Start-up learning curve

Beginning a start-up with friends is exciting, but therein lies the truth that 90% of start-ups fail. Tank. Kaput. It’s not the best way to run a new outfit with such a gloomy forecast, but it is a reality.

For the three of us who work (well, Nicholas is studying full time) full time for organisations such as this  one and a non-profit, it’s been interesting. I would be glued onto the Harvard Business Review, Forbes.com and Inc.com websites each night, happily thinking that we could apply whatever happened in the US, here.

Rule number one: localisation, localisation, localisation. Presenting a business idea the American way to a Malaysian audience in a language that they are not familiar with, will have your target funder staring at you, wide-eyed.

Because our start-up is not politically connected, or rather personality connected, people wonder why we exist. We are realising a lot later than many of our corporate friends, that even in business in Malaysia, it’s who you know. You can have 1,000 dead bodies in your garden, Ds for grades, but if you have the swag and swagger, jalan beb!

But all is not lost. We have met with many supportive corporates which want to know more about the work we do, and we have been getting great business advice.

For all the talk about corporate Malaysia wanting to eat up the small people, there are as many, too, which want to see you succeed.

Funding for the non-profit sector and start-up is crucial for operating expenses, especially that magical project that will generate the buzz.

The number of funds out there in Malaysia is many, but not easy to access either. For non-corporate types such as my friends and me, one glance through the funding websites have us seeing stars.

This was why I was at the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation’s (WIEF) Idealab. Depending on who you speak to, in my humble assessment WIEF is an under-hyped home-grown brand that should be more known to Malaysians.

Much of its work is known abroad and because the foundation’s focus is on building bridges through business in the Islamic world, only the corporates or those in the know would understand its work.

The Idealab 2015 may have come with a heavy price tag for the tiny start-up, but in the words of Fazil Irwan, executive director and head of WIEF Young Leaders’ Network (WYN) at WIEF Foundation, people tend not to appreciate things when they are free. Paying a fee shows commitment to one’s goals and aims.

Idealab was held over two days at a hotel right smack in town and there was an intimate feel to it, unlike many corporate events that can overwhelm the visitor.

In the main ballroom was where the start-up fair and “successful start-ups and regional business experts” met to meet with the up and coming entrepreneurs from all over the world.

I met quite a number of people from Spain, Bangladesh, Japan – everyone was there to connect and access not just to funds but the right people who could mentor them.

The speaker line-up was interesting: the creative industry was part of the event, and we heard and saw Fadzaruddin Anuar of Fashion Valet, Zalfian Fuzi of IZI Media Group, Edmund Yap of Edunation, to name a few.

In my world, the personalities we meet tend to be from civil society, politics and activism, so it was new and refreshing to see a different crowd in KL.

The Networking Pods were the most interesting element (to me). Prior to the event, all of us registered online and were allowed to preview each other’s profiles before clicking to ask for a meeting.

What I liked about this function was that it’s not personal. If the person you contacted (and vice versa) did not respond, it wasn’t because of a personal agenda.

Times didn’t match or that both your needs and goals weren’t compatible. But I can tell you, for each person I met, I had to pitch and I had 15 minutes before roles were reversed, and we both had to figure out how we could help each other.

(Thank you Forbes.com, Inc.com and of course, Porter Magazine. Your article on Nancy Pelosi helped tremendously!)

Ebrahem Patel, chairman of WYN, whom I had the good luck of meeting, said Idealab formalised the structure of getting young entrepreneurs gaining the experience of meeting big business and the financial world.

“Anyone who begins any business must remember that they are committed and remain true to their passion. Many of us shy away from failure, but if we fail, it’s not about losing business. It’s about getting on with the business. You cannot fear failure. You cannot have the attitude of starting a business and wanting to sell it off in the next few years. If you’re a start-up with the dream of selling it off to someone else, it’s not creating value. You’re creating value for someone else. It’s a long-term vision. Entrepreneurship is about building a long term sustainable business.”

When I now think of our start-up, I am reminded of the children’s story, The Little Engine That Could. That Little Engine could, and did.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I know I can.

And if nothing pans out? We did our best. – August 21, 2015.

* My regular column will be back in two weeks.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.