ASN Pre-Founder Catalyst Masterclass: F&B business Edition (and Networking with F&B owners)
🍽️ Pre-Founder Catalyst Masterclass: F&B business Edition
Dreaming of opening a café or restaurant?
What if there is a structured and more informed way to plan and start fulfilling your dream?
Scaling up your current F&B business?
Learn from experts in this masterclass - Get clarity in one day.
Opening an F&B business isn’t just about passion — it’s about preparation, precision, and resilience. With razor-thin margins, rising costs, and high failure rates, the food and beverage industry is one of the most challenging sectors to break into.
You probably read the news - don't be a statistic.
Before you pour your life savings into your dream café or concept restaurant, this Masterclass helps you pressure-test your idea and build a strong foundation — the smart way. If you already started on your journey, join this masterclass to scale your Business.
Since we started organising the masterclasses,
We were on Business Times
Read here: https://bt.sg/wRZt9
And CNA938!
Tune in here
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/listen/cna938-rewind/mind-your-money-get-ready-fb-bootcamp-5257896
Why Join?
✅ Reality Check:
We’ll give you a clear, honest look at what it takes to start and sustain an F&B venture — from hidden costs to operational pitfalls.
✅ Startup Toolkit:
Learn proven frameworks to validate your concept, test demand, and plan your launch with minimal risk. Or Scale your business if you have started.
✅ Live Workshop + Online Prep:
Get hands-on in a 7-hour in-person session, plus a week of self-paced online learning to master the essentials.
✅ F&B-Focused Insights:
Hear from successful food entrepreneurs and industry insiders who’ve been in your shoes — and survived.
✅ Peer & Mentor Network:
We are ending the day with Networking with F&B owners!
Also, you will be added to a powerful community of 1,000+ founders, mentors, and investors across Southeast Asia to support your growth.
Who It’s For:
Current small F&B business owners.
Aspiring café or restaurant founders who want to be smart about how they start — whether you're still exploring ideas or ready to take the leap.
📍Location: 36 Everton Road
💰Fee: S$650 (incl. luma and Stripe processing fees)
🧧6 months instalment option
ASN 预创始人催化大师班：餐饮业特别版
📅 日期：9月20日（星期六） | 🕙 上午10点 – 下午6点
📍 36 Everton Road, 新加坡
梦想开一家咖啡馆或餐厅吗？这门大师班将为有志创业者提供 真实的行业认知 和 低风险的创业路径。
现实检验： 了解餐饮业成功背后的真相。
创业工具包： 使用经过验证的框架来测试和启动你的想法。
线上+线下结合： 一周自学课程 + 全天实战工作坊。
行业洞见： 向经验丰富的餐饮经营者取经。
人脉与导师： 加入超过1,000位创始人、导师和投资人的强大社区。
🎟️ 票价：早鸟票 S$650 | 校友票 S$349 | 可分6期付款
讲师阵容： Bobby Yeoh（Excelerate SG）、Joe Low（REAL Capital）。
主办方：亚洲创业网络（Asia Startup Network） – 东南亚领先的创业社区。
Curriculum
F&B Business Fundamentals: The Reality Behind the Passion
Time: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Main speaker: Bobby Yeoh
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10:00 AM - 10:15 AM – Welcome & Introductions
Who's in the room and why you're here
What you'll get out of today
10:15 AM - 11:15 AM – Session 1: The Truth About Starting an F&B Business
Passion vs. reality
Starting from scratch: Pros and cons
Acquiring an existing brand: What to look for
Franchises, kiosks, cafes, restaurants – the spectrum
What I wish I knew before I started
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM – Session 2: Routes to Market – Picking Your Model
Cloud kitchens
Pop-ups and festivals
Delivery-first vs. dine-in
Licensing, investors, and partnerships
Common beginner mistakes
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM – Fireside Chat: Lessons from the Trenches
Guest: A seasoned F&B operator
What they got right, what nearly broke them
Live Q&A
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM – Lunch Break
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM – Session 3: Numbers That Make or Break You
Rental: What's reasonable and what's a trap
Renovation and hidden CapEx
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): How to think about margins
Manpower costs and CPF
Licenses, cleaning, utilities – the silent killers
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM – Session 4: Manpower & Mental Load
Finding and keeping good staff
Working with foreign workers, quota & levy
Hiring friends & family: Yay or nay?
The emotional burnout of being short-handed
How to minimise food wastage and manage trust
Scheduling nightmares & MC culture
4:00 PM - 4:15 PM – Break
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM – Session 5: Real-World Case Studies
Break down 2-3 different business types (e.g. bar, hawker, bistro)
Profit and loss examples
Where they win, where they struggle
Open discussion: What would you do?
5:15 PM - 6:00 PM – Closing Q&A + Next Steps
Recap of key learnings
Your checklist if you're still serious
Pitfalls to avoid
Recommended tools, consultants, communities
Networking with other F&B owners begin
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The F&B dream is beautiful — but it's not for the faint-hearted.
Come prepared, build strong, and give your idea the best chance of success.
🎟️ Register now!
If you are in a career transition, this launchpad for getting started on your dream F&B business idea.
Prior to the live Masterclass, we kickstart with a week of self-paced course, where we will expose you to 7 essential concepts as well as easy to use generative AI tools and prompts you need to quickly build a prototype and get feedback. The list of concepts represents the culmination of our team's collective learnings over the past decade, by working closely with more than 100 startup companies.
By the end of 7 days, you'll know which tool or framework to fall back on while figuring out your business idea as well as other questions that pop up along the way, and learn how to use the lean canvas method to analyze which idea makes the most sense to start.
Prepare to challenge your assumptions and reevaluate what you've learned, whether from academic settings or corporate environments.
On the day of our Pre-founder Catalyst Masterclass, we will begin the day with grounding on the 7 elements, making sure that you have mastered them. Next, this is when the rubber meets the road - we organise a hackathon where you will process from ideation to a business idea that is aligned with your passion, experience and values. Our experienced mentors will be there at the workshop to give instant feedback during the hackathon as well as critique at the end.
We will also help you develop an actionable roadmap so that you will be able to grow your business to raise angel funding before quitting your full time job. Beyond the workshops, you will get to directly plug into a supportive network of more than 1,000 experienced entrepreneurs, investors and mentors throughout Southeast Asia, ready to provide mentorship and guidance to help you navigate the intricacies of startup life as well as invest in your business. Join us at one of the external events monthly (we have events exclusive women too!) to help you network, make like-minded friends and quickly grow as a founder on your startup journey.
Our Speakers
Bobby Yeoh
Founder, Excelerate SG | Full Stack Creative Director
Bobby Yeoh is a Full Stack Creative Director known for translating idealistic and conceptual visions into compelling brand experiences across multiple industries. He is also the founder of Excelerate SG, the fastest-growing F&B community in Singapore, having united over 300 F&B owners within just nine months.
With experience managing portfolios exceeding seven figures across Asia, Bobby specializes in business transformation. He takes a hands-on approach—identifying revenue weaknesses, engaging in strategic management discussions, and crafting actionable roadmaps that drive results. From consumer services to retail, Bobby is passionate about helping businesses evolve and thrive.
Harvey Lew
Harvey Yew is the Head of Sales & Marketing at Santino Coffee Specialists, one of Singapore’s largest and most established coffee roasters and equipment suppliers. In his current role, Harvey oversees both commercial strategy and brand development across Santino’s diverse portfolio—ranging from traditional Nanyang kopi to specialty coffee and professional equipment.
He has been instrumental in expanding Santino’s footprint across the hospitality, foodservice, and corporate sectors, driving growth through strategic partnerships, innovative product positioning, and a customer-first sales approach. Harvey brings a fresh and practical perspective to building scalable F&B businesses, with a strong focus on operational efficiency, branding, and market relevance.
With a deep understanding of Singapore’s evolving F&B landscape, Harvey is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and startups in creating strong, sustainable food and beverage concepts.
Joe Low
Joe Low
Investor | Entrepreneur | Startup Mentor | Founding Partner at REAL Capital
Joe Low is a seasoned investment strategist and entrepreneurial mentor with a growing focus on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). With a strong track record in supporting early-stage and growth businesses, Joe brings deep expertise in evaluating ventures, structuring deals, and guiding founders through the complexities of business ownership — whether through building or acquiring.
As the Founding Partner at REAL Capital and Director at Affinity Financial Services (AFS), Joe has advised, invested in, and operated multiple startups across Southeast Asia. His experience spans various industries, including real estate, financial services, and technology. Joe's work in ETA reflects his belief that acquiring existing businesses can be a powerful and under-explored pathway for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Joe is also a sought-after mentor and speaker, known for his practical insights, collaborative approach, and unwavering support for innovation. He has served as a judge for SLINGSHOT 2023, Asia’s premier deep tech startup competition, and regularly shares his expertise at entrepreneurship Masterclasses and startup events. His commitment to fostering a collaborative environment encourages creativity and growth, empowering startups to thrive in competitive markets.
Interested to take it to the next step? Simply sign up on Lu.ma!
What happens after this Prefounder Program
Continue to join us for our second program. We understand that entrepreneurship demands more than just business savvy—it requires strong leadership and communication skills. That's why our second course includes advanced topics and workshops focused on enhancing your leadership abilities and communication prowess.
If you're ready to embark on this transformative journey or have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to [email protected]. Let's unlock your full potential together.
About Asia Startup Network
ASN didn’t start as an educational institute or training centre. ASN is a living, thriving startup ecosystem. Their founders have spent more than one decade coaching and supporting entrepreneurs and created one of the largest communities of > 3,000 startup founders, operators, investors and partners in Southeast Asia to collaborate and support each other’s growth. Since 2020, ASN has been organising 100s of startup workshops, events and programs to help entrepreneurs leapfrog their growth and raise funding. Join ASN for the knowledge, but stay because of the network. These are the reasons why taking a course at ASN and quickly plugging into the community would move the needle more than you expect.
ASN is founded by Elise Tan and Andrew Tan. Elise has experience designing programs and personally coaching hundreds of founders at incubators and accelerators for over 10 years. She assisted more than 40 companies in raising more than US$1 million each. Andrew has more than 10 years of leadership experience founding his own social enterprise, building start ups and managing scale ups, as well as running ground up initiatives and communities, Andrew has a proven track record of driving growth and success and this will be transferred directly to this accelerator and its startups.
ASN began firstly with Mentor For Hope in 2020, an impactful mentoring initiative initially supported by the Temasek Foundation under the OSCAR grant. The initiative facilitated 525 mentoring hours for 300 founders adversely affected by the COVID crisis, connecting them with invaluable insights from 250 investors, partners, and experts. They raised S$42,000 in donations through the initiative.
In 2021, Elise and Andrew organised Makan For Hope Festival (with zero budget), a series of 30 virtual roundtables featuring VC managing partners and founders from notable startups like PropertyGuru, Shopback, and Carousell. The festival drew participation from 500 attendees, raising S$123,000 in charity donations.
Remarkable Women in Tech and Business
Founded by Elise Tan, the active and supportive community provides a safe place for women working or running tech or traditional businesses to ask questions, network and find friends. Sign up here on bit.ly/remarkableW.