2025-2026 EDITION
SWEET LESSONS FROM THE
STARTUP LIFE
WITH SYED MOHD ILYAS Co-founder and CEO of Sugar and I BMechEng‘ 16
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FEATURES
Syed Mohd Ilyas is in the business of celebrating happiness. As the co-founder and CEO of Sugar and I, a Malaysian desserts store known for its specialty doughnuts and cream puffs, he’ s no stranger to the hard-knocks life of getting a startup off the ground.
“ Sugar and I started from a place of passion,” Ilyas says thoughtfully.“ I’ ve always had a deep love for business and entrepreneurship, and at the same time, I wanted to help my sister( co-founder Sharifah Nur Ilisa) turn her baking talent into something meaningful.”
Trained in mechanical engineering, the talented multi-hyphenate and Monash University alumnus decided to take a leap of faith into the spinning world of startups. It has been a rollercoaster life, he admits, but a full one.
“ One of the biggest challenges we’ ve faced as a startup in ASEAN is building the right team— not just in terms of skill, but cultural fit. It’ s not easy finding people who align with the values, mindset, and pace of a growing company,” he revealed.
Instead of hiring for talent, Ilyas clearly defined their company’ s core values and began hiring for character, attitude and a shared purpose. An important step, he notes, is to communicate this clearly across recruitment platforms.
“ By being transparent about who we are and what we stand for, we’ ve been able to attract candidates who genuinely resonate with our culture— and that has made all the difference in building a strong, united team.”
SYED MOHD ILYAS
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Ilyas shares four nuggets of wisdom:
1. The ability to adapt starts with awareness. Embrace learning and stay curious about what’ s happening in the world around you. Never get too comfortable.
2. Surround yourself with like-minded, driven individuals. Your team is the support system that fuels growth and keeps you grounded.
3. Cultivate a habit of constant innovation. It’ s not just about new ideas, but constantly measuring, analysing and learning from past data to make smarter decisions.
4. Be guided by instinct and insight. Stay open to change and seek to balance bold vision with disciplined execution. Make decisions guided by insight, not just instinct.
From baking tasty treats in a home kitchen, the brand is now a household name in the Klang Valley with five stores, a solid team and scores of happy customers. Ilyas, however, isn’ t content to rest on past laurels.
Sugar and I is now steering towards expansion with a bold dream of establishing 300 stores and taking their vision of Celebrating Happiness worldwide.“ It hasn’ t been easy,” the entrepreneur reflects.“ And it probably won’ t ever be, but every challenge has shaped us, and today, we’ re pushing forward with even more heart and clarity than when we started.”
For now, Ilyas is happy to keep being known as‘ The Bombolini Guy’.
“ I’ m grateful for every part of the journey,” he says with a grin.“ It’ s been a sweet life so far.” e