A former MBA student has been named as one of America’s top 1,000 entrepreneurs, following his work building a social enterprise focused on climate action
Neil Yeoh made it into the Forbes Next 1000, recognising ‘entrepreneurial heroes’ who are ‘redefining the American dream’, all with less than $10 million in revenue or funding.
Neil is the CEO and founder of OnePointFive, a remote advisory and network of interdisciplinary experts with the unified aim to eliminate climate impacts from the business sector. He studied his MBA at Oxford Saïd during 2015-2016, graduating with a distinction. He lists specific courses, such as Entrepreneurial Finance, and the Entrepreneurship Project as invaluable for when he launched his organisation.
Commenting on the recognition, Neil said:
‘I formed OnePointFive in February 2020, after seeing the urgent need for climate action in the business sector. Building a social enterprise from scratch was not easy, especially due to the Covid pandemic, but the recognition from Forbes has reminded me and my team of the critical impact our work has in keeping warming below one point five. Between 2020-2021 we grew the company fourfold, something which wouldn’t have been possible without the Oxford Saïd community.’
This year, Neil is putting his focus on growing his business. He hopes to expand his network of expert staff and the number the organizations OnePointFive serves throughout Europe, the U.S. and Asia Pacific. Other areas of emphasis include developing how OnePointFive reports and measures on the climate professionals they’ve already enabled to act on climate change.
While at Oxford, Neil took advantage of the student leadership opportunities available, becoming the Co-chair of the Energy, Environment, and Resources Oxford Business Network, a move that he says helped his transition into the climate change sector.
On advice for current students at Oxford Saïd, Neil commented:
‘We tend to overestimate what we feel we can do in the short term, and underestimate what we can do in the long term. I would suggest that today's Oxford Saïd students stay diligent but maintain the principle of patience.’
More details on the Forbes Next 1000 initiative can be found here.