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The Straits Times (Singapore)

Tech start-ups to get Jumpstart

TECH start-ups are usually founded by newly minted graduates who are technically competent and passionate about their products and services, but lack the business experience crucial for success.

Missing from the recipe for success is expertise on a broad swathe of topics, ranging from negotiations with potential investors and distribution in key markets such as China, to copyright protection.

To bridge this gap, the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) will offer start-ups their members' expertise in a new scheme called 123Jumpstart.

'Young technopreneurs don't know about many things. For example, they may not know how to negotiate with potential investors, and give away too much equity for too little investment,' said Mr Eddie Chau, SiTF's chairman and chief executive of social network monitoring website Brandtology.

Or the technopreneurs could be ignorant and may imagine, for instance, that simply taking a holiday in China means they understand the market there.

'Turning a viable technology into a product requires many steps,' he said. 'For example, there is productisation, how to build a product or service that people will buy everywhere; how to position it correctly among buyers; how to set up sales channels and copyright protection.'

He added: 'Young and newbie technopreneurs may not know how to navigate these issues.'

With 400 member organisations, the SiTF has many IT stalwarts, several with more than 20 years of experience running businesses here and in the region, who would be able to lend their expertise.

They include Ms Jessica Tan, managing director of Microsoft Singapore; Mr Bill Liu, chairman and managing partner of tech investment firm Stream Global; and Ms Janet Ang, managing director of IBM Singapore.

To be launched late next month, the 123Jumpstart scheme will see SiTF matching start-ups with suitable infocomm technology industry leaders.

'This is a more formal mentoring scheme in that the IT execs who are involved will have to commit to spending time with the start-ups. It can be a Saturday or Sunday or a weekday night with them. For the IT execs, it is a way of keeping in touch with new technologies and it can be quite invigorating,' said Mr Chau.

He added that the IT stalwarts might even take a stake in the start-ups if there was no conflict of interest with their own organisations.

Management expertise aside, they can also introduce business partners and open doors to potential customers.

Mr Chau got the idea for the scheme after he noticed that once start-ups have proved their technologies can be turned into products and services, many are unable to proceed further. That is because they do not have the crucial skills for commercialisation, and thus are unable to secure the necessary funding for further growth.

'One aim of 123Jumpstart is to accelerate the start-ups' growth or death. If they are good, we want them to grow faster, if they aren't, then we want to kill the idea,' he said.

SiTF will be renting office space in Ayer Rajah Block 71, a hub for start-ups.

123Jumpstart has a board of governors chaired by Mr Roger Yuen, founder of social networking site Clozette and a SiTF councillor. The board has already met twice and is now planning for a launch event next month.

Grace Chng