When JFDI’s lean coach Adrian Tan was invited to speak about Singapore’s startup scene this week, he was inspired by the number of local people who showed up to find out where they might fit in, especially as most don’t fit the stereotype of an internet entrepreneur, writes JFDI CEO Hugh Mason
General Assembly is not new to the process of offering access to entrepreneurship and the internet for anyone looking to change career. But it is new to Singapore, so Adrian Tan was curious to find out who would show up to hear him speak about Singapore’s startup scene this week.
“I was inspired to find that General Assembly really did live up to its reputation for bringing in a different crowd”, Adrian said. “I sometimes feel that we’re ‘preaching to the converted’ at JFDI when we reach out to local startups but these people were a very different demographic.”
It’s common for JFDI’s free Friday open house events to attract a diverse range of people: from 50 or so on an average night, to 200 if someone’s sponsoring free beer. But they’re usually a mix of ‘usual suspects’ – 20 somethings, digital nomads and serial entrepreneurs and investors. Adrian was surprised to find himself talking to a different crowd of mid-career professionals who have heard the message about Singapore’s Smart Nation and are now asking ‘So how?’
“I am grateful to people like Arnaud Bonzom for assembling all the facts I shared about Singapore’s ecosystem. But actually the thing that seemed to really interest them was the fact that I used to be a teacher and then I made this career switch to doing startups. Across the age-range who showed up, it felt like there were both young and middle aged people fed up with corporate life who wanted to try something different.”
Most inspiring of all for Adrian was the sense that the people who showed up were asking exactly the same practical questions he asked five years ago. Precisely the kind of questions that a structured, mentor-led accelerator program like the one Adrian teaches at JFDI are set up to answer.
“They want to know things like ‘Should I worry about my idea being ripped off?’ and ‘Where can I find a technical co-founder?’ and these are issues that our community at JFDI has evolved very practical ways to address,” said Adrian. “It was hugely reassuring for many of the people who came along to hear that entrepreneurship can be taught and that there are now systematic ways to reduce the risks and reassure family that the challenges which will always be there can be controlled.”
—-
If you are interested in how JFDI could help you, or someone you know who would like to explore starting a business, please get in touch.
