Welcome back to the 4th (very noisy – sorry!) segment of my interview with the Founder and CEO of Socialwok, Ming Yong! Socialwok is a collaborative social feed built on Google apps.

This is a story about what Socialwok learned from its private beta, and how it changed the way they thought about their initial product. During the aftermath of winning the 2009 TechCrunch50 Demopit Award, Ming Yong met with some some of Silicon Valley’s heaviest hitters. He discussed Socialwok with two of the most revered investors in the history of Silicon Valley: Ron Conway of SV Angel and Paul Graham of Y Combinator.

Before unpacking how Socialwok reevaluated its initial product based on the private beta, I was curious how aligned Ming and Paul’s philosophies were around launching a startup.

PAUL GRAHAM’S PHILOSOPHY FOR LAUNCHING A STARTUP

Paul Graham believes that there is only one way for founders to understand what adjustments they need to make in order to achieve product/market fit: listen to feedback from real users. So, his philosophy is for startups to launch at the moment their product has reached a “quantum of utility”. At Y Combinator, speed-to-market is of the essence.

At first glance, Ming’s advice in one of the previous segments of our interview seemed slightly different. He said that the best way for startups to leverage launch-specific events like TC50 is to remain in stealth mode for as long as possible; keeping product releases hidden from the public.

*Side note on launch events: Conferences like TC50 prefer to build hype around their event by keeping the startup launches as mysterious as possible. You can read/watch how Socialwok gained the attention of TechCrunch here.

MING’S ADVICE FOR LAUNCHING YOUR STARTUP

Ultimately, Ming agrees with Paul. He believes startups ought to work on building their product for 2 months and then quickly start getting feedback by testing it with people. Even if you’re letting some users play with your product through a private beta, that doesn’t mean you can’t remain in stealth mode. You don’t have to necessarily announce it to the world.

Ming and Paul’s worry? That most startups will take 6 months to ship their beta product and then wait another 6 months before launching publicly.

SOCIALWOK’S PRIVATE BETA REVEALS A KEY LESSON

So, here’s what Socialwok did. They built version one of their product quickly and went into a closed beta. The product was a microblogging platform that was independent of any workflow. They had 20 companies testing the beta at the beginning of the first week. By the end of the week, only 3 companies were still using it.

What was the problem? People are already consumed by email, and Socialwok was trying to get them to adopt yet another workflow. The extra hassle was made worse because version one of their product was not high-value. This is why Socialwok suffered from such an abysmal drop-off rate after their first week in beta.

SOCIALWOK ADJUSTS VERSION ONE, ACHIEVES PRODUCT/MARKET FIT

On their second iteration, Ming and his team determined that they needed to adjust their product to somehow improve the workflows that most people were already accustomed to. They recognized that a lot of their targeted users’ workflow involved Google Apps. So, Socialwok decided to offer sharing, microblogging, and collaborative features on top of Google Apps.

The difference?

Suddenly, Ming’s team wasn’t ‘forcing’ customers to use Socialwok purely for Socialwok’s sake. Instead, Socialwok was helping customers do what they were already doing better; adding value to their Google Apps workflow. If not for the private beta, Ming doesn’t believe they would have recognized the opportunity to incorporate Google Apps as a means of distribution.

DON’T MISS…

In the end of the interview, Ming provides some pretty cool tips for getting the most out of private betas. Having thousands of users of your early version product can lead to a high volume of feedback. It’s important to determine which of it is important to your future, and which should be set aside. Ming uses a rather entertaining analogy to explain how Socialwok distinguished relevant feedback from not-so-relevant feedback during its beta.

He also points out that the most important feedback is often unavoidable because scores of users will start telling you the same thing. If you want to know the origins of Socialwok’s story, you can read about it and watch segment one here.

THANK YOU TO…

Once again, I need to thank my French-Canadian friend Johanna Mortreux for her awesome help with the camera and for watching the time. Also, big thanks (and a belated happy birthday!) to Ming for his stellar interview. It’s a pity the venue was so noisy!

As part of my ongoing internship with Syncables, I’m currently working on a beta product called LivePlay. Got any advice to share on running an effective beta? Drop your insight in the comments!

Thousands of users. Praised by Robert Scoble. Winner of TechCrunch50′s Demopit Award. A growing track record of working with Google. A global presence achieved from being started in Singapore, having offices in Connecticut, and servicing customers in Europe. And a very diverse team of three co-founders: one from Singapore, one from India, and one from the U.S.

Without question, there is quite a lot to be learned from Socialwok‘s high flying journey as a startup with an international footprint. In this segment, Ming Yong shared a few of the challenges they’ve experienced and revealed some lessons they’ve learned along the way.

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1. What to do? Focus on marketing Socialwok or improving and shipping product?

In a small team, the specific efforts you choose to focus your time on are crucial in the growth of your startup. Ming says the challenge of choosing between putting more time into growing your brand versus shipping product depends largely on the stage of the startup.

At first, Socialwok focused on building something people would care about. All the marketing and press in the world will not help if your product does not deliver on its promises. To be successful, Ming says you need to have a decent product combined with terrific marketing. On the other hand, even a terrific product will struggle to succeed if it is combined with merely decent marketing.

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2. The Internet does not negate where your startup is physically located.

When chatting with Ming, I was curious if physical location mattered less now in the startup world since the Internet has made it so easy to communicate with anyone in the blink of an eye. Socialwok is based in Singapore, but serves customers primarily in North America and Europe. Ming says that the Internet certainly makes it possible to be just about anywhere and still succeed, but warns against being 100% physically separated from your market.

For example, a crucial milestone in Socialwok’s journey was when they met with Robert Scoble in-person and impressed him with their demo. They would love to get covered again by Scoble, but the problem is that he prefers face-to-face interactions…and Scoble is far, far away in California. The solution Ming and his team are building is a 2 country model with certain aspects of the business in America and others in Singapore.

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3. Pick up the team and move to Silicon Valley? Not so fast….

Despite the many benefits and seemingly natural fit for Socialwok in the world’s technology epicenter of Silicon Valley, moving a company to America is a very difficult thing to do. As any foreign entrepreneur will tell you, the U.S. immigration process is highly complicated and visas are very tough to get.

Thus, Socialwok’s co-founders are forced to carry out their virtual meetings with U.S. clients and partners late at night and often into the early mornings to be available during the American working day. Their workday revolves around the clock. Luckily, the Singapore government is very helpful with startups and provides a great environment for building a business. As Ming says, it is a first world country with “basically 2nd and a half world prices”. As an added bonus, the web connectivity is superb.

NOTE: If you want more, check out “The Future of Singapore“, a post I wrote about where Singapore is headed.

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LAST WORDS

I need to once again thank Johanna Mortreux for helping me with the video! She was really fun to work with and very helpful. Also, have to thank Ming for his awesomeness and for doing the interview with me.

Where would you most want to start a startup?

Welcome back to segment two of my interview with Ming Yong, Founder and CEO of Socialwok; the collaborative social feed built on Google apps.

It was the summer of 2009. The Socialwok founders – based in Singapore – were planning to fly to San Francisco to meet with Google the second week of September. When they discovered that the TechCrunch50 conference was the exact same week, they decided to go for it and applied. But the registration deadline was just three weeks away.

They didn’t get in.

There were nearly 400 applications competing for just 50 spots. Unexpectedly, the team had a moment of fortune: Socialwok was given a last-minute slot in The DemoPit, a crowded showroom floor filled with tables for semi-finalist startups to pitch their companies. Based on a popular vote of the conference attendees, two startups would get the opportunity to present on stage.

What happened next is how Socialwok grabbed the attention of the major influencers in the world of technology.

WINNING THE TECHCRUNCH50 DEMOPIT AWARD

Credit: TechCrunch

Ming Yong and his team slept for less than 5 hours during the conference, hustling hard to convince anyone who would listen that Socialwok was the real deal. Then it happened. Socialwok won the popular vote. The team took home the DemoPit award and crushed it on stage in front of the entire conference, building their brand and winning the respect of many of their peers.

Afterwards, the pressure was on Ming and his team to take advantage of the infamous TechCrunch Effect. Socialwok’s site shot up from a meager 100 web views to between 3-4,000 web views in the 24 hours following their TechCrunch debut.

While it was difficult to sustain, many of the major tech media sites couldn’t help but take notice and get in touch with Socialwok to cover their product launches. In addition to a host of TechCrunch coverage, they were covered shortly afterward by ReadWriteWeb, Google Enterprise Blogs, and more.

MEETING ROBERT SCOBLE, AND MING’S ADVICE FOR STARTUPS

Credit: SGentrepreneurs.

Not long after Socialwok won The DemoPit Award, Ming approached the legend Robert Scoble and asked to show him the product. Scoble liked Socialwok and tweeted about it during Ming’s demo. The team watched as lots of people around the world retweeted Scoble and caused Socialwok’s traffic to once again take off. A few days later Scoble wrote about Socialwok on his blog.

How did they do it?

To quote Ming, “Robert Scoble and co. did not get famous by writing about crap.” Instead, they built an enormous, trusting readership by creating very valuable content. So, build something awesome or forget about getting covered by the likes of Scoble.

But that’s not it. The problem? There’s lots of good stuff for influential bloggers like Scoble to choose from. So, that’s where the importance of relationships comes into play. Ming warns against sending a ‘cold email’ just pitching your startup. Instead, do your best to meet him in person. Ming also advises building genuine relationships with key friends of Scoble and eventually asking for an introduction.

[NOTE: For more advice on building relationships with journalists like Robert Scoble, listen to this classic Mixergy interview with Tim Ferriss.]

Finally, a big hug goes out to Johanna Mortreux for helping me with the video. Also, many thanks to Ming for being The Man and doing the interview with me.

What tips do you have for building relationships with journalists and gaining valuable PR for startups?

Unforgettable.

I still remember when I first discovered Socialwok. I was in Singapore’s Supperclub for the the iMATCH Launchpad event, standing behind a panel of investors that included former BitTorrent Founder and President (and current partner at early stage startup program i/o Ventures) Ashwin Navin and Google Senior Manager-turned-angel investor Aydin Senkut (whose portfolio at Felicis Ventures includes such successes as Mint).

I started filming as Ming Yong stood up to present Socialwok to the crowded room. I decided I simply had to interview him. Less than two weeks later (at a noisy Coffee Bean in the heart of Singapore’s shopping district on Orchard Road), I did. The video above is the first segment (of six) of our interview.

INTERVIEW SUMMARY

In the interview, we discussed what pain Socialwok solves, how the company started, how it’s different from Google products like Google Wave, and how users can try out the product. Ming talked about launching in Silicon Valley at the TechCrunch50 Conference and pitching Google’s legendary co-founder (and now CEO) Larry Page. Also, Ming breaks down Socialwok’s freemium model and explains how he believes the freemium model is a marketing strategy, not a business model.

If you wanna check it out, Socialwok is available in the iPhone App Store and the Android Marketplace.

WHO IS MING YONG, AND WHAT IS SOCIALWOK?

Ming Yong is a serial entrepreneur in Singapore who graduated from Cornell University. He is currently the Founder and CEO of Socialwok. Socialwok is essentially Facebook for business, integrated with Google Apps. The startup brings feed-based sharing to the enterprise and is advised by Adam Rifkin, a well known entrepreneur in Silicon Valley.

Socialwok was the 2009 TechCrunch50 DemoPit Award Winner, and the fast-moving Singaporean startup has been covered by TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, Robert Scoble, and The Next Web.

AND FINALLY…

A big thank you to my friend Johanna Mortreux for filming the entire interview, and of course to Ming for his friendship and for bringing his A game to the interview.

What do you think of the freemium model? What are some really cool companies out there that use it?

“The Problems with Today’s Entrepreneurs”: Singapore VC Nicholas Chan Explains from John Exley on Vimeo.

NOTE: **Warning About Video: at the 1:30 mark in this video, something is messed up with my camera (or perhaps my file?) for about 4 seconds and initially when reviewing the video it caught me off guard so I hope you aren’t taken aback by it!

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Begin: the final segment.
31 year-old venture capitalist Nicholas Chan thinks there is something wrong with entrepreneurs these days: they talk too much, and they spend way too much meeting each other rather than focusing on building their businesses. Disagree? Have a conversation with him on Twitter. Want to have a personal dialogue? Email him: nicholas@azionecapital.com.

Who is Nicholas Chan? The serial entrepreneur behind 5 companies and 1 non-profit is currently the Founder & Executive Director of Singapore-based early stage venture capital firm and startup business incubator Azione Capital.

UPDATE: Want more? Watch segment 1: “The Early Days of The Accidental Venture Capitalist”

In this the final segment of my interview with him from late April, Nicholas addresses a few of the problems he has seen surface with Singapore’s entrepreneurs that come to him with proposals for VC funding. He also describes his outspoken methodology of refusing to invest in entrepreneurs who are “trend followers”, “talkers-not-doers”, and “fancy education boasting”. Basically, people who try to prove their worth by writing and not doing.

Finally, Nicholas explains why he thinks Asia/China has it right when it comes to business fundamentals, relationship building, and long term focus.

What are Nicholas’ credentials? Watch/read segment 3 of my interview with him here. In short, he has invested in 25 companies and had 3 successful exits thus far.

*NOTE: Special thanks to my friend Lai Wing Sheng for helping out by handling the camera!

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Below are my interview summary notes:

1. Nicholas talks about how he thinks the most successful tech startups are quiet; not consumed with blogging, tweeting, and attending events.

2. As a follow-up, I asked him ‘so if you’re not going to be consumed with blogging/tweeting/attending events, how do you efficiently network and build relationships / engagement / community without becoming consumed by it?’

3. I give a shout out to my best friend ADAM “The Stepbrother” RAYBURN

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UPDATE: Oh yeah, and watch segment 2 of my interview if you want to learn how Nicholas “Won Over Mentors As a Teenager“.

QUESTION to YOU the reader: Do you agree with Nicholas’ take on today’s entrepreneurs spending too much time socially…whether on or offline?

Singapore’s Entrepreneur-turned-”Accidental” VC Nicholas Chan on Investing in Asia from John Exley on Vimeo.

NOTE: **Warning About Video: at the 4:43 mark in this video, something is messed up with my camera (or perhaps my file?) for about 7 seconds. Initially when reviewing the video it caught me off guard so I hope you aren’t taken aback by it!

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Begin: the 3rd segment of my 4-part interview with Nicholas Chan…

An “accident”?
Most investors do not become venture capitalists accidentally. Singapore entrepreneur Nicholas Chan was managing the non-profit Project:Senso he had founded as his 6th company just a few years ago when the government approached him about ‘scaling’ his impact on the startup business sector by establishing a new VC fund.

Today, Nicholas Chan is a serial entrepreneur turned investor. As the Executive Director of Azione Capital, I was fascinated in learning more about his strategy for evaluating first time entrepreneurs and how he’s done so far as a young (just 31 years old) VC. Nicholas discloses the investments he’s made and explains how he goes about his due diligence when researching a specific startup and considering investing. Additionally, he reveals the metrics he analyzes when evaluating startups. He has invested in 25 companies (six in the Location Based Services sector, which is hot in Southeast Asia as well as the U.S.) and had 3 successful exits thus far. For a breakdown of his successful exits, check my interview notes at the bottom of this post!

While he takes a strong stance against the majority of big-mouth-do-little bloggers (more on this in the final segment of my interview), he is active on Twitter and LinkedIn.

*Want Nicholas’ attention? Email him: nicholas@azionecapital.com

*Special thanks to my friend Lai Wing Sheng for helping out by handling the camera!

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Below are the interview notes I took:

1. Nicholas tells the story of how he became an “accidental” venture capitalist.

2. He discusses how his success with Project:Senso and helping non-profits caught the government’s eye. IDM (Singapore’s government-run ‘Interactive and Digital Media Network’) contacted him and suggested a way for him to scale his strong support with startups. Nicholas bought into their vision and forms Azione Capital.

3. Nicholas has lead the funding of 25 companies, through 3 different channels:
A) Government
B) Own pocket
C) Azione Capital

4. Of his 25 investments, Nicholas has had three successful exits in the last 2 years (1 personal funding on his own part, where he was a co-founder; the other 2 were partially funded by Azione Capital and partially by the government). The companies are:
A) Who Works Around You
B) Events Core
C) GameMo

5. Nicholas explains the way he analyzes startups and how he goes about his due diligence, from most to least important:
A) Team
B) Market
C) Idea
D) Technology

6. Discusses the metrics he analyzes.

7. He has invested in 6 startups in the Location Based Services market, so he discussed the industry in Asia.

8. One sector he’s particularly interested in right now: maritime (sea). Why? Because of the technology ships are using. Broadband. New enterprise systems. etc.

9. He also shared his insider opinion of the career trajectory for becoming a VC. I asked him if starting and successfully growing/operating a company first was a “rite a passage” for all aspiring VC’s.

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QUESTION for YOU the reader: what do you think of how heavily involved Singapore’s government is in the early funding of startup companies? Is it good for the ecosystem as a whole or do you think it messes up the market?

How Singapore Entrepreneur-turned-”Accidental” VC Nicholas Chan Won Over Mentors As a Teenager from John Exley on Vimeo.

Fearless. Different.
Stirring up the pot is not a foreign concept to Nicholas Chan. In a culture like Singapore’s where authorities are followed without question and open confrontation is almost nonexistent, the 31 year old serial entrepreneur turned “accidental” venture capitalist (more on this in segment 3) stands out from the pack with his strong opinions.

He draws a distinct line between those who teach entrepreneurship and those who start companies:
“The difference between an academic and an entrepreneur? An academic gets caught up in the details. An entrepreneur knows what needs to be done today and finds a way to get it done.”

Nicholas is currently the Founder & Executive Director of Singapore-based early stage venture capital firm and startup business incubator Azione Capital. His background is quite different from what one might call the ‘typical venture capitalist’. At 17 years old he was unable to get into a university, his family was struggling, and he didn’t know if he was going to be able to eat from day-to-day. He took this need for survival and used it as fire to fuel his ambitions. In segment 1, he talks about how his early days as a teenage entrepreneur fighting to make it.

In this segment, Nicholas talks about what specific lessons he learned through his mistakes as a very young entrepreneur. Instead of learning the traditional way via academics in the classroom, he was forced to learn-by-doing.

But this is where it gets interesting.

Mentors. One very important factor in his success as a young entrepreneur? As mentioned: mentors. Nicholas had some very successful mentors when he was struggling as a teenager trying to make sense of the business landscape in Southeast Asia. I asked him about the process of how he got those mentors and what specific lessons they taught him.

Got an idea for a startup in Singapore and want to get Nicholas’ attention? Email him: nicholas@azionecapital.com. Or, follow him on Twitter. Or? Connect with him on LinkedIn.

*NOTE: Special thanks to my friend Lai Wing Sheng for helping out by managing the camera! Also, apologies for the dark lighting, in segments 3 and 4 we fixed this issue.

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Below are a couple notes I took:

1. Learn-by-doing what you can’t learn in classroom: what is actually happening in a guy’s mind in a negotiation. In the battlefield. The dynamics of understanding a negotiation.

2. The steps to take and the process of how he won over the CEO of Sim Lim Company (Mr. Soon Choo Teck) and President of K.S. Lee & Associates ( Mr. Lee Keh Sai) as his mentors. The value of each mentor has continued to grow…they both eventually came to sit on the Board of Directors for Nicholas’ VC firm Azione Capital.
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QUESTIONS: Do you have a mentor, and if so do you have any tips on how you got her/him as a mentor and what you’ve learned from her/him?

Singapore’s Entrepreneur-turned-”Accidental” VC, Nicholas Chan: The Early Days from John Exley on Vimeo.

It’s 1995.
17-year old Nicholas Chan is about to make a decision to capitalize on his technical skills and fight for his life. The serial entrepreneur turned “Accidental” venture capitalist (more on ‘accidental’ in segment 3) started an IT solutions company and never looked back. SCN Technologies was born with just $500 Singapore dollars worth of seed capital. Nicholas went on to start 5 companies, a non-profit, and become a venture capitalist (accidentally).

His story is unlike any I’ve been told. Throughout my 4 segment interview, he takes some thought-provoking and controversial stances on entrepreneurs attending events, talkers (particularly bloggers) who flap their gums and aren’t “doers”, and startup founders boasting about their “fancy education” when pitching him.

Currently, Nicholas (Follow him on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn) is the 31 year-old Founder & Executive Director of Singapore-based early stage venture capital firm Azione Capital. In this segment, Nicholas talks about how he got his start by founding his first company out of a need for survival.

A few years later (after very nearly going bankrupt), Nicholas didn’t give up. Instead, he took the real-world lessons that most ‘normal’ young adults haven’t experienced and started another company. And boy had he learned a lot. That company was a technology consultancy called iFoundries, and he started it with several other co-founders. In the interview, Nicholas explains how iFoundries was profitable within the very 1st month.

UPDATE: How did Nicholas win over mentors as a teenager? Watch segment 2 here.

Wanna get Nicholas’ attention? Email him: nicholas@azionecapital.com

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Below are a few notes I took:

1. Nicholas believes entrepreneurship in Singapore is getting softer. The media and bloggers are making the general public view the only entrepreneurship as technopreneurship.

2. iFoundries (Nicholas’ 2nd startup) is a consultancy for small and medium enterprises in Singapore that specializes in design, programming, technology, and marketing.

3. In the first month after founding iFoundries, Nicholas and his co-founders closed 8 deals, generated revenue and reached profitability.

4. iFoundries acquired several companies in its first year. They used some investment capital and the company’s profits to carry out these acquisitions.

5. Azione Capital, Nicholas’ early stage venture capital firm and startup business incubator, invests in the entrepreneur first. Azione was one of the first 3 business incubators that were approved under the microfunding scheme of Singapore’s Media Development Authority, which is a part of the Interactive Digital Media Programme Office.
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Special thanks to my friend Lai Wing Sheng for filming the interview!

QUESTIONS: How important is college/university to starting and growing a sustainable company? If you believe that what you learn in undergrad is valuable (I think it is), what is the best lesson you’ve learned so far?

The Future of Singapore: Entrepreneur Benny Lee Shares His Vision from John Exley on Vimeo.

BEGIN. “The easiest place in the world to do business.” (For 4 years in a row, according to the World Bank) “Located at the center of a burgeoning Southeast Asia startup boom.” “A dynamic global city.” “The most competitive country in the world.” Yes, all of this praise is about the same country: Singapore. It doesn’t even stop there. In its Doing Business 2010 report, the World Bank went on to rank Singapore #4 in the world for starting a business, #2 for protecting investors, and #1 for trading across borders.

As the business world is abuzz about China’s economic growth these days (and rightly so), Singapore is busy building its own empire of success while serving as the hub of Asia. And wow has the country risen quickly. The Republic of Singapore (just 4.6 million people) was founded as an independent country less than 50 years ago (1965) and it has already garnered many positions in the top rankings around the world (as mentioned above in many research reports that I have provided links to).

To try to gain an understanding of Singapore’s lightning fast rise and (perhaps, more importantly) the future of Singapore, I interviewed Benny Lee a few months ago while I was studying abroad at the National University of Singapore. Benny is the Founder and Managing Director of Benroth International.

SEGMENT 3: If you enjoy listening to my “Uncle Benny” (as I came to call him) as much as I do, don’t miss a beat and go watch my segment with him on the keys to doing business in China.

SEGMENT 2: If you’re still craving more, go arm yourself with the most important tactics in a successful exporting strategy to Asia by watching the 2nd segment of my interview with Benny.

SEGMENT 1: And lastly, if you want to know more about Benny and his entrepreneurial story then go watch my 1st segment with him: “Singapore Entrepreneur Benny Lee Talks About Getting Started“.

Thank you Google images! Singapore is amazing

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Without further ado, here are some of my notes from the interview:

I. Language Advantages:
Singapore speaks great English. Other regions in Asia are not as proficient with English, and according to Benny some are not even experts at Chinese! Many Singaporeans speak Malay. Very large educated (especially technically and engineering) labor force.
(NOTE: I tried to research this and found that Singapore has a 96.3% literacy rate, 89.6% secondary or higher qualifications of education, and for what it’s worth is rated by the World Bank as 2nd in Asia for having the most motivated workforce).

II. What’s NEXT:
Benny is working hard to establish the Outsourced Regional Office model as a way for companies to set up shop in Singapore and have access to all of the Asia markets. He strongly believes that Singapore needs to once and for all solidify itself to the western world as the gateway to Asia. He has a solution: the government ought to develop a very special tool, a network of ORO consultants, to help the small and medium enterprises in America come out to Asia.

Singapore has been a center of commerce since 1819. As for ‘competition’, Shanghai is catching up quickly to Hong Kong and Singapore.

III. ENTREPRENEURSHIP in Singapore:
The government is supporting and promoting entrepreneurship in Singapore. And for good reason: with globalization and all the competition from neighbors, the future of Singapore will depend on its ability to cultivate entrepreneurship. This is major. I actually met Uncle Benny at an entrepreneurship conference at the National University of Singapore. Culturally, Benny says that Singaporeans will always avoid open confrontation (NOTE: students do not question lecturers – I can speak to this). However, the older generation is trying to push students to voice their questions to lecturers, to think different, and to harness their own creativity.

IV. Singapore Currently & The Future
Singapore is only 45 years old as a nation, and yet already plays a very important role in Asia. The future of Asia will certainly be largely impacted by the future of Singapore…and the cultural acceptance and governmental encouragement of entrepreneurship is growing. Singapore’s future is bright. Trustworthy. Benny says that corruption is very, very low and looked down upon (NOTE: I researched this and Benny is 110% correct about this assertion – the World Bank ranked Singapore 4th in the world and 1st in Asia for having the least corruption in its economy).

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If you have any chance to go to Singapore…take it. And if your company is considering expanding to Asia’s rapidly growing markets, Singapore might be your best gateway. Meanwhile…personal note: I am a rookie when it comes to blogging, writing, and interviewing. Without your feedback, it will be very challenging to improve and bring you better and better content. Solution? You comments baby. See you in the comments! END.

Singapore’s Benny Lee: How To Do Business in China from John Exley on Vimeo.

This interview will intrigue you. Why? The world is changing fast, and Asia is at the forefront of exponential growth and increased importance in the world economy. Famed Venture Capitalist and early stage investor Dave McClure recently took his “Geeks On A Plane” team around Asia (they went to Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Singapore, & Tokyo) to meet with some of the entrepreneurs leading this global change (learn more here).

If you’re a student, aspiring entrepreneur/business person/leader, or just someone who is curious to learn about China’s unique business culture and way of doing things, you will get something out of watching this interview.

China’s market is notoriously difficult for western companies to succeed in (Read “Western Business Struggles to Break Chinese Barriers” for more). Nevertheless, because of globalization and the need to rise above their fierce competition, many companies believe it is a necessity to expand into China’s rich market. Especially since China just overtook Japan as the world’s 2nd largest economy 2 weeks ago. China has the world’s largest population (more than 1.3 billion people according to the World Bank) and the BBC has reported that China is attracting record amounts of foreign investment.

Which brings us full circle, to the 3rd segment of my comprehensive interview with the experienced Singapore entrepreneur Benny Lee. As the Founder and Managing Director of Benroth International, Benny has worked closely with western companies on expanding into the Asian market for many years; giving him an insider’s perspective on what the ‘X Factor of success’ is for China. In the interview, Benny also discussed which regions in Asia are hot and shares some funny stories of what Not to do when doing business in China.

If you want to know Benny’s detailed strategy for exporting to Asia, I bet you’d enjoy watching the 2nd segment of my interview with him.

Benny is also the Vice President of the National University of Singapore’s Business School Alumni Association, has authored the book on international marketing titled “Hold the Char Siew!”, and is considered a thought leader on the impact of geopolitics on business in Asia. If you want to know how Benny got started, check out the 1st segment of my interview with him.

What do you think is the best way to do business in China? Oh and by the way, if you watch until near the end of this interview above, I think you’ll be really surprised by what Benny says is the best way to know when a Chinese businessman trusts you.

Want more practical tips? Check out “Golden Hints for Doing Business in China” from the British Embassy in Beijing. Hope you enjoy the interview, and many thanks to Benny for his generous friendship and also to my friend Emily Donohue for kindly agreeing to record the interview with my camera!