Insanely great ideas for technopreneurs
2001-03-30
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AN enormous amount of wealth and value will be created in Asia's
technology sector and a good part of this wealth will be created by Asian
entrepreneurs who obtain funding from Asian-based investors, says venture
capitalist Ilyas Khan.
Khan is the co-founder and managing director of techpacific.com, a
Nasdaq-listed company that finds, finances and builds technology
businesses in Asia.
He says in his book "Underdogs in Overdrive - 10 Insanely Great Ideas
For the Asian Technopreneur" that historically, Asian talent has had to
migrate across the Pacific to Silicon Valley in US to obtain high-level
funding and build successful businesses.
"It is clear that despite the obviously inflated values that some
businesses have achieved in the past year or so, and despite an equal or
greater number of spectacular failures, a confluence of circumstances has
occured that has changed the landscape for Asian technology entrepreneurs
forever," he points out.
Khan said the most important feature in a budding technopreneur would be
the ability to "walk the walk". "Walking the walk means that the founder
of a business will follow through with the concept and the business plan.
"It requires the entrepreneur to take the lead. Being a hands-off'
promoter doesn't work in the new millennium."
Walking the walk also means leading from the front. "It means doing the
photocopying, making the coffee, turning out the lights, washing the
coffee cups, and putting paper in the printer - basically doing everything
in your power to deliver your business plan and create value for your
stakeholder."
He also adjures technopreneurs to be prepared to "live the dream".
"Founders should eat, sleep, breathe and play their dream. It isn't enough
just to reduce your dream to a 20-minute slide presentation. It's not
enough that your team and your colleagues are aware of your dream just
while they're at work during the day.
"You need to be able to transcend what might be considered normal human
boundaries and show in all your actions how your dream has affected you
and how it will affect others."
Khan points out that the economic crisis that has only recently abated
in many parts of Asia has been instrumental in bringing to the fore the
realisation of how damaging closed markets and nepotism can be in terms of
stifling competition and progress.
"It's my view that the economic crisis has ultimately provided a greatopportunity for young entrepreneurs because it has allowed some of the
vested interest groups to become less influential."
He also advises budding technopreneurs to "aim for the sky". "When
building and communicating a business plan and evangelising the dream, the
sheer scale of the idea needs to be enforced again and again and again.
"For the technopreneur, aiming for the sky has to be part of their
everyday routine and not just a slogan. The rules change so rapidly, that
today's sky is easily next week's ground.
"Your team needs to recognise that you will accept nothing less than
this lofty ideal, and therefore delivering less is an act of failure."
Another "insanely great idea" he propounds is to act with a heart of
gold. "In the new millennium, successful Internet and technology business
leaders will operate with a heart of gold.
"Giving isn't just about making a lot of noise when you write checks for
charity once your success is proven. It's about being charitable even when
you have little to give.
"And it doesn't just apply to giving in a monetary sense; it means
having a conscience that doesn't allow you to mislead or manipulate
others.
"This principle is therefore a perfect corollary to walking the walk,
since it stands to reason that you can't, or won't, walk the walk if your
intentions aren't honourable."
Another principle he propounds is to always have a contingency plan
handy, even when things seem to be going great. "Planning for the worst
doesn't mean becoming overly pessimistic or adopting a negative attitude.
"What it does mean is that the skill and verve with which you execute
your business plan needs to be tempered with the ability to embrace the
most unexpected turns of fate.
"The old ways of the pre-digital world in Asia meant that even
acknowledging that the worst might happen was to tempt fate.
"Winning in the Internet age in Asia means being prepared to change a
lot of what we think of as traditional business methods and norms," he
says.
Technopreneurs should also develop a killer instinct. "Knowing when to
strike, and then being prepared to strike without compromise, is an
essential tool for the technopreneur in Asia.
In the rapid-fire Internet environment, Khan says, delays caused by
indecisiveness can lead to failure. Thus, developing a killer instinct is
as important as developing the "killer app".
"In the Asia of tomorrow, as technology opportunities are created
overnight, entrepreneurs will need to have a finely tuned sense of timing
in order to survive - the companion to timing will be the killer instinct
which will ensure that survival can be turned into success."
He added that the perfect example of the killer instinct in action would
be "Bill Gates and his band of merry brigands".
"There are many examples of Bill Gates' and Microsoft's killer instinct.
The one that appeals to me most in this context is the way in which
Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheet programme, has now developed such a lead
in the market that the original leader - Lotus 123 - has been virtually
eclipsed.
"When I started my own career in 1984, I remember learning to use the
Lotus package on my IBM pc, I also remember the very significant advantage
that Lotus possessed due to their growing installed user base.
"For the next few years, new upgrades were produced that meant Lotus was
able to stay ahead of the crowd. However, a decade or so later it was
almost as if I woke up and found that my Lotus 123 had morphed into
Excel."
He is also all for "doing it now". "Building businesses in the Asian
environment demands even quicker instincts and even more courage than in
the US or European markets.
"The whole of Asia seems to be racing to implement business models that
were inspired "yesterday" and will be launched "tomorrow". The rush for
capital, human resources and technology support is intense, and running
hard just to stand still is a common theme."
Khan points out that for the business person who competes in the
Internet space in Asia, there is no such thing as tomorrow. "Deadlines are
always set as today', and the only possible time for that new development
was yesterday.
Another insanely great idea he comes up with is "long live beta". "There
is no point in waiting for perfection before launching a product, because
there is no such thing as a perfect product.
"Even if something appears to be ready, it's in our nature to keep
tinkering with it. There is always some amendment that could be made.
"The Asian technopreneur will learn early on that the world waits for no
one, and that having a beta site works wonders that won't be appreciated
until after the event.
"If you have your own version of an insanely great idea or product, bust
your balls to get the idea to market, and as long as it works, and as long
as it takes the service or function offered to a new level, you won't need
to worry about the imperfections until the next version, by which time you
will have created a market."
And of course, he did not forget to advocate the value of networking.
"The newly-minted technopreneur would be wise to build networks of
contacts based on a common interest. The best type of network contact
occurs when your company really doesn't need capital and you can build
alliances through acquitanceship or common interests."
And finally, he recommended freeing one's mind to work one's way into
the best way of doing things. "In building businesses on the web in Asia,
free association will work better than blind devotion to models of success
that work elsewhere.
"The real winners in Asia will be those who are imaginative and creative
enough to dispense with those models and develop new Asia-specific
approaches to business decision-making in their place."
Khan says learning to think laterally enables winners to create their
own set of rules. "In the process, they inspire others who look to them
for leadership."
However, he warns that one of the dangers of success is a reluctance to
move away from a proven formula. "Even in smaller companies, early-stage
employees sometimes feel that they own' the rights' to the way in which
their companies are managed.
"Freeing the mind requires honesty and sincerity of purpose. I firmly
believe that freedom is a quality that breeds success."
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