What I learnt from my two days at #TIASG2016

For a newbie to the startup world (read: me), the Tech in Asia conference in Singapore proved to be an orientation to the startup ecosystem in Asia.

It was a dazzling event face to face with scores of others who live, eat and breathe the entrepreneurial life. The event had 200 exhibiting startups and 4,000 attendees including VCs, government officials, industry leaders and other inquisitive minds presenting countless networking opportunities. While I can say a gazillion things about the overall experience itself, it was listening to other like-minded and not-so-like-minded individuals over the two days that gave me the true “Aha!” moments.

Exhibiting startups at TIASG2016

Here are 5 key takeaways that stood out for me.

1. Winter isn’t coming. Not yet.

Amidst falling growth rates, rock bottom oil prices, low industrial production indices and general noises of doom and gloom, it is largely believed that the VC purse strings will tighten as well.

Khailee Ng , Managing Partner at 500 startups, clearly does not subscribe to this view. In fact he “does not give a fu*k”. VC funding in Asia doubled in the past 12 months from $8.9 billion to $17.2 billion. Southeast Asia grew at an even more impressive rate to record $478 million in the first 3 months of the year. And this is only half the level of funding in India!

Khailee Ng, speaking at TIASG2016

Read more about Khailee’s talk here

This clearly means that if there is a differentiated idea solving a real problem, there is no dearth of capital.

Forget the naysayers, if your fundamentals are right, this is the best time to be part of the start up world.

2. Big corporates are sitting up and taking note

I spent the first 7 years of my career in large MNCs, which were too self-absorbed to see startups as real threats or serious allies. This trend is swiftly and surely reversing. There is a newfound respect for those taking the entrepreneurial plunge, but what’s more is that they are also recognizing the startup ecosystem as critical to driving innovation in the industry.

Not only were the likes of Visa and DBS sponsoring the TIASG2016 event, but executives from these large corporations spent 2 full days mingling with startups. KPMG announced the launch of KPMG Digital Village, a collaborative ecosystem of innovators, investors, and corporates innovating together.

3. Asia is the hotbed of action

4. Fundamentals of the VC industry are changing

5. Short-term working is a hot space