Comments on: A Foreign Entrepreneur Finds It Hard To Scale A Team In Singapore

By: Ecommerce Developer

Ecommerce Developer — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:11:16 +0000

Lovely experience shared by you Hugo….

By: Six Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a Home Business | The PLR Resource

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:57:59 +0000

[...] A Foreign Entrepreneur Finds It Hard To Scale A Team In Singapore … [...]

By: Greek Complexity

Greek Complexity — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:48:28 +0000

Singapore: start-up city?…

Entrepreneur Hugo Angelmar shares his views on Singapore as a destination for new start-ups. Some particularly astute views given the relatively short amount of time he has spent here. No platitudes, sycophancy or motherhood statements here. I found th…

By: Jonnie

Jonnie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:44:11 +0000

hmmm ... interesting article. I have seen the same things as Hugo and it can be very frustrating. But over the last 7 years, I have been able to carve out a nice niche with 20+ developers building software products for SG market, SE Asia market and the US market.

It's no big secret. First gotta build the right culture with the right people. And second, you have to be diligent about maintaining the culture and keeping the right people.

It's all about the people.

By: victor

victor — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:43:44 +0000

Hugo, perhaps the problem lies not with the “bad people” you hire but your own lack of leadership ability? You wrote that the “best people” from Singapore go to the US to study – i am one of them. From my own personal observations, the westerners who come to Singapore to work or start a company are not exactly top-tier people. All the best investment bankers, entrepreneurs, hedge fund managers choose to stay in Wall street and Silicon Valley. The fact that you are trying to start an online business in Singapore is in my opinion , already an indication of your lack of vision – how big can it possibly get ? Perhaps you might want to look yourself in the mirror – it might help you gain some business insights

By: SW Engineer

SW Engineer — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:39:15 +0000

Just want to comment about. the statement “in an undersupplied market software engineers can command high salaries” in the figure.

IMO, the salary of a software engineer in singapore is relatively low. which is why the market is undersupplied at the first place. not the other way round.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:07:13 +0000

John,

I think the problem is that programmers and managers underestimate each others role. A start up that only has hardcore developers may make the mistake "well we just need to build our awesome idea into a website and we'll be rich" forgetting that working out the business model for how to make money can be more work than actually developing the website.

It is all about mutual respect, working together and recognising your own limitations.

However I do agree that a MBA is only the start. I may give you a set of ideas and a way of looking at the world and is no substitute for really world experience. It is a bit like driving, just because you passed a driving test does not mean you are a good driver.

By: John

John — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:23:40 +0000

Crunches? Graphs?! That's how managers talks about stuff, not entrepreneurs! Dude, you have to realise your INSEAD degree is absolutely worthless in the world of startups. A MBA doesn't make you an entrepreneurs, for from it!

My guess is you're stuck in the MBA mindset and you lack programming experience.

I can only hope one of the other founders of your company (if any) is a hardcore developer. You really need that because you clearly talk on a different leven than entrepreneurs, especially developers.

It's a common mistake made people with a management background start a company. They think "well we just need some coders to build our awesome idea into a website and we'll be rich". Despite all their fancy management degrees, soon they realise they are actually uncapable to find good developers because they look down on developers, and what they have to offer is fairly limited, and instead of blaming themselves, they find something else to blame (a well known treat among managers).

If my assumption is correct, and you have no hardcore developers in your board of directors, find one, give him an equal share of the company, and make him responsible for all development related activities of your company. Also, stop talking in MBA terms about your startup.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:16:56 +0000

Hi Jack, when you say poor in quality could are you able to be more specific? Are there particular gaps or areas of weakness in skill sets that are common amongst Singaporean talent? If you click the link of my name you should see a diagram of that I compiled a while ago which put together the views of a lot of people as to what skills were important in developers. Are there any areas on this diagram where Singaporeans are weak in your experience?

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:08:44 +0000

The tech talent in Singapore is limited and poor in quality. I don't know if it is the education system or what, it is really tough to find smart guys who likes to take risk.

I work for a MNC and we bring a lot of guys from outside, that's where the hunger and quality is.