Catalyst Connector Site

By Felix Lee

Singapore has been on the forefront of a large public relations campaign to promote its technological prowess, having been given the mandate to add excitement and EQuality to its often-posed stuffy image, enhanced by a lacklustre skyline not often worthy of a holiday snapshot. So it comes as no surprise that a major revamp came due, from the top.

F1 night race through the city; the clockwise movement of the Flyer; ascension of Marina Bay Sands casino, Genting’s Universal Studios at Sentosa, Garden Festival, are a start to the plethora of initiatives targeted at impressing MICE and the new talent drive to raise the republic’s profile as a key bridge between West and the new East.

Imagine my surprise when a familiar firebrand in the persona of TechCrunch’s own Sarah Lacy was heading down to the little red dot of Singapore, on the pretext of launching her new book. I signed up.

The humid evening and a shortage of car parking spaces, saw many take refuge in a little known Sushi bar in the courtyard of the old Catholic High on this WebWednesday event at 6pm. I was no different. When I swung the door inwards, a waft of warm air whooshed out instead, as the 180 capacity crowd exceeded expectations. [Now I know why even standing room was limited!]. To boot, only 60 beers had been allocated for complimentary consumption, and that must have been gulped down 30minutes ago before the heat wave kicked in. Roy Chee, executive chef and owner, lamented about the short notice he was given, and misinformation that this would be a “small intimate crowd”. He was short-staffed and afraid that should the Fire Safety Branch pay him a visit, that his sushi bar was going kaput.

Mostly professionals in the IT industry, I bumped into Tudor and Calvin from Grokkit, Shannon Low who was now representing PlugandPlayTechCenter, a tech micro-funding interest, 2359’s own WenShan, MDA mentor Kris Childress, and other familiar faces from the enterprising circuit of the new web couture. Phu Hong from Amazon web services gave me a quick peek at his new offerings, and Prerna Pant of Ogilvy360 enthused her new role in managing sales via e-connectivity for client IBM. I had the chance to hear of a new closet-management application on Facebook through creative director Kersie Koh, one of a trio from the new Clozette.co starring Roger Yuen and Cheryl Tan as CEO and COO respectively. Best keep an eye on how women manage [and share] their outfits online. That should keep the boys busy with eye candy!

Sarah appeared an hour later, looking refreshed and as gutsy as her reputation preceded. Book in hand, she gave a short rendition and drew namecards for the Kindle up for grabs. No more than a few seconds later, the crowd converged on her with multiple salvos of questions related to trends in the USA, her controversial Mark Zukerberg interview, plus a barrage of elevator pitches which saw our reluctant heroine fielding with candid matter-of-factness.

Came my turn to introduce my Catalyst Connector creds and a pledge to get in touch with her after her “circuit”. Her Singapore leg covered ASTAR, NUS, MDA and iDA from what I was told, but our conversation focussed on chilli crab and her complaints that she only got watered-down non-spicy versions because the locals presumed she couldn’t stomach the chilli version! Now, I got a glimpse of her fiery remarks and almost brutal honesty backed by the passion of a statement demanding a response. We chatted on the state of a missing layer of funding locally and regionally, the psychological crossover when US firms need to handle Asian cultural content, and her love for travel to often-ignored outreaches of the world.

It was warm, I was hungry [chilli crab was mentioned no less than 8 times], and she had a full day [hubby was signalling], so outside to the courtyard I went, and chatted with charming Maylene Tan of TTG’s marketing arm, before calling it a long drive home!

Takeaway: US hype drives its own funding, affiliated with its own diaspora. While the “astute” investments Westside are based on a trust of trusts, Asian mentality of the “kiasu” genre, actually denudes and depreciates its own technical prowess. Asians should learn to trust in risk as a manageable asset, not as a loss-complying end to its means. This is the EQuality missing in assessing potential innovations. In short, all “mistakes” can be corrected toward a positive valuation!

 

Notes:

E27 organises a casual drink evening each month within the entrepreneurial community, and this meetup with Sarah was labelled “Founders Drinks” on October 27, Wednesday at Standing Sushi Bar next to Singapore Arts Museum.

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