THEY were all in high-paying, secure jobs at some of the biggest names in the international biomedical sector.
But they gave it all up to start up a small medical devices company in Singapore.
'It's been quite a ride,' said Mr Michael O'Connor, president of Merlin MD.
He was vice-president of manufacturing at Micrus Endovascular. Micrus is one of the leading names in making coils for treating aneurysms.
Merlin's CEO, Dr Jui Lim, was director of investments in the Economic Development Board's (EDB) investment arm, Bio*One.
And Merlin's director of operations, Mr Matthew Connors, was in San Jose, California, working with start-ups in the biomedical field.
Today, they all meet in the morning in an unassuming office in Woodlands.
'Hey, I'm very into hawker centres and public transport here!' said Mr Connors with a smile.
It was a sense of adventure, a sense that they could do something in the burgeoning Asian market, that brought them to Singapore.
'We knew that this was a place where the business infrastructure was excellent. We would be able to get supplies and ship to any part of the world,' said Mr O'Connor.
But it was through meeting the EDB, and talking with doctors here, that the idea to develop a device to treat brain aneurysms took off.
'I guess we had the experience in developing these devices enough to say, 'Hey, we can do something about this and solve the problem they are talking about',' said Mr O'Connor.
Dr Lim recounted why he decided to take the plunge and become the company's CEO late last year: 'It sounds corny, but it was love at first sight. I was involved with the guys from the time at Bio*One. It was a great idea and they represented a real powerhouse of experience.'
Of course, being a Singapore-based start up has its own set of challenges.
For one, they have to compete with start-ups from established centres like Silicon Valley in the United States.
Most venture capital funds are still based in the US or Europe and like investing in companies close by, explained Dr Lim.
Plus, some funds explicitly cannot be invested outside of the US.
While Singapore's location has been a problem in some ways, it has also been good for the company because of the quality of the engineering talent here.
Mr O'Connor said: 'We have been able to tap on the great chemical engineering talent and training here. Without their expertise, I don't think we could have gotten the idea off the ground.'
Merlin has also been working closely with doctors here. This is something that can be very tough to achieve in the American context 'because company representatives are lining up outside the corridors just to speak to the specialists there', he added.
Plus, the support from the Singapore authorities has also been 'tremendous'.
'That's pretty important for a small company like ours,' said Mr Connors.
