Now in her 50s, Dr Lim self-proclaims that she is ” quite old by entrepreneurship standards”. “However, experience is crucial in developing surgical devices,” she emphasised. “In contrast, founders in other fields such as tech are typically younger.”
Her experience as a surgeon, however, has proven invaluable in decision-making. In the operating room, she frequently faces the need to make quick decisions when situations become critical. “As surgeons, we are comfortable with making decisions with limited information. That is helpful as an entrepreneur, as we often have no information or incomplete information, or ten different versions of how to do things.”
Adopting a can-do attitude has also been beneficial. “Hats off to all start-up founders, it’s really a difficult job. If you don’t have the mindset that you can fail, then you shouldn’t be out here because if you’ve created something that’s not very disruptive, then it’s not very entrepreneurial,” said Dr Lim.
THE QUEST FOR MEANING
Beyond the CLiKX device, NousQ has ambitions to build other medical and surgical devices. “They might not be in the ENT space. We already have patents for other products. We can also incorporate AI and go into other healthcare related services,” Dr Lim revealed.
The name NousQ was derived from the Greek word “Nous”, which means intellect. Dr Lim interprets it to mean vision, mastery and heart. “You have to be very good in what you do, but the heart is the most important.” ‘Q’ was added to the name “as a reminder of our quest to serve huge, unmet patients’ needs.”
When asked about what keeps her going, Dr Lim cites her thirst for challenge and her desire for excellence. “I don’t like being bored or doing something someone else has already done before.” This has been a lifelong trait: “Once, in primary school, my teacher told us to paint a brinjal to be handed in the next day. I went back home, sat on the floor, and just painted so many versions. I even went to sleep in my school uniform. But it felt good to hand in my best work the next day,” Dr Lim shared.
“I like to be proud of my work. My motivation is just to do the best that I can,” she continued.
Beyond personal satisfaction, she finds meaning in the impact of her work. “The most rewarding part of my job is that we are helping others. We are doing something beyond the daily grind of going to work and coming home. To me, that would be very meaningless.”