Why this team? Why this idea? Why now?

At Startup Weekends and pitches, some ideas keep coming around, like:

  • social car/taxi sharing
  • an emergency call button app on your phone for medical help / volunteers to aid old people
  • something to schedule sports games with your friends.

Despite competent execution they rarely go mainstream. Why?
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Why do we entrepreneurs do what we do?

479921_10151875147520483_1891023666_nBetty Lim is planning a documentary film about Singapore’s start-up ecosystem. She asked several entrepreneurs, including me, about our life choices. Her questions set me thinking about why some of us decide to become entrepreneurs and what it means for the people close to us. As start-ups and mentors join us for our next accelerator program, we will ask them to reflect on why they are doing what they do, as well as sharing what it is and how they do it. Here are my answers, writes Hugh Mason.
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Dissecting Derek – Starting the New Year with @Sivers

177486979_640The clock ticked over to a new year …  so WHAT are you and your business going to do differently in 2013?

‘War stories’ from successful entrepreneurs like Derek Sivers are powerful because they can also help us figure out WHY we’re doing what we’re doing. In the first of an occasional series, Hugh Mason dissects the insights Derek has published to look for questions that could prompt useful New Year resolutions.

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