Philipines startup scene

[drllau]

Tech in Asia has commented the startup scene in the Phillipines with the additional observation that Telstra (Australia ex-govt telco) may soon be competing (and thus giving impetus to mobile data network). With their corporate accelerator Maru-D in both Sydney and Singapore (along with partner sites in Brisbane and Auckland), there could be a distinct possibility another branch might open up giving the local technopreneurs an opportunity to shine and tap into the mCommerce market. Of course with the delay, existing ASEAN entrances with market-product fit and established teams could come in and attempt to take over (learning curve counts for a lot in digital services). However, one also points out the old chinese saying, "the local snake is stronger than the remote dragon" with locals understanding the regulatory environment and who are the critical players. The (untested) claim is "Philippines now has 20 accelerators, incubators and venture capitalists, and at least a hundred operating startups". 

One of the areas of professional interest is the technology absorptive capacity of a nation. Too often ambitious govt led projects (Japan 5th Gen, Malaysia Multimedia Supercorridor, etc) stumbled because the goals did not account for the changing technology landscape and the fact that talent development takes so long. I recall seeing an ad in the early days of Java release asking for a knowledgeable developer with 5 years experience (when the standard had only just been released). Putting in place the technical training (master classes etc), the culture/incentives and more importantly the risk appetite is non-trivial. This is normally counted in decades (though a source in SG govt reckons they can do it in 5) and even then, needs indigenous sources of innovation (cf China Torch program) to be more than a business process outsourcer.

Anyway, will be interesting to observe.over coming years to see whether talent stays or walks.

Lawrence