The importance of not just blindly following the crowd hit home for investor Melvin Poh when he was just seven years old growing up in New Zealand.

A confectionery company had launched a promotional campaign that awarded mystery stickers in every packet of sweets bought by a customer. The pitch was that a child who collected every sticker would be able to win a Sony PlayStation game console. Even at his tender age, Mr Poh was sceptical and curious about the process, since it was not clear how the stickers were allocated in the packets.