The Story Behind Alpha Insights

Everything I have built exists because of my son, Chase.

Before 2023, my life was picture-perfect. Dream career as an equity research analyst. Married my beautiful wife in 2018. Bought our first home in 2020. Welcomed my first-born son, Chase, in 2021. I was certain the trajectory would hold.

Cancer

Cancer arrived in Chase's left eye. Retinoblastoma. Rare. Aggressive. The kind of word that rewires your entire nervous system the moment you hear it.

For six months, I watched my first-born son endure intense medical procedures. Watched the side-effects slowly take hold of his body.

Treatment finished two days before Christmas 2023. We had reason to celebrate, but the past six months had left a deep scar in all of us.

Rock Bottom

When the adrenaline of treatment faded, we had to process what had just happened. For the first time. We were expected to re-assimilate as if the past six months had never occurred.

I could not. Time slowed down. The weight of suffering compounded by the hour, and I slowly became my worst enemy. I was stuck in that place for several months.

Having nearly fallen off the edge of existence, my entire perspective went through a factory reset. Priorities flipped. Purpose wiped. My mind went into self-preservation mode.

Choosing a Direction

I was tired of fighting the same mental battle every day without progress. So I decided to do something that would force me forward.

One of the things that helped me through those dark months was the kindness we received from people. Some I knew. Many I did not. I wanted to support childhood cancer initiatives in return.

The only skillset I had was equity research. So I created Alpha Insights. The values behind it are not corporate branding. They are personal values inherited through generations, and the reason the business operates the way it does.

What I'm Working Towards

When Chase lost his eye, we applied to the NDIS for a prosthetic. The application was rejected on the grounds that a prosthetic eye is "cosmetic." Cosmetic. For a child who had just been through cancer treatment.

If the system could fail us, and we had the resources to fight back, what happens to the families who do not? That is where I want this money to go. Unfunded necessities for children whose families cannot fund them. The children who fall through the cracks of a system that was supposed to catch them.

The parking costs, the travel, the lost income. These things compound on families who are already at their most vulnerable.

One-off donations do not allow charitable organisations to plan. If funding is predictable, they can commit to multi-year programmes. That is the model I am building. A business that generates a consistent stream of funding. One sustains the other.

For Chase

Chase does not know any of this yet. He is too young. But one day he will be old enough to understand what happened to him. Old enough to ask why.

When that day comes, I want him to see that no matter how low you fall, you can pick yourself back up and make something beautiful out of it. That is what I am building for him. Not a lecture about resilience. Proof of it.

Ryan Lim

Founder, Alpha Insights

Father to Chase