Interview With The Team From Amnesia

Next in the series interviews with a top 10 finalist of the Martell VSOP The Ultimate Start-Up Space challenge, we hear from the team at Amnesia.

(For a quick overview of the prizes the ultimate winner stands to gain, read this.)

Describe your idea and how you think it stands out from all the finalists.

Imagine yourselves in any bar. What you see are the same old boring walls every time you visit. Sooner or later you get bored and go someplace else for a change in environment, where you will face similar boring walls again. It’s a vicious cycle.

Our idea takes care of this problem by incorporating floor to ceiling screens with projections of different places around the world. Every time you visit us you will come in to a totally different experience. Never been to Paris? Always wanted to have a drink al fresco along the quaint streets of Italy? Never seen the Eiffel Tower, or the Pyramids of Giza? In our bar, you can forget where you are and be where you want to be! Hence, the name “Amnesia”.

During the day, the premises can be used as a venue for people or companies/organizations who want to hold their events in a unique environment. We’ve even had requests for children’s parties to be held there because kids would just love dancing with Barney the Purple Dinosaur on the walls. The possibilities are endless!

Amnesia will also feature a self-mix bar, where our valuable customers can have the freedom to make their very own cocktail creations. Think sophisticated Drinks dispenser machine like those you find in some vineyards overseas where the machine allows the customers to dispense a shot of wine into their glass.

We are adopting the same concept but in this case, we are replacing the wine bottles with various types of liquors. We believe that this is the first of its kind in Clarke Quay and Singapore. This concept of self-mixing your drinks with the various liquors available is a unique selling point that is unavailable in other watering holes in Clarke Quay.

[View their 60-second video submission for TUSS.]

How did you come up with this idea? Did you already have this idea before hearing about this competition?

The idea had been floating around for quite awhile actually. We were sitting down one day just brainstorming about ideas for our own business. Plenty of ideas ranging from the bizarre to the totally improbable were suggested furiously and then thrown out with equal vigor. Ajax had this moment of inspiration and came up with the idea of projectors on walls depicting different scenery. The idea grew on us and the more we built on it. Then we heard about this competition and felt it was the perfect opportunity for us to fast track our plans for the idea. So here we are!

Why do you think you should win the top prize for The Ultimate Start-Up Space?

We’ve met the rest of the top 10 finalists and I must say that they are a great bunch of people. We have all worked hard and we all deserve to win but unfortunately, there can only be one. What we feel gives us the edge is that our concept of a bar fits in perfectly with the surrounding area. Yes, we know there are plenty of watering holes in Clark Quay but none have the intimate and unique experience that our bar will provide. Also, the people behind Amnesia are a dynamic, highly motivated and fun bunch with the necessary skills, support and contacts to make this a roaring success!

Tell us your team’s background and what you are doing now.

All of us work in a financial institution, albeit in different fields. Our experiences allow us to be well represented in a range of areas, which include Financial Accounting, Operations, Procurement, Marketing and Customer Management. We also have a panel of Advisors, which includes current pub owners who have and will continue to provide valuable advice to us.

If you win, tell us your plan moving forward to turn your idea into reality. And would executing on this idea be a full-time commitment on your/your team’s part?

It will take a HUGE commitment on all our parts in order for us to realize this idea, especially at the start. We all have our day jobs where we have responsibilities to fulfill and exceed, as is expected of us. It will be hard but definitely not impossible if we plan our resources well.

If we win, we will already have our business plan, resources, suppliers and other necessary details ready. We are all very excited to push the “start” button and to see our dream realized!

If you don’t, what are your plans then?

Winning this competition will be an excellent head start for us but we will still go ahead with our plans if we do not (of course we hope to win ?) because this is our dream. The sponsors have kindly provided us with great training and having gone through that, we feel even more inspired to raise the capital required to go ahead. Besides, the Space is sponsored for 6 months, after which, we would be on our own so we will need the capital anyway.

It would be a disappointing setback of course but it will definitely not be the end of this dream.

Do you think the space offered at Clarke Quay by Martell VSOP is a differentiating factor for your idea’s success? Why or why not?

The Space offered there by Martell VSOP is undeniably a major factor because of the nature of our concept itself. What better place would there be in Singapore to set up a bar and with the backing of such a prestigious brand like Martell, what more could anybody want? We are extremely grateful to the Sponsors for giving us the opportunity to come this far.

However, every idea, no matter how brilliant, will require the right people behind the scenes in order to take off. The team behind Amnesia, as mentioned before, is well-represented in areas that are crucial to the success and sustainability of this idea.

That, we feel, is the differentiating factor.

Thanks, Amnesia. And good luck in the challenge!

Picture of the team from L to R: Wayne Tan, Kong Sai Hong, Ajax Wui, Ezza Benjie. Amnesia can be found on Facebook. You can also check out their radio interview.

Read: 8 Tips to Setting Up Your Food and Beverage Business in Singapore

Check out all our interviews with the TUSS finalists:

Bon Soir – Dark Dining

All Things Green And Beautiful

The Chupitos Bar

Amnesia

Hemeryx

OliveScreens

YOUnique

The Chocolate Museum

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