Slides I made and delivered in a 30-minute talk for Alpha Camp's Startup Career Day 2015 in Singapore.

1. Why Startups?
by James Chan
@m0t0chan
www.motochan.com
james@motochan.com
Startup Career Day

6. Technological
Singularity
“Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us” by Bill Joy for Wired
“The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology”, Ray Kurzweil
18221980s1990s2000200320062010
192 years85 million years

7. Digitisation & Networking are contributing to economic
growth at a pace outstripping that of Industrial Revolution.
99% of things in physical world not linked to the Internet (yet)..
1%
Industrial Revolution
A.D. 1760 A.D. 1945 A.D. 1982
Internet
A.D. 2013
Atomic, Jet & Space Age
Source: “The Global Information Technology Report 2013 - growth & jobs in a Hyperconnected World” - INSEAD-WEF collaboration
30%.. ..of global Internet revenue 40%.. ..of global Internet net income
Source: “Internet matters: The Net’s sweeping impact on growth, jobs and prosperity” - McKinsey & Company
2.0b connected to Internet.. ..out of global population of 7b
>50% of world’s population live in cities.. ..out of global population of 7b

8. The Internet matters :: almost every vertical or industry is
either cannibalised by it, or scales with it.
At peak in 1996, 100,000+
staff, US$31B market value
wiped out, bankruptcy
13 staff & US$1B
exit to Facebook in
2012
from printed to
digital
from in-person to
online
from 1-way/
physical media to
2-way/digital
from discrete/in-
person to on-
demand/online
At peak in 2004,
60,000+ staff, 9,000
stores, bankruptcy
from in-person/physical
to card-not-present/
digital/mobile
from insecure/
untraceable/upfront to
secure/traceable/escrow
from time-limited/physical
presence/inventory cost
to always-on/digital/just-
in-time
from large pallet logistics
to loose-item forward-
reverse logistics
Typewriter to Word Processor to Cloud
and many more, moving us from...
Fixed-line to Mobile Telephony to Mobile Data Mass production to mass customisation

9. Career
“Startup” ?
gold, glory, girls
abject failure
it’s the journey
that counts.
you’re looking
at it backwards.
“Why Startups?” by James Chan © 2015

10. mentality, psyche
choice
do
DOUBT
self
organisation
or
“Startup”
exit free
idea, mission, passion
validation
GROWTH
“Why Startups?” by James Chan © 2015

11. do
DOUBT
mentality, psyche
choice
self
“Why Startups?” by James Chan © 2015
My Story
getting out of comfort zone
never say never/forever
neoteny
pay it forward
self-awareness
id, ego, super-ego

12. do
DOUBT
mentality
choice
self
My Story
“Why Startups?” by James Chan © 2015
2-time college drop-out
ran a nightclub
started the first ISP in Japan
listed a company
early investor in Flickr, last.fm, Twitter…
WOW guild founder/leader
PADI-certified instructor of instructors*
Director, MIT Media Lab*

13. mentality
choice
do
DOUBT
self
My Story
“Why Startups?” by James Chan © 2015
S$222,002.43
“bond breaker” &
“quitter” label
leap of faith
convincing yourself vs
naysaying by others
LUCK? GRAB IT!

14. mentality
choice
do
DOUBT
self
My Story
“Why Startups?” by James Chan © 2015
US$5M fund
Returned US$6.7M in
4 years, US$12+M in
unrealised investments
Neoteny Labs
circa Jun ‘10
70+ pax in SG, VN, ID
innovation tribe in SEA; builds products,
companies, foster communities
& make early-stage investments.
Silicon Straits
circa Apr ‘13
VP International
GreyOrange
circa Jun ‘15

15. “Why Startups?” by James Chan © 2015
Failure & Loneliness
L O N E L I N E S S

16. Resilience
over Strength
Self-healing networks, self-
governance vs regulation,
compliance.
Pull
over Push
Search, p2p sharing, self-
paced learning vs lock-step
curriculum.
Risk
over Safety
Life/experience-based learning
vs instutition-guaranteed
competency.
Systems
over Objects
Self-healing networks, self-
governance vs regulation,
compliance.
Compasses
over Maps
Guidance, self-direction vs
teacher-led location.
Practice
over Theory
Duh...
Disobedience
over Compliance
Question authority, what-how-
why vs yes sir, yes sir, 3 bags
full sir.
Emergence
over Authority
Positive deviance vs top-down
Learning
over Education
Toolkits, maxims, process vs
certifications, degrees
“Why Startups?” by James Chan © 2015

17. Questions?
@m0t0chan
www.motochan.com
james@motochan.com
Thank you!