Promoting innovation to build a better tomorrow

Speech by Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth & Trade and Industry, at the Startup Weekend Singapore 2020

Hi everyone,

1. Welcome to Startup Weekend Singapore 2020: Tomorrow. It is a pleasure and a great honour to be here. This event is made possible with the many volunteers behind the scenes. Good evening, and a good start to this weekend; a weekend full of ideas and solutions to make the world a better place for us, particularly amidst the pandemic. Where there is a crisis, there are opportunities.
   
   

   Introduction

2. This weekend is all about innovation, which is a journey that is sparked by an idea. I wanted to share a story about a friend of mine, Samantha Kwan.
3. Samantha works at Facebook, and on the weekends, she regularly volunteers with Readable, a volunteer organisation that works with children in the Jalan Kukoh area to equip them with literacy skills.
4. She noticed that many of the children are from single-income families where their fathers are the sole breadwinner of the household. The Circuit Breaker period presented a challenge to these families as a few of the fathers have lost their jobs or were temporarily unable to work.
5. Samantha saw this as an opportunity to help the stay-home mothers earn an income to help lighten the load.
6. Her idea became Project Cookoh - a home-based food business involving five mothers living in the Jalan Kukoh. This initiative encouraged stay-home mothers to use their cooking skills to earn an income for their families during this difficult time.
7. This is just one of the many examples where an innovative idea, while simple, has made life a little better for Singaporeans.
8. I look forward to many more innovative ideas from you that will go beyond the commercial goals of entrepreneurship; where social impact is at the heart of your solution and ideas. 
   
   

   Embracing and learning from failure

9. The journey of entrepreneurship isn’t an easy one. A report by Singapore Business Review highlighted that three out of ten Singapore startups fail within the first three years of launch.
10. Harvard Business School study attributes 65% of startup failures worldwide to personal stress and the stigma surrounding failing. However, it is through overcoming the fear of failure that some of the region’s most valuable startups like ShopBack, Grab and Carousell were built.
11. In particular, I would like to share about the journey of ShopBack. In early 2014, a group of young entrepreneurs in their 20s set out to create a flash sale site to bring shoppers one day of major savings while increasing business for retailers, much like the 11.11 (eleven-eleven) sale.
12. The team then realised that the idea would not be sustainable year-round. So, they pivoted to phase two where they changed it into a three-month long discount site.
13. Likewise, the entrepreneurs found that the business model was flawed as consumers preferred to see deals all year round.
14. After many iterations, ShopBack was developed and well-received by customers as the entrepreneurs settled on a year-round cashback model, which offers shoppers a proportion of their money back.
15. It took ShopBack two failed businesses and several shifts to become a successful business venture.
16. I would also like to share another story on Carousell. Siu Rui, co-founder of Carousell shared with me that Carousell was actually birthed from Startup Weekend Singapore 2012. Likewise, he had to overcome conventional thinking and the fear of failure to build up Carousell.
17. There will always be room for learning and growth amidst the failures. So, I encourage you to learn from Carousell and ShopBack, to be bold, start something amazing and never stop dreaming.
    
    

    Promoting youth participation in the future of Singapore

18. Singapore needs your bold ideas not only to overcome the challenges we face today, but also to thrive. We are living in unprecedented times due to COVID-19, which has turned all our lives upside down. Innovation remains the key to creating solutions for a brighter future.
19. The theme for this year’s Startup Weekend Singapore focuses on innovating to overcome the stigma around mental wellness, to address the needs of vulnerable populations, to create the future of work and to protect the earth for generations to come. These are themes that I spoke about in my parliamentary speech and these are also themes that youths care about deeply. This is also very timely, as COVID-19 is affecting vulnerable segments of our society more acutely.
20. These themes similarly arose from the engagements with youths through the Singapore Youth Action Plan (SG YAP) by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the National Youth Council (NYC) in 2019 to share their vision of our future Singapore in 2025.
21. I am confident that the ideas you have today will impact the Singapore of tomorrow.
    
    

    Promoting innovation to build a better tomorrow

22. Apart Startup Weekend, our Government has also strengthened the support to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
23. To support aspiring entrepreneurs without business experience to build and scale innovative startups, Enterprise Singapore has introduced a three-month Venture Building programme. This is part of the enhancements to its Startup SG Founder scheme.
24. The five autonomous universities will offer Venture Building programmes from this month to help participants build a stronger foundation in entrepreneurship and develop innovative products or solutions that are relevant to market needs. Such support and mentorship can help you increase your startup’s chances of success in the long run, and I encourage you to consider applying to be a participant.
25. Young people are the active architects in the design and execution of the blueprints for tomorrow. The future of our community depends on your efforts today. Regardless of the outcome of this weekend, I encourage you to further develop the idea that you will be coming up with over the next three days by participating in the upcoming Youth Action Challenge (YAC) Season 2 organised by the National Youth Council and Ministry of Culture Community and Youth. Like this event, through the YAC, young people will be supported to translate their ideas into concrete ground-up projects. There will also be support and guidance from youth leaders, industry experts and Government representatives throughout the entire process.
26. Registration for the YAC Season 2 will close by 30 September 2020 and I strongly urge you to register to be part of the YAC.
27. I also encourage you to find out more about the Young Changemakers Grant that aims to provide seed funding for youths to implement projects for the community.
     
    

    Conclusion

28. I would like to thank Startup Weekend Singapore for bringing together young innovators and experienced mentors year after year. It is a great initiative that harnesses youthful curiosity and creativity for the common good. It is truly inspiring how a team of volunteers can come together and give back to the ecosystem so meaningfully in such a way.
29. I leave you with a quote from the co-founder of ShopBack, Henry Chan, “some people get lucky for the first time, but you can’t have that every step of the way. It is more important to find a good team, a good problem and to work hard”.
30. I would also like to share another quote from co-founder of Carousell, Siu Rui, “Don’t underestimate what a deep sense of mission can do to keep you going through the most difficult times in your journey to make a big impact”.
31. Finally, like Samantha from Project Cookoh, I hope that you will own your ideas and put it to action to make Singapore a better home for everyone!
32. Thank you.