In Conversation With Ori Cohen, Founder of Fotegrafik

You might have read our feature on visual search solution provider, Fotegrafik Labs. This time, we managed to interview Ori Cohen, the founder of the company, to find out more about the origins of the company, and what prompted them to change direction to then set up Fotegrafik Labs. Read more

The Joo Joo Delay And A Summary Of The Legal Wrangle With TechCrunch

The latest news is that Fusion Garage’s Joo Joo has revamped its interface, and that though pre-ordered Joo Joos were supposed to be shipped by end Feb, a manufacturing delay means the device will only be shipped in two weeks time on 25th March. Read more

Attracting Angels And Cross-Border Investment Across Asia

The recent Singapore Budget 2010 announcement of a new tax incentive for angel investors is only one of the efforts in Singapore in attracting more angel investment in Singapore. The Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia (BANSEA) recently organised the inaugural Asian Business Angel Forum (ABAF) held last week over 2 days here in Singapore. The primary aim of ABAF was to talk about cross-border angel investment and to help exchange ideas and discuss the possibility of an Asian Business Angel Network (ABAN). Read more

In Conversation with Frank Levinson, Small World Group

The Small World Group, managed by Frank Levinson and his partner, Dean Haritos, is one of the seven designated technology venture incubators from the National Research Foundation (NRF) TIS Scheme. The technology focus of this company is on clean tech, optics and materials and it has begun operations in Singapore to start working with entrepreneurs to bring new tech companies to market. We sat down with Frank Levinson, one of the partners in Small World Group and chat with him on several subjects, from how he started Small World Group to the type of entrepreneurs which the incubator will be interested to fund. He will also share some of the earlier success stories he has with regards to incubation of tech companies and talks about the future plans of the Small World Group in Singapore. Read more

The Unexpected Customer – RI Adopts WizFolio, Software For Academics

Sometimes a product you have built may have unexpected usages. For patent search and management software company, WizPatent, their third product, WizFolio, was developed with scientists and academics in mind. However, one of their latest clients turned out to be a high school – Raffles Institution. Read more

Interview With Irene Ang, Founder and CEO of Fly Entertainment

Tucked away in a nondescript industrial building along Henderson Road is the headquarters of Singapore’s first artiste management agency Fly Entertainment. Initially surprised that an agency for stars like Allan Wu and Beatrice Chia-Richmond was housed in such an unassuming location, this interviewer’s feeling of disbelief eroded when talking to Fly Entertainment’s Founder and CEO Irene Ang. The office’s understatement is an extension of Irene Ang’s down-to-earth nature, one that belies the business savviness of the entrepreneur Irene Ang in, what is arguably, the, if not one of the, most cutthroat industries in Singapore.

Irene is probably most recognizable as Rosie Phua, the wife of Singapore’s most beloved ah-beng Phua Chu Kang. As she would tell it, the role was one that she stumbled into – while still an insurance agent, Irene had been working as the ‘warm-up’ for the show ‘Under One Roof’ when she was spotted and asked to audition for the titular role.

It might seem strange that an insurance agent who entered into the entertainment industry just to meet more people (and hopefully sell more policies) was able to attain considerable achievements as an actress, but those beginnings reveal the secret recipe to Irene’s success in life – set a goal, have faith that it can be reached, pursue the goal with gusto, execute with a focus on being excellent, slam into walls, learn and do it all again. Read more

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Top 10 Finalists Of The Ultimate Start-Up Space

The quest by over 200 participants for The Ultimate Start-Up Space has reached a midpoint high with 10 finalists having been chosen. The next few weeks will have the finalists attend courses, go on radio interviews and polish up their 10-page business plans to vie for the top prize.

Each team had to submit a 60-second video to participate in the competition, and some teams submitted several. We present you the 10 finalists and some of their video submissions, in no order of merit. Read more

A More Inclusive Smartloans – Will It Be Enough?

Nearly a year into its launch, Smartloans (previously featured here) has just announced a slew of newly added features to their website. These new features come at a critical time especially since the Singapore government has just announced a new housing loan limit to be applied for all housing loans granted by financial institutions. Home buyers will now only be allowed to borrow a maximum of 80% – down from the current 90%. Since Smartloans earns its revenue by taking a percentage cut of the deals closed by a referral from them, this new ruling does not bode well. Read more

Is Secrecy Always A Good Thing? The Tale of Apple Aperture vs Adobe Lightroom

Apple is known for its penchant for secrecy. Products are developed as top-secret projects and unveiled to the public with great fanfare. This has brought it tremendous benefit, for example with during the dramatic launch of the iPhone by Steve Jobs. However secrecy carries costs, and in some cases the costs outweigh the benefits.

Apple & Its Culture of Secrecy

Yet Apple retains this approach across a whole range of its products; secrecy is apparently “baked into the corporate culture”. Read more

In Conversation with Alfred Chong, CEO of 121View

A few weeks ago, we profiled the global markets that Singapore-headquartered, digital signage company 121VIEW has penetrated into.

This time, we managed to speak with Alfred Chong, CEO of the company, who sees 121VIEW’s continual growth and success as tied to the advertising industry. A serial entrepreneur, he lived and worked on companies in several countries such as the US, Malaysia and of course Singapore.

For his first company, Alfred borrowed USD 1k and grew it to one doing USD 8m, eventually selling the company. Find out his story here. Read more

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