5 Hours since Rainmakers Live! “The New Argonauts” ended. 0300. My last day as President of NUSEA. And I can’t seem to contain my post event excitement.
Meeting Professor AnnaLee Saxenian and hearing her speak was a dream come true. No one really knew the extent in which she impacted my life.
1 year ago
It all happened one year ago, after I applied to the NOC program, I took on the assignment to write a paper about Silicon Valley, what are the lessons that organizations and the government can learn about this region. That was when I first came across the terms “Regional Advantage”. I read about the rise of Silicon Valley and the stagnating of Route 128 back in the 1990s and I was fascinated by the story. Route 128 was in many ways, parallel to Singapore. AnnaLee’s story of stressing the cultural element in an innovative region opened my eyes to why Singapore might not be taking off as an entrepreneurial region.
I arrived, and I thought
It was then, my goal to come to Silicon Valley, and be consciously thinking about what makes Silicon Valley attract the top talent from around the world? How did they create a culture of cooperation and continuous learning? Can Singapore learn anything at all from the Silicon Valley story?
I started observing. I observed how mentors share their experiences with us. I observed how people behave in networking sessions. I observed how Starbucks is a place of ideas. I observed how there is such a strong sense of cooperation between companies and individuals. I observed how every profession in Silicon Valley can contribute to the success of the region. A lot of things I see happening around me reinforce all the descriptions and insights AnnaLee had about Silicon Valley.
The Secrets of Silicon Valley
The more I thought about AnnaLee’s words, the more hypothesis I formulated. I tested out these hypothesis, and when they are proven true, I called them “The Secrets of Silicon Valley.” And NUSEA really took off as an entrepreneurial organization because we discovered so many secrets of Silicon Valley. Does anyone question how Silicon Valley evolved?
The appreciation of the history of Silicon Valley made us acutely aware of the nature of Silicon Valley, and it was the basis of our strategic planning in NUSEA 6 months ago. There was a strong emphasis in connecting people, forging new areas of partnership and cooperation, being sincere, passionate and righteous in all that we do. All these outlooks and discoveries paved the way for NUSEA’s rise in Silicon Valley. The more we observed, the wiser we became, the more we leveraged on the collective wisdom.
Can Singapore become an entrepreneurial hub?
AnnaLee made an important point in the event just now. She mentioned numerous policy makers calling her to ask “How do we build the next Silicon Valley?” And the answer is, “You can’t”. It was perhaps 9 months ago in which I began to feel that Singapore may never take off as an entrepreneurial region. There is a strong cultural element of pride, lack of trust, fear of failure and competitiveness that restricts innovation and creativity. I was losing hope.
Yes Yes she can!
The New Argonauts offered a perspective that revived the dream of Singapore being able to take off. It proposes that Argonauts go back to a country, influence policy makers, mentor companies, start companies, invest in companies and most importantly build a bridge between Silicon Valley and their home countries. In a great way these Argonauts pave the road for technology entrepreneurship and innovation.
Look at the ingredients that Singapore possesses in becoming an entrepreneurial region. We have the knowledge. We have government support. We have funds. There may be a cultural conflict. But perhaps, just perhaps, one day, in a few decades’ time, some Argonauts may return when the opportunities are in place, for a knowledge transfer from Silicon Valley to Singapore and for Singapore to begin their path towards technology entrepreneurship.
NOC Students as Mini Argonauts
To my NOC friends: Why did you come here? You have stepped out of your comfort zone to be in a country where they consider you an alien. Although you will only spend 1 year here, remember all that you have learnt here. You’re educated. You’re inspired. You’re taught. If you take all that you have and start to light the flames of entrepreneurship in others, you are, in my opinion, a mini Argonaut. The question now is, where is our Golden Fleece?
To Professor Saxenian, thank you once again for making this event happen. I can never forget the day you agreed to speak at our event, and the words are still ringing in my head.
“Is this the same event that Soh Chin San and Mei Lin Fung have asked about? If so they get a prize for persistence 
. If we can work out a mutually convenient date I will accept this invitation.” - AnnaLee on August 23rd 2006.
