TECH & INNOVATION  /  SME

By FedEx | March 11, 2025

NodeFlair is a tech career platform that connects global companies with leading tech talent in Southeast Asia. Founder and CEO Ethan Ang has one goal in mind: total transparency for both jobseeker and employer.

• NodeFlair is a tech career platform that helps Asia’s tech talent get the best possible foothold in a competitive job market.
• Co-founder and CEO Ethan Ang set up NodeFlair when he was just 25, driven by a mission for greater transparency for jobseekers in his peer group.
• By helping candidates get a better deal from employers, Ethan is improving workplace trust and building more longevity and stability into company talent pools.

Any business success is built on the skill and prowess of its people. This is especially true of the tech industry, where companies of all sizes compete with global giants like Apple and Google to attract the specialist talent that can drive them to the top.

Singaporean-based start-up NodeFlair recognized this early on – and realized something even more fundamental. For decades, a lack of visibility into the right salary level for advertised roles has led to issues with under-compensation, a lack of diversity in the workforce, and instability within teams.

NodeFlair CEO Ethan Ang believes tech professionals and companies deserve greater access to reliable, accurate data, positioning NodeFlair as a ‘win-win’ platform for both jobseekers and employers.

‍However, Ethan’s been wide open about the fact that building NodeFlair was not without challenges: “The pathway to success was littered with tough decisions. In fact, it’s been anything but smooth sailing!”

In 2018, with no real experience, NodeFlair’s founders embarked on the grueling journey every start-up goes through to get off the ground. Working round the clock and even sleeping in the office, the experience also tested the strength of the co-founders’ relationship.

“Though our journey was fun, it was also rough,” Ethan shares in a LinkedIn post. “We nearly went bankrupt twice. We pivoted three times. We had many quarrels, sometimes to the point of tears, but we fought because we cared deeply.” 

The hard work paid off. The NodeFlair platform is now live in eight countries across three languages, with over 500,000 monthly active users. 

Career transparency – and how to get it

From Ethan’s perspective, it’s important to be ruthlessly honest about the challenges and obstacles in start-up culture for entrepreneurs. And his commitment to honesty also applies to the bread and butter of his business.

NodeFlair aims to shed light on workplace talent negotiations. Along with companies like Glassdoor or Fishbowl, NodeFlair understands that a hiring culture of secrecy or corporate reticence can damage trust between employers and potential employees. Vague information around salaries, benchmarking and benefits during recruitment can disadvantage both hiring companies and candidates.

This is especially true in Asian job markets, which often have hierarchical, conservative cultures that typically sidestep confrontation. In many cases, salaries for advertised roles are not included in job specs as they would be in Europe and the US.

We spoke to Ethan about closing the trust gap, the shifting expectations of Asia’s tech workforce, and why his company set out to be an industry disruptor.

The start of every new company can be a tough hustle. Was that the case when you first launched NodeFlair?

Ethan Ang: I still recall winning my first big corporate customer. I hadn’t properly registered my business yet, and I had to incorporate it very quickly so that we could get the contract formally signed. That was Day 1! 

Unofficially, I’d been toying with the idea for several months. I spoke to a lot of people to gauge the interest and potential. Many of them supported me: some even seeded money to start the business.

Our first year of operations was nothing but pure hard work – catching the last trains and sleeping in the office on Friday nights just to have productive Saturday mornings). We paid our dues to “the school of hard knocks” – there was simply no other way!

Describe the greatest business failure that you treasure the most. 

Starting our Vietnam operations and shutting it down one year later. We were prioritizing top line and market share, and were aggressive in our growth and expansion into new markets. We expanded the Vietnam team rapidly. 

Unfortunately, shortly after we launched, the market conditions went south. We knew it was unsustainable, and we had to make a decision fast before we ran out of cash. It was a painful and highly unpopular decision, with many unhappy people. 

But if I were to cave to general opinions and sentiments, I wouldn’t be here giving this interview now. Being a leader is not a popularity contest.  It’s about making the right decisions, no matter how difficult. 

You launched NodeFlair when you were 25. What made you feel ready to start a business at such a young age? 

Every entrepreneur is stubborn and naive to some degree. I don’t think I was ever ready.  But for too many days in a row while all my friends were applying for jobs, I found myself thinking about starting a business. I simply couldn't ignore those internal prompts. 

What sets your brand apart from your competitors? 

Trust. While there are many platforms like Glassdoor that provide career insights, NodeFlair takes it a step further by verifying every piece of data before displaying it on our site. NodeFlair’s salary data is verified by actual employee payslips. 

How much has NodeFlair grown since 2018? 

NodeFlair has over 500,000 monthly visitors across eight countries in Asia. We’ve also got one of the largest collections of verified career data, such as salaries and reviews, which is often used by the press. Throughout our journey, we’ve been blessed to have raised capital from top-tier investors like 500 Global, totaling $US2.8 million so far.

Your core business focus is how other companies hire and retain talent. How does this impact the way you manage your own team at NodeFlair?

To be honest, I wish we did this better internally as a team. We found ourselves giving good advice to our clients, but we lacked the will to uphold the same standards ourselves. 

This has to do with our own lack of maturity as leaders and caused many challenges in the team. With time, as I matured as a leader, I could see an improvement and the benefits to our business.

You’ve pivoted the business three times and nearly went bankrupt twice with NodeFlair, including when entering the Vietnam market. How did you overcome these challenges?

When something isn’t working, there’s no point sticking to it. You don’t have to be emotional about it. I believe that while you can be stubborn in your ideals and vision, you must be super coachable, flexible, and adaptable to the ways to get there. This is a very fine line or gray area and can be hard to discern.

What is one belief you hold that other business leaders might disagree with?

Authenticity in business is underrated. Over the years, I've tried different leadership and management techniques, often inherited from books or videos. Like a chameleon, I was morphing into many styles. 

But I soon found that I was being consumed by “imposter syndrome” and it was killing me from within. I sought to find my own style of leadership and get comfortable in my own skin, and I am much happier doing so. 

Most leaders will agree that authenticity is great, but many will find it hard to execute given the many challenges of running a business. Imagine you’re weighing up sharing news on the lack of financial runway to a team you desperately need to retain to survive. While most of us would like to be authentic, not everyone can stick to this ideal.

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Our Confessions of a CEO column quizzes Asia Pacific leaders on business insights that aspiring entrepreneurs can learn from. To discover more entrepreneurship stories like Ethan’s, subscribe to our monthly newsletter and stay tuned for the next edition