by the boss’ appraisal of subordinates — which often may not be a complete reflection of one’s performance.
Mentorship and leadership succession are also grounded on the values of transparency. For employees that are identified for prospective promotions based on their potential and performance, Sunday openly communicates with them — managing their expectations and explaining the coaching plans that might be in place to further their development of different skill sets.
Partnership with Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India
Sunday’s journey with Vertex Ventures SEA and India began in the second half of 2018. Carmen Yuen, general partner at Vertex Ventures, commended the indomitable spirit of the team helmed by Cindy, where “over the last eight quarters, [Vertex] have witnessed the tenacity of the team, their drive, and agility to adapt to an ever-changing and intense environment.” Meanwhile, Cindy is really grateful for Vertex’s strong support over the years, “there are many VC funds out there who are vocal about and supportive of female entrepreneurs, and Vertex is definitely one of them.”
Her Advice to other Female Entrepreneurs
Cindy notes that although there are still not many female business leaders out there for various reasons, the landscape in Southeast Asia is rapidly changing. Diversity is now top of mind, and there are many sources of funding in the region that are targeted at aiding female entrepreneurs, and women should seize this opportunity.
Like this story? Please like, comment and share. And read our other stories of our portfolio female founders here.
