ABSTRACT
This book is a collection of technology startup cases in Asia, told in a narrative form, to give readers an insider view to how innovators and technopreneurs view entrepreneurial opportunities from use of technology, how the technopreneurs raise funding to support their vision, and the subsequent relationship of the technopreneurs and their investors. The book illustrates some of the cases using the theory of effectuation.
The book is divided into four sections: Part One chronicles case studies of technopreneurs who raised capital but had difficulty with managing the investor expectations and relationship, to the detriment of the venture. Part Two chronicles case studies of technopreneurs who started their ventures without venture capital, with some who later raised capital at a much later stage, and were able to exit successfully. All case studies are of technology ventures in Asia from the mid-1990’s where venture capital and entrepreneur ecosystem were under-developed. Lessons learned from the various case studies are told from a practitioner’s perspective. Part Three describes the development of the venture ecosystem, specifically in Singapore, a city-state aspiring to follow the Silicon Valley model. The technopreneurs in Parts I and II play the roles of mentors/investors in the newly developing system. Part Four includes two new young technology ventures’ fund raising dilemmas, written in a teaching case format.
The book can be used by practitioners and by educators for developing a deep understanding on the issues of raising capital for the purpose of growing the venture, and the trade-offs of capital from the different groups of investors and their financial terms. It is useful to young and mid-career professionals looking at starting a technology venture in Asia.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |31 pages
Raising Money for your Technology Dream
chapter |11 pages
Star + Globe Technologies and Virginia Cha
chapter |8 pages
Pixelmetrix and Danny Wilson
chapter |8 pages
Sinetics Associates and Danny Chng
chapter |2 pages
Lessons Learned and Key Takeaways
part |38 pages
Plunging into the Market
chapter |7 pages
Finesse Alliance and Chak Kong Soon
chapter |9 pages
PlaNET and Ronnie Wee
chapter |12 pages
System Access and Leslie Loh
chapter |6 pages
Systems@Work and Ng Fook Sun
chapter |2 pages
Lessons Learned and Key Takeaways
part |15 pages
Coaching the Young
chapter |3 pages
Conclusion: Engineers, Marketers, and Futurists
part |20 pages
Paying it Forward