In a fireside chat that happened this morning at Startup Asia 2014, CEO and co-founder Malcolm Rodrigues, opened up about his plans for the city's alternative fibre broadband service company, MyRepublic.
He revealed that the company, whose funding has come primarily from angels and will "probably never" get investments from venture capitalists (VC) because "they're just too painful to talk to", aims to go public in 2017. "We're not looking at an exit. I think we have a chance to bring something radically different to the market," he said.
At the moment, the company isn't profiting and will take about three months to finish paying back the capital funds.
In the 30-minute chat, Rodrigues also shared about the way things get done at Singapore's bold new internet service provider (ISP)."Three out of the four decisions we make turn out to be mistakes. If that happens at a large company, you get fired. Here, we have room for it. Too many people get stuck not doing things, not acting on things."
MyRepublic is also seemingly unaffected by the on-going price wars between the major telecommunication (telco) companies in Singapore, namely SingTel and Starhub, whom Rodrigues says used to only look at each other as competition. "We came into the market knowing we were not about being the cheapest. Our engineering is non-conformist — we focus on providing quality, capacity for heavy gaming and video content," he added.
Rodrigues also emphasised the importance of corporate culture, calling a hefty stack of slides prepared by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings "phenomenally interesting". "You cannot have people thinking the working environment is destructive," he shared. "You want to create a culture where people are happy the weekend is over because they can't wait to come to work. You also need to have people you trust and that you empower."
Despite his clear passion for entrepreneurship, the former Vice President of Starhub's International & Wholesale Group is not without regrets. "As a CEO, money keeps me up at night. Also, I've sent my kids away. I couldn't afford to send them to schools here so I sent them to Vancouver. That's always hard." "But that's not my biggest regret. My biggest regret is not having founded a startup 20 years ago. It's still been the most fulfilling thing I've ever done," he closed.
Photo: A MyRepublic rocket 'unintentionally' aimed at the SingTel building; MyRepublic Facebook
Coconuts Singapore is a media partner for Startup Asia 2014 organised by Tech in Asia. Come by booth 32 for a chat and an icy cold coconut!
In a fireside chat that happened this morning at Startup Asia 2014, CEO and co-founder Malcolm Rodrigues, opened up about his plans for the city's alternative fibre broadband service company, MyRepublic.
He revealed that the company, whose funding has come primarily from angels and will "probably never" get investments from venture capitalists (VC) because "they're just too painful to talk to", aims to go public in 2017. "We're not looking at an exit. I think we have a chance to bring something radically different to the market," he said.
At the moment, the company isn't profiting and will take about three months to finish paying back the capital funds.
In the 30-minute chat, Rodrigues also shared about the way things get done at Singapore's bold new internet service provider (ISP)."Three out of the four decisions we make turn out to be mistakes. If that happens at a large company, you get fired. Here, we have room for it. Too many people get stuck not doing things, not acting on things."
MyRepublic is also seemingly unaffected by the on-going price wars between the major telecommunication (telco) companies in Singapore, namely SingTel and Starhub, whom Rodrigues says used to only look at each other as competition. "We came into the market knowing we were not about being the cheapest. Our engineering is non-conformist — we focus on providing quality, capacity for heavy gaming and video content," he added.
Rodrigues also emphasised the importance of corporate culture, calling a hefty stack of slides prepared by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings "phenomenally interesting". "You cannot have people thinking the working environment is destructive," he shared. "You want to create a culture where people are happy the weekend is over because they can't wait to come to work. You also need to have people you trust and that you empower."
Despite his clear passion for entrepreneurship, the former Vice President of Starhub's International & Wholesale Group is not without regrets. "As a CEO, money keeps me up at night. Also, I've sent my kids away. I couldn't afford to send them to schools here so I sent them to Vancouver. That's always hard." "But that's not my biggest regret. My biggest regret is not having founded a startup 20 years ago. It's still been the most fulfilling thing I've ever done," he closed.
Photo: A MyRepublic rocket 'unintentionally' aimed at the SingTel building; MyRepublic Facebook
Coconuts Singapore is a media partner for Startup Asia 2014 organised by Tech in Asia. Come by booth 32 for a chat and an icy cold coconut!