Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise New Malaysian acc

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March 16, 2011
192 views Share --> If there’s a common complaint about Malaysian start-ups, it’s not a lack of talent,Office Pro 2007 Key, but ambition and mentoring. The now-ended Malaysian MDeC (Multimedia Development Corporation) Pre-Seed grant program – which offered a RM150,000 (about USD50,000) yearly grant to start-ups with innovative ideas – produced, at best, mixed results, and was even criticized by some its recipients for a lack of guidance.
It also gave rise to a term Malaysian startup scenesters are familiar with: Grantpreneurs, which describes those who pitch their ideas with the primary aim of getting the cash, while the product itself may be inferior, impractical, or take a very long time to materialize, if ever.
Grey Attic, a Malaysia-based start-up incubator, aims to change the grantrepreneur mentality by creating between eight to 10 investment-ready products annually – with an emphasis on close mentoring and a tight 100-day deadline.
While it draws similarities to TechStars and Y Combinator, Grey Attic’s model most closely resembles Tetuan Valley Startup School, a Spain-based program that draws on the experience of international mentors to help develop young startups to fruition.
We spoke to one of its founders, Daniel ‘CerVentus‘, to find out more about Grey Attic.
So what does Grey Attic do?
Currently, we’re in a mentorship programme phase where we set a 100-day deadline for a team to come up with an idea, launch a product, and get their first customer. There are several variations of our program idea,Office 2007 License, but I’d say we are closely modelled after Tetuan Valley, a Spanish incubator programme that I’m also a mentor for. Like them, we also plan to do a demo day after the 100-day timeline where we exhibit the products.
Successful applicants would also be able work in a designated space in Damansara Uptown, Petaling Jaya, during the 100 days under Grey Attic.
How many applications have you received so far?
We’ve yet to announce our official first batch, but we’ve received eight applications and a lot of enquiries – not many people are sure of what’s going on with Grey Attic. But within a couple of weeks, you’ll see a clearer picture of what Grey Attic would be, and what ideas we’re mentoring.
Who are the mentors involved in this?
We don’t have the complete list of mentors at the moment, but we will update the names on the website soon. As far as Malaysia is concerned, we’ve got familiar names like Dash Dhakshinamoorthy from Warisan Global, as well as former MDeC director Roslan Bakri Zakaria on board.
What are the criteria of applicants who want to apply? What kind of ideas are you looking for?
A key criteria is that 50% of the team has to be technical, and each team can only have a maximum of three people. Right now, we want people who can deliver a product, and we’ll provide guidance in terms of the UI development,Windows 7 64bit, the product development cycle, as well as managing the press,Office 2010 Pro, learning about the hype cycle and other aspects.
While this is meant for the Malaysian entrepreneur, the idea needs to have a global reach. We’re currently focusing on ideas that can be developed fast, so we’re looking at mobile apps and web ideas – as opposed to electronics and hardware – which is also where our areas of expertise are.
Is monetization a major point of consideration?
A monetization model has to be there from day one. The ecosystem in Malaysia is such that we don’t have piles of cash to sustain startups. We’re not like Singapore; there’s no one who’ll come in and give you $500,000 to last a year. I would say that most – about 90% – of the startups that we’re keen on are lifestyle-focused,Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise, and have a good cash-flow model. It may not be a high-valuation startup at the early stages, but a good cash-flow is king for now.
Where do you think Malaysian startups need help the most – in development, marketing, or elsewhere?
Technically, I would say that Malaysian developers are way stronger than what you’d find in Singapore. It’s just that Malaysians lack the confidence and exposure to go global – so what we end up with is this annoying jaguh kampung (village champion) mentality.
We’ve heard so many pitches limited to just our country as a market: “We want to be like Facebook, but for Malaysia.” Why look at Malaysia alone? With 26 million people, we just don’t have the numbers to scale compared to the global market. Sure, we have a high number of mobile phone users, but not all are on smartphones. We believe that with the right access to the right people, you can practically start an empire from Malaysia.
You’re a member of the Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM), which helped vet through successful MDeC Pre-Seed grant applicants. What are the lessons you’ve learned from that process that you’re applying here at Grey Attic?
We oversaw some of the start-ups pitching and what I noticed is that we need more than just a 30-minute pitch before deciding whether it’s an idea worth pursuing. A lot more research needs to be done on whether there’s a market for the product being proposed.
Back in the Pre-Seed grant programme, we used to see and judge over 20 start-ups, and not only was it a time-consuming process for us, but there’s only so much time to delve into researching the idea. With Grey Attic, we can dive deep into the researching the demand, and mentors can spend more time talking with the founders to get a better idea of the product’s potential.