It takes a bold mindset to imagine innovations like Creative’s sound card and the iPhone, says a venture capitalist.

Synopsis: Conversations and interviews that give you something to think about. Each Wednesday, In Your Opinion speaks to thinkers, leaders, and the people shaping our lives and the issues of the day.

Following a recent parliamentary debate on growing Fortune Global 500 companies in Singapore, we ask if Singapore can ever grow a homegrown startup into a global tech giant like Apple or Nvidia? Or do our cultural attitudes toward risk and failure limit this potential?

To explore whether Singapore has the ecosystem and vision to build game-changing products that are similar to Creative Technology's sound card or the Apple iPhone, Lynda Hong sits down with Hian Goh, founding partner of Openspace Capital.

Managing a billion-dollar portfolio, and having served as the investment banker to Creative Technology's founder Sim Wong Hoo, Hian discusses the realities of the venture capital world.

In this episode, they examine the role of the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) in unlocking private capital, and the challenges of commercialising deep-tech R&D. 

The discussion also touches on what it takes for Singapore to cultivate its own Silicon Valley, the necessity of tolerating setbacks, and the value of backing founders with an unreasonable mindset.

Highlights (click/tap above): 

1:08 What is actually missing in Singapore's private capital ecosystem? 

6:06 Working with Sim Wong Hoo and hitting the structural ceiling 

12:40 Love, Bonito and the challenges of scaling a brand out of Singapore 

17:43 The "No U-Turn Syndrome" and why younger Singaporeans are breaking the mold 

19:16 Silicon Valley's risk appetite vs. Singapore's fear of failure 

21:27 The ChatGPT-4 lesson: Why celebrating uncertainty is the key to deep-tech innovation

28:34 Why the art of investing means backing the "crazy" founders 

32:34 Overcoming investor trauma for a more vibrant SGX

35:52 Should national R&D focus only on creating unicorns?

44:54 Block 71 and trusting the ecosystem to build a uniquely Singaporean Silicon Valley

Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH

Host: Lynda Hong (lyndahong@sph.com.sg) 

Produced and edited by: Teo Tong Kai

Executive producers: Danson Cheong & Lynda Hong

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