Hi folks. It’s our second day here at Echelon, Singapore with another interesting panel of prominent investors. Grace Chng from The Straits Times led as the moderator, trying to find out what’s inside the mind of these investors. Here are my live notes:
Panelists:
- Tuff Yen, from Seraph Group
- James Chan, from Neoteny Labs
- Willson Cuaca, from East Ventures
- William Klippgen, from Tigris Capital
#10:03 Grace to James: “As an investor, what are the two things that piss you off?”
James: “(1) Never insult investors, (2) Be transparent with investors. The community is small and investors usually trade notes with each other.”
[The discussion broadens] Grace directs to Willson, who commented that as an investor, he wants to understand ‘the big vision’ and eventually how a founder will execute. William comments that the relationship between founders and investors is very much like a marriage. “It’s a long term relationship,” he said.
#10:09 Tuff says he sees over 2,000 proposals in a year. [That's pretty cool!] “If an investor understands the industry, within 30 seconds, it is pretty clear if you’re “up or down.”
Willson: “Southeast Asia is a very fragmented market and should be seen as multiple, smaller regions. While it is important to understand the U.S as a homogenous market, we usually need to break it down to make it relevant to the Southeast Asian market.”
#10:15 Grace: “Do you see age as a factor?”
James volunteers to speak first (since he is the youngest). “It’s not about age but more about ability.”
Tuff says that younger founders seem to have more energy to run the show.
#10:20 Grace: “Besides money, how can investors help founders?”
Willson: “Mentorship. Most of the start-ups we invested in are based in Indonesia and we use BlackBerry Messenger a lot to communicate.”
Grace: “Can we see a Facebook in Southeast Asia?”
James: Not yet.
Tuff puts things into perspective: “In the U.S, most large tech companies don’t know they will someday be $10-billion companies. The culture and the people in Silicon Valley help shape up and increase the probability of success. Ideas are ubiquitous, and Asia has the same access to achieve the same success.”
William says the potential is shifting to Asia which is why he is here. But there is a culture of copying on this continent too. For example, in Singapore, there are over 20 Groupon clones.
James: “Most investors need to be patient.” ViKi, for example, took a couple years before it finally found the right direction and eventually took off. Some companies just need some time to grow and realize their potential. Asians tend to focus on short-term gains which might hamper some of the start-ups’ true potential.
#10:29 Question from audience: What are the five check boxes which start-ups need to have?
Willson: People (the most important factor), potential market (which sometimes may not exist), product (it’s important to launch, test, and pivot based on market data).
James: “The team. We don’t have enough CTOs in Singapore.”
Tuff says if a founder is recommended by someone he trusts, it improves the chances of getting an investment. But if the product is already out in the market, he explains that will put on his data-driven thinking hat to analyze the start-up’s investment chance. He also gave a pretty classic but important piece of advice: “Try to know the investors. Build chemistry.”
Disclosure: Penn Olson is backed by East Ventures.
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