About the founder
The comeback is the proof.
Biomedical PhD. Fifteen years leading corporate open innovation, a decade building deeptech ventures, a decade in strategic foresight. Adjunct Associate Professor. CEO of ArrowBiome. And, in 2026, a returning full-distance Ironman, building the system in public, on his own body.
Biomedical PhD
Science is the home field, not a citation.
~15 yrs open innovation
Including P&G and Avery Dennison.
Deeptech & foresight
A decade building ventures, a decade in foresight.
Adj. Assoc. Prof., NUS
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Foresight.
CEO, ArrowBiome
Operator, currently building.
12× 70.3 · 2× full
All-World Bronze, SG age-group top ten.
Bert never fit a single category, and stopped trying to. A scientist who became an operator. An operator who stayed an athlete. The instinct that the world rewards specialists was, for him, the wrong lesson. The edge was always in refusing to choose.
It starts with a Biomedical PhD and runs through the whole career that followed: roughly fifteen years leading corporate open innovation (including P&G and Avery Dennison), a decade building deeptech ventures as an entrepreneur, a decade in strategic foresight consulting, and an operator's seat as CEO of ArrowBiome today. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore, teaching Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Foresight. The science isn't borrowed. It's his field.
Before 2020, Bert built the body this whole system describes: 12 Ironman 70.3 finishes, 2 full-distance Ironman finishes, an All-World Athlete Bronze ranking, and a place inside Singapore's age-group top ten. That was the peak. The comeback only matters because there is a peak to climb back toward, and a fall worth respecting in between.
Based in Singapore by design. The center of gravity for the next decade of founder energy is shifting east, and IronPreneur is built from inside that shift, a strategic Asia advantage rather than a Silicon Valley afterthought.
The comeback is not a metaphor. It opened at Cairns IM 70.3 in June 2026 (Roman on the course, Bert a DNS and regrouping), restarts at Langkawi IM 70.3 on November 21, 2026, builds through one more 70.3 sharpener, and peaks at Da Nang IM 140.6 in May 2027. Every framework on this site is being tested against the clock on a real return to full-distance racing, the living proof of the system.
The team
IronPreneur started with one founder living the system in public. It's being built by a small core that refuses the false choice, and the room is intentionally growing.
At the Ironman Village, where the work shows up.
More core members join over time. This is a growing team, by design.
Start lines
Every IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 start line Bert and Roman have stood on, from Langkawi to Frankfurt. Finishes, the DNF and the races that never got started are all on the map, because a record only counts when it is honest.
Tap a pin for the full record
Results from official IRONMAN records, via Coach Cox: Bert (second profile) and Roman. Pins mark the venue town. A pulsing pin has a start line coming up.
The comeback races
The road back to full distance, run in public. Cairns opened the chapter (Roman raced, Bert a DNS), Langkawi is the restart in November, a final 70.3 sharpens the engine, and Da Nang is the peak: Bert's return to IM 140.6, and a standing invitation for Roman to make it his first.
ConfirmedCairns IM 70.3
June 2026
The half-distance return. Roman raced and finished, a hard day on the course with lessons inside it (insights piece by Roman incoming). Bert a DNS on travel and logistics, regrouping to Langkawi.
ConfirmedLangkawi IM 70.3
November 21, 2026
The restart. Bert's official return to the start line after the Cairns DNS, on Malaysia's Andaman coast.
See the race kit
To be confirmedIM 70.3 (TBC)
Build race · 2027
The final tune-up before going long. Venue to be confirmed.
ConfirmedDa Nang IM 140.6
May 2027
The full-distance peak. Bert's comeback to 140.6, and Roman, your first full is calling. The arch is waiting. 😏
Community on the start line
IronPreneur is a community, and the proof is collective. As members commit to their own races, we'll line them up here: start lines around the region, run by people living the same refusal to choose.
CommunityIM 70.3 Bangsaen
Early 2027
Thailand · a community member taking on the Gulf of Thailand. First of many.
Your start line here
More community start lines added as commitments come in. Racing in 2026 or 2027? Tell us, your race belongs here.
Officially registered IRONMAN TriClub
Every result on this calendar can count for more than the individual. IronPreneur is a registered IRONMAN TriClub, so when our members race, the points stack for the whole club, cumulatively, all year. Race for us, climb together.
Race for IronPreneur on IRONMANBucket list challenges
Some of the best training never gets a bib number, and some start lines take years to earn. These are the challenges beyond the race calendar: trained for like an event, planned on evidence, and done in public. Each one moves through four stages, from bucket list to planning, scheduled and completed.
1 challenge
Dated, booked and built into the training plan.
UpcomingMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors, © OpenMapTilesSingapore Perimeter Walk
October 23 to 26, 2026
The whole island coast in one long weekend. Park connectors, beaches and boardwalks from late Friday morning to Monday lunchtime, with work blocks along the way and three walk-in overnight stops. A Zone 2 durability block four weeks out from Langkawi, with one rule that makes it a challenge: every metre on foot.
14 challenges
Aspirational, with no dates and no plans yet. The start lines, summits and long trails worth building toward over the years ahead.
TriathlonIRONMAN World Championship
Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi, USA
The original long-distance start line, and one that cannot be bought. Slots are earned on performance at qualifying races, ranked against a global age-group standard, so qualifying is the first half of the challenge.
TriathlonChallenge Roth
Roth, Bavaria, Germany
The home of long-distance triathlon. Around a quarter of a million spectators line the course, the Solarer Berg climb turns into a wall of noise, and age-group entries sell out in under a minute.
Trail ultraUTMB Mont-Blanc
Chamonix · France, Italy, Switzerland
The reference race of trail running: one lap of the Mont Blanc massif through three countries. The lottery requires Running Stones earned at other races and a valid UTMB Index, so the start line takes years to earn.
Trail ultraWestern States 100
Olympic Valley to Auburn, California, USA
The classic American hundred-miler, from the Sierra Nevada high country down through the canyons to Auburn. Entry is by lottery, open only to runners who have finished an approved qualifying race.
Trail ultraDiagonale des Fous
Réunion Island, Indian Ocean
The Madmen's Diagonal: a south to north crossing of a volcanic island, from Saint-Pierre to Saint-Denis, through cirques, rainforest and razor ridgelines.
Trail ultraMt. FUJI 100
Shizuoka and Yamanashi, Japan
Formerly UTMF: one hundred miles around Mount Fuji through forest, ridges and foothill villages, and the big mountain ultra closest to home.
Trail ultraTor des Géants
Aosta Valley, Italy
A non-stop loop of the Aosta Valley high routes from Courmayeur, with several passes above 3,000 m. There are no stages: each runner decides when, and how much, to sleep.
Desert stage raceMarathon des Sables
Sahara, Morocco
The Legendary format: around 250 km across the Moroccan Sahara in six stages, self-sufficient, with one long stage of roughly 80 km. Walked or run, it tests the system as much as the legs.
High-altitude trekEverest Base Camp
Khumbu, Nepal
From Lukla up the Khumbu valley to the foot of the world's highest mountain and back, a slow climb where acclimatisation sets the pace.
High-altitude summitKilimanjaro
Tanzania
The roof of Africa via the Lemosho route: eight days on the mountain, with a climb-high, sleep-low profile that makes acclimatisation the real event.
High-altitude trekAnnapurna Circuit
Annapurna, Nepal
A full circuit of the Annapurna massif, linking two valleys over the Thorong La, one of the highest trekking passes in the world.
Alpine trekTour du Mont Blanc
France, Italy, Switzerland
The UTMB loop at walking pace: hut to hut around the Mont Blanc massif through three countries, with no flat days.
Alpine trekWalker's Haute Route
Chamonix to Zermatt, France and Switzerland
From Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn across 11 high passes, below 10 of the 12 highest peaks in the Alps.
PilgrimageShikoku 88 Pilgrimage
Shikoku, Japan
A full circuit of the island linking 88 Buddhist temples, walked in order: the sabbatical-scale successor to the Singapore Perimeter Walk.
Bucket list items carry no dates by design. When one gets a date, it moves up to planning, then scheduled. Chasing a bucket list challenge of your own? Tell us, it belongs here too.