I will also provide some interesting case studies, for example, the Aravind Eye Centre for social entrepreneurship. This series is based on the “MPS 812: Entrepreneurship” course I have been teaching in the School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University. This post is republished from my blog.

Author’s Preface: I will include elements of a previous course which I have taught in Nanyang Technopreneurship Centre as well as some advice which I used to dispense via my role as an entrepreneur-in-residence for INSEAD Business School. I have refined the presentation slides and notes after teaching that course for four semesters over the past two years. Note that the content I have done up for this course is under Creative Commons – No Commercial, Share-alike and Attribution.

One important thing that I want to stress even though I have worked as an academic in the past: Entrepreneurship is a contact sport, and it’s easier to teach as a practitioner because you encounter a lot of challenges and issues from starting a company to managing, maintaining, growing and exiting from the company. My original intention is to change the course name to “Technology & Business” (and it’s not possible) as I am not a fan of teaching entrepreneurship but more of providing a toolkit for the students to use whether they are advancing their career or starting their own businesses. Do bookmark this post as I will update it from time to time.

My Course Slides:

Talking Points

• Course objective: My aim is not to teach anyone to become entrepreneurs. The success rate of any start-up from an investor’s viewpoint is 1 out of 10 based on anecdotal evidence, which means that 9 other start-up ventures will fail. So trying to convert you to become an entrepreneur is not the wise thing to do. The important thing I want to dispense through the course is to help you understand and learn the process of building startups and companies. The business plan assignment will provide you some basic understanding on various aspects of a business: Marketing, business strategy, financials and intellectual property (specifically for technology companies). The best takeaway is that you should learn to make all the mistakes about something as fast as possible. Simply put: Learn to fail fast.

• What defines an entrepreneur?: Different people have different perspectives of what an entrepreneur should be. In some cases, they are defined by the success of their businesses, and in other cases, they are defined by how their products or services have added value to everybody’s lives. Entrepreneurs also accept the inherent risks of their enterprise and are accountable for their success or failure. Unfortunately, some people do call themselves “entrepreneurs” but are totally off the mark, for example, companies who use Ponzi and pyramid marketing schemes to cheat consumers or lend money illegally (loan sharks) do not add any real value.

• Window of Opportunity and First Mover is not an advantage: While most investors like to emphasize on the first mover advantage of technology companies, note that many successful technology companies are not first movers. For example, Google was preceded in the search business by AltaVista and Inktomi (which was acquired by Yahoo! for US$20M instead of buying google for US$1M). Similarly, Facebook was not the first in the business of social networking. Before Facebook, there was Friendster (which was acquired by MOL Malaysia) and MySpace (which was acquired by News Corp). What made these businesses successful was that they learnt from the first mover’s failures and innovated to deliver greater value.

Videos

Video 1: Michael Pritchard’s LifeSaver in TED 2009

Lessons learnt from this video:

• Articulation of the problem and opportunity: The speaker discussed the problem of clean drinking water and used examples of a developing and developed country to illustrate that there was no good solution when a calamity struck. He also described how existing solutions have not achieved what they were meant to do.

• Describing technology simply: While the LifeSaver bottle solution has many features, the speaker only focused on one aspect of the technology: the 15nm pore. He explained it simply, describing how the filter is small enough to stop bacteria and viruses from entering. He could have explained how the entire bottle works but he chose to condense the solution to a simple feature so that the audience could understand him.

• Explain why his solution is better than traditional solutions: The speaker made a comparison with traditional solutions of delivering clean water, for example, people within the disaster area would make long trips to carry jerry cans filled with water from one location to another. He focused on how his solution made people’s lives easier.

• Product Demo and Authority: He was able to do a demo with the solution (as seen in the video). What’s more, he drank the water from the bottle and also passed it to Chris Anderson, the organizer of TED who is a well-known personality and got his endorsement that it’s safe.

• Provide vision on how to implement the idea and exact amount to fund the solution: He gave a plan of how the solution can be scaled and the amount of money required to solve the world’s drinking water problem. The amount was stated as 20 billion for worldwide implementation, but it was very clear to the audience what he was asking for.

Video 2: Thulasiraj Ravilla: How low-cost eye care can be world-class in TEDIndia 2009 – Aravind Eye Care Center

Lessons learnt from this video:

• Aravind Eye Care Hospital was founded in 1976 by Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy. The existing management has laid out a vision of what the Aravind Eye Hospital aspires to become in the future.
• The hospital evolved itself not just as a healthcare service giver but also as a social enterprise that deals with the blindness problem in India. It treated 2.4 million poor Indians over 30 years.
• Interesting Features: Eye Surgery facility that runs 24 hours with doctors focusing on surgery and nurses focusing on pre and post eye care. Free surgeries for the poor and also a top class R&D centre on eye treatment.

Is Intrapreneurship an oxymoron? Can one apply entrepreneurial skills within the confines of a large organization? CEO Unplugged allowed us to gain an insight into the minds of Mr Michael Yap (Deputy CEO, MDA), Mr Richard Eu (Group CEO, Eu Yan Sang International Ltd) and moderator Prof Wong Poh Kam (NUS and BAF Spectrum) and hear their thoughts on intrapreneurship.

Is Intrapreneurship an oxymoron?

Somehow we always think that entrepreneurship cannot survive within rules but Michael believes that it is actually the attitude towards challenge that is more important. An entrepreneur is one who creates value within constraints, a show of creativity. Intrapreneurs are unique entrepreneurs who innovate and create value within the constraints of large organizations.

About big organizations and startups

Both large organizations and startups have their own strengths and weaknesses. While a large organization has a whole arsenal of resources, a startup is much more constrained. But even with the availability of resources in a large organization, startup entrepreneurs may actually succeed faster because they can execute faster with their autonomy. In a large organization, a project might be approved only 6 months later, by which time, the team that had originally submitted the proposal had already split up.

Upsides and downsides

A startup entrepreneur bears all the risks, while an intrapreneur in a large organization bears just some part of the risk. In Richard’s words, “maybe you don’t get a bonus for the year, but you still have a job if the project fails, though you don’t get to be Bill Gates that way“. On the other hand, startups entrepreneurs hope to be able to capture most of the upside. No matter, be they startup entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs, people doing it just to have to have a certain amount of passion and interest to pursue that startup or project.

Intrapreneurship that worked

Google is famous for allowing employees to work on their own projects for 20% of their time, and this has resulted in many products that are out in the market today like Gmail, Google News and Adsense. On the other hand, an example of intrapreneurship that was stifled was that at Xerox. Adobe got its start because an idea its founders were working on was not received with enthusiasm at their then employer, Xerox. They then proceeded to set up Adobe Systems, now one of the most recognized companies around the world.

How to encourage intrapreneurship?

Encouraging intrapreneurship in a company is to create a culture that allows and encourages flexibility. Make an effort to hire people with those intrapreneurial attitudes. In Eu Yan Sang’s case, the country head has a lot of autonomy, akin to placing an entrepreneur there to run a business.

How would you react to a new idea that does not align with the company’s vision?

When an employee presents an idea that is not the company’s core business, you’re usually in a dilemma. If you say no, the employee will leave you if (s)he wants to see it through. If you say yes, it may not be the right thing for the company to do. But even though the idea that may not fit the company, they may still be potential money makers. What Richard suggests is to have a separate company fund for some of these ideas. Germinate these ideas and hopefully some of them can take off, and perhaps even look for outside money in the longer run.

The single thing that was done to promote intrapreneurship in their respective companies

For Richard, it’s leading by example. He is an intrapreneur in his own company, initiating projects. This way, we can more easily pass on the message of an intrapreneurial spirit to others, and build it into the culture of the company. As for Michael, it is to be open-minded, and let the idea presented in front of you bubble more. Believe that it will surprise you, and sometimes it will.

Photo from left: Michael Yap, Prof Wong Poh Kam, Richard Eu

Intrapreneurship refers to the creation of an innovative enterprise within an organization. Is it really possible in Asia, given the cultural factors such as hierarchy and adhering to the viewpoint of the collective community? Our resident contributor, Brian Ling aka Design Translator examines what the Asian viewpoint of intrapreneurship and offers some tips on how to become one in our fast paced changing Asian economy.

Intrapreneurship or Internal Entrepreneurship is fast becoming a big buzz word as companies start to embrace design, innovation and creativity as a strategic competitive advantage. Using the viewpoint that “innovation begins with everybody” as a credo to beat the competition, companies like IBM, 3M and P&G all have their fair share of Internal Entrepreneurs or Mavericks creating value for their companies.

What about Intrapreneurship in Asia? Where Asian companies are notoriously very regimental and hierarchical and where decisions are often made by one person? I like to share my strategies and the path I took as a somewhat successful Intrapreneurer in a very Asian company.

This article was really a result of a spirited discussion at the SGEntrepreneurs Blog on Intrapreneurship when many visitors commented and believe it is not possible especially in an Asian context. I disagree. Actually many of the strategies our fellow western Mavericks use, do apply here in Asia. However there are a few strategies that are unique to Asia as well.

The way Asian companies are run
This is one of the main differences between Asian (not all mind you) and our western counterparts. As most Asian companies are family owned, decisions are made top down, and often by the Chairman/CEO a.k.a. as the Patriarch. As a result it is quite common that no decisions are made or no actions taken until the top man or woman says so. Furthermore such “decision making paralysis” makes getting anything done in an Asian company very frustrating.

Understanding this is the first path to success in Intrapreneurship in an Asian company. As discussed in my article “Tips of being creative military style” this sets up your environment and frame work for which you can start to make things happen.

Reporting structures in Asian companies
This is one of the big reasons why Intrapreneurship in an Asian company is so difficult. Simply because nothing is done unless you have the explicit approval or agreement of the person above you.

Furthermore, Asian managers have a tendency of not letting go of responsibility or empowering subordinates. Simply, the sense of responsibility and the fear failure and losing face, make many Asian managers “control freaks”, or “lone rangers” working on projects alone.

First you need to determine how much leaway you have in your organization structure to initiate programs or advice, and if it is welcomed in the first place. If you can maneuver yourself into a position where your recommendations are heeded then Intrapreneurship initiatives can be easier.

Trust
So how do you get into a position where your advice is sought after or recommendations heeded?

You do it by establishing trust.

Asian companies, in particular, take a long time to establish trust in an employee. In fact the more highly qualified or ranked you are the harder it takes to establish trust. The main reason is new employees have a tendency to rock the boat to justify their employment, further fueling distrust. Or the sheer enthusiasm of a new employee has the bad habit to rub existing employees the wrong way.

The best way is to be patient and take things slow. Work hard, do good work, ensure your responsibilities are taken care of, and finally deliver work on time and as you have promised. Missing the scheduled deadline or milestone is often seen in Asian companies as unreliable or untrustworthy.

It took me the greater part of 2 years to establish the trust needed by the management to allow me to do what I do. During those 2 years I worked 12 to 15 hour days. I was the first one in at work and the last to leave; so much so the HR department thought I never went home! But most important of all I focused on getting my job done well above my management’s expectations, and finally I never ever missed a deadline.

Find an Internal Advocate
However even then all the trust in the world will come to naught if you do not have an internal advocate.

An internal advocate is someone in the higher management that supports your work as well as can be someone that can help facilitate getting the decisions made on your projects. Remember the hierarchy? Having a well-placed, very high up, Internal Advocate with in the management structure can help you get things done at an amazing speed!

In my previous post I talk about working with internal advocates to speed up negotiation. This post can give you more information getting help from these wonderful “Angels”. Think “Angel Investor” and you have your equivalent in the corporate world.

Befriend Lateral Advocates
An interesting difference between entrepreneurs in an organization versus entrepreneurs on their own is the former cannot work alone. Many Intrapreneurship projects fail because of the resistance of the other departments involved. For example, Finance, Sales and Logistics managers all have the power to kill a project.

Thus you need Lateral Advocates as well. These managers of different departments can make or break an Intrapreneurship project. The more of them you have supporting you, the easier it is for you to get your Intrapreneurship project up and running.

Know your product or business well
Now we start to get into the nitty gritty of things. To really make an Intrapreneurship project successful, it is almost imperative that you know your business or product well. Your initiative has to make sense, your solution obvious, and you need to know how to go about doing it. Otherwise you risk your effort becoming just a whining complaint to your manager!

Therefore you need to know how it is conceptualized, how it is made, how it is distributed, how it is sold, or how it is used etc.

Be in a position for budget and vendor management
After that you need to move into a position where you can dictate and manage your budgets and the use of vendors. This will be the bread and butter of your Intrapreneurship project as you are not going to get anything going if you don’t have access to any of this.

Companies run on budgets. If you are able to move into a position to control how your budgets are allocated or obtained, you can help ensure the success of your project, as money is the project’s life blood.

Furthermore the ability to manage the vendor helps you ensure the success of your project. The worst would be to start something and not have the ability to finish it.

Know the internal system
Some of the biggest complaints I have heard from fellow employees are “this company has a lousy system” or worst still “this company has no system”. Every company has a system, or a set of rules that people play with. If you don’t know it, then you better not play!

As an Intrapreneur you will need to know the system, and know it well. That’s the only way you can make it happen, especially in an Asian context.

Do you have qualities of a Maverick?
Basically all rules of an entrepreneur’s mindset will apply; the willpower required, stubbornness and patience to succeed are all minimum ingredients. Frustration of the lack of control can be very high. Thus the mental preparation is almost equal to that of an Entrepreneur going out on his/her own. In fact it could be tougher as you would likely still have your day to day job responsibilities to take care of during this time.

For more information on the qualities and characters of Mavericks do take a look at this great write-up here.

Conclusion
A lot of strategies and ideas mentioned here means you would need to be in at least middle to upper level management position. If feel you are not quite there yet, you will need to get there at least by working and acquiring the skills required to be in that position.

Also I would not suggest joining a company to be an Intrapreneur – it’s just not logical. This is because the level of conforming to the system you need to do is very high, and might be too much for a purist entrepreneur. However being an Intrapreneur is a good strategy to further or improve your career once you have been in an organization for a few years.

Oh, and finally, I almost forgot if you are interested to take a look at the prototype of the fruits of my labor it can be found as a Product Honoree at CES 2007 in Viva Las Vegas during Jan 08-11!
Note: Slow loading times after the two jump.

So, why is Singapore suitable for intrapreneurship? Let us examine a few factors:

• Risk Adverse Culture: Most Singaporeans are risk adverse and are afraid of breaking from the status quo. The dropout rate for being an entrepreneur (without any resources) is far too high compare to their stable job. In the intrapreneur scenario, they are able to exercise creativity within the organization and still get paid the same salary. Of course, the intrapreneur has to compromise part of their crazy and wacky ideas for a pragmatic and slightly “out of the box” plans for their intrapreneurial enterprise.
• Meritocracy revisited: Oftentimes, in Singapore, everything is dependent on your paper. Your grades from PSLE to university has decided whether you are a scholar or a statistic. Our government has adopted the view that if they spend a million dollars on your education, they will guarantee you a great position without really putting you to the test. In Singapore, you are booted out from that privileged position by screwing up rather than making an impact. If the non-scholars and scholars can compete on platforms that encourages intrapreneurship (i.e. create value for the big organization), that will be meritocracy at work.
• The big resources not on the hands of the entrepreneurs: At the moment, Singapore does have a critical size of patents and innovations. Most of them are under A-STAR which prefer the licensing option rather than the startup option. Even the inventors realize that there is no point for them to start a company because they don’t want to sacrifice their large paychecks to be an entrepreneur and fail. One can create a model where we turn some of these people as intrapreneurs and subsequently shift them out when they succeed. In some sense, this handholding might help most Singaporeans who are so afraid to fail.

If you are convinced by the reasoning above, the question will be how to implement it. The answer is that we should start from the civil service. Of course, bureaucracy seems to exist within all sectors of Singapore. The real question for the people who promote entrepreneurship is the following: if they don’t want to take risk, why should we care? What if we force them to take risk within their safety net? So, here are some crazy ideas:

• Assess Civil Service staff not by paper but by impact: You hear about talented lawyers like Mr Wang who quit the civil service because he hit the ceiling point for not being a scholar. Perhaps, the civil service needs to institute project-based work to assess teams of people and perhaps, offer a growth opportunity for these people. If Google can give one day free for their workers to innovate, we can do the same from the ministry of manpower to the ministry of health.
• Initiate an Intrapreneurship movement: Actually, ninety percent of the Singapore market are dominated by the multi-national corporations. Instead of asking the entrepreneurs to reinvent the wheel, why don’t we ask the MNCs to implement their intrapreneurship models in Singapore? Google and 3M are companies where we can take some best practices from. The real difficulty is to find the projects that can help the organization while at the same time, induce intrapreneurship.

Actually, we are productive and efficient, according to most people out in the world. Social compliance has stopped us from being creative and innovative. In order to foster entrepreneurship, the change from within might be a better option. So, perhaps, for the policy makers, you should give intrapreneurship a try.