Musings after 3 months in Singapore's tech scene. Hopefully not too far off the reality of what is happening.

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!

3. Stereotypes
in
my
Suitcase

4. (And
it’s
not
a
joke…)

5. Singapore
Statute
Chapter
57
(1992)
Allowed
for
therapeuXc
usage
(2004)
(the
gun
is
a
joke
btw…)

6. Durians
(Durian
trees
are
said
to
be
intelligent
and
never
drop
a
fruit
on
someone)

7. “English-­‐based
Creole
Language”

8. “5C’s
of
Singapore”

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)

11. Beyond
Stereotypes?

12. I
found
that
not
so
much
of
the
fundamentals
had
changed
since
William
Gibson’s
trip
in
1993

13. (PS:
I
have
seen
other
dys/utopias)
Photo
from
the
North
Korea
side
of
Panmunjeom

14. Singtopia
1932
1949
1965

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.”

18. “Our
current
SDNTrust
accredited
daFng
agencies”
Source:
Gwendolin
Regina
Tan

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”?

23. CreaXve
Singapore

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!

28. BUT!

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!

32. Tech

33. Singaporean
innovaXons
• ERP
^_^;
• Thumbdrive
• Durian
Strudel?

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

47. Beyond
Tech
(because
innovaXon
is
everywhere!)

48. What
I
found
most
InnovaXve
• Service
industry
• Food
&
Beverage
industry

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…

52. BreadTalk

53. BreadTalk
• Founded
in
2000
• 24
retail
outlets
in
Singapore
• 13
countries,
300
bakeries,
5,000
employees
• 80%
common
product,
20%
for
local
palate

55. “No
more
Bush”
campaign
in
2008

56. Plans
for
Friends
Thelma
&
Louise
Batman
&
Robin

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…

58. Strip
–
Ministry
of
Waxing

59. Spa
Esprit
Group
• Parent
company
to
Strip,
founded
1996
• 10
Beauty
and
Food
&
Beverage
brands
– Strip
– Browhaus
– Spa
Esprit,
Qi
Mantra,
House,
Barracks,
Camp,
Beauty
Emporium,
Skinny
Pizza
and
Tippling
Club.
– First
Spa
Esprit
in
1996
in
Singapore

60. Conclusion:
Can!
Comments
welcome:
benjamin@plus8star.com
@benjaminjoffe