Joseph Schooling: Success On His Terms

Augustman hangs out with Joseph Schooling at the BOSS House Bali for an exclusive chat about life after retirement.

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

FORMER NATIONAL SWIMMER Joseph Schooling recently announced his retirement from competitive swimming, mere months ahead of this year’s Olympics in Paris. As an athlete, he is hyper-aware of his own body’s limits, and is ready to help a new generation of athletes achieve greatness.

While Schooling leaves behind a rich legacy from his swimming career, he is nevertheless looking ahead. He recently co-founded Swaen Schooling Capital with investment banker Cliff Go and serial entrepreneur Ben Ling, Schooling’s first foray into venture capitalism.

We joined him at the recently opened, extremely stylish BOSS House Bali, a branded villa situated in Pererenan, a gorgeous suburb just outside Canggu. The great fashion houses are realising more and more that fashion is not just about what you wear — it is also about where you wear them. BOSS departs from the hotels that Versace and Armani have popularised by crafting an experience unique to our part of the world.

We spoke to Schooling, who was decked out in the gorgeous warm tones of the BOSS House Bali capsule, by the villa’s BOSS-branded pool to talk about his postswimming career in venture capitalism (VC), and what the future holds for him.

Happy retirement, man! What made you come to the decision?

Man, it’s been something that has been going back and forth in my head for over a year. Everyone gets to a point in their careers where they’re looking for a new challenge; they’re looking for a new mountaintop to climb. I’m really excited about it; nervous at the same time. But we gotta go for it one way or another — here we come!

Tell us about this mountaintop.

In swimming, it’s about the Olympics, right? In the business world, I would like to see my VC fund manage a billion dollars. That is my ultimate goal. For now, it’s about setting the stepping stones to get to this new mountaintop.