The document provides an overview of Benjamin Joffe's experience with startups in Asia over the past decade. It discusses three startups - Newt Games, an early location-based social game startup from 2003; Cmune, a social gaming company he was involved with from 2008 to present day; and DayDeed, a social networking startup he founded in 2011. It highlights the challenges each company faced, such as being too innovative ahead of their time, long financing periods, and pivoting business models multiple times before finding product-market fit. The document also shares lessons learned around networking, fundraising, hiring strategies, and evaluating different startup ecosystems.
What is your Startup Ecosystem OS?
What is your cultural OS?
Can you upgrade them?
Talk given in New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai on January 2013 for the World Startup Report.
The document discusses the conflicting state of the mobile gaming market in 2013. It notes different predictions for revenue, user numbers, and valuations from various analysts and companies. It also covers metrics, problems, and trends in the mobile gaming industry, including a shift from casual to mid-core and core games, as well as challenges around user acquisition and app discovery.
The document discusses mobile trends in Asia, particularly Japan and China, from the perspective of Benjamin Joffe, a digital expert focused on Asia. It summarizes Joffe's background working with mobile startups and tech companies in Asia. It also outlines some of his observations about innovations in Asia, including broad adoption of 3G networks in Japan, mobile social networks and gaming, and business models centered around digital goods and content as a service.
QQ is China's leading online community with over 300 million active accounts in 2007. It generated 523 million USD in revenues that year, with 66% coming from digital goods and games, 21% from mobile services, and 13% from online ads. QQ also had an operating profit of 224 million USD in 2007.
The document provides an overview of Benjamin Joffe's experience with startups in Asia over the past decade. It discusses three startups - Newt Games, an early location-based social game startup from 2003; Cmune, a social gaming company he was involved with from 2008 to present day; and DayDeed, a social networking startup he founded in 2011. It highlights the challenges each company faced, such as being too innovative ahead of their time, long financing periods, and pivoting business models multiple times before finding product-market fit. The document also shares lessons learned around networking, fundraising, hiring strategies, and evaluating different startup ecosystems.
What is your Startup Ecosystem OS?
What is your cultural OS?
Can you upgrade them?
Talk given in New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai on January 2013 for the World Startup Report.
The document discusses the conflicting state of the mobile gaming market in 2013. It notes different predictions for revenue, user numbers, and valuations from various analysts and companies. It also covers metrics, problems, and trends in the mobile gaming industry, including a shift from casual to mid-core and core games, as well as challenges around user acquisition and app discovery.
The document discusses mobile trends in Asia, particularly Japan and China, from the perspective of Benjamin Joffe, a digital expert focused on Asia. It summarizes Joffe's background working with mobile startups and tech companies in Asia. It also outlines some of his observations about innovations in Asia, including broad adoption of 3G networks in Japan, mobile social networks and gaming, and business models centered around digital goods and content as a service.
QQ is China's leading online community with over 300 million active accounts in 2007. It generated 523 million USD in revenues that year, with 66% coming from digital goods and games, 21% from mobile services, and 13% from online ads. QQ also had an operating profit of 224 million USD in 2007.
Are entrepreneurs geniuses? Is innovation so new? Various examples and metaphors to highlight the many myths around those two. Talk given at Singapore Management University in November 2010.
This document provides guidance on how to effectively pitch ideas to potential investors or stakeholders. It begins by introducing the author and their relevant experience. It then defines what a pitch is, including different types like escalator pitches. It discusses who does pitching, why it's important, and how to determine the scope of an idea. The document offers tips on structuring a pitch at different levels of depth from 5 seconds to 5 minutes. It emphasizes practicing the pitch, getting feedback, and being prepared to deliver under different circumstances. Common pitching mistakes are identified and best practices are recommended. The document concludes by discussing different pitching formats used in Tunisia.
The document discusses key competencies in e-learning. It summarizes that the New Zealand curriculum is proving to be a major influence on how teachers are using information and communication technologies in education. Teachers from ICT professional development clusters met at a conference to share ideas and explore how they are using e-learning to enact the revised curriculum. The curriculum is seen as the key driver of professional development for teachers in how they integrate technology into learning. A variety of e-learning tools and their potential for being efficient or effective for learning are also discussed.
Chinaccelerator, in cooperation with People Squared and the University of Hult, once again hosted their program-annual 10X10 Shanghai on March 15th, 2014.
The Geeks on a Train tour takes the Chinaccelerator startups on a ride from Shanghai to Beijing, then back down to Hangzhou before returning to Shanghai.
As part of the tour, the 10x10 conference brings attendees 10 tech pioneers and top VC's from the startup ecosystem in China. This is an amazing opportunity for attendees to have a peek at the first startup accelerator program in China, meet interesting people and listen to amazing speakers.
As always, each of them takes attendees on a 10-minute tour of their own startup trials and tribulations, wins and losses, then give some great advice and maybe a secret or two about what they learned to help make them the superstars they are today.
These are their slides, we hope you enjoy them. Thank you for supporting Chinaccelerator and entrepreneurship worldwide.
Sanjiva Weerawarana discusses his career journey starting technology companies in Sri Lanka, including founding the Lanka Software Foundation and WSO2. He argues that Sri Lanka has potential for technology creation despite challenges. Weerawarana advises the diaspora to start businesses in Sri Lanka rather than just provide advice, help educate others, and invest in the country's future through open source software and philanthropic initiatives. While problems exist, Sri Lanka should be seen as a place of opportunity rather than defined by its challenges alone.
Harness the power diversity can bring to your team or organisation. Exploring tools and techniques. Slides from public session presentations, including Agile Cambridge 2015.
Habits of Highly Effective Technical Teams - Martijn VerburgJAXLondon2014
The document discusses 9 habits of highly effective teams according to Martijn Verburg. The habits are: 1) social interactions are prioritized, 2) strong leadership is distributed throughout the team, 3) the team is empowered rather than controlled, 4) the team has shared goals, 5) the team shows respect and trusts each other, 6) the team has a common culture, 7) automation and tools reduce manual work, 8) debate is encouraged to challenge assumptions, and 9) diversity of people and ideas is valued. The document provides examples to illustrate each habit.
Creating effective mobile learning in the social age - mLearnCon 2014 by Juli...Julian Stodd
The Social Age is a time of great change, in how we work and how we learn. To design effective mobile learning, we have to understand these new realities and ensure that what we design fits within the constraints and evolved behaviours that have emerged. These are the slides from the session i ran at mLearnCon 2014 in San Diego with the eLearning Guild.
This document discusses digital innovation in Asia. It begins with an orientation on why foreign companies fail in Asia and Asian companies fail overseas. It then provides background on innovation, discussing misleading appearances of innovation, techno-Darwinism in Asian markets, and key innovation catalysts like infrastructure, market potential, talent and capital. The document outlines the 5Cs model of innovation: copy, competition, constraints, combination, and context. It provides examples of innovative Asian companies and discusses opportunities to leverage successful Asian innovations globally through "innovation arbitrage".
The myths of innovation ceo,plus eight starHuu Nguyen Tat
The document discusses myths and biases around innovation. It argues that ideas come from everywhere, not just the West, and that Asia contributes innovative concepts as well. However, Western perspectives have framed innovation in a biased way that overlooks non-Western contributions. The document uses examples like Beard Papa, BreadTalk, and Strip to illustrate how Asian companies innovated business concepts that spread globally.
Talk given at Stanford University for a student entrepreneur group with a focus on Asia. I picked 8 things I learned working in the web/mobile space in Asia.
The Team Academy program provides entrepreneurship training through experiential learning projects, coaching, and community events to develop skills like leadership, marketing and innovation; participants learn both individually through assignments and collectively through dialogue sessions, birthgiving presentations, and cross-team projects; the program utilizes various tools to track learning and skill development over the multi-year curriculum.
Leading Cultural Change in Alien CulturesRuss Boreham
Matthew White, senior enterprise architect working with huge organisations including Ericsson and the Saudi Arabian government is an expert in leading cultural change and transformation projects in 'alien' cultures. In this presentation, given recently at an event hosted by T-Impact, Matthew provides a wealth of advice on what to look out for and how to ensure success and a better understanding of the cultures you are working with across the world.
Case study on a transformation of a 100 person department.
What I did (that made the difference):
1. Uncover what’s really going on
2. Share observations in a loving and caring way
3. Help people choose their own reality and destiny
Asia: An Amiable Blueprint (*slightly micromanaged)Neil Walsh
This document provides a blueprint for success in Asia with 7 main points:
1. Break problems into parts, find experts, and delegate while staying on top of things.
2. Have perspectives supported by data to tell a story.
3. Look to influencers like government organizations for expertise on what they know.
4. Move from abstract to concrete principles using real data and customer feedback.
5. Take risks through accelerated learning and deep knowledge of markets.
6. Focus on the large and growing market of India with its various trade organizations.
7. Ensure successful execution through teamwork, empowerment, and focusing on culture and customers.
The document discusses how Aboriginal employment is changing the labour landscape in Saskatchewan. It notes that the Aboriginal population is younger than the non-Aboriginal population and grew more quickly between 1996 and 2006. The unemployment rate for Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan is around 15.9% compared to 5.1% for the rest of the province. Aboriginal people are estimated to make up 31% of the Saskatchewan labour force by 2045. The presentation provides tips on recruiting, retaining and supporting Aboriginal employees. It highlights the importance of flexibility, awareness training and creating an Aboriginal employment strategy.
This document summarizes Melanie Paquette's presentation on using team kick-offs to accelerate Scrum team performance. Some key points:
- Team kick-offs are important for discussing team processes, working agreements, values, and how team members want to feel to stay motivated. Understanding each other on a personal level helps teams work better together.
- Distributed teams can have effective kick-offs over video by using whiteboarding tools, games, and focusing initially on understanding different cultural backgrounds.
- Getting to know each other personally through conversation starters and low-risk team challenges helps teams bond. Periodic check-ins keep the team functioning well.
- Resources are provided on motivation, decision-making
Are entrepreneurs geniuses? Is innovation so new? Various examples and metaphors to highlight the many myths around those two. Talk given at Singapore Management University in November 2010.
This document provides guidance on how to effectively pitch ideas to potential investors or stakeholders. It begins by introducing the author and their relevant experience. It then defines what a pitch is, including different types like escalator pitches. It discusses who does pitching, why it's important, and how to determine the scope of an idea. The document offers tips on structuring a pitch at different levels of depth from 5 seconds to 5 minutes. It emphasizes practicing the pitch, getting feedback, and being prepared to deliver under different circumstances. Common pitching mistakes are identified and best practices are recommended. The document concludes by discussing different pitching formats used in Tunisia.
The document discusses key competencies in e-learning. It summarizes that the New Zealand curriculum is proving to be a major influence on how teachers are using information and communication technologies in education. Teachers from ICT professional development clusters met at a conference to share ideas and explore how they are using e-learning to enact the revised curriculum. The curriculum is seen as the key driver of professional development for teachers in how they integrate technology into learning. A variety of e-learning tools and their potential for being efficient or effective for learning are also discussed.
Chinaccelerator, in cooperation with People Squared and the University of Hult, once again hosted their program-annual 10X10 Shanghai on March 15th, 2014.
The Geeks on a Train tour takes the Chinaccelerator startups on a ride from Shanghai to Beijing, then back down to Hangzhou before returning to Shanghai.
As part of the tour, the 10x10 conference brings attendees 10 tech pioneers and top VC's from the startup ecosystem in China. This is an amazing opportunity for attendees to have a peek at the first startup accelerator program in China, meet interesting people and listen to amazing speakers.
As always, each of them takes attendees on a 10-minute tour of their own startup trials and tribulations, wins and losses, then give some great advice and maybe a secret or two about what they learned to help make them the superstars they are today.
These are their slides, we hope you enjoy them. Thank you for supporting Chinaccelerator and entrepreneurship worldwide.
Sanjiva Weerawarana discusses his career journey starting technology companies in Sri Lanka, including founding the Lanka Software Foundation and WSO2. He argues that Sri Lanka has potential for technology creation despite challenges. Weerawarana advises the diaspora to start businesses in Sri Lanka rather than just provide advice, help educate others, and invest in the country's future through open source software and philanthropic initiatives. While problems exist, Sri Lanka should be seen as a place of opportunity rather than defined by its challenges alone.
Harness the power diversity can bring to your team or organisation. Exploring tools and techniques. Slides from public session presentations, including Agile Cambridge 2015.
Habits of Highly Effective Technical Teams - Martijn VerburgJAXLondon2014
The document discusses 9 habits of highly effective teams according to Martijn Verburg. The habits are: 1) social interactions are prioritized, 2) strong leadership is distributed throughout the team, 3) the team is empowered rather than controlled, 4) the team has shared goals, 5) the team shows respect and trusts each other, 6) the team has a common culture, 7) automation and tools reduce manual work, 8) debate is encouraged to challenge assumptions, and 9) diversity of people and ideas is valued. The document provides examples to illustrate each habit.
Creating effective mobile learning in the social age - mLearnCon 2014 by Juli...Julian Stodd
The Social Age is a time of great change, in how we work and how we learn. To design effective mobile learning, we have to understand these new realities and ensure that what we design fits within the constraints and evolved behaviours that have emerged. These are the slides from the session i ran at mLearnCon 2014 in San Diego with the eLearning Guild.
This document discusses digital innovation in Asia. It begins with an orientation on why foreign companies fail in Asia and Asian companies fail overseas. It then provides background on innovation, discussing misleading appearances of innovation, techno-Darwinism in Asian markets, and key innovation catalysts like infrastructure, market potential, talent and capital. The document outlines the 5Cs model of innovation: copy, competition, constraints, combination, and context. It provides examples of innovative Asian companies and discusses opportunities to leverage successful Asian innovations globally through "innovation arbitrage".
The myths of innovation ceo,plus eight starHuu Nguyen Tat
The document discusses myths and biases around innovation. It argues that ideas come from everywhere, not just the West, and that Asia contributes innovative concepts as well. However, Western perspectives have framed innovation in a biased way that overlooks non-Western contributions. The document uses examples like Beard Papa, BreadTalk, and Strip to illustrate how Asian companies innovated business concepts that spread globally.
Talk given at Stanford University for a student entrepreneur group with a focus on Asia. I picked 8 things I learned working in the web/mobile space in Asia.
The Team Academy program provides entrepreneurship training through experiential learning projects, coaching, and community events to develop skills like leadership, marketing and innovation; participants learn both individually through assignments and collectively through dialogue sessions, birthgiving presentations, and cross-team projects; the program utilizes various tools to track learning and skill development over the multi-year curriculum.
Leading Cultural Change in Alien CulturesRuss Boreham
Matthew White, senior enterprise architect working with huge organisations including Ericsson and the Saudi Arabian government is an expert in leading cultural change and transformation projects in 'alien' cultures. In this presentation, given recently at an event hosted by T-Impact, Matthew provides a wealth of advice on what to look out for and how to ensure success and a better understanding of the cultures you are working with across the world.
Case study on a transformation of a 100 person department.
What I did (that made the difference):
1. Uncover what’s really going on
2. Share observations in a loving and caring way
3. Help people choose their own reality and destiny
Asia: An Amiable Blueprint (*slightly micromanaged)Neil Walsh
This document provides a blueprint for success in Asia with 7 main points:
1. Break problems into parts, find experts, and delegate while staying on top of things.
2. Have perspectives supported by data to tell a story.
3. Look to influencers like government organizations for expertise on what they know.
4. Move from abstract to concrete principles using real data and customer feedback.
5. Take risks through accelerated learning and deep knowledge of markets.
6. Focus on the large and growing market of India with its various trade organizations.
7. Ensure successful execution through teamwork, empowerment, and focusing on culture and customers.
The document discusses how Aboriginal employment is changing the labour landscape in Saskatchewan. It notes that the Aboriginal population is younger than the non-Aboriginal population and grew more quickly between 1996 and 2006. The unemployment rate for Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan is around 15.9% compared to 5.1% for the rest of the province. Aboriginal people are estimated to make up 31% of the Saskatchewan labour force by 2045. The presentation provides tips on recruiting, retaining and supporting Aboriginal employees. It highlights the importance of flexibility, awareness training and creating an Aboriginal employment strategy.
This document summarizes Melanie Paquette's presentation on using team kick-offs to accelerate Scrum team performance. Some key points:
- Team kick-offs are important for discussing team processes, working agreements, values, and how team members want to feel to stay motivated. Understanding each other on a personal level helps teams work better together.
- Distributed teams can have effective kick-offs over video by using whiteboarding tools, games, and focusing initially on understanding different cultural backgrounds.
- Getting to know each other personally through conversation starters and low-risk team challenges helps teams bond. Periodic check-ins keep the team functioning well.
- Resources are provided on motivation, decision-making
Case studies of how some robotics startups from the HAX portfolio managed to finance their first stages, get to market and scale. Talk given at R18 Conference in Odense, Denmark in September 2018.
The document profiles Benjamin Joffe and his career path, which has included being a consultant, market researcher, CEO, game data director, and now an investor at HAX where he has invested in over 168 startups. It discusses how he got to his current role through various jobs and experiences living in 9 different countries, and offers advice on thriving based on lessons he has learned around mindsets, personal development, and shaping one's environment.
This document provides an overview of trends in Asia and various industries over the past 15 years according to an expert in ecosystems, innovation and hardware. It discusses the rise of specialized accelerators and venture capital funds focusing on industries like tech, telecom, gaming and more. Specific trends mentioned include the growth of artificial intelligence, robots, virtual reality, smart home technologies, digital health, industry automation, and China's increasing dominance in areas like hardware startups, AI and more.
The document discusses why many startup ecosystems struggle and provides suggestions for improvement. It notes that the key factors for building successful ecosystems are markets, capital, infrastructure, talent, regulations, and culture. However, most places cannot instantly change these. Instead, the document suggests that the real problem is the high cost of failure discourages risk-taking. It proposes countries reduce the career penalties for failure to encourage more startups. Additional recommendations include promoting local successes, inviting foreign experts, reducing regulations, and globalizing operations to leverage other strong ecosystems.
The Hardware Code - Why Hardware Startups Fail or SucceedBenjamin Joffe
This document discusses hardware startups and common reasons they fail or succeed. It notes that hardware startups often fail due to lack of consumer demand, high burn rates, and product strategy mistakes. However, some startups are able to succeed by going through accelerator programs that help them improve skills like prototyping, manufacturing, marketing and sales. The document provides examples of startups that failed, became ventures, bootstrapped or recovered with the help of accelerator programs. It emphasizes best practices like focusing on skills, solving customer needs, treating factories as partners, and selling an innovative product with an engaging story.
This document provides an overview and analysis of Tencent, a Chinese technology company. It explores Tencent's services, strategy, business models, and the factors that led to its success in becoming China's largest online community. The document was published by Plus Eight Star Ltd to share insights about Tencent's approach and help other companies learn from its practices and business models. It is based on research conducted over two years, including interviews with Tencent executives and experts. The document aims to help social networks, gaming companies, telecom carriers, media groups, and investors understand Tencent's approach to building a large user base, generating revenue, and creating an online ecosystem.
This document provides an overview of the latest hardware trends in startups based on a presentation by Benjamin Joffe of HAX. It highlights 10 major trends, including cheaper components making hardware more accessible, an increased focus on personalization and specialized devices, growth in health tech startups, China emerging as a leader in hardware innovation, and Japan working to strengthen its hardware startup ecosystem. The trends demonstrate that hardware is having a resurgence due to various enabling factors, and that Asia is at the forefront of this transformation.
This document provides an overview of the latest hardware trends in 2017 according to Benjamin Joffe of HAX. It discusses 10 major trends, including cheaper components making hardware startups easier, a rise in personalized and specialized devices, growth in health tech, smarter home devices, industry changing sectors like manufacturing and agriculture, the increasing importance of China and Japan, and how hardware is becoming more software-driven. The document provides examples for each trend and argues that hardware innovation is entering a new phase of accessibility and opportunity globally.
The document discusses the fates of digital societies and draws parallels between Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and startup ecosystems. It notes that different ecosystems give rise to different types of startups and that innovation exists everywhere, not just in the US. It emphasizes that ecosystem matters more than nationality and discusses strategies for startups to expand globally.
"Cultural Awareness" will help work globally, save your marriage and get deliveries on time.
This talk refers "culture codes" and the eponymous book by Clotaire Rapaille, as well as Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" world model.
This document discusses startup myths and realities through a series of quotes and observations from experienced entrepreneurs and investors. It begins by defining a startup as a company that is confused about its product, customers, and business model. It notes that startups require intense focus over a short period to achieve high productivity gains. The document emphasizes talking to many advisors, focusing on traction over ideas, and checking the right metrics to measure growth. It concludes by introducing the author and his background founding companies and mentoring startups in Asia.
The world is being redefined beyond frontiers by digital civilizations, and games are at the forefront of it. Talk given via Skype at Bitspiration in Poland on June 2012.
This document discusses international game localization and provides an overview of key Asian markets. It begins with an introduction to international game localization challenges and opportunities. It then provides brief overviews of the gaming ecosystems in China, Japan, and South Korea, including details on population, GDP, mobile and desktop usage, and major companies. The document concludes with a case study on a company that successfully expanded into Asia.
Can your game make millions in Asia? If 1% of Asians would pay a $1! This presentation is a bit of a reality check given for Yetizen given in May 2012 in San Francisco.
Review of interesting Social-Local-Mobile services, with ideas on top. Talk given at KR8V.Asia in February 2012 in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Manila.
1. Captain
Barbossa…
Welcome
to
Singapore!
Welcome
to
Singapore!
What
I
learned
in
Singapore
@benjaminjoffe
2. Quick
Me
• 10
years
in
Asia
(China,
Japan,
Korea)
– CEO
of
Digital
Strategy
&
Research
company
+8*
– Angel
investor
in
2
startups
• Cmune:
“Zynga
for
Console-‐like
Games”
• MyGengo:
“Cheap
&
Fast
Human
TranslaXons”
• 3
months
in
SG
|
Since
October
2010
– Mentor
at
JFDI.Asia,
talks
at
NUS,
SMU,
events
– ConsulXng
&
Advisory
to
local
startups
– I
might
have
it
all
wrong!
• 100+
Talks,
+1!
9. There
is
a
Wikipedia
entry
for
it!
CASH
CAR
CREDIT
CARD
CONDOMINIUM
COUNTRY
CLUB
MEMBERSHIP
10. Scared?
Kiasu
(scared
of
losing)
Kiasi
(scared
of
dying)
Kiabor
(scared
of
wife)
Kiaboh
(scared
of
having
nothing)
Kiachenghu
(scared
of
government)
15. Brave
New
World?
Really?
• CondiXoning
trains
people
to
consume
and
never
to
enjoy
being
alone
• Soma
is
a
hallucinogen
that
takes
users
on
enjoyable,
hangover-‐free
"holidays”.
What
could
be
Singapore’s
Soma?
• People
are
bred
to
do
their
jobs
and
cannot
desire
another
16. Caste
System
or
Meritocracy?
RANK
STUDY
PURPOSE
ALPHA
Overseas
CEOs,
Ruling
Class
BETA
Top
local
UniversiXes
Managers
GAMMA
Polytechnics
White
collars
DELTA
No
university
White
&
Blue
collars
EPSILON
“Foreign
talent”
Mostly
Blue
collars
17. Are
You
Promiscuous
Enough!?
• 39,654
babies
born
in
2009
• “Have
three
or
more,
if
you
can
afford
it.”
19. Social
Development
Network
Because
Love
is
also
Government
business
• 1984
|
Social
Development
Unit
(SDU)
promotes
marriages
among
graduate
singles
(Beta,
Gamma)
• 1985
|
Social
Development
Services
(SDS)
to
promotes
marriages
among
non-‐graduate
singles.
(Delta)
• 2009
|
SDU
+
SDS
=
SDN
Social
Development
Network
www.lovebyte.org.sg
“Provide
more
opportuniFes
for
singles
to
meet”
20. 1984?
Really?
• Ingsoc
(English
Socialism)
–
SingSoc?
• Newspeak
–
Guess?
• Surveillance
–
No
comment.
• Groupthink
–
Don’t
stay
alone,
lah!
• Ministry
of
Truth,
Love,
Plenty,
Peace
• Inner
party
/
Outer
party
/
Proles
• Permanent
War
(“enemy”
outside
+
within)
21. How
to
describe
Singapore?
• 1984
with
soma?
• Brave
New
World
with
less
promiscuity?
• Socialo-‐Capitalist
Dynasty?
• What
North
Korea
could
have
been
with
beqer
trade
and
educaVon
policies?
22. The
Social
Network
• Independence:
Growing
up
at
parents’
house?
– In
France,
most
move
out
as
soon
as
they
work
• Surveillance:
People
are
two
degrees
away!
– (There
is
sth
to
like
in
big
anonymous
ciXes
too
…)
• Inner
Struggle:
Liberal
views
+
conservaXve
acts?
– "I
am
liberal
but
my
parents
are
not”
– “My
parents
are
but
my
extended
family
isn't.”
– Does
anyone
really
believe
in
those
“tradiXons”?
24. Cinema,
Shopping,
Food…
Too
much
Soma?
“At
lunch
we
think
what
we’ll
have
for
dinner”
Rank
(2008)
Country
Cinema
admissions
per
capita
2007
2008
1
Iceland
5.1
5.4
First
two
in
bad
2
Ireland
4.3
4.2
shape
today.
2=
Singapore
3.8
4.2
Singapore
#1?
4
Australia
4.1
4.1
4=
US
4.3
4.1
6
New
Zealand
3.6
3.6
7
Canada
3.2
3.2
8
South
Korea
3.2
3.1
9
France
2.9
3.0
10
India
3.0
2.9
Source:
Cinema
Intelligence
Service,
2009
25. EducaXon
System
&
KPIs
• KPIs
work
within
a
frame
• CreaXvity
is
about
doing
away
with
the
frame
• And
about
asking
new
quesVons
26. Why
not
in
Singapore?
• CreaXvity
requires
free
Vme
• CreaXvity
requires
Vme
alone
• CreaXve
people
live
in
poverty
(incl.
startups)
• CreaXve
people
do
their
own
thing
27. Everyone
can
innovate!
• Ideas
have
no
naVonality
• Everyone
is
creaXve
• You
don’t
need
permission
• Talent
is
overrated
• More
third
places!
29. The
Upside
• Amazing
cultural
mix
• Ethnic
quotas
for
housing
• Religious
places
next
to
each
other
• Smart
steps
toward
peaceful
coexistence
• The
place
is
remarkably
well
managed
30. Void
Deck
GeneraXon?
• Can
creaXvity
come
from
HDBs?
• More
freedom
from
KPIs,
but
also
more
soma
• That’s
your
job!
31. Changes
From
Within
Using
Plausible
Deniability
• E.g.
this
talk
– SelecXon
bias:
why
me?
– Who
is
in
charge?
– I’m
gevng
away
with
it
• Bring
in
those
you
need
to
support
your
ideas
– Match
KPIs
– Maintain
face
with
Boss
&
Alphas
– Bring
change!
34. Ecosystem
Build-‐up
• HackerSpace
• Founder
InsXtute
• Startup
Weekend
• BarCamp
• BANSEA
(SE
Asia
Angels)
• Founders
Space
(soon)
• Flagship
conferences
(Echelon,
Accelerate)
• Early-‐stage
VCs
• Most
of
it
in
1
year?
35. Issues
(you
know)
• Lack
of
serial
entrepreneurs
/
mentors
• Gap
at
mid-‐stage
to
series
A
and
US
VCs
• KPIs
incompaXble
with
early
stage
(uncertainty)
• Business
models
are
required
(vs.
SV)
36. Would
I
startup
in
Singapore?
• Cmune:
too
large
for
relocaXon
• Local
costs
not
small,
talent
scarce
• Good
infra,
early-‐stage
financing
• Best
posiXoned:
foreign
&
local
mixed
teams
– Navigate
bureaucracy
– Leverage
cheaper
geographies
37. Startups
to
Watch
“Who
to
watch?
[…]
We’d
put
$$$
on
Viki,
Pivotal
Labs
Singapore
and
Mig33
to
sustain
their
posiXon
as
local
heroes,
conXnuing
to
inspire
us
through
2010.”
(Jan
1,
2011)
38. Top
Startups
• Mig33
|
Australian
founders,
relocated
from
SV!
• Viki
|
US
+
Korea!
• BuzzCity
|
Founded
in
1999!
• Gothere.sg
/
Hungrygowhere
|
Hyperlocal
• Cloudpic
|
$6M
arXst
coll.
pla~orm
(R&D
in
US!)
39. Why
bother
with
NaXonality?
• Idea
naXonality?
• Founder
naXonality?
• Team
naXonality?
• It’s
a
brand.
– Silicon
Valley
is
a
brand
too!
– And
it’s
money
and
partners.
40. (Network,
1976)
“There
are
no
naVons.
There
are
no
peoples.
There
are
no
Russians.
There
are
no
Arabs.
There
are
no
third
worlds.
There
is
no
West.”
“There
is
only
one
holisXc
system
of
systems.
One
vast
[…],
mulVnaVonal
dominion
of
dollars.”
41. Example:
Cmune
• Team
in
Beijing,
China
• Registered
in
HK
• Founders
from
New-‐Zealand
and
France
• 8
naVonaliVes
in
team
of
12
• Users
worldwide,
except
China!
(FB
blocked)
42. Myths
to
do
away
with
• Startups
take
much
longer
than
the
media
says!
• Check
your
definiXon
of
“success”
• Make
money:
sell
a
dream,
but
build
a
business
• Most
of
your
idea
is
going
to
change
on
the
way
• InnovaXon
is
happening
every
day
you
do
something
different
from
yesterday
43. SemanXc
Prisons
“ There
are
plenty
of
semanXc
prisons
which
do
not
permit
us
to
think
straight”
Aldous
Huxley
The
Human
SituaXon
44. Gevng
out
of
SemanXc
Prisons
• CreaXvity
• EducaXon
• InnovaXon
• Intelligence
• Entrepreneur
• Developed
• Success
• Developing
• NaXonality
• Etc.
Those
words
are
holding
you
back!
May
you
develop
all
your
life!
(cf.
Fredrik
Haren)
45. Ideas
are
everywhere!
• 7
billion
people
– Someone
surely
got
the
same
idea,
before
you
– “I
came
up
with
one
Internet
idea
a
day!”
• Masayoshi
Son,
CEO
of
So€bank
• Just
execute
the
hell
out
of
it
– Don’t
let
the
pride
in
the
idea
get
in
the
way
46. My
InnovaXon
Epiphanies
• Peeling
off
narraVves
1. Only
US
innovates
(I
was
spared
this
one)
2. Only
the
West
innovates
(my
iniFal
belief)
3. Asia
innovates
too
(aSer
a
few
years
in
Asia)
4. Everyone
is
an
innovator
(aSer
10
years
abroad)
• Why
Silicon
Valley
– It’s
all
about
access
to
capital
– Default
business
model:
adverVsing!
– Use
it
if
you
need
it
48. What
I
found
most
InnovaXve
• Service
industry
• Food
&
Beverage
industry
49.
50. • 39,000
outlets
(>
McDonalds)
• 1927
|
Founded
in
Dallas,
Texas
• 1991
|
Ito-‐Yokado
(Japan)
gains
control
• Did
you
know
it
was
“Japanese”?
– It
is
an
example
that
brands
it
is
hard
to
talk
about
the
“naXonality”
of
a
brand…
53. BreadTalk
• Founded
in
2000
• 24
retail
outlets
in
Singapore
• 13
countries,
300
bakeries,
5,000
employees
• 80%
common
product,
20%
for
local
palate
57. Strip
–
Ministry
of
Waxing
• Body
waxing
concept
store
• Founded
in
2002
by
Spa
Esprit
Group
in
SG
• 27
stores
in
7
ciVes
– Singapore,
NYC,
Jakarta,
KL,
Bangkok,
Manila,
London,
Shanghai,
HK
• HSQ:
Hygiene,
Speed,
Quality
• 2
million
bushes
and
counXng…