Earlier this year at tech startup conference Echelon, the man best known for co-founding online networks Rotten Tomatoes and Alivenotdead Stephen Wang, talked to Coconuts Singapore about the makings of a serial entrepreneur, what the local startup scene needs and naming businesses after fruit.
“Serial entrepreneur” is not necessary a title you chase or put on your resume, but it’s a consequence of constantly seeking to do what you love and to build something new that you can share with other people.
I take it as a compliment that people would actually ask me for advice about their business.
When you work at the cutting edge where a lot of entrepreneurs are, prior experience doesn’t always inform a better decision. A lot of it has to be gut instinct.
I may not have technical knowledge specific to their business, but I can share my experiences with my prior companies in things like team-building, how to set up a steady revenue stream and how to get people excited about your potential. They’re not necessarily what their company’s going to be known for, but are equally important when building an operation.
When I first came to China from the United States, I didn’t immediately go to a big city. I went to Xiamen, which is a mid-tier city nowhere near Beijing or Shanghai. Being someplace that’s less exposed to the Western culture and with more growth opportunity got me really excited.
I witnessed such a rapid transformation there — people who were not using computers at all had suddenly integrated technology into their lives in the span of only a year or two.
I can’t claim to know Singapore well, though I’ve spent a good amount of time in Southeast Asia. But I do know that Singapore and Hong Kong share one thing: distinctive local culture and communities.
If anything is going to succeed in these two cities, it needs to be able to gain support from the communities and build a loyal fan base.
People love fruit, particularly Southeast Asians. In general, we have a very sensual, very primal connection with food. “Rotten Tomatoes” was horrible as an email address; it’s so long. But it was and still is, a distinctive name. If we’d call the website something like movie reviews.com, maybe we could’ve succeeded, but I don’t know if people would feel as strongly to the brand as they do now.
There’s something very cool about people saying, “I’m a Coconuts fan” or “I’m a tomato”, right? It’s unique, creative, slightly against the mainstream and so distinctive that people identify with it much strongly.
My partner Sen originally purchased Rotten-tomatoes.com. I only suggested we take the dash out much later.
Earlier this year at tech startup conference Echelon, the man best known for co-founding online networks Rotten Tomatoes and Alivenotdead Stephen Wang, talked to Coconuts Singapore about the makings of a serial entrepreneur, what the local startup scene needs and naming businesses after fruit.
“Serial entrepreneur” is not necessary a title you chase or put on your resume, but it’s a consequence of constantly seeking to do what you love and to build something new that you can share with other people.
I take it as a compliment that people would actually ask me for advice about their business.
When you work at the cutting edge where a lot of entrepreneurs are, prior experience doesn’t always inform a better decision. A lot of it has to be gut instinct.
I may not have technical knowledge specific to their business, but I can share my experiences with my prior companies in things like team-building, how to set up a steady revenue stream and how to get people excited about your potential. They’re not necessarily what their company’s going to be known for, but are equally important when building an operation.
When I first came to China from the United States, I didn’t immediately go to a big city. I went to Xiamen, which is a mid-tier city nowhere near Beijing or Shanghai. Being someplace that’s less exposed to the Western culture and with more growth opportunity got me really excited.
I witnessed such a rapid transformation there — people who were not using computers at all had suddenly integrated technology into their lives in the span of only a year or two.
I can’t claim to know Singapore well, though I’ve spent a good amount of time in Southeast Asia. But I do know that Singapore and Hong Kong share one thing: distinctive local culture and communities.
If anything is going to succeed in these two cities, it needs to be able to gain support from the communities and build a loyal fan base.
People love fruit, particularly Southeast Asians. In general, we have a very sensual, very primal connection with food. “Rotten Tomatoes” was horrible as an email address; it’s so long. But it was and still is, a distinctive name. If we’d call the website something like movie reviews.com, maybe we could’ve succeeded, but I don’t know if people would feel as strongly to the brand as they do now.
There’s something very cool about people saying, “I’m a Coconuts fan” or “I’m a tomato”, right? It’s unique, creative, slightly against the mainstream and so distinctive that people identify with it much strongly.
My partner Sen originally purchased Rotten-tomatoes.com. I only suggested we take the dash out much later.