The Republic Day of India, the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26, January 1950, replaced the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India and thus, turning the nation into a newly formed republic. We gathered together to celebrate the Republic Day of India and invited Indian experts from different backgrounds to share information about the market & investment in India at the celebration tea party. After the peak of the epidemic in 2021, the vaccination penetration rate in India has increased, and the government has also sprung into action to promote monetary and fiscal policies to strengthen the economy. With China cracking down on the technology industry, international investors are looking to India as an emerging market for investment, which leads to an IPO boom of technology startups in India in 2021. Moreover, the growth of tech startups and the electric vehicle industry is expected to continue growing substantially in 2022.
Prior to the main sharing session from the speakers, we belted out the national anthem of India to celebrate this special day. Throughout these years, we’ve nurtured more than 40 startup teams to pursue their dreams and have seen booming Indian startup power in Taiwan. In addition to introducing STARTBOARD’s Indian teams, Dr. Dinesh Kumar launched his new product – DAILYGUDS, a trade automation platform that aims to automate the goods redistribution process of a country starting in Taiwan.
DAILYGUDS – product launch
India & Taiwan: A Synergic Collaboration for a Better Tomorrow
Ms. Arpita Dutta as the Senior Legal Consultant of Louis International Patent Office gave a detailed overview of India & Taiwan’s synergic collaboration. Based on both countries’ policies, talent resources, import & export categories, Taiwan is now facing a talents shortage and India’s young & high-tech talent pool is an important resource. Also, the trading categories of both countries seem to have complementary advantages. She also analyzed the startup environment and emphasized the importance of IP support, legal & pre-investment consultation, and company registration when developing the business into a new market.
Senior Legal Consultant of Louis International Patent Office – Ms. Arpita Dutta
The Investment Environment and Preferential Policies of Indian Market
Dr. Dinesh Kumar as the Regional Chairman-Asia of Indo-Foreign Business Council(IFBC) shared the information of India’s market and investment opportunities. In FY 2020-21, FDI inflows (including equity, re-invested earnings, and capital) reached the amount of US$81.72 billion, 10 percent higher than the previous year. Utilities, financial services, and healthcare ranked highest amongst industries likely to make new investments in India. There are also more and more international investors looking to invest in India, like Japan, the UK, Singapore, and the USA.
Regional Chairman-Asia, Indo-Foreign Business Council(IFBC), India. – Dr. Dinesh Kumar
How I Became a Serial Entrepreneur in Taiwan
Dr. Nikhil Pathak as the Founder of Sohum Foods shared his stories and experiences of being a serial entrepreneur in Taiwan. In 2018 he founded GoEco, producing bio-based, disposable eat-ware products. After several unsuccessful experiences, he combined those and founded Sohum Foods – an Indian vegan restaurant & cloud kitchen. He not only shared his failure but mentioned the important mindset of being an entrepreneur. Besides, he gave a brief introduction of Taiwan’s startup environment and its main strengths – convenience, speed & reliability, events & interactions.
Founder of Sohum Foods – Dr. Nikhil Pathak
We were happy to see the audience asking questions and networking with all the speakers after the speeches, building connections with the Indian community in Taiwan. And that’s STARTBOARD’s mission from day 1, providing enterprises interested in the ASEAN market with firsthand information, and encouraging more ASEAN talents to build their business in Taiwan. We celebrated Republic Day and hope for the continued prosperity of India.
Launched by the Thai government in 2016, the new economic transformation strategy – ‘Thailand 4.0’ aims to accelerate industrial transformation and to promote innovation, creativity, and advanced technology. Thailand has made remarkable economic development to further its strategy as Asia’s business center for multinational companies looking to penetrate into the Asian consumer market. Even though there are some challenges remaining due to political factors and the COVID-19 pandemic, many innovative business models have been created to accelerate the digitalization of the companies’ services and recent startups specializing in fintech, e-commerce, online trading, and SaaS have become more trending. Major steps have been taken to create ecosystems for startup incubation as it follows the ‘Thailand 4.0’ policies to support startup development at all stages. The steps include financial support and risk management, capacity-building for Thai and international startups, and increased connectivity with the regional and global communities. And so, STARTBOARD held the Thailand Theme Night on November 19th, 2021 in hope to encourage more entrepreneurs nor investors who are interested in the Thailand market to have a better understanding of the startup environment.
Prior to the main sharing session from the speakers, we received a few welcoming speeches from our special guests at the event. Firstly, Acting Executive Director of Thailand Trade and Economic Office (TTEO) Mr. Sunh Arunrugstichai briefly explained Thailand’s development as a country. Despite the COVID situation, the bilateral trade and investment between Taiwan and Thailand are still sailing smoothly. In terms of ease of doing business in Thailand, it recently has shown more opportunities, especially to young entrepreneurs, due to increased internet access and access to mobile banking. Moreover, he also mentioned how the Thai government has been initiating an Eastern Economic Corridor project (EEC) to prepare the zone for the digital era by emphasizing in the 12 industries that are considered as important drivers for the country’s sustainable development.
Mr. Sunh Arunrugstichai – Acting Executive Director of Thailand Trade and Economic Office (TTEO)
Assistance Investment Promotion Officer of Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) in Taipei Office Mr. Kittipong Thapanapaha talked about ‘Thailand Investment Opportunity for Digital Industry’ and briefly explained why chose Thailand as a place to invest. Thailand is considered as the Crossroads of ASEAN due to the country being surrounded by the world’s economic powerhouses which can provide more opportunities for startups and investors to not just focus on Thailand, but also on the surrounding neighboring countries. The country has also been recognized to be a manufacturing-based industry for decades but it’s time to move forward with the Thai government strategy called ‘Thailand 4.0’ so as to enhance efficiency in the production process and increase competitiveness. He also briefly introduced the BOI promotion incentive package and the digital promotable activities.
Mr. Kittipong Thapanapaha – Assistance Investment Promotion Officer of Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) in Taipei Office
Director of Thai Trade Office in Taipei Ms. Kallaya Leewongcharoen briefly introduced the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) with its mission to help Thai entrepreneurs to be competitive on the global stage by providing consultation and facilitating them through various service channels. It is also DITP’s mission to increase business opportunities for Thai products and services through international trade shows while also continually increasing the quality of their services.
Ms. Kallaya Leewongcharoen – Director of Thai Trade Office in Taipei
Representative of Thai Student Association in Taiwan (TSAT) Ms. Natwara Lohapraditakon briefly introduced TSAT which is an online community where Thai students gather together to share information about life and education in Taiwan. TSAT has done collaboration and receives funding from the TTEO for the events and gatherings they hold each year.
Vice President of NTUST Thai Student Association Mr. Chairat Mooksri briefly introduced the NTUST Thai Student Association in hopes that through this event the Thai students from NTUST can get more opportunities in the future such as special seminars, workshops, collaboration from organizations, or sponsorships.
In the video, President of Taiwanese Student Association in Thailand Mr. Nicolas briefly introduced the Taiwanese Student Association in Thailand which is officially the first Taiwanese student organization in Southeast Asia. Their organization’s main emphasis is to strengthen the relationship between full-time and exchange students that are living in Thailand. They also want to advocate the interchange of culture and education between Taiwanese and Thai people, especially the students.
By moving on to the main topics of the event, STARTBOARD has also invited wonderful speakers from different companies to share their experiences in building or expanding their business into Taiwan or Thailand.
The Business Opportunities between Thailand and Taiwan in a Post-pandemic Future
Ms. Woranath Khemasiri as the PwC Thai Accountant (Thai Expert of NETA) shared about the PwC launched the yearly Taiwan CEO Survey by interviewing CEOs of Taiwanese businesses who are listed in the Taiwan stock market and also the private sector. Based on this year’s Taiwan CEO survey, the CEOs’ view towards the post-pandemic future is positive as they expect the business to continuously expand and grow abroad. They also see the potential of Thailand, Korea, and Malaysia to be the biggest markets in the next few years. Due to the pandemic and the rise of conflict between the U.S. and China, it pushed the Taiwanese CEOs to consider risk management of their business and determine the possibility of which country to expand into. Then, she moves on to explain a few things to know about Thailand’s recent economic challenges and prospects for recovery. The tourism sector around the world undoubtedly got affected the most during the pandemic which led people to find places that are safe to travel to. For the country to change into a post-pandemic future, they need to upgrade the automatic sector as they are still traditionally doing business. And as for foreign investment in Thailand, business owners would still encounter some restrictions so they need to make sure that their business complies with the law while also managing to get tax incentives from the government.
Ms. Woranath Khemasiri – PwC Thai Accountant
Connect the Future by mmWave Technologies
Mr. Su-Wei Chang as the Founder and CEO of TMYTEK mentioned that two important things to remember when moving towards digitalization are energy as in power to the future and communication. The company’s mission is to improve life quality with mmWave bandwidth as the 5G spectrum will keep growing bigger into the future. Then he moved on to talk a little bit about Metaverse which is about connecting the virtual world with reality. With a lot of bandwidth like mmWave, it can support the foundation of Metaverse and also achieve a future where all smart cities are connected. As a startup, he wants the company to be able to solve any problems related to mmWave. And so, the first product they made is BBox which currently has delivered 100 sets of it to companies including KDDI, SoftBank, Fujitsu, several Fortune 500 companies, and research institutions. Furthermore, the company recently announced the world’s 1st 5G mmWave Developer Kit for Academics and Research while also wanting to support mmWave talent incubation. Lastly, the reason Mr. Su-Wei Chang chose to enter the Thailand market other than having good connections with many Thai friends, it’s currently not easy for the business to go back to Europe and the U.S., especially with the recent global economic situation. He concluded that Thailand is considered to be a good place to build businesses for many reasons such as the population being very open to it.
Mr. Su-Wei Chang – Founder and CEO of TMYTEK
KOL Marketing in Thailand
Ms. Thelma Lin as the Director of Taiwan to South Association talked about how some of the social media are utilized in Thailand. During the pandemic, few of the internet eConomy sectors were on the rise, especially the online media sector. Firstly, Facebook is still widely used by Thai people even with its complex algorithm to reach the target audience. She emphasizes the importance of knowing how the algorithm works and to try an advertisement mix to analyze what kind of content will attract the right audience. Then for marketing through Instagram, picture quality matters because it can attract more followers if the quality of content is good. Last but not least, Youtube is all about putting more emphasis on long-tail SEO, especially in how frequently you update with quality content. In addition to those social media platforms, LINE is also considered to be very popular in Thailand. According to Ms. Thelma Lin, Thailand has the second most LINE users, coming behind Japan as the number one LINE users in the world.
Ms. Thelma Lin – Director of Taiwan to South Association
The e-commerce market and industry in thailand
Ms. Bow as the Thailand Marketing Specialist of GDT briefly mentioned the company’s services such as e-commerce, influencer, and payment & fulfillment. In terms of e-commerce solutions, GDT would always recommend building an official website as it’s the best way to build first impressions and gather brand-based memberships. Moreover, nearly 98% of users browse websites via portable devices so owning an application is also useful to save marketing budget and enhance the relationship between customers and brands.
GDT can also provide OMO (Online Merge Offline) solutions and fulfillment solutions; which is about building the company’s very own warehouse. With their solutions, the GDT team is capable of providing the most thoughtful service with effectiveness in cost and time, plus OMO opportunities. Lastly, when Ms. Bow was being asked about the differences in marketing strategies in ASEAN countries, she mentioned some countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia would have their own social media platforms so it may be harder for business owners to penetrate into those markets. However, in the case of Thailand, it has more international platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LINE, etc. The other problem that should be taken into consideration when applying the marketing strategy in other countries such as ASEAN would be the language barrier.
Ms. Bow – Thailand Marketing Specialist of GDT
Smart Fitness Solution and Business Model
Ms. Frances Huang as the Business Development Manager of Uniigym introduced the company as a platform that consists of people who love sports and builds solutions for people who love exercise without worrying about time and space. Furthermore, they help to enhance the fitness experience by the use of AR trainers (AI interactive fitness service). The service not only benefits the families but also the trainers who want to build their personal brand. The technology will track the movement for its accuracy and also record exercise history and health data tracking. Lastly, the reason why she chose Thailand for expanding Uniigym services is that the people in Thailand are very open-minded to new things and are looking for convenient ways to connect with each other. So due to already having connections in Thailand, she easily managed to hire trainers, employees and influencers.
Ms. Frances Huang – Business Development Manager of Uniigym
After the speeches, we also arranged time for the audience to ask questions and to network with all the speakers. Many Thai students and talents in Taiwan came to build connections with Taiwanese companies and startups. And connecting the entrepreneurial ecosystems of Taiwan and ASEAN countries is always our mission. STARTBOARD will consistently fulfill our vision and we toasted for the continued prosperity of Thailand and the everlasting friendship between our countries.
Singapore is known for being a great place for expatriates, investors, and entrepreneurs looking to tap into emerging markets in Asia. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, any further business plan nor expansion came to a halt. Fortunately, Singapore already has a strong foundation in “Fintech”, “Information and Communication Technology” and “Service Industry” which can lead to further development of digital transformation. And so, STARTBOARD held the Singapore Theme Night on October 29th, 2021 in hope to encourage more entrepreneurs nor investors who are interested in the Singaporean market to have a better understanding of the startup environment.
The successful event was filled with many honorable guests such as Mr. Stephen Sun (Secretary-General of NUS Business School Taiwan Alumni Chapter), Mr. Chien-Ping Chung (Director of the Incubation Center of NTUST), Mr. Michael Lai (Public Relations Director of Singapore Taiwanese Student Association), and Ms. Roanne Hsieh (Vice President of AIESEC in Taiwan). STARTBOARD has also invited two Singaporean experts who are willing to share their hands-on experiences in the Singaporean market. Firstly, Mr. Aaron Asher Su (Seasoned Marketing & Sales Professional), who has gained a wealth of experience of 15 years in marketing, sales & business development. Next is Mr. Quentin Yang (Business Development Manager of Glints) who is the founding member of Glints Taiwan and has rich insights on the market trends and the startup ecosystem.
Cultural Differences in the Workplace between Singapore and Taiwan
Mr. Aaron Asher Su as the Seasoned Marketing & Sales Professional guides us to answer one of the main questions for today’s event: “Why choose Singapore for business or as an individual?”. Since he is a Singaporean living in Taiwan, he shares the reasons why Singapore is considered as the Asia HQ for thousands of global businesses. Strategic location, bigger talent pool, business-friendly environment, and many more as the government will provide various benefits for future startups in Singapore. While it may sound good for businesses only, there are also other benefits for the individual who plans to seek out more opportunities in the country. The work culture in Singapore is more flexible than in Taiwan as the people emphasize the results instead of the work progress. Also with other attractive benefits such as the robust job portals and multicultural diversity can attract numerous opportunists coming to Singapore. Due to the pandemic, many business operations are affected so Aaron emphasized the importance of being digitally transformed as it will bring great advantages to businesses and also upgrade one’s skills from time to time.
Mr. Aaron Asher Su – Seasoned Marketing & Sales Professional
Taiwan Startup Expanding to Singapore
Mr. Chien-Ping Chung, the Director of the Incubation Center of NTUST, shared his insights about expanding businesses into Singapore. Due to the Covid-19 worldwide, the government released policies to support startups with various subsidies in the country. As such, startups can get resources, funding, and the opportunity to expand into other countries. Numerous recommendations will also be given from the government and the efficiency of opening a business can be shortened to one day.
And in the latter section of the event, he moved on to share his experiences as the former director of AImazing. AImazing is a platform for mall management to collect shopper insights, tenant performance, and benchmarking in order to create data-driven decisions. It has supported more than 99% of Point of Sale Systems in Asia. Due to Covid-19, the impact on the economic sector has been greatly affected but more opportunities arise with the presence of digital transformation. To conclude his speech: “Singapore is a great location for most startups because it provides various subsidies”. As he mentioned before, various benefits from the government are accessible to anyone who is interested in setting up their business in Singapore.
Mr. Chien-Ping Chung – Director of the Incubation Center of NTUST
Singapore Entrepreneur in Taiwan
Mr. Quentin Yang, the Business Development Manager of Glints shared about the recruitment journey with Glints. Glints is the largest talent platform for career development and recruitment in Southeast Asia. Their vision is to impact 100 million careers and 1 million organizations and also to be the number 1 talent platform in greater Southeast Asia. Glints’ status is currently on Series C and has over 900 employees; including in Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan. They have seen many cases where companies have problems with a talent shortage, longer hiring time, and high hiring costs. To help tackle the recruiting issues, they have built a well-developed talent pool database algorithm and have professional consultants to organize the profiles for matching with the recruiters’ requirements.
The difference he sees between Southeast Asia and Taiwan is that the market in Southeast Asia has shown potential high growth and is also home to the emerging tech ecosystems. With Taiwan, he has seen the blooming startup ecosystem and the growth of skilled tech talents which led him to build the foundation of Glints Taiwan in hopes to expand the company across Taiwan and Northeast Asian countries.
Mr. Quentin Yang – Business Development Manager of Glints
India Theme Night held by STARTBOARD has caught the fancy of the audience on September 11, 2018. Located at Social Innovation Lab, the event was filled with excitement and curiosity from the audience. Not only to have a deeper understanding of India startup market and entrepreneur, but also to build a connection with fellow audiences and get some real-life experience from the professional guest speakers.
From student to startup, from India to Taiwan
Our first guest speaker is Nikhil Pathak, the founder of GO-ECO. As someone who took Ph.D. and has experienced university life in Taiwan, Nikhil brings out the real-life stories and his experience from being a student and his journey until he managed to build his own company. His company, GO-ECO, is a startup concerned about the worsening plastic pollution from all over the world. Nikhil built GO-ECO with the hope of their customers to be eco-friendly, just like the company name.
By Joining a competition called The Hult Prize, Nick was able to learn on how to turn an idea into solutions and make solutions into business model, and he thinks business model can make an impact on society.
Some inspiring words and tips from Nick that he got from his life experiences:
Dream big
Have a bigger vision and mission
Turn an idea to a vision
If you believe you can change the world, one day you will.
A good idea is an idea that solves a problem
The leap of faith
Nick pointed out living out the comfort zone and go to do something you are not quite aware of is called the leap of faith.
Even if we succeed or fail, the leap is worth to take, so please take the leap.
Nick also encouraged students in Taiwan to take the first step to start a startup, since Taiwan has nice ecosystems, incubators, and co-working spaces. Startups are very diverse and powerful in Taiwan, so Nick encourages every student to go for the idea they have.
“If you really want to have a startup, you should have a habit to work hard and get out of your comfort zone.”
Why to start a startup in India?
Our second keynote speaker is Ananta Kar, having had a lot of experiences and a great education background, also experienced living and studying in various countries, including MBA at National Taiwan University, he is a founder of startup company Consult Dr, a platform that helps patients to make online appointments and to connect doctors online. He shared the experience of Indian entrepreneurs and how is the startup ecosystem in India.
India is expected to grow more than 7% in the near future, which means that there is a great possibility to start a business or startups in India. They have 3-4 startups growing every day, and 55% of millennials preferred to start their own startup. Also, the number of incubators in India has increased by 40%.
Ananta emphasized that India has an unparalleled opportunity for startups. India is the 6th largest manufacturing country in the world, and highest FDI inflows in last for about 2 until 5 years, plus there is an ease of doing business in the country, and you can do any business on the internet, mobile platform, and cashless economy.
On July 19th, 2018, Thailand Theme Night held by STARTBOARD drew people’s attention, not only because of Thailand market’s volatility and attraction to the general public but our keynote speakers’ crucial insights – It’s undoubtedly an enlightening night full of excitement! So, without further ado, let’s review some of the best lines from our keynote speakers!
Mr.Olan Sumananusorn Culture differences and business development that we cannot ignore
Mr. Olan was born and raised in Thailand; through his 24/7 dedication, he’s had a real good command of Chinese. Believe it or not, he even delivered the speech in Chinese!
Due to his close ties with Thailand, he’s able to walk us through the maze of this overseas bonanza with unique points of view. Take the detailing explanation of its industry for example. Thailand has made the progress by leaps and bounds by focusing on distinguished industry during different period of time; from Thailand 1.0, which essentially made agriculture a focal point, then proceeding to light industry, followed by heavy industry. Nowadays, Thailand 4.0 has been highlighting the significance of creativity as well as innovation, paving the way for “Smart Thailand!”
Given Thailand’s complete supply chain and holistic trade ＆ investment system, in Mr. Olan’s terms, those conditions would rather be attractive, grabbing even more young talents’ attention.
Fiona Lee A Taiwanese young lady’s laser-like perception ultimately led to her huge success of starting up a business in Thailand
In her early 20s, some thoughts had constantly been tangling with Fiona – She’s always longing for a career success and the lure to expand her visions overseas was never settled. Therefore, she started to think about which country she should go and win a hand. She’s made her point very clearly and precisely “ Since in Western countries or such developed Asian markets as Korea or Japan, things were already heated up, and the environment is also highly competitive,” with firm resolution, as a consequence, she chose Thailand to make her stage debut.
Even though quirky challenges got in the way from time to time, Fiona got the talents to conquer all the obstacles; for those having startup ideas at heart and feeling deeply interested in Thailand market, here’s advice from Fiona if you want a successful case: Looking into the market
Her “looking into” here doesn’t merely mean the online research but includes your personal immersion into the market. Recalling the memories, Fiona said she used to sit down on the side, observing what Thai fashion is, and which genre of products may be the hits, so on so forth. Yes, when it comes to a business, standing in clients’ shoe is the priority! Language learning
“If you want to negotiate with Thai people, you definitely need to know their language!” Fiona stated. If in each occasion, whenever we wanna make a deal with Thai people, but instead of direct communication we hired an interpreter, it shows we actually lack the passion to deal with matters! Speaking their language is not just our capability, but also a way to show our concern and respect. Meanwhile, from attending a language school, we can make friends with locals, thus getting deeper insights into what they love, hate, and what their characteristics are! That’s something in terms of building up close social networks. Understanding of legal concepts
This part might be complicated and tedious, but if we ever want to steer our career life right, the basic understanding of legal concepts is a must! Incorporation, recruitment, taxes, bank accounts and visas etc, there’re various procedures we must bear in mind. Don’t let these quirky challenges steer you wrong, take the initiatives and be a problem solver!
On July, STARTBOARD team had a chance to visit Tran Thi Hoang Phuon, a lecturer of Vietnamese at National Chengchi University, who serves as chief of DPP New Immigrants’ committee. This committee is under the DPP and launched as a part of the New Southbound Policy of President Tsai Ing Wen. The 12-member committee is composed of new immigrants, scholars and experts, according to the party.
Teacher Tran has lived in Taiwan with her family for many years, so she experienced both pros and cons of being an immigrant in Taiwan. She supported STARTBOARD in the aspect of helping the ASEAN students and startup. We hope in the future, we can work with her and her team in more inspiring projects.
It’s warm-hearting conversation with Teacher Tran and her husband about how to contribute the society.
STARTBOARD team with one of 10 iconic people in Taipei
Recently, STARTBOARD attended different events and meetings with Government representatives, also Taiwanese start ups. Here is some of the photos summarizing our last week.
Meeting with Taiwanese start up Follia
Meeting with Taiwanese start up Follia
Attending with Aimazing on Microsoft BizSpark Event
visit to Department of Industrial Development, National Development Council.
“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.”
Acquisition: When one company buys controlling stake in another company. Can be friendly (agreed upon) or hostile (no agreement).
Agile: A philosophy of software development that promotes incremental development and emphasizes adaptability and collaboration.
Angel investor: Individual who provides a small amount of capital to a startup for a stake in the company. Typically precedes a Seed Round and usually happens when the startup is in its infancy.
B2B: Business to business. This describes a business that is targeting another business with its product or services. B2B technology is also sometimes referred to as enterprise technology. This is different from B2C which stands for business to consumer, and involves selling products or services directly to individual customers.
Benchmark: The process by which a startup company measures their current success. An investor measures a company’s growth by determining whether or not they have met certain benchmarks. For example, company A has met the benchmark of having X amount of recurring revenue after 2 years in the market.
Board of directors: A group of influential individuals, elected by stockholders, chosen to oversee the affairs of a company. A board typically includes investors and mentors. Not all startups have a board, but investors typically require a board seat in exchange for an investment in a company.
Bootstrapped: A company is bootstrapped when it is funded by an entrepreneur’s personal resources or the company’s own revenue. Evolved from the phrase “pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps.”
Bridge loan: Also known as a swing loan. Short-term loan to bridge the gap between major financing.
Buyout: A common exit strategy. The purchase of a company’s shares that gives the purchaser controlling interest in the company.
Capital: Monetary assets currently available for use. Entrepreneurs raise capital to start a company and continue raising capital to grow the company.
Capital under management: The amount of capital, or financial assets, that a venture capital firm is currently managing and investing.
Capped notes: Refers to a “cap” placed on investor notes in a round of financing. Entrepreneurs and investors agree to place a cap on the valuation of the company where notes turn to equity. This means investors will own a certain percentage of a company relative to that cap when the company raises another round of funding. Uncapped rounds are generally more favorable to an entrepreneur/startup.
Convertible debt: This is when a company borrows money with the intent that the debt accrued will later be converted to equity in the company at a later valuation. This allows companies to delay valuation while raising funding in it’s early stages. This is typically done in the early stages of a company’s life, when a valuation is more difficult to complete and investing carries higher risk.
Debt financing: This is when a company raises money by selling bond, bills, or notes to an investor with the promise that the debt will be repaid with interest. It is typically performed by late-stage companies.
Disruption: Also known as disruptive innovation. An innovation or technology is disruptive when it “disrupts” an existing market by doing things such as: challenging the prices in the market, displacing an old technology, or changing the market audience.
Due diligence: An analysis an investor makes of all the facts and figures of a potential investment. Can include an investigation of financial records and a measure of potential ROI.
Enterprise: The term enterprise typically refers to a company or business (i.e. an enterprise tech startup is a company that is building technology for businesses).
Entrepreneur: An individual who starts a business venture, assuming all potential risk and reward for his or herself.
Entrepreneur in residence (EIR): A seasoned entrepreneur who is employed by a Venture Capital Firm to help the firm vet potential investments and mentor the firm’s portfolio companies.
Equity financing: The act of raising capital by selling off shares of a company. An IPO is technically a form of equity financing.
Exit: This is how startup founders get rich. It’s the method by which an investor and/or entrepreneur intends to “exit” their investment in a company. Commons options are an IPO or buyout from another company. Entrepreneurs and VCs often develop an “exit strategy” while the company is still growing.
Fund of funds: A mutual fund that invests in other mutual funds.
Ground floor: A reference to the beginning of a venture, or the earliest point of a startup. Generally considered an advantage to invest at this level.
Incubator: An organization that helps develop early stage companies, usually in exchange for equity in the company. Companies in incubators get help for things like building their management teams, strategizing their growth, etc.
IPO: Initial public offering. The first time shares of stock in a company are offered on a securities exchange or to the general public. At this point, a private company turns into a public company (and is no longer a startup).
Lead investor: A venture capital firm or individual investor that organizes a specific round of funding for a company. The lead investor usually invests the most capital in that round. Also known as “leading the round.”
Leveraged buyout: When a company is purchased with a strategic combination of equity and borrowed money. The target company’s assets or revenue is used as “leverage” to pay back the borrowed capital.
Liquidation: The process of dissolving a company by selling off all of its assets (making them liquid).
Mezzanine financing: A form of hybrid capital typically used to fund adolescent and mature cash flow positive companies. It is a form of debt financing, but it also includes embedded equity instruments or options. Companies at this level, which are no longer considered startups but have yet to go public, are typically referred to as “mezzanine level” companies.
NDA: Non-disclosure agreement. An agreement between two parties to protect sensitive or confidential information, such as trade secrets, from being shared with outside parties.
Pivot: The act of a startup quickly changing direction with its business strategy. For example, an enterprise server startup pivoting to become an enterprise cloud company.
Portfolio company: A company that a specific Venture Capital firm has invested in is considered a “portfolio company” of that firm.
Preferred stock: A stock that carries a fixed dividend that is to be paid out before dividends carried by common stock.
Proof of concept
A demonstration of the feasibility of a concept or idea that a startup is based on. Many VCs require proof of concept if you wish to pitch to them.
Pro rata rights: Also known as supra pro rata rights. Pro rata is from the Latin ‘in proportion.’ A VC with supra pro rata rights gives him or her the option of increasing his or her ownership of a company in subsequent rounds of funding.
Recapitalization: A corporate reorganization of a company’s capital structure, changing the mix of equity and debt. A company will usually recapitalize to prepare for an exit, lower taxes, or defend against a takeover.
ROI: This is the much-talked-about “return on investment.” It’s the money an investor gets back as a percentage of the money he or she has invested in a venture. For example, if a VC invests $2 million for a 20 percent share in a company and that company is bought out for $40 million, the VC’s return is $8 million.
Round: Startups raise capital from VC firms in individual rounds, depending on the stage of the company. The first round is usually a Seed round followed by Series A, B, and C rounds if necessary. In rare cases rounds can go as far as Series F, as was the case with Box.net.
SaaS: Software as a service. A software product that is hosted remotely, usually over the internet (a.k.a. “in the cloud”).
Seed: The seed round is the first official round of financing for a startup. At this point a company is usually raising funds for proof of concept and/or to build out a prototype and is referred to as a “seed stage” company.
Secondary public offering: When a company offers up new stock for sale to the public after an IPO. Often occurs when founders step down or desire to move into a lesser role within the company.
Sector: The market that a startup companies product or service fits into. Examples include: consumer technology, cleantech, biotech, and enterprise technology. Venture Capitalists tend to have experience investing in specific related sectors and thus tend not to invest outside of their area of expertise.
Series: Refers to the specific round of financing a company is raising. For example, company X is raising their Series A round.
Stage: The stage of development a startup company is in. There is no explicit rule for what defines each stage of a company, but startups tend to be categorized as seed stage, early stage, mid-stage, and late stage. Most VCs firms only invest in companies in one or two stages. Some firms, however, manage multiple funds geared toward different stage companies.
Startup: A startup company is a company in the early stages of operations. Startups are usually seeking to solve a problem of fill a need, but there is no hard-and-fast rule for what makes a startup. A company is considered a startup until they stop referring to themselves as a startup.
Term sheet: A non-binding agreement that outlines the major aspects of an investment to be made in a company. A term sheet sets the groundwork for building out detailed legal documents.
Valuation: The process by which a company’s worth or value is determined. An analyst will look at capital structure, management team, and revenue or potential revenue, among other things.
Venture capital: Money provided by venture capital firms to small, high-risk, startup companies with major growth potential. Venture capitalist: An individual investor, working for a venture capital firm, that chooses to invest in specific companies. Venture capitalists typically have a focused market or sector that they know well and invest in.
Vesting: When an employee of a company gains rights to stock options and contributions provided by the employer. The rights typically gain value (vest) over time until they reach their full value after a pre-determined amount of time. For example, if an employee was offered 200 stock unites over 10 years, 20 units would vest each year. This gives employees an incentive to perform well and stay with the company for a longer period of time.
On 7th June, STARTBOARD attended NTU Garage Annual Meeting.
NTU Garage, which has been started in 2013, is a accelator program to nurture young entrepreneurs with hope of providing students and faculty with a friendly space to realize their innovative ideas. Start-ups that qualify for programs at the garage would enjoy various kinds of training and assistance for six months, with the overlapping period between applications and the program’s course designed to promote exchanges between the last group of participants and newcomers.
Participants receive legal and accounting consulting about setting up firms, as well as learn from experienced instructors. Participants also receive opportunities to demonstrate their products. As the young entrepreneurs might not have the money to set up an office, they can go to the NTU Garage to work .
STARTBOARD felt very honor to meet up with Minister Liang-Gee Chen, Ministry of technology and George Huang, Chairman of Acer.
George Huang Chairman of Acer
Minister Liang-Gee Chen
We are looking forward to having more support and chances in the future, in order to provide our ASEAN-INDIA the best sources nurturing their innovative ideas.
Research Stash went to TXA accelarator today June 2nd for the interview of Taiwan Innovation and Technology Arena’s Soft Landing project. The winner can have 1 month of support high-potential technology startups and emerging companies to successfully enter the Asia market and scale their business globally and access to outstanding mentors, free office, valuable connections and the knowledge and expertise required to scale quickly.
Congrats Research Stash and finger crossed for another victory to Mahantesh.
