Born and bred in Bangkok and blessed to be so, Sahib comes from a family of entrepreneurs that started in tailoring but eventually went on to build multiple other businesses in real estate and hospitality. 

Growing up in Bangkok had made Sahib much more conscious of the extent of financial disparity that is rampant in Thailand. So instead of choosing the “easy path” by simply continuing the family legacy, he wanted to find a way to empower people from the lower income groups to progress upwards in society. 

So in 2015, around the time ecommerce was kicking off and inspired by Brian Chesky of AirBnB fame, he started experimenting by putting one of his boutique hotels on Airbnb, which proved so successful that the tech bug stayed with him and never left. 

Service commerce was picking up at that point in time and it inspired Sahib to go on to found Seekster, a service commerce platform for consumers and businesses to find local providers such as cleaners and technicians that subsequently got sold to TRUE Digital in 2022.  Along that 7 year journey, Seekster left a mark by onboarding a million users and bringing in nearly 900million baht in Gross Service Value (GSV).

How did Sahib embark on the crypto journey?

Sahib came across crypto in the 2017 bull market via friends in the tech scene but admits not knowing much beyond so-called crypto influencers and the lot aping into XRP and Litecoin near the top, which ended up with him getting his bag badly burnt. That was that for a while and having to spend his time fund-raising and running Seekster also took him away from diving deep into crypto. 

Having said that, he still made an effort to keep his ears to the ground. Over time, he discovered more relevant networks as the space started recovering in 2020. These networks shared genuine and helpful information about blockchain and tokens (beyond bag-pumping) that really fascinated Sahib. Learning about topics like smart contracts fueled his interest and allowed him to learn about crypto “literally learning from the ground up” Due to his prior negative experiences though, crypto still left a bad taste in his mouth.  And that was when he discovered NFTs via some influencer groups (e.g. JRNY Crypto  and Elliot Trades who founded NEO Tokyo) which then opened his eyes to the world of NFTs. 

Why the pivot to NFTs?

While he still spent time learning about crypto via the communities he was in, Sahib instinctively found NFTs much easier to trade and navigate around. The sense that he had entered the world of NFTs early (as opposed to crypto where he felt that he entered the game fairly late), also motivated him to continue exploring the space. 

At the same time, he also started asking himself what exactly was the value that he could bring to the NFT space? His passion for working with others led him to focus on collaborations as his key purpose which pushed him to connect with fellow founders. 

He also started to realise that there was a genuine talent gap in the market and that drove him to found Web3 Wizards with his co-founders which to-date, has helped nearly 15 different projects go to market in the NFT space. 

How did Sahib discover ARC?

“If you’re not famous and not a whale, nobody gives a fuck about you.”

Coming from a non-crypto background means one has to prove one’s worth. And that usually means giving value to receive value, which in turn helps you grow your circle of trust. 

However the flip side of that is that many groups are also mutually-exclusive where crypto players don’t care about NFT folks and vice versa. Sahib’s dream by now, was to create an investment syndicate of sorts slowly building out in the bear market but also realised that he had to look beyond just his immediate networks in Thailand and that eventually led him to ARC. 

ARC has been the stepping stone for Sahib to connect with folks in the global web3 space that wasn’t just confined to Thailand or NFTs. Meeting folks in the areas of privacy, infrastructure, funds etc helped him to expand his networks in the space exponentially from Day One. 

"I thought to myself, these are people that have 1. Resources and 2. Capital and 3. If they’re big in Singapore, they’re big in Southeast Asia, right? So I decided to mint to see how things go. Back then, I wasn't very active in ARC but since then, I’ve seen how ARC has really grown the community."

Simply by being in ARC, listening and talking to different ARC Stellars has given him very meaningful insights into what notable people in the space are paying attention to and spending their time on. Without ARC, he would have had to pay to attend their events in order to get any insights into these ideas and perspectives.  

At the end of the day, it isn’t about being the smartest person in the room but learning and growing by being a part of these shared conversations and opportunities that come along. 

What does Sahib see as his way of bringing value?

He feels that everyone can always bring something on the table, but it’s also about how much they are being proactive in bringing that value. Part of that journey is about creating trust in building relationships with others. When others trust you, they’re more likely to include you in their discussions, which in turn allows you to share your expertise as they are also more likely to take on your opinions readily.  ARC being a curated community really helps with that. 

How has ARC helped Sahib? 

For Sahib, the impact of being in ARC really manifested when he was at Token2049 this year. When he shared with people that he was part of the community, seeing their reactions made him realise how much of a ‘household name’ ARC had become within the Web3 space. People genuinely paid attention to ARC and the amount of recognition told him that the street cred and respect people had for the community would be very helpful for members. By association, Stellars gained a level of credibility that no other community had given him thus far. 

He recognises that ARC does things that don’t always scale as that is the way to make sure a strong foundation is built. That also means, whenever there is a meetup, an audio room, or a shared experience organised for members, there is a certain level of promise that Stellars can take away something of value from it. 

Sahib believes that ARC has created a great flywheel where community members who reach out for support will almost certainly have him signing up for it because he knows that members in the community are credible builders in the space. That is also why he is always ready to take calls to get to know new members or connect with existing ones. 

What’s next for Sahib?

One of Sahib’s immediate priorities in the near future is to help grow the ARC community in Thailand and to inspire Web3 builders in Thailand to look beyond the market. He personally feels that at the moment, Thailand lacks a world-class product / world class team building in Web3 and he hopes that with his efforts and working with the ARC community, he can change that. The main gamechanger he feels, will be the face-to-face meetups that serve as a conduit not just for an exchange of perspectives but also future ground-breaking ideas.

Editor’s Note:

As we continue to build and grow ARC into one of Asia’s strongest communities in Web3, members like Sahib act as an extension of the core team in strengthening our presence across the region. 

Chok dee su su na Sahib!