Leandre Kiu’s startup playbook: Progress over perfection

The young entrepreneur shares practical lessons and actionable advice, emphasizing learning fast, embracing mistakes, and testing ideas quickly.

Ask Leandre Kiu for business advice and he won’t talk about funding rounds or flashy metrics. He’ll talk about bubble mailers and dinner conversations.

“When I started Nasalite, I didn’t have fancy packaging or a big team,” he said. “I was printing labels on a Shopee printer and shipping everything myself. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to start learning.”

That mindset—progress over perfection—has guided Nasalite’s growth from day one. Here are some of the guiding principles Kiu lives by as he grows his wellness brand.

1. Start messy, learn fast

Leandre often tells fellow founders not to wait for everything to line up before launching. “Never let perfection be the enemy of good,” he said.

Before officially launching, he went through five packaging iterations in two months. “Each version taught us something new—what people noticed, what confused them, what made them trust us more,” he said. “If we waited for perfection, we’d still be waiting.”

He compares it to the pottery class parable: “The group focused on quantity ended up with better pots than the one focused on perfection. You get better by doing, not by waiting.”

2. Redefine failure and money

When Leandre left his corporate job, his income vanished overnight. “That was tough,” he said. “But I learned to see money as fuel, something that powers action, instead of something to hoard.”

He applied the same reframing to failure. “Every mistake is just data,” he said. “If you treat every wrong turn as feedback, it becomes part of your growth loop.”

3. Build systems early

Even as a lean startup, Leandre insists on creating structure. “Every time I do something more than twice, I document it,” he said. “Those SOPs let us maintain consistency, handle compliance properly, and delegate without chaos.”

For him, systems aren’t bureaucracy, but freedom. “They evolve as we do. They let us scale without losing quality.”

4. Keep talking to people

Some of Leandre’s biggest breakthroughs didn’t come from business seminars but from casual meals. “Have dinner with friends,” he said. “There’s always someone who’s solved the problem you’re facing. That conversation can save you months.”

He credits these exchanges, as well as the cross-pollination of ideas from other industries, as vital to Nasalite’s growth.

5. Keep learning faster than your challenges

“Building a business isn’t about knowing everything,” he said. “It’s about learning faster than the problems appear.”

It’s advice that captures his entire approach: curious, adaptive, and grounded.

“Entrepreneurship isn’t about being fearless,” Leandre said. “It’s about being brave enough to start, even when things aren’t perfect.”

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