There've been a couple of shocks and shake-ups amongst the startup scene during recent weeks.
First there was the whole Facebook-Cambridge Analytica thingy that saw founder Mark Zuckerberg have to toss away his signature teeshirt-hoodie combo for a blue suit and go up to Washington to answer "mind-boggling bordering on tech stoopid" questions about the platform he created all those years ago.
Then, closer to sunny shores, there was the Uber-Grab exchange, which, of course, has had Uber exit, leaving Grab in the main running within SEA, followed closely by GoJek and Ryder stepping up the game.
The start up scene appears to have been left unscathed- which is a very good thing. Other than a half-opened eyeball over footage released by the press guys, most seem to have gone about their work and gone about their day like any other.
And yet...
Can I say that no one feels nothing? Can I say that their confidence has not taken a slight wake-up call? Or that founders and co-founders are realizing that the rosy picture they've been presented to, or the rosy picture that they're presenting to others ain't the same as what it used to be?
Maybe. Maybe not.
It depends on who you are.
But something definitely has changed.
And for the better too, I'd like to say.
Whether or not Zuck (I didn't even know he had such a name amongst the community) should have gone up to Congress, sit there and get grilled by tech dinosaurs or not, I'm not going to offer an opinion. What's happened has already happened. What's taken place has already taken place.
But if there's one thing start-up founders and founders in general should acknowledge, it is that there is no invincibility in this world. No one, no company, is invincible. It doesn't matter how huge you are, how much of the world you control, how iconic you are, how many followers you have, or how many admirers you have. You're still not invincible.
And if there's another thing start-up founders ought to realize, there is this word called accountability. I don't mean being accountable to your investors- that's a no brainer. I mean the term in the sense that there will be questions from your fellow founders, there will be questions from the audiences that you present to, there will be differing opinions that might just raise your heckles, there will be stoopid questions, there will be times when you feel like you're talking to the wall, and all of which is something one has to be prepared for.
Should it stop them if their askers not comprehend what it is they do? Should they then adopt an even more arrogant attitude simply because they're speaking to people from 'a different level'? Should they even look down on those who don't belong to their generation and have no idea why they're doing what they do?
I hope not.
Likewise I hope not too that founders, mentors, panelists and everyone alike hold an attitude of over-confidence and over-arrogance in what is actually a fairly vulnerable economy.
I hope that in this very diverse and very exciting economy where there are many experts, many investors, many mentors and many founders, each and everyone will find their place, find their real purpose and anchor their individuality.
Okay, I'm gonna be a beeeet bold here and just say what I'm going to say. You may agree, you may disagree, you may find what I say scathing and un-like me or quit being an acquaintance, but whether you agree or not, I'm just going to place it as a casual, general observation that I, till date, have quietly held. :)
See, over the last couple of years, and over a barrage of workshops, bootcamps, networking events, seminars and the like, I've had the privilege to observe various roles in this industry, and can I say that there are good ones, there are better ones, and there are those who really should just go and take a pi** at themselves.
I don't mind mentors. I've had pretty good ones who double up as investors and whom technically I have to report to before stepping into any territory. But if there's one thing that differs these mentors from some of the others I've seen, it's that they're incredibly dedicated to what they do. In other words, mentors, stop going around hunting for worshippers. If you're good, you're good, and the right people will validate you. Keep doing what you're doing, do it right and well and you'll have the loyalists that have truly benefited from what you do. You don't need to hear their worship. You just need to know that what you do has an impact on lives out there, and if what you're doing- never mind if you come from Silicon Valley or wherever in the world- isn't getting the impact as it should, well, quit all the useless hoovering and go back to the drawing board.
Same goes for the Experts. If you're an Expert, you are one, and you'll be asked questions that an expert with some sort of experience and know-how will know how to answer. Stop emulating other experts. Stop being a Zuckerberg wannabe. Wearing sports gear and sitting on the table whilst making your presentation earns you no respect when you cannot answer a simple question asked privately. Earn those d*** stripes. And if you've been in the scene for a while, don't tell me Management stuff that you've picked up from college or self-help books. Not all of us in this scene are alien to corporate structure. Don't advise me to go read this book by this person or that book by that person and THEN I'll have my answer. Don't tell me opinions that have been formulated by others but please share with me some of your own. I'm not asking what others think. I'm asking what you think. Because that's what I really, really want to know...
Okay, I've probably pissed off a whole bunch of people.
But I don't care.
The startup industry is a quick-growing one, and despite a common undercurrent, the dynamics are fascinating, interesting and thrilling. I've interacted with startup souls from India, US, Russia, Korea, Vietnam, Israel, Thailand and a few other places, and they're all amazingly different.
That's what makes it so vibrant.
It's been an interesting journey thus far, and one I foresee can only get better. We'll evolve, no doubt, we'll see a couple of subtle changes here and there, I imagine, in the management function, the marketing function, the user acquisition function, monetization model bla bla bla, and there'll be those who will have to rethink their attitude and understand that if the founder of Facebook can be grilled by fuddy tech dinos, so can they.
In the meantime, any chance of fruit ciders alongside the evening beers and the coffees...? :D
First there was the whole Facebook-Cambridge Analytica thingy that saw founder Mark Zuckerberg have to toss away his signature teeshirt-hoodie combo for a blue suit and go up to Washington to answer "mind-boggling bordering on tech stoopid" questions about the platform he created all those years ago.
Then, closer to sunny shores, there was the Uber-Grab exchange, which, of course, has had Uber exit, leaving Grab in the main running within SEA, followed closely by GoJek and Ryder stepping up the game.
The start up scene appears to have been left unscathed- which is a very good thing. Other than a half-opened eyeball over footage released by the press guys, most seem to have gone about their work and gone about their day like any other.
And yet...
Can I say that no one feels nothing? Can I say that their confidence has not taken a slight wake-up call? Or that founders and co-founders are realizing that the rosy picture they've been presented to, or the rosy picture that they're presenting to others ain't the same as what it used to be?
Maybe. Maybe not.
It depends on who you are.
But something definitely has changed.
And for the better too, I'd like to say.
Whether or not Zuck (I didn't even know he had such a name amongst the community) should have gone up to Congress, sit there and get grilled by tech dinosaurs or not, I'm not going to offer an opinion. What's happened has already happened. What's taken place has already taken place.
But if there's one thing start-up founders and founders in general should acknowledge, it is that there is no invincibility in this world. No one, no company, is invincible. It doesn't matter how huge you are, how much of the world you control, how iconic you are, how many followers you have, or how many admirers you have. You're still not invincible.
And if there's another thing start-up founders ought to realize, there is this word called accountability. I don't mean being accountable to your investors- that's a no brainer. I mean the term in the sense that there will be questions from your fellow founders, there will be questions from the audiences that you present to, there will be differing opinions that might just raise your heckles, there will be stoopid questions, there will be times when you feel like you're talking to the wall, and all of which is something one has to be prepared for.
Should it stop them if their askers not comprehend what it is they do? Should they then adopt an even more arrogant attitude simply because they're speaking to people from 'a different level'? Should they even look down on those who don't belong to their generation and have no idea why they're doing what they do?
I hope not.
Likewise I hope not too that founders, mentors, panelists and everyone alike hold an attitude of over-confidence and over-arrogance in what is actually a fairly vulnerable economy.
I hope that in this very diverse and very exciting economy where there are many experts, many investors, many mentors and many founders, each and everyone will find their place, find their real purpose and anchor their individuality.
Okay, I'm gonna be a beeeet bold here and just say what I'm going to say. You may agree, you may disagree, you may find what I say scathing and un-like me or quit being an acquaintance, but whether you agree or not, I'm just going to place it as a casual, general observation that I, till date, have quietly held. :)
See, over the last couple of years, and over a barrage of workshops, bootcamps, networking events, seminars and the like, I've had the privilege to observe various roles in this industry, and can I say that there are good ones, there are better ones, and there are those who really should just go and take a pi** at themselves.
I don't mind mentors. I've had pretty good ones who double up as investors and whom technically I have to report to before stepping into any territory. But if there's one thing that differs these mentors from some of the others I've seen, it's that they're incredibly dedicated to what they do. In other words, mentors, stop going around hunting for worshippers. If you're good, you're good, and the right people will validate you. Keep doing what you're doing, do it right and well and you'll have the loyalists that have truly benefited from what you do. You don't need to hear their worship. You just need to know that what you do has an impact on lives out there, and if what you're doing- never mind if you come from Silicon Valley or wherever in the world- isn't getting the impact as it should, well, quit all the useless hoovering and go back to the drawing board.
Same goes for the Experts. If you're an Expert, you are one, and you'll be asked questions that an expert with some sort of experience and know-how will know how to answer. Stop emulating other experts. Stop being a Zuckerberg wannabe. Wearing sports gear and sitting on the table whilst making your presentation earns you no respect when you cannot answer a simple question asked privately. Earn those d*** stripes. And if you've been in the scene for a while, don't tell me Management stuff that you've picked up from college or self-help books. Not all of us in this scene are alien to corporate structure. Don't advise me to go read this book by this person or that book by that person and THEN I'll have my answer. Don't tell me opinions that have been formulated by others but please share with me some of your own. I'm not asking what others think. I'm asking what you think. Because that's what I really, really want to know...
Okay, I've probably pissed off a whole bunch of people.
But I don't care.
The startup industry is a quick-growing one, and despite a common undercurrent, the dynamics are fascinating, interesting and thrilling. I've interacted with startup souls from India, US, Russia, Korea, Vietnam, Israel, Thailand and a few other places, and they're all amazingly different.
That's what makes it so vibrant.
It's been an interesting journey thus far, and one I foresee can only get better. We'll evolve, no doubt, we'll see a couple of subtle changes here and there, I imagine, in the management function, the marketing function, the user acquisition function, monetization model bla bla bla, and there'll be those who will have to rethink their attitude and understand that if the founder of Facebook can be grilled by fuddy tech dinos, so can they.
In the meantime, any chance of fruit ciders alongside the evening beers and the coffees...? :D