For Singaporean Lawrence Koh (photo, right), no dream is so big that it can’t be achieved. Consider this: As the founder and managing director of iFly Singapore, he started the largest indoor skydiving facility in the world — at five meters wide and five storeys in height. It’s also the first in Singapore.

His business the fulfillment of his dream to gift the experience of flight to everyone, and while it’s arguable that commercial flight has achieved that, nothing beats the thrill of jumping off an airplane.

But the cost of skydiving is still prohibitive — it can run up to $400 per jump. So Lawrence did the next best thing: Set up a towering, state-of-the-art wind tunnel in Sentosa. iFly Singapore officially launched in May 2011 to much media fanfare.

SGE visited the facility on a weekday afternoon, which was anything but quiet. Already, tourists and families in jumpsuits are waiting for their turn to enter the hulking wind tunnel. Later on, an instructor put on a dazzling show for an appreciative audience, performing somersaults, flips, and twirls. An air ballet.

“Some of these instructors have developed quite a fanbase,” said Lawrence as we watched the show in his office, which was visible through a glass panel.

“We should consider setting up Facebook pages for them,” he joked.

Pictures of skydivers adorn the wall behind his desk. He has already performed countless dives, and is a qualified instructor from his days in the military.

“I’ve lost count after the 800th dive,” he said. But this man is more than a skydiver. He is a legitimate entrepreneur with a gift for meticulous execution.

Three adjectives sum up what iFly Singapore is: Big, bold, and beautiful. To start something like this anywhere requires a lot of money and expertise. But Lawrence was undeterred.

He secured S$25M (US$19M) in funding from two investors (one private, one institutional) to start his business — a massive sum for any rookie entrepreneur. His ability to convince the investors boiled down to extensive planning and preparation — something he knows how to do very well.

“I’ve always come up with ten-year plans for my life. I chose to devote the first 30 years of my life — I know this sounds lame — to serving the nation. But after that, I knew I would move on to start a business.”

As the officer in charge of a parachuting training school in the Army, he visited a wind tunnel in the US and met the founder of SkyVenture, the inventor of the technology that is used in iFly facilities around the world. Years later, Lawrence received a call from him with an idea: Why not start iFly Singapore?

After thinking about it, Lawrence resigned from the Army, and armed with patent rights given to him for free, started the company.

The indoor wind tunnel is the largest such facility in the world.

Knowing that his idea would be met with skepticism, he came up with a detailed business plan that covered all bases. That process took three months. As part of his research, he visited the various wind tunnels around the world to get a feel of what they have accomplished. He noticed a problem: Their target market is fellow skydivers.

“The real money is not in catering to professional skydivers, but in leisure,” he said. His hunch turned out to be right: 50 to 60 percent of his revenue from the wind tunnel is now generated from leisure iFlyers, while 20 percent comes from corporate events.

“We’ve even had someone do a proposal for his girlfriend in a wind tunnel. It takes some practice of course, and we have to teach him how to kneel inside.”

Adidas recently held its adiZero product launch there. Companies also like to treat their clients to skydiving trips.

“They actually spend more on entertaining guests and clients than on team building activities,” he noted.

There was, however, one interesting request that he had to turn down: FHM, a popular lads’ magazine, wanted to do a photoshoot in the wind tunnel with their girls. But it wouldn’t be feasible.

“The bikini would fly right off,” he said.

The remainder of the revenue is derived from training stints by professional skydivers and millitaries.

After establishing the target market in his business plan, he looked at revenue streams. While other facilities had a bare bones approach with just a wind tunnel and at most a small gift shop, Lawrence felt his version needed much more.

He sought out and secured Canon as a sponsor. It’s collaboration with iFly Singapore is a natural fit, given Canon’s desire to inspire entrepreneurs and SMEs in Singapore through campaigns like Think Big, a series of initiatives to promote entrepreneurs and document success stories.

Also, since iFly Singapore is focused on giving flyers a memorable experience by capturing flight moments of the highest picture quality, Canon’s digital imaging expertise was a major consideration.

He also rented out part of the property to others. McDonald’s took up residence, the first one on Sentosa. O’Briens Irish Sandwich Café and Bora Bora Margarita Bar followed suit.

Part of Lawrence’s plan was also to place a huge LED screen at the walkway outside, which has great advertising potential since a lot of people are now passing by the area after Sentosa launched the Songs of the Sea multimedia show.

Besides revenue, safety was another major concern, since he hopes to attract the general public. Lawrence ensured that the wind tunnel was state-of-the art. Instructors also receive a rigorous training stint of 28 days so that they know their way inside the wind tunnel and are able to ensure customer safety.

Finally, beyond just being an indoor skydiving facility, he wanted iFly Singapore to be an all-round experience. While other wind tunnels are drab in appearance and located in inaccessible areas, his is located in prime land and possesses a modern and aesthetically pleasing decor.

An airport theme was picked. At the entrance, prospective skydivers will be greeted with a mock-up of a flight status board, which allows customers who have purchased tickets to check when they’re supposed to ‘board’ the flight. Sounds of airplanes can be heard through the speakers in the training room. The wind tunnel, made up of glass and acrylic, is reminiscent of an airport flight gallery where people can watch aircraft (in this case skydivers) take off and land.

Lawrence’s approach worked. Since opening in May this year, the company has earned over S$5M in revenue  – a record for all iFly facilities around the world. SkyVenture has even brought many of the iFly licensees from other countries to Singapore just to see how the Sentosa facility is run.

“We Singaporeans tend to do it better,” he said.

But Lawrence is not resting on his laurels. iFly Singapore will be adding a SkyLoft Restaurant on the rooftop, which will feature a paronamic view and live musical performances.

They have also begun organizing tours for students to see how the wind tunnel operates, and are looking at designing a curriculum for students which could be incorporated as part of their co-curricular activities.

iFly Singapore is also looking at hosting the World Indoor Skydiving Championship and regional competitions in the coming year and hold indoor skydiving lessons by world-renowned skydivers.

With so much going on, Lawrence remains committed to his vision of bringing flight to everyone. While his business has multiple revenue streams, his core business and centerpiece is still the high-tech, wonder-eliciting wind tunnel.

“As long as you’re focused on your passion, the revenue will come in,” he said, echoing Canon’s call for entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams.

Photos: iFly Singapore

This article is sponsored by:

Guided by its kyosei philosophy that focuses on “living and working together for the common good”, Canon is dedicated to producing innovative products and technologies to improve efficiency at home and in the office. It is committed to steering its research and manufacturing processes towards sustainability, providing a safe and healthy workplace, and delivering high quality products to its customers. Read more about Canon’s Think Big campaign.

The next time you read in the papers about how supermarkets in Singapore are evolving and migrating online, remember that two former investment bankers could very well have played a major role in shaping the landscape.

No, no one’s buying over NTUC Fairprice or Cold Storage.

Meet Roger Egan III and Vikram Rupani, the co-founders of RedMart, a new online supermarket that emerged in the scene last year (see product feature) and received seed funding from Toivo Annus, the co-founder of Skype, in December 2011.

Their mission: To create the “eBay for Consumer Packaged Goods manufacturers” — the makers of of instant noodles and the ever-useful toilet paper.

Roger (top) and Vikram (bottom).

Don’t let their résumés fool you — these two have entrepreneurship in their bones. Vikram, who is the CFO and COO, started the first polyester and alkyd resin manufacturing plant in Bahrain after leaving his cushy job as a research analyst at a hedge fund.

Prior to that, he was an investment banking analyst at JPMorgan.

Roger, meanwhile, displayed an instinct for opportunity and propensity toward entrepreneurship early on. At 10 years old, his first business was shoveling snow off his neighbors’ driveways, even hiring other kids to do it.

But he never saw entrepreneurship as a serious way to make money. After graduation, only two career choices made sense to him.

“I was peer pressured into thinking that investment banking or consulting were the only two respectable  career paths at the time,” he said candidly.

“That was the mentality of our peers before the financial crisis hit,” Vikram chimed in.

In the end, Roger left his position as an Associate at Omega Capital, and started an insurance brokerage company that went on to raise US$320 million in venture capital.

Their paths crossed when they did their Masters at the INSEAD Asia Campus.

Reflecting on his career at JPMorgan, Vikram said that there were many traits he picked up that — while not obvious at first glance — are actually important to starting their business.

“I am primarily responsible for finance, operations, and supply chain at RedMart – and being good at this requires a keen eye for detail, comfort with numbers, and ability to deal with large amounts of data – all skills which I picked up while working in banking and trading” he said.

Roger, meanwhile, had the idea of starting an online supermarket as a simple result of being busy at his banking job.

“I didn’t have time to buy groceries. I viewed the chore as a waste of precious free time. And though I passed the store on the way home every day, I would always forget to get what I needed. Running out of things is a pain — at RedMart we remind you to reorder before you run out,” he said. Roger is now RedMart’s CEO.

While neither Roger nor Vikram have worked extensively in the retail business, they see this as an advantage.

“We go in with fresh eyes,” said Vikram, “the industry we’re in has shown little innovation for decades. being part of the new generation that loves to shop online, we asked ourselves: What kind of shopping experience would we want online? After figuring that out, we started working backwards from there to understand what needed to be done on the backend to deliver this ideal experience.”

But after working out the sums for the run-of-the-mill online retail model, they realized that it didn’t make sense.

“The margins were very low on this business,” said Vikram, “to be successful as a retailer, you need very large volume and extremely efficient logistics. We thought about how we could change the business model to make the idea of competing with large established retailers as a start up sound a little less crazy.”

That’s when the whole “eBay of CPG manufacturers” idea came about.

Think of RedMart not just as an online supermarket, but a platform that allows sellers to bypass retailers.

The co-founders believe it offers several features for sellers that traditional supermarkets cannot rival.

Data analytics is a big one. “With brick and mortar stores, sellers cannot gauge the purchaser’s intent, not unless they checkout. But what about those who don’t checkout? A large data set is lost there,” said Vikram.

By capturing demographic data and layering it on top of purchase  behavior data, RedMart offers manufacturers a better way to market their products.

“Instead of blanket promotions, as a manufacturer, you now have the ability to target specific demographics and shopper behaviors. Then you can measure the ROI on these marketing investments,” he added.

And while large retailers frequently charge listing fees to manufacturers, apply pressure to set product price according to their whims, and frequently use certain products as lost leaders to attract shoppers to buy other goods, RedMart has none of that.

Sellers pay no listing fees to RedMart, and they are free to set their own price.

RedMart also includes tools for sellers to complete the entire process of order fulfillment, from point of sales inquiry to the delivery of the product to the customer.

While manufacturers are certainly free to set up their own online stores to push goods to consumers, that may not be effective since shopper prefer to have as much variety of brands as possible under one platform.

From an income standpoint, their business model is more financially sustainable than the usual online retail model, since it incorporates more revenue streams from its data analytics and marketing services. As a result of cost savings, the prices of their goods are cheaper than Cold Storage and on par or slightly above NTUC Fairprice.

The concept makes sense for consumers too, since the traditional advantages of online retailing apply — lower overheads means cost savings, and unlimited shelf space means the ability to cater to the long tail of consumer needs. Ultimately, RedMart’s ambition is to have the largest variety of household essentials and personal care items of all supermarkets in Singapore, providing even niche products that are usually located in disparate places.

Fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats are out for now, since delivering these items to customers would be too difficult a logistical challenge. Ultimately, it’s about doing something well rather than being too ambitious but failing to meet customer standards.

Their decision to serve the Singapore market was also an interesting decision, since it is a small market.

But Roger counters that the market is actually not small for the goods they sell, which amounts to US$4.2B in sales annually.

There are other factors: A busy and tech savvy population, the lack of sites doing e-commerce for household essentials well by their standards, the fact that the headquarters for many CPG manufacturers are located in Southeast Asia and Asia, and the fact that Singapore is small and densely populated, which makes logistics simpler.

In its short two months of existence, RedMart’s novel approach has already received validation. It received seed funding from INSEAD professors Patrick Turner, Serguei Netessine, and Neil Bearden, in the form of a convertible note. Family and friends helped out too.

But what they did not expect was that Skype co-founder Toivo Annus, who founded and runs venture firm ASI, would be interested to chip in.

“The power of social networking stepped in — our classmate and Skype’s first employee, Taavet Hinrikus, tweeted about RedMart when we launched Beta. His former colleague, Toivo Annus, saw his tweet and asked us for a call to find out more about what we’re doing,” said Roger.

“After a lot of due diligence, he told us that he’d like to invest immediately. We were floored. We didn’t actually need the money at that point, but when the co-founder of Skype says he’d like to give you money — you take it every time.”

RedMart is offering customers 15% off the first order. Enter code: NOMORESTORE at checkout.

All busy Singaporeans will be happy to know of yet another online store that brings household products right to one’s very doorsteps.

The latest addition to the local e-grocery scene, Redmart, caters to the modern need for efficiency and convenience as more people decide to allocate time away from basic housekeeping matters.

Though grocery e-shopping is not a new thing here in Singapore, the scene, pioneered by Cold Storage in 1997 (refer to this study done in 2000/2001 by ex-NUS student Tan Kok Leng), has been rather dormant in the past decade. Only in the previous year has the concept surged in popularity.

Which makes it a perfect time for sites like RedMart, which isn’t the only startup doing this, to enter the market. Another similar site, Household.sg, made its debut last year.

Comparing the two, they are somewhat on par. However, I find that RedMart, which was started in November 2011, has the slight edge against its competitor.

For one, Redmart offers a unique “My List” program, which operates like a standard grocery list.

Here’s how it works: The products you buy upon your first purchase from the e-store will be stored on the list in the site, tagged with information like the frequency of repurchase, for example, two weeks or one month.

You will then receive an email once it’s time to restock your items, which is as easy as clicking on a link which will bring you immediately to checkout.

Another feature that only Redmart possesses: the ability to select more than one category or brand of items on the left sidebar at the same time.

This means that you need not, for instance, click on Colgate, Pearlie White and Sensodyne individually, and browse through items of each brand on separate instances; you just need to select all three brands consecutively, and the database will display all items from those brands at the same time.

Interesting, but not quite useful? Wait till you see the “sort by price” feature. Items from the three brands are sorted from the least pricey to the most, allowing you to easily find out which product best suits your budget and needs. Not a bad way to shop intelligently, isn’t it?

Other features of the service that might attract customers include: Free delivery on orders above $75, same day delivery on orders placed before 10am, the ability for customers to pick their own two-hour window for delivery, RedDealz, which offers deep daily discounts and weekly deals, and a 15 percent discount for customers ordering items for the first time.

On the site itself, items are cleanly organized into instinctive categories, just as how products in a conventional supermarket are shelved into sections that appeal immediately to the grocery shopper.

Also, there is that all-convenient search function where you can just “heck all” and plug in a keyword and get a list of matches that may be relevant to you.

Of course, Household.sg has some of these elements too, but it falls short when it comes to providing innovative extras such as the “My List” program, which is really RedMart’s “secret recipe” to giving extra value to their customers.

Both stores, however, seem to have a limited product range both within specific brands and across item categories.

I could not, for instance, find my Aussie Dream Organic Rice Milk, which I can’t do without every morning, on either sites. Also, both do not offer any kind of fresh food like fruits, vegetables and fresh milk.

Compare that to Cold Storage’s online counterpart, which offers all kinds of fresh food, from meat and poultry, to seafood.

Here is where RedMart stands out once again: They have a feedback mechanism in place where customers can simply click on a link next to the Search bar to request items that are not being offered.

In response, Roger said that “it is logistically very, very complex to get (selling fresh produce) right and we won’t do anything unless we can do it well.” Ultimately, RedMart’s goal is to get customers what they order, so they only sell what they have in their warehouse.

This is in contrast to the approach where online supermarkets would source for items from their physical stores, only to find out that there’s no stock. So they either replace them with a similar one or refund the customer, after they have made the transaction.

“I may be old fashioned, but I’d rather receive what I ordered!”

For recent features on similar initiatives that deliver convenience to people, check out our articles on LobangClub and SingPet.

About the author

Thoroughly Singaporean, Justin Chua is kiasu and embraces – no, chope – all job roles associated with critiquing, writing and producing creative work: copywriter, screenwriter, editor, critic, playwright, designer…… Youthfully versatile, he is currently in the progress of setting up a freelance Creative business in Writing, Design and related right-brain fields. Catch him on Facebook if you can.

Carol hails from Taiwan(left) while Maria (right) is from Hong Kong.

Carol Chyau and Maria So started social enterprise Shokay long before the term became a buzzword in recent years.

Shokay, which is the Tibetan word for yak, is a lifestyle brand that designs stylish products made from soft yak down. By sourcing from Tibetan herders in Qinghai and employing women in rural areas, it helps promote sustainable income in rural China.

Shokay’s work allows indigenous herders to generate more direct income, preserve local culture, promote sustainable usage of the environment and promote community development work.

Carol was in Singapore the past November for TEDxKRP to share her experience.

From inspiration to execution

While doing their Masters in Public Administration at Harvard, the duo decided to put the business concepts they learnt into action. The pair went seeking for inspiration on two weeklong trips in Yunnan, China in January 2006.

While there, they saw a need for poverty alleviation and stumbled upon an opportunity. China has an abundance in yak fiber, which is highly comparable to cashmere. Yet, because of its inaccessibility and lack of visibility in the fashion industry, its great potential was left untapped.

With an idea in mind, Carol and Maria went back to Harvard and entered the Harvard Business Plan Competition with a few friends, coming in first under the Social Enterprise Track. With the money they won, they returned to China and set their hearts on following the Yaks.

Items from Shokay

Right from the start, the cofounders had little knowledge about yak fiber and the textiles industry. Undeterred, they kept going to experts for help and formally founded Shokay in November 2006. Today, the social enterprise has come a long way with over 100 stores in ten countries.

Carol shared with us a few important stories on how her team got the business going with little prior industry and product knowledge.

1) Be a sponge and absorb as much as possible

While they knew that they were risking it with zero industry experience and had no background in fashion or textiles, Carol and Maria never gave up. Instead, they went out of their way to visit a lot to factories and gathered feedback from professionals. They weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty doing research and talked to as many industry experts as possible.

2) Be a detective

Carol likens this process to solving a mystery. “Sometimes all you have are clues. When you don’t understand something you have to ask why. For us, we managed to gather useful information about yak fiber by reading up on Google. For example, while yak fiber is comparable to cashmere, few people know about it.” This market gap was their opportunity.

3) Be an inventor

Carol and Maria spent the last five years experimenting with several business models, figuring out the best way to create their product and bring value to the market. They initially sold only knitting yarns, but decided to move on to the bigger market of scarfs and shawls. They’re continuing to innovate and re-invent their model. “We’re shifting from being a fashion label to ultimately being an ingredient brand. Kind of how the Intel chip is an integral part to a Lenovo laptop,” she explained.

4) Have a perspective of an eagle

Social entrepreneurs have to think about two bottom lines. Sometimes you might get lost along the way, but it’s important for an entrepreneur to have the perspective of an eagle. “When you find yourself misaligned with your original goal, it’s important to recollect your thoughts,” she says.

5) Be yourself

After all the hard work, you have to figure out how to pull everything together and make it work. You have to believe and love what you do.

As Carol puts it, “I’m not doing this because I am more philanthropic than other people out there, nor because I’m particularly altruistic. For me, it’s about a sense of responsibility. I just believe that as lucky as we are to have so much, we should give back even more.”

Closing thoughts

Carol and Maria’s philosophy and sheer determination have paid off in Shokay’s progress. Now, sourcing yak fiber from more than 800 families and having used approximately 2,000 tonnes of yak fiber, it’s plain to see how privileged ones like us can give back so much more if we just took the first step to try.

By creating a market for luxury yak, they hope to generate income for nomadic herders.

Sure, the world is getting increasingly wired and a wifi Internet connection is becoming as common and taken-for-granted as water, but such luxuries aren’t always readily available in most countries.

Even in shiny, high-tech Singapore, there are spots in town where the free wifi connection is wonky, or inaccessible because it needs a password.

So, how does a driven, power suit wearing entrepreneur ensure that she closes that sale or troubleshoot an urgent, looming crisis that threatens her business?

Flexiroam offers a possible answer. Founded by Jef Ong in 1st April 2011, Flexiroam is a Malaysia-based company that offers travelers unlimited calls at over 200 countries for a flat rate. So, if I’m a Singaporean on a business trip in Jakarta, I can make calls to Singapore and receive incoming calls — both unlimited — at S$10 (US$7.70) a day, saving me from extravagant roaming charges.

To use Flexiroam, I’ll need to purchase an overseas SIM. I’ll then be given instructions on how to connect my number with the Flexiroam gateway. After I switch to the overseas SIM upon arrival at my destination country, I’ll need to send a text to tell Flexiroam to direct all calls to my mobile phone.

Such a scheme has the added convenience of allowing you to retain your existing phone number while overseas.

While the service was initially available only to Malaysians, it has since launched in Singapore the past November, with plans to establish a physical presence at Changi Airport soon. According to Nicholas Yeap, Flexiroam’s marketing chief, they expanded to Singapore because “on average every Singaporean travel out of their country at least twice a year — four times more than an average Malaysian.”

India will be their next stop. Already, they have two offices there — one in Delhi, the other at Indore. “They have the largest airport in the world and are growing more than ten percent yearly in terms of international outbound passengers. We foresee that more Indians will be traveling out of their country for work or holiday.”

So far, reception towards Flexiroam has been promising. Jef Ong, the founder, has received much press coverage and recently auditioned for DEMO Asia. He told Malaysia Entrepreneurs in November that the company has saved businesses over 700,000 Malaysian Ringgit (S$290,000) and served over 2,000 customers.

Nicholas told SGE that 400 corporate customers have used Flexiroam at least twice in eight months. They’re partnering with 500 travel agencies to bundle Flexiroam with their travel packages from February 2012. An agreement has also been signed with Malaysian Airlines to offer special packages to their 20,000 staff. Altogether, they’re registering a 30 percent month-on-month growth in terms of sales and subscribers.

In Jan 2012, they will be launched Flexiroam Infinity SIM, which is a SIM card bundled with a Flexiroam pass. This product caters to power users who don’t want to waste time buying a local SIM and would rather have a card that works in 121 countries, including South Korea and Japan. A data plan for travelers to Europe can be included.

Jef has been bootstrapping his business all the way, and they have sufficient resources to roll out their operations in Malaysia and Singapore for the next twelve months. Nonetheless, they are already talking to several venture capitalists to go regional, although nothing is concrete yet.

Reizo is a custom tailoring house, located at Wilkie Edge. Just a few years old, they already have a faithful following by delivering quality at affordable prices. REIZO’s custom suits suggest a wine-sniffing, caviar-munching elegance, which sets you a head above your less dressed colleagues.

At the helm of Reizo is young entrepreneur Vishnu Vasudeven. Graduating from NUS with a major in finance, he gave up a comfy bank job to create Reizo. In his own words:

“I wanted to do something different. I tried internships (at the bank) and didn’t like it. I wanted to start my own thing.”

Reizo in the Singapore Scene

Reizo is differentiates itself by challenging the notion that tailored suits are (1) unaffordable and (2) boring. Walk down Orchard Road and you’ll find a tailor in every building, pitching designs that were probably trendy when Grease was rebellious.

By going against the crowd, Reizo’s getting Singaporeans to rediscover tailored apparel. Their suits are affordable, snazzy, and made with obsessive attention to detail.

Starting Up

Reizo started with a capital of just S$75,000 (US$58,000). That may sound like a lot, but not in this industry; tailored suits have a higher production cost than off-the-rack clothing. Also, there was the worry that Singaporeans wouldn’t be interested; Reizo had to persuade investors that mentalities like mine (i.e. people who think that t-shirts with copulating skeletons is classy) could be corrected.

So where did the seed money come from? S$15,000 (US$12,000) came from Vishnu’s family. The rest of Reizo was funded by Spring Singapore. Vishnu mentions that:

“Without Spring Singapore, I may not have been able to start the business at all.”

Regarding his family, Vishnu says the issue wasn’t the amount of money. They were just worried about the risk he was taking.

“It was difficult to convince them that the risk is worth taking. I had studied finance and they thought working with a bank is a better and more stable option. So I had to prove to them that I was sure of my decision.”

But were they right about the risk behind Reizo? Vishnu thinks so:

“Your own business is not very lucrative for the first 6 months to a year. In fact, 9 out 10 business fail so it is a big risk. But it is worth it if it takes off. That’s why you take the risk, in hopes that you will do well in the future.”

Even with lenders in place, Vishnu made it a point to find alternative income. He spent time tutoring, and cut down on his own expenses.

“I would go hang out with friends at the park instead of the club,” he says.

How’s Business?

Vishnu explains that Reizo sees seasonal trends. Some months profits soar. Other times, they just manage to break even. But his business goals are all on target.

“I want to add more lines of products, and more shops in the coming years, so those plans are still on.”

About the author

In Shubhreet Kaur‘s own words: I’m a passionate journalist with a strong belief in the power of media. Besides penning down my thoughts and ideas, I am an F1 fanatic who loves to travel, experience new cultures and explore new grounds. At all other times in between, I love to shop till I drop! ;)

3rd Planet, an ambitious Singapore startup founded by avid traveler Terence Mak, has a simple vision: To give travelers the experience of being immersed in another country through their Internet browser. In their own words, they’re building “the first interactive 3D online travel portal” in the world.

The free-to-use service will be made available globally on 10th December with the launch of their “Journey to Everest” experience. The startup is supported by the Media Development Authority of Singapore.

I was a bit skeptical initially. After installing the required plugins, I was brought to a rotatable 3D image of the Earth within my browser. It bore a striking resemblance to Google Earth.

In many ways, they share similar features. I can zoom in on the world map to take a look at terrain features, get immersed in 3D re-creations of  a city, and read detailed information about locations that pique my interest.

But I would do 3rd Planet a grave injustice by calling it a Google Earth clone — it is fundamentally a different product. All the features of 3rd Planet work within a browser, unlike Google Earth. Also, the primary aim of 3rd Planet is to serve as an information portal for tourists who are planning their trips.

I had the chance to take 3rd Planet for a spin, and while I am impressed by the product, it is still rough around the edges.

Let’s start with the positives first.

Unlike run-of-the-mill tourist websites like Lonely Planet, 3rd Planet’s attraction is in its aural and visual immersion. After zooming in on Nepal, I was brought to a map that showed me various places I could visit. Clicking on certain icons will reveal information about a particular attraction, things to look out for, and even entrance fees.

Some locations have a 3D view that allows me to “walk” around the landscape, see how some of the landmarks look like, and read relevant information about them.

Overall, I found the experience pleasant,  novel, and fluid. I could visit the airport, for instance, and read about do’s and don’ts in Nepal, the currency exchange rate, and places to stay in. I would be greeted with sounds of people chattering away and the murmur of an intercom announcement. Generally what you would associate with airport noises.

3rd Planet is easy to use too. I had no problems learning how to navigate around the map, reading information I want. Google Earth, on the other hand, has a rather steep learning curve.

Now for the not-so-good parts.

I found loading to be a bit slow on my broadband connection, especially when going into the 3D view. Also, whenever I try to view some of the descriptions, they take forever to appear — a major turn-off. And when the descriptions do appear, I found them poorly formatted. Headings aren’t highlighted in bold, and there are no hyperlinks to bring you to hotels websites and so on.

I also found the explorer view, which lets you walk the map on your own, clunky and somewhat pointless. Walking around is painfully slow, and not useful in any way. I prefer the “fly through” mode, which very quickly brings me to relevant and interesting objects.

Generally, the information presented was quite detailed and comprehensive, but site lacks features that can vastly increase site stickiness after the novelty factor wears off. 3rd Planet should aim to make their portal as complete as possible. If users have to go elsewhere to do their planning after visiting the site, that should be a sin.

I would love 3rd Planet to integrate hotel booking services within the portal. I would also love to find out about available flight timings in and out of Nepal, and even hyperlinks to the airline’s flight booking portal. These features would make the site infinitely more useful — although they take a lot of effort to implement.

The site doesn’t seem to have any social media integration in place. That’s a pity really, because I do think 3rd Planet deserves at least a first look by anyone who wants to travel, and platforms like Facebook and Twitter are effective if used correctly.

Flaws notwithstanding, 3rd Planet has potential to be the go-to source for travelers by offering a fresh look at how tourist information can be organized and presented. While traditional websites force users to navigate via hyperlinks and webpages, 3rd Planet offers something extra — the ability to spatially locate information within a 3D representation of the real world.

By allowing us to explore our surroundings this way, we mimic actual human behavior, much like how the iPhone’s touchscreen brought natural finger gestures to smartphones.

To put it a bit pompously, perhaps what 3rd Planet offers is a glimpse at the future of Internet navigation.

Images: 3rd Planet

Plenty of cloud services lets you store, share, and sync files across multiple devices. Dropbox and Google Docs are perhaps the most popular ones — but both have features that each other lack.

Dropbox has an offline client that lets users drop files into a special folder which will then be synced to an online account. But they can’t create Word documents and other files using Dropbox. On the other hand, while Google Docs has cloud storage and file editing capabilities, it has very limited offline functionality — users can only view files but not much else.

People who use both Google Docs/Apps and Dropbox have clamored for an integration of both apps for a long time. In comes Insync, a new online service started by Singapore and Philippines-based entrepreneur Terence Pua that hopes to bridge that gap by offering Dropbox-like features to Google Docs.

I found using Insync rather easy. After downloading the client from the website, Insync automatically downloads files from Google Docs into a specially created folder. Any file that I drag and drop into the folder or edit will automatically sync with Google Docs, and vice-versa.

This core feature is useful if you have no Internet access at the moment, but want to create a file that you’ll later share with another Google Docs or Apps user. Insync works with any file you upload too, and not just Office files. As a complement to Google Docs, it could be a formidable replacement for Dropbox.

After giving Insync a quick spin, I’ve captured some screenshots of how it works:

I created a Word Document in Open Office, and saved it inside the Insync folder on my laptop.

Insync automatically syncs the file with Google Docs. Within seconds, I can edit the file online through Docs. Any changes made and saved offline will be reflected online as well. Just hit refresh.

Any activity that happens on my account will be reflected on the Insync dashboard. Files will be listed there too.

Insync is now currently in private beta. It will monetize on a freemium model, allowing users to sync up to 1GB of free data on Google Docs. Users pay if they want more syncing capacity. Compared to Dropbox, Insync promises to be four to six times cheaper for power users.

While Insync works as a great product, there are some improvements I’d like to see: A mobile app for smartphone users would be nice, and better documentation (perhaps in video) to guide non-techies, who may not know what Insync is all about.

It has some hurdles to overcome too if it wants to become a successful business. Fending off competition would be a major challenge. There’s really nothing stopping Dropbox from integrating with Google Docs, although they seem to be dragging their feet on this.

Insync is also not the first product of its kind. Syncdocs does essentially the same thing too, although the free version appears to be limited in functionality. It remains to be seen whether Insync will achieve the sort of user adoption it needs to monetize and scale.

Want to try out Insync? Sign up for our newsletter and you’ll be notified next week on how to get an invite (we have limited slots available)!

Sprooki is an app that lets shoppers find out the latest deals near them, purchase the products in-app, and redeem them at the store. Sounds like just another daily deals app? Not quite — it’s much more than that.

Think of it as Groupon meets Chalkboard, with retail analytics built-in.

It is an end-to-end platform that lets retailers push their promotions to mobile users in the vicinity, receive payment directly from customers who use the app, and analyse data about their customers.

Malls too can benefit from using Sprooki, which allows them to launch campaigns, schedule alerts, view real-time results and sales, and read post-campaign reports.

The consumer end has a social media element built into it — shoppers can ‘follow’ stores they like to receive promotions from them, much like on Facebook. This benefits merchants as well since it’s an additional channel to build customer loyalty.

The Singapore-based company was co-founded in February 2011 by Claire Mula. They cooperated with 313@Somerset, a shopping mall located along the Orchard Road shopping belt, to launch their app in November for the iPhone.

So far, the free-to-download app has accumulated more than 35,000 promotions viewed in under three weeks.

While some might think that shopping centers have gone entirely out of the picture in the e-commerce space, I like how this company has not forgotten the fact that malls still hold much sway in the Singapore retail industry. Sprooki is smart to leverage on them to promote their own app, while at the same time offering malls a tool to promote their brand alongside the merchants under them.

Usually, a QR code would bring you to a website or call up some contact information about a company or individual. While useful if well-implemented, these uses provide just a glimpse of the QR code’s potential.

Enter QropIt, a full-fledged, free-to-use QR code web app that just launched today (29th November). Led by Singapore-based web developer Chua U-Zyn and working with Korean partner Focusone, QropIt allows users to ‘like’ a Facebook page or receive coupons from merchants after scanning a QR code. The mobile app, which is coming soon, will let smartphone users find out what QR codes are nearby which may interest them.

For business owners, QropIt offers built-in analytics that lets them see audience responses and demography. They can also change the data of the QR code instantly without needing to create a new one from scratch.

Generating a QR code using the service is designed to be easy and straightforward. Suppose I want to link a QR code to a coupon which offers a $10 discount for my product. After creating an account, I can head to the ‘Coupon’ page and key in details like the title, description, and terms for the deal.

I can also upload an image of the coupon, include location data, and indicate if there’s an expiry date. After I create the QR code, I will be brought to a customized page (see screenshot below) where I can track analytics and download a high-resolution version of the code.

While some are heralding the death of the QR code in light of emerging technologies like NFC, others see breathing room for both to co-exist. Good implementation is the key for QR codes to stay relevant, but frankly speaking, I haven’t seen many good examples.

Perhaps QropIt can point marketers and business owners in the right direction with its user-friendly features.

Here's what your customized coupon QR code page will look like.