Lisa-Ann LEE - Contributing Writer
Lisa-Ann is a nomadic wordslinger who can be found roaming the not-so-dusty plains of the tech start-up scene and freelancedom. Say "howdy" to her on LinkedIn.
The writer's posts
Photo: Dr Mooryati Soedibyo's private collection
The garage has long been the birthplace of many great companies — Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, to name a few. Even Walt Disney got his start producing his first animated series, “The Alice Comedies” in his uncle’s garage before forming his own studio.
Closer to home, the humble garage also witnessed the birth of PT Mustika Ratu, Indonesia’s famed herbal medicine (or jamu) brand, in the early seventies.
The business caused many to raise their eyebrows, because not only was the person behind it a woman, she was also a direct descendant of the royal Javanese family, one who was actually raised within the walls of a kraton (Javanese palace).
It was unheard of for someone of her status to work, let alone start a business and as Dr BRA. [1] Mooryati Soedibyo readily admits, the reaction from her family was far from encouraging. “Initially, my family did not support my decision to become a business woman as it was against our ancient traditions,” she recalls.
“Only through my own determination and hard work was I able to persevere and overcome this challenge, which actually helped motivate me to become successful on my own.” Read more
Filed under Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurs, InterviewsTags: DNIKS, Female Entrepreneurs, jamu, Mooryati Soedibyo, PT Mustika Ratu, WEF, women entrepreneurs, Women Entrepreneurship Academy, World Entrepreneurship Forum
Fearless is a word often used to describe Karen Kerrigan, a think tank member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum, and it’s not difficult to see why.
Deciding that entrepreneurs weren’t getting the attention they deserved from government bodies, she founded the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE) in the US, ruffling more than a few establishment feathers in the process.
Started in 1994, the SBE is a research and advocacy organization dedicated to help small business owners and promote entrepreneurship.
Today, the think tank has more than 70,000 members and she is one of the most influential voices in Congress, having led several key initiatives to improve business conditions for entrepreneurs and foster US and global entrepreneurship. Read more
Stuck in a job you hate? Still don’t know what you want to do with your life despite the fact that you’re about to graduate from university soon? If this sounds like you, perhaps you should head on over to Identifii.
A site that offers, in the words of founder Usman Sheikh, “career discovery for the 18-35 set”, it works on the premise that companies have long neglected the role that personality plays in determining how well someone is suited for a particular job. Just think about it. Why are so many people unhappy with their jobs? Could it be that they aren’t suited to them? You have to admit that it makes quite a lot of sense. According to Usman, Identifii’s goal is to solve this problem by helping people become aware of their personal strengths and weaknesses. And how are people supposed to do this? By completing psychometric tests on the site (which are free, by the way.) We caught up with him to find out more about what Identifii has to offer. Read more
Do you need to go to Silicon Valley to succeed as a start-up? Steven Goh, co-founder and CEO of mobile content and entertainment provider mig33, thinks not. In fact, he considers moving the company’s headquarters from the Valley to Singapore in 2009 to be one of his best business decisions. “It’s a wonderful place full of amazing people doing great things, and I have no regrets for going there,” he tells us. “But recognise that there is opportunity around you everywhere. Greater Asia is where the world’s attention is turning to and Singapore is in a position to take advantage of this like no other.” Read more
Who doesn’t love a good deal, even when it involves a spa session we didn’t know we wanted? Thanks to the proliferation of group buying sites, bargain-hunters no longer have to wait for special holiday promotions or end-of-season sales to snap up a good deal. All they have to do is check their e-mail.
Sounds great, right? Well, not really, say critics who are concerned about whether merchants can turn a profit using the group buying business model. As recent reports in the US and Japan have shown, being the hot ticket of the moment isn’t always a good thing. The sudden surge in demand can sometimes be overwhelming for merchants, resulting in unhappy customers and employees.
In Singapore, DEAL.com.sg felt the heat from angry customers recently when a 4D/3N Bangkok travel deal ended up offering less than what was promised. Read more
You’re young, you have ideas and you’re trying to get a foothold in the media industry. Problem is, no one will give you the time of day so what are you going to do about it?
If you’re Emmy Teo, you get two of your friends together to start your own creative talent incubator.
Launched in 2009, iDreamin, according to the 24-year old aspiring scriptwriter, was borne out of a frustration with the lack of opportunities in Singapore for young creatives to showcase their work. “I feel that the Singapore media is pretty much monopolised by broadcasters such as Mediacorp. We want to provide a platform for young creative talent to showcase their portfolio online and at the same time, we want to help matchmake them to [industry players such as] broadcasters, music publishers and advertising agencies.” Read more
The youngest-ever winner of the Global Brand Leadership Award, Shashank Nigam is proof that you don’t need a boatload of experience to launch a successful start-up. He talks to us about how he got his award-winning blog SimpliFlying off the ground and turned it into a global branding consultancy business. Read more
Filed under Featured, Interviews, Marketing & Branding, WebTags: airline, airport, Blog, Branding, consultancy, Shashank Nigam, SimpliFlying, Social Media
Let’s be honest with ourselves. Despite all the reports of online fraud, many of us are still not doing much to protect our computers. Sure we might install an anti-virus program but that’s pretty much it. And who can blame us? Have you seen how complicated some of these so-called internet security measures are? And who has the time to think of so many passwords anyway? Enter internet security start-up Ohanae with Universal Cloud ID, a software program designed to make protecting the data on your computer as easy as pie. Read more
For many parents, one of the biggest concerns about children joining social media networks such as Facebook and MySpace is the danger of meeting online predators. However instead of restricting children from signing up with such networks, LittleLives founder Ho Sun believes that a better solution would be to come up with a social media network created specially for children. The key point is that a teacher acts as a gatekeeper for the network. Read more
Using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to conduct lessons and interact with students sounds very progressive on paper but how can you tell whether they are paying attention to you? If you are a teacher facing this challenge, good news: help is at hand. Read more
