Hong Kong, Startups, and Bootcamp

Hong Kong, like Singapore, is a city that is a financial hub for many international businesses, but still a small market. Similar to Singapore, it is a place with a growing number of startups and in fact we have covered some of them here.

In an email exchange, Paul Orlando, who runs Startup Bootcamp in Hong Kong tells me that the current Hong Kong startup scene reminds him of New York in 2008. He describes the current Hong Kong tech ecosystem:

People are coming together, there are more events, people are very helpful to others in the tech community. But there is also a lot of work to be done to develop that community.

The problem in Hong Kong, according to Orlando, is that the city has too few students studying computer science and too few people are willing to work in a startup. That problem sounds like one that bothering Singapore-based startups too, although things are changing. And as a startup Orlando doesn’t believe that entrepreneurs should just leave things as is. Instead, he urges startups to be more creative in their pursuit of talent, convincing smart people that working in startup is a more rewarding journey — in terms of money or experience (or both).

Apparently, startups in Hong Kong are growing. In fact, reports that the startup scene in Hong Kong is booming/escalating have appeared on CNNGO and Forbes over the last two years. But have things really improved? Orlando says that Hong Kong is losing its edge with minimal tech entrepreneurship happening in the country. He elaborated:

This [lack of tech entrepreneurship] is detrimental to the city’s long-term competitiveness. An antidote to all of this in Hong Kong is currently grassroots entrepreneurship. There is no other bootcamp or accelerator program operating in Hong Kong — even activities by the government do not fit this role.

So Orlando sets out to work on his startup bootcamp in hopes of catalyzing the tech ecosystem in Hong Kong. The bootcamp is a three-month program that aims to help entrepreneurs shape their products and be ready for the market. The course will be based on the lean startup concepts and Orlando’s experience as an entrepreneur back in New York City. The program is open for local and international entrepreneurs. In the first Hong Kong bootcamp, Orlando said that he was surprised to see startups from California who travelled all the way overseas to take part in his program.

We are firm believers in building an ecosystem. But a not-so-mature ecosystem doesn’t necessarily equate to failure. An entrepreneur finds his/her way through regardless of how bad the situation is.