The Sunday Review

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In search of the five Ms to win the T sweepstakes

Wanted: technopreneurs. But who will show them the money? Market their ideas? And how do you smash mindsets that hinder innovation and creativity? IRENE NG discusses these issues with people in the field.

TO UNDERSTAND the term "technopreneur", think The Terminator -- Arnold Schwarzenegger's muscles welded to high-tech wizardry. A creature which gets bludgeoned, bombed and blown to smithereens, but which mends itself and comes after you even more determined than before. That is the spirit required to become a technopreneur.

The James Cameron creation is also about the astute blending of commercialism and technology, the kind of stuff that goes into the making of a technopreneur too. The Government wants to create a whole class of Singapore "Terminators" who will bestride the world stage with their colossal ideas and innovations.

Sure, many will suffer a meltdown. But the hope is that enough will survive to take the Republic into its next stage of development -- a knowledge-based economy.

So, what are the obstacles in the way of technopreneurship here? How can they be removed? What more is needed?

The Technopreneur 21 Ministerial Committee, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan, is now sieving through ideas and is expected to announce recommendations around the middle of the year. From interviews with those in the field, five words have kept recurring which merit discussion. They are: mindset, motivation, money, marketing and model.

MINDSET

IT IS the unanimous view of those interviewed that the mindset of Singaporeans, industrialists, government agencies and venture capitalists towards risk and failure needs to be changed. In other words, they must take more of a gamble with individuals with offbeat ideas.

Given that the typical success rate for such entrepreneurial companies is said to be one in 10, it is agreed that there must be a greater tolerance of failure in society.

The fear of failure is not only cultural but is embedded in the institutional environment, points out Dr Bruce Gale, Singapore regional manager for the Hongkong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (Perc).

"Singapore leaders have always been emphasising the idea that we cannot afford to fail. That 'we are a small country, if we fail, we'll lose everything'. That philosophy tends to permeate the rest of society," he says.

But the people Insight spoke to are hopeful as changes are afoot: Schools are giving "problem" students second chances; laws are being reviewed to make it easier for bankrupts to bounce back.

If there is one big obstacle to overcome, they say, it is the predisposition among Singaporeans, even among the best and the brightest, to opt for safe jobs in large outfits, such as the public sector and multinational companies.

They are a planet away from the individualistic upstarts in Silicon Valley, who would rather chase fame and fortune -- and utter failure -- than be corporate slaves in straight jackets.

It will take time to change this Singaporean mentality.

After all, Silicon Valley took about 40 years to build up, notes Associate Professor Wong Poh Kam, director of the new Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship of the National University of Singapore.

Although help is still confined to precious few sources, it is said to be forthcoming increasingly. The National Science and Technology Board (NSTB) has started about 14 support programmes.

So far, its Technopreneur Assistance Centre has helped more than 60 start-ups with financial and networking support.

The centre's manager, Mr Foo Jixun, admits that many are still struggling as they are still in their infancy.

What if they fail?

"From NSTB's perspective, we do not mind if the companies we have assisted fail. We will not ask the companies to return the grants," he says. "We welcome technopreneurs who have failed to come back and we will consider funding on the merit of the project."

Contrary to popular perception, creativity does not seem to be a problem, some players in the industry say.

Mr Ng Kai Wa, former co-founder of Creative Technologies, has set up a new information technology company, Innomedia, with offices in Silicon Valley and Taiwan as well as Singapore.

The chief executive officer observes that his Singaporean engineers are as creative as their American and Taiwanese counterparts.

Nanyang Technological University and NUS have reported seeing a high quality of innovations from their students and staff.

Says Associate Professor Yeong Hin Yuen, director of the Innovation Centre at NTU: "I don't think Singaporeans lack creativity. The crucial factor is motivation, which is not there."

MOTIVATION

MOTIVATION, enthusiasm -- can such qualities be nurtured? The word "enthusiasm", after all, comes from the Greek word "entheos" which means "from the spirit within".

The experience of Beijing-born Li Jian Zhong, 34, illustrates the importance of this quality.

Mr Li, who came here in 1992, worked as a senior software engineer in Kent Ridge Digital Labs. Initially, he was content to just perfect his multilingual-enabling software at the laboratory, which allows users to view and input over 14 languages on their personal computers. Confessing that he had no motivation to become a technopreneur, he said that the spur came from an American, Ms Virginia Cha, 38, formerly a director of advanced technology in a computer group in California.

"She found that my project had the potential to go out to the market."

So, he quit his job to co-found Star+Globe Technologies with her in 1996.

Evidently, an injection of risk-takers into the scientific community is a good way to get the buzz going.

Of course, fearlessness and enthusiasm are not enough. Take it from one who failed.

Mr Ng Gak Seng, 44, was the former founder and managing director of Pet Computer Services. It was known for its "Sherry" brand of personal computers, once the most popular in the local market. But the company went under after it over-extended itself.

"It was very difficult. I lost my house, my business, everything. All in, I lost $4.8 million, " says Mr Ng, who had spent 14 years building up his company.

He may have been burnt badly, but his enthusiasm still flickers. He is now helping a technopreneur friend with his business and would gladly give it another shot.

"If there's a chance, if there's capital, definitely I would prefer to start out again. The way I look at it, basically, I come out from nothing. It's worth the risk. One can always learn from mistakes," he says.

But he feels it is unlikely he will start another company. His biggest problem is that faced by all wannabes: Who will show the money?

MONEY

GETTING the money to start up is cited as the biggest obstacle to becoming a technopreneur by all those interviewed by Insight.

Budding technopreneurs have been known to approach the few venture capitalists here for funds and found them discouraging or too much in the way of being control freaks.

Says one hopeful: "l think the venture capitalists in Singapore are very negative. They don't take risks unless you have a good sales record behind you."

Another, Malaysian James Chan, 36, also had no luck with venture capitalists. The former research and development programme manager with a multinational here had to sell his fully paid-up four-room HDB flat for the upfront cash he needed for his business venture.

His product, a pen called an E-pad, seeks to replace the mouse and the mousepad. It won a merit prize in the Singapore Design Awards 1998. The goal for his company, MG Logic: Be a global player by 2003.

In the absence of little real venture capital at the seed stage, the NSTB tried to fill the gap by setting up the $150 million Technology Development Fund in 1995.

So far, it has invested more than $80 million in more than 60 high-tech start-ups, including Star+Globe.

This is not enough, say some.

NTU's Assoc Prof Yeong suggests that NSTB and the Trade Development Board organise more trade missions to Silicon Valley to introduce local technopreneurs to bankers, industrialists and venture capitalists.

But Innomedia's Mr Ng believes that, in a globalised world of intensifying competition, Singaporeans should not expect the Government to plan everything for them.

But to get anywhere with their plans, they need the next M.

MARKETING

MR JUN Makino, 48, a Japanese who quit his engineering job with a multinational to set up Majeel Technologies, knew zilch about marketing.

His passion was to build a power amplifier, billed as the audiophile's dream, with clear sound. He calls his baby Pristine, and hopes to launch it soon. But he is stumped by these questions: How does he market his product? How does he gain access to the American market? What are his distribution channels?

"It's difficult. We are new, so there's no brand-name. And it is made in Singapore," says Mr Makino, who married a Singaporean engineer who is now his co-founder.

One way to help him and others in a similar situation is to tailor business courses to meet their needs.

For example, Assoc Prof Wong's NUS centre is starting in July a new elective course for its engineering, science and business graduate students, among others -- technopreneurship.

That aside, budding technopreneurs need good networking, especially with other technopreneurs in Silicon Valley. To help them get a foot in that door, the NSTB set up a networking office in California recently.

Currently, Singapore lacks the critical mass of indigenous sources of technological knowhow and experienced managers in technopreneurship.

Assoc Prof Wong, a Malaysian trained in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says: "We need to develop people with ideas and that layer of experienced professional managers."

He believes the key lies in a "constant flow of talent" from such innovation centres as Silicon Valley and Taiwan.

Innomedia's Mr Ng suggests that talent must also be allowed to experiment within large companies, such as government-linked companies and multinationals.

This way, their risks are lower. They can draw from the large companies' financial resources and marketing support. If the product is good, a new company can then be spun off.

MODEL

CLEARLY, Singapore itself must be a risk-taker to be a serious contender in the world technopreneurship sweepstakes. It cannot look to Silicon Valley or Taiwan as a guide.

As Innomedia's Mr Ng puts it: "We can't do what Taiwan and America do, develop and sell to the home market. Our market is small. The pool of skilled people is also small. You have to attack the global market from Day One."

Singapore has to come up with its own model. To be at the cutting edge and compete with the best, it can no longer rely on the tried-and-tested strategy of copying what works elsewhere. It, too, has to be creative, take risks and live with a certain amount of chaos.

In a world of uncertainties, what is clear is that the journey towards "creating a technopreneur class" does not follow the assumptions or the neat line of rational planning.

It must draw on its depth as a society and the breadth of foreign talent. And, like The Terminator, be ready to say: "I'll be back."

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