This talk was given to corporates at the Canon THINK BIG Entrepreneurs Convention 2013. (http://www.canon.com.sg/thinkbig/the-think-big-entrepreneurs-convention-2013/)

1. THE NEW NORMAL
by Gwendolyn Regina TAN
twitter.com/gwendolynregina | gwen@techinasia.com
Sept 2013

2. QUICK BACKGROUND OF MYSELF
•
Business Development at TechinAsia.com (acquired SGE.io)
•
Co-founded and ran SGE.io (2005-2013):
•
•
•
One of Asia’s oldest and most influential tech media online publications
Clients and Partners include Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, Martell VSOP, Singapore government, others
Co-founded and ran Thymos Capital (2007-2011):
•
First private investment firm selected to partner with the government under the iJAM scheme
•
35 portfolio companies, 2 exits

3. TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED THE WAY WE...
• Communicate
• Relax
• Buy
• Work
& Sell
• Pay
• Find
jobs
• Invest
• And
many more.
• Organize

4. 7 billion people in the world
6 billion have access to mobile phones
4.5 billion have access to working toilets
Source: UN

5. More people have phones than toilets.

6. Democratization is
the process by which access to technology rapidly
continues to become more accessible to more people.

7. Democratization has manifested in different ways.

8. Democratization has impacted at different speeds.

9. Democratization has created new business models.

10. Democratization of
Funding
Ownership
Manufacturing

11. Democratization of
Funding
Ownership
Manufacturing
=
CROWDFUNDING

12. CROWDFUNDING
“Together, creators and backers make projects happen.”

13. CROWDFUNDING
•
Estimated active 536 crowdfunding platforms worldwide in 2012
•
Social causes, new businesses, creative projects
•
Asks for money in return for benefit
•
Different types: Reward, Donation, Equity, Loan
•
Tiers of contribution
•
Platform gets % of funds raised
Source: http://blog.gogetfunding.com/crowdfunding-statistics-and-trends-infographic/

14. USD 100K IN 10 MINUTES

15. HAPTIX
•
•
Control any computer: tapping, pinching
to zoom, or swiping to scroll on that
surface itself
•
2,059 backers
•
Exceeded goal, raised >USD 180K
•
Images: Haptix
Turns any flat surface into a multitouch
one, using 3D sensing to track the user’s
hands
1st Singaporean, “20 Under 20 Thiel
Fellowship”

16. SKYCUBE NANO-SATELLITE
•
Send messages that amateur radio
operators around the world can hear,
anyone with a smart phone can follow.
•
Request images of Earth from the
cameras
•
Making space exploration accessible
•
Scheduled to launch from Cape
Canaveral on the SpaceX CRS-3
mission to the International Space
Station this Nov ’13
•
To be deployed from ISS ~2 wks later

17. GRAVITYLIGHT
•
•
>1.5 billion people without reliable
access to mains electricity
•
Rely on biomass fuels (mostly
kerosene) for lighting once the sun
goes down.
•
Image: GravityLight
Lighting for developing countries.
Weight lifted in 3 seconds, 30 minutes
of light on its descent
•
Deciwatt.org

18. SOME CROWDFUNDING PLATFORMS
•
US-based Indiegogo (internationally-friendly), Kickstarter, Pozible
•
Asia-based: Crowdonomic, ToGather.Asia, Wujudkan, Patungan, Kitabisa.co.id
•
Most successfully funded projects raise less than USD 10K
•
Biggest campaign: USD 10 million on Kickstarter, sells 85K Pebble watches

19. SINGAPORE’S CROWDONOMIC
Image: Crowdonomic

20. HELPING MEDICAL STUDENTS BECOME
DOCTORS, FILIPINO STARTUP
Image: medifund
•
5% fee from funded campaigns
•
Working on reward system for backers, and loan system for students
•
Not launched.

21. REAL ESTATE CROWDFUNDING,
HONG KONG STARTUP
Image: Crowdbaron
•
Targeting middle income families
•
Not timeshare, purely for profit when property is sold
•
Some offer regular guaranteed share of the rental profits

22. ANIME ARTISTS, JAPANESE STARTUP

23. WHY CROWDFUND
•
Pre-sell products & services
•
Market testing
•
Get customer buy-in, financially & emotionally, early
•
Decreases need for venture capital

24. POTENTIAL PITFALLS
•
All-or-Nothing / Less than you aimed for
•
Equity crowdfunding still tough
•
Lack of trust in Asia
•
Marketing effort is needed (video is very important)
•
Constantly update your backers

25. “Family, Friends, Fools & The World”

26. Democratization of
Funding
Ownership
Manufacturing
=
COLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION

27. COLLABORATIVE
CONSUMPTION
“Renting vs Buying”

28. SHARING ECONOMY
•
Temporary ownership
•
Underutilized inventory
•
Everyone can be both a Consumer and Producer
•
Do more with less
•
Material content decreases, quality of life increases

29. ON-DEMAND LUXURY CAR
Image: Uber

30. DEMAND-RESPONSIVE PRICING
My Uber ride in Singapore
Image: Uber

31. UBER
•
Valued at USD 3.76 billion
•
Latest fundraising round of USD 258 million, total USD 361 million
•
Matches underused luxury car driving services with passengers
•
18 countries, 45 cities (Asia includes Bangalore, Melbourne, Seoul,
Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei)
•
Founded in March ’09, 300 employees today
•
Players in Asia include: Split-It.sg, TaxiMonger, MyTexi, GrabTaxi, EasyTaxi
(by Rocket Internet), etc.

32. STAY IN REAL HOMES - AIRBNB
•
Matches unused apartments and rooms with travellers
•
Valued at estimated USD 2.7 billion
•
Founded in Aug ’08 , >34K cities and 192 countries
•
Feb ’12: booked 5 million cumulative nights | June ’12, doubled to 10 million
•
Fees charged to both Host and Guest, ~10% of listing price of each night
•
Unique spaces include treehouses and boats
•
In 2012 in Asia, total nights booked increased 400% in Indonesia, 275% in Thailand, 547% in Malaysia, and
345% in the Philippines.
•
Players in Asia include: Singapore’s Roomorama, Germany’s 9flats, Travelmob (majority acquired by
NASDAQ’s HomeAway in Jul ‘ 13)
Sources: Airbnb, e27

33. INFINITE CLOSET WITH AUSTRALIA’S 99DRESSES
Image: 99dresses

34. OUTSOURCING MARKETPLACE, SINGAPORE STARTUP
•
C2C - Tasks completed: ~40% / Average completed task price: SGD 52.50 [June
2013]
•
Shifting to B2B, for short term contract work
•
Pay-for-access based subscription pricing model

35. IMPLICATIONS
•
New businesses focus on unlocking underused inventory
•
More rent rather than buy
•
Trust is essential
•
Bridging the gap between online and offline

36. Our world is now less organized around ownership, and
more organized around access to assets.

37. Democratization of
Funding
Ownership
Manufacturing
=
3D PRINTING

38. 3D PRINTING
“The Third Industrial Revolution”

39. 3D PRINTING
•
Additive Manufacturing, using Computer Aided Design (CAD)
•
Digital 3D blueprint ~> Sliced into 2D layers ~> Material (in liquid, powder or
filament form) prints layer by layer
•
Possible to create geometrically complex objects
•
Less waste, leaner and greener
•
Around for ~15 years, only just exploding

40. 1ST 3D PRINTED GUN
Image: Defense Distributed
•
Consists of 16 parts: 15 of which are 3D-printed + firing pin (a simple nail)
•
48 hours to print, USD 30 in materials
•
Consumer-grade, USD 1.3K 3D Systems Cube printer
•
US’ Defense Distributed, pending nonprofit in Texas

41. ROCKET ENGINE INJECTOR
•
Largest 3-D printed rocket engine component NASA ever has tested
•
Liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen passed through the component into a combustion
chamber, produced 10x more thrust than any injector previously fabricated using 3-D
printing
•
Decrease cost of space hardware
•
Made by Directed Manufacturing (Texas), design owned by NASA
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/august/nasa-tests-limits-of-3-d-printing-with-powerful-rocket-engine-check/

42. PRINT MY JAW
Image: LayerWise
•
Belgian company, LayerWise printed an entire titanium jaw for a woman, successfully implanted
•
33 layers to build 1mm of height, total of many thousand layers
•
Restored woman's jawline, speak and swallow normally again
•
Metal was coated with bioceramic coating, made with cavities to promote muscle and nerve
attachment
•
Transplant demonstrates that precision 3D printing can be effective for both bones and organ implants
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57372095-76/3d-printer-produces-new-jaw-for-woman/

43. YOUR BEEF TO COME FROM A PRINTER,
AND NOT A COW
•
Artificial raw meat
•
US startup, Modern Meadow: pitching bioprinted meat as a more environmentally-friendly way to satisfy
a natural human craving for animal protein.
•
PayPal co-founder & billionaire Peter Thiel invested USD 350K
•
To bioengineer meat, the scientists first get stem cells or other specialised cells from an animal via a
common procedure known as biopsy.
•
Once the cells multiplied to sufficient numbers, they are put into a bio-cartridge as bioink, made of
hundreds of thousands of live cells.
•
Once printed in the desired shape, the bioink particles naturally fuse to form living tissue.

44. STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
•
Prototyping remains the largest commercial application, 70% of the 3D printing market
•
Already widely used to make jewelry and other bespoke fashion items, in dental
laboratories to produce crowns, bridges and implants, as well as in the production of
hearing aids and prostheses, offering patients a perfect fit.
•
Low-volume, short production runs
•
More flexible, cost-effective and speedy alternative
•
Home “mini-factories”, print almost anything - food to household goods
•
Makerbot, Shapeways: 3D printing available to more people

45. Impact of Democratization

46. TO THE CONSUMER
• Control
up
• Confusion
also up
• Expectation
of personalized experiences
“The physical real-life experience is
informed by the virtual-life experience.”
~ David Sze, Greylock

47. TO BUSINESSES
•
New & increasingly diverse groups of customers
•
Different needs & expectations
•
With personalization, need to understand consumer, but respect privacy
•
Legal and tax rules unclear, still evolving
•
Business models still changing

48. What’s to come?
One day, we’ll be able to crowdfund to co-own a
3D printer that prints more 3D printers that prints
cars, clothes & houses that we can all use.

49. Reimagine the Future. | Gwendolyn Regina TAN
twitter.com/gwendolynregina | gwen@techinasia.com
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