The document profiles Wan Mohamed Fusil Wan Mahmood and how he helped found Mesiniaga, one of Malaysia's most established IT companies, after being asked to form a new bumiputra-controlled company to handle part of IBM's business in Malaysia and facilitate skills transfer to locals, drawing from his experience as a 10-year veteran at IBM but taking on the challenges of entrepreneurship.

2. Contents
Chapter 7 From Foot Soldier to Leader 51
Wan Mohamed Fusil Wan Mahmood
Introduction i Chapter 8 Cashing In 59
Foreword iii Ganesh Kumar Bangah
A Note From Ashran Ghazi of Asia Stream about MSC Malaysia iv Chapter 9 Playing for Keeps 67
A Note From Chris Chan of TMS Asia about MSC Malaysia vi Irman Nawawi
A Note From The Cradle Investment Program viii
Chapter 10 With Guts Comes Glory 75
Acknowledgement by TeAM Council 2007~2008 x Leo Ariyanayakam
Chapter 11 The Booksmart Businessman 83
Chapter 1 New Media Ahoy! 01 Norbik Bashah Idris
Ashran Ghazi
Chapter 12 Getting to Grips with the Intangible 91
Chapter 2 Collaborating His Way to Success 09
David Oh
Chris Chan
Chapter 13 Look Ma, No Wires! 99
Chapter 3 Method Man 19
Rais Hussin
Mathavan Chandran
Chapter 14 An Alternative Approach 107
Chapter 4 Between a Rock and a Hard Place 27
Rajen. M
Stephen Chia
Chapter 15 Head First 115
Chapter 5 Rolling with the Changes 35
Ritakamal Sadiman
Wei Chuan Beng
Chapter 16 Upwardly Mobile 123
Chapter 6 Ingenuity at Work 43
HY Sia
William Du

3. Introduction
Chapter 17 Old Dog, New Tricks 131
Harres Tan
Technopreneurs—that’s a hefty word to say, isn’t it? Yet, I couldn’t think
Chapter 18 No Limits 139
of a more apt word to describe the 21 people featured in this book.
Edwin Tay
Whenever the phrase “entrepreneurs in technology” (an even more
convoluted phrase), I used to think of the Silicon Valley, of Steve Jobs
Chapter 19 Carpe Diem 147
working in a garage with Steve Wozniak, of coffee-fueled nights and big
Teoh Eng Kee
ideas drawn on napkin towels.
Chapter 20 Not a Stranger in a Strange Land 155
That, however, is just the romantic side of technopreneurship—the
Harald Weinbrecht
stuff that inspires others to dream. What goes on behind the scenes, as
you’ll learn in this book, is something else entirely. If you’re an aspiring
Chapter 21 The Big Switch 163
technopreneur, this is not appropriate bedtime reading. In here, you’ll
David Wong
read about sleepless nights, gambles lost, and the inordinate amount of
self-belief required to make it to the top.
Appendix Technopreneurs Association 172
“We had no money,” is a phrase you’ll come across often reading this
book. That says a lot about the perseverance these people have in
of Malaysia (TeAM)
realizing their vision. Several of them have sacrificed their own savings
to keep their dream alive, and more importantly, to keep the dream alive
in others. There are so many so-called “entrepreneurs” who’ll cop out
at trouble and abandon those under their employ. Thankfully, there’s
none of that in here, which restores my faith that nice guys can and do
finish first.
Though the dotcom bust isn’t a period many of these technopreneurs
would like to remember, like it or not, it was key in weeding them out
from the quitters. The evolution of the technopreneurial landscape is an
i

4. accelerated Darwinism—happening in the space of a few decades—where
only the fittest, bravest, and cock-sure survive. This book is where you’ll
Foreword
see it in action, and these are the people who have evolved, adapted and Technopreneurs are a lot like pilgrims on a long journey. Sometimes
triumphed. So yes, while each of them has gone through their dark times, the journey is smooth, other times it’s bumpy. Most of them give up the
all the stories have happy endings. comforts of a secure job and family time to embark on this quest.
Along the way, these modern-day pilgrims meet good Samaritans like
More importantly, however, these stories are Malaysian. Finally, here’s a
angels and venture capitalists who believe in their vision, while others
book that says you don’t have to look at the Silicon Valley for inspiration.
soldier on alone or with a small band of fellow pilgrims who share the
It’s proof that, in a wired world, you don’t have to be in US to strike it big
same entrepreneurial dream.
as a technopreneur. Far too often, I’ve come across people who say they
could’ve become a big shot with their big ideas, if only they were born in All of them have remarkable stories to tell that could fill volumes of MBA
the US. Nonsense. This is the book that says: If you have what it takes, do course books. TeAM decided it’s time to compile some of these stories
it, right here, right now. into a book. On behalf of MSC Malaysia, Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDeC) is proud and delighted to support this endeavour.
Now get up and start living the dream. Through various MSC Malaysia programs, MDeC is committed to help
technopreneurs on this journey. Our Technopreneur Pre-Seed Fund
Oon Yeoh Program, for example, addresses the funding gap at pre-seed stage and is
April 2008 expected to boost the development of commercially viable ICT projects
and kick off a chain reaction in the creation of new local ICT companies.
MSC Malaysia’s Start-Up Development Program aims to generate a rich pool
of business and innovative technology ideas and boost technopreneurship,
thus encouraging entrepreneurial activity in Malaysia.
Our partner programs are designed to offer budding technopreneurs
with end-to-end facilitation and support by providing strategic and
development resources at each phase of the technopreneur and venture
development value chain process.
This dynamic ICT hub has put Malaysia on the world map as a country
committed to creating a knowledge-based economy. Its core initiatives
include building up the ICT industry, boosting ICT capabilities and using
ICT to spur socio-economic development.
Badlisham Ghazali
MDeC CEO
ii iii

5. A Note From Ashran Ghazi MSC Malaysia trade missions to various countries have opened up
partnership possibilities and in the process helped us open our minds to
of Asia Stream about MSC Malaysia how foreign companies are doing things. It’s been a great form of informal
education.
Going with such trade missions is also great because it imparts on us
credibility as people abroad are familiar with the MSC Malaysia brand.
MSC Malaysia is a great initiative that has been giving much assistance
to technopreneurs for more than a decade now.
Having MSC Malaysia Status has also assisted us when bidding for
some government projects that give preference to MSC Malaysia Status
My company, Asia Stream Digital TV, has benefitted tremendously from
companies.
the various programs MSC Malaysia has on offer to start ups like ours.
Lastly, MSC Malaysia’s incentives under its Professional Development
Its knowledge sharing sessions have increased my personal understanding
for ICT Professionals program has enabled us to empower our key
about the industry. They have also helped to expand my business network.
staff servicing accounts with PMP (Project Management Professional)
This has been very fruitful to my business as we are able to cross-sell our
Certification.
products and bundle them in various ways for mutual benefit with many
other companies.
MSC Malaysia’s foreign guest delegation programs have proven to be
greatly beneficial to us. Our best experience was during the recent visit by
the Ruwad group from the Middle East. In a single meeting, we got them
interested in our Internet TV product and services. The fact that we are
an MSC Malaysia-Status company definitely helped because they were
looking to do business with MSC Malaysia-Status companies.
During their one week stay, we immediately negotiated a partnership
agreement to promote and our products in the UAE and Syria. This is our
first step towards penetrating the Middle East market. Finding a good
reliable partner is indeed very crucial to the success.
iv v

6. A Note From Chris Chan TMS alongside companies software companies like XYBASE and PATIMAS
is developing an Asia Pacific alliance called Software Asia Alliance. MSC
of TMS Asia about MSC Malaysia Malaysia made it possible for us to develop and promote this new alliance
to build a global brand presence.
With the help of MSC Malaysia we are able to promote local software
usage in government today. This includes using TMS products to power
Like all start ups with big ambitions, TMS Asia has been benefited
some of MSC Malaysia’s online properties.
significantly from MSC Malaysia.
All start ups need financing in order to grow. We are grateful that MSC
Ventures was willing to invest in TMS. We actually got to the stage where
we got a formal offer but unfortunately, we did not take it up due to some
technical reasons.
As a software company, we need to spend a lot of money on research and
development. We received an MSC Malaysia Research & Development
Grant Scheme (MSG) worth RM2 million which helped us greatly.
It allowed us to develop tmsFRAMEWORK, an application development
platform that powers all our current Java-based software. The grant
allowed TMS to do research and development on tmsFRAMEWORK for
two years.
I’m delighted to say that tmsFRAMEWORK today powers brands like
AirAsia, Harvard Medical School, Khazanah National, Media Prima and
many other famous brands.
I’ve personally gone on several MSC Malaysia promotional trips, where
we were introduced to different potential partners overseas. This is crucial
for local start ups hoping to penetrate foreign markets. You can’t do it
alone.
vi vii

7. A Note From CIP not only offers funding via its CIP Catalyst fund, but also other
business value-add like commercialization support, domain mentors,
strategic partnerships, training and competency building, networking,
The Cradle Investment Program pitching and media publicity support - to help kick-start the budding
ideas of technopreneurs, to commercialization and further growth.
Mistakes are extremely costly for budding technopreneurs – and our role
First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the Technopreneurs in Cradle, is to ensure that they start on the right footing, with proper
Association of Malaysia (TeAM) and Oon Yeoh on the great success of planning, funding and support.
coming out with “Go For Broke”, which is an inspiring book on the blood,
sweat and tears, relating to technopreneurship in Malaysia. A partnership with CIP does not just begin and end with the funding
provided – it is a lasting membership of the Cradle business-building
The stories shared by the 21 technopreneurs in this book, should ecosystem for technopreneurs, which has been built to ensure that more
serve as an inspiration point and guiding light to current and budding CIP-funded technopreneurs will succeed.
technopreneurs, in their search for success.
It is the business-building environment that makes up half the
The theme running through the stories of these technopreneurs show stimulus for growth and success – and Cradle is there to provide it,
that the path to success requires a technopreneur to be determined, for technopreneurs.
persistent and to risk it all – to “go for broke” – to savour the fruits of
wealth and recognition. Once again, congratulations to TeAM and Oon Yeoh on the launching of
“Go For Broke!”. It is a significant landmark – one that will be the catalyst
The Cradle Investment Program (“CIP”) (www.cradle.com.my) is proud to growing the number of successful technopreneurs in Malaysia.
to be a strong supporter of TeAM’s efforts within the industry and co-
sponsor to the first edition of this great book.
As is well-known, CIP is a RM100 million grant, (under the auspices of Sincerely,
the Ministry of Finance and administered under Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd)
which was born out as a brainchild and lobbying efforts of TeAM, to help Nazrin Hassan
Chief Executive Officer,
seed innovative technology ideas into businesses and to spur technology Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd
commercialization, both within the public and private sectors.
viii ix

8. Acknowledgement
by TeAM Council 2007-2008 Chapter 1
No project of this nature is possible without the collaboration of
many dedicated people behind this project. This includes TeAM advisors
Sivapalan Vivekarajah, Wilson Tay and Chris Chan, and the 21
Ashran Ghazi
technopreneurs featured.
Special thanks goes out to our executive secretary, Eliza Elias,
who tirelessly juggled managing the interview schedule as well as coordinating New Media Ahoy!
the funding for this project and our executive director, Andrey Abraham,
for doing all the tireless logistics works to finalize the production of the book.
We are also grateful to MDeC and Cradle for their sponsorship
this project, without which this book would not be possible.
Lastly, many thanks go out to the GoodBasic Media team
for producing this book.
x

9. Go For Broke ~ Tales of Technopreneurship William Du • Ingenuity at Work
William Du
Ingenuity at Work
Financing is an important component of entrepreneurship. Although
some start-ups are able to make it without investors’ money, most do
need this in order to take their business to the next stage.
William Du’s Ingenious Haus helps start-ups get the financing they
need and prepares them for investment – be it by venture capitalists,
William Du corporate investors or angel investors.
Ingenious Haus
In many ways, Du seems more like an entrepreneur himself than an
investment broker or corporate advisor. “I take a very hands-on approach
in building up the value of the companies we assist,” he says. “I don’t
mind getting my hands dirty learning the ropes of the businesses those
companies are involved in.”
For a guy who is so tech-savvy and forward looking, Du has a very
traditional finance background, graduating from the University of
Hertfordshire with an MBA in 2000. His MBA thesis was entitled:
“Acquisition of Midland Bank by HSBC”, about the latter’s acquisition
of the UK bank, resulting in the creation of one of the largest financial
services firms around. The paper was presented in the World Association
for Case Method Research and application (WACRA) Conference in
Mannheim, Germany in 2002.
Upon graduation, Du worked for a London-based chartered accountancy
firm, as a trainee doing auditing. But he learned more than just auditing
there.
44 45

10. Go For Broke ~ Tales of Technopreneurship Wan Mohamed Fusil Wan Mahmood • From Foot Soldier to Leader
Wan Mohamed Fusil Wan Mahmood
From Foot Soldier to Leader
If you ask people to name the most established, well-entrenched local
IT company, there’s a good chance Mesiniaga would crop up.
In terms of brand recognition, revenue and profitability, there are not
many local IT companies that even come close. But it was started by a
band of unlikely entrepreneurs.
“All of us were good soldiers, good administrators at IBM,” says Wan
Wan Mohamed Fusil Mohamed Fusil Wan Mahmood. “Not entrepreneurs.”
Wan Mahmood
Mesiniaga
In the late ‘70s, the government came out with a firm directive that
companies doing business with the government must be locally
incorporated.
IBM led by the late Ismail Sulaiman, formerly general manager of
IBM Malaysia, responded with a proposal to form a new bumiputra-
controlled company that would handle roughly 30% of IBM’s business
and provide more effective skills transfer to locals.
Fusil was amongst the five founders who got together to execute this
plan with the full blessing and support of IBM. In late 1982, Mesiniaga
was born.
“I was 32 at the time and a 10-year veteran at IBM,” says Fusil.
“I was excited and worried at the same time.”
To facilitate the execution of this plan and to give the new start-up
viability, IBM decided that they would close down an entire Information
52 53

11. Go For Broke ~ Tales of Technopreneurship Ganesh Kumar Bangah • Cashing In
Ganesh Kumar Bangah
Cashing In
Starting young and dropping out of college to found your own company
is a common story in the American tech landscape but is rare in this
part of the world.
That probably has to do with cultural factors. Over here, education is
prized and paper qualifications are considered an important safety net
in case your entrepreneurial ventures fizzle out.
Not that any of these factors stopped Ganesh Kumar Bangah from
getting into the “go-for broke” entrepreneurial spirit so typified by
American technopreneurs.
He demonstrated his entrepreneurial zeal early on. While still in
secondary school in Johor Bahru, he would travel over to Singapore
to buy computer parts and accessories to sell to his schoolmates. “I’d
buy a soundcard for S$30 and bring it back to JB to sell for RM200,” he
recalls. “I did brisk business. I even assembled PCs and sold them to
teachers.”
After his Form Five exams in 1996, he worked for and later became a
partner in Cyberfield, a small but successful software company that
had the Johor State Government as one of its key clients. He continued
working part-time in Cyberfield while in university.
Ganesh Kumar Bangah He studied engineering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Skudai but
MOL AccessPortal
dropped out in his third year to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams.
He did, however, get technical certifications — he has a Certificate in
Computers Studies from the National Center for Information Technology
60 61

12. Go For Broke ~ Tales of Technopreneurship Rajen. M • An Alternative Approach
Rajen. M
An Alternative Approach
There’s nothing like first-hand experience to convince you that
something works. And that’s what got Rajen. M into the holistic
medicine business.
A trained pharmacist, the first time Rajen encountered holistic medicine
was when he had difficulty getting rid of a rash on his back. He tried all
kinds of pharmaceutical medication but to no avail.
“Nothing worked,” he recalls. “I went to see all kinds of doctors too. One
gave me a drug that worked 20%. I realized that if I were to take more of
the drug it would end up killing me.”
Rajen’s mother insisted that he see a traditional medicine man. “The
homeopath was not a doctor in the Western sense of the word, so I was
not confident about his abilities to cure me,” he says.
The medicine man gave him sugar tablets that looked liked lizard eggs.
It cured Rajen’s rashes. “That made me think, maybe I don’t know so
much about medicine after all,” he says. “This spurred me to do more
research on alternative medicine.” But it took a bad experience at work
to make Rajen decide to come out start his own business.
He had joined Ciba Pharma, a Fortune 500 company, as product
manager in 1990. A self-described workaholic, he worked up to 18 hours
Rajen. M a day. He even took up an MBA from the University of Strathclyde to
Holista Biotech enhance his career prospects. Not surprisingly, he quickly rose through
the ranks to become marketing manager within a few short years.
108 109

13. Go For Broke ~ Tales of Technopreneurship Harald Weinbrecht • Not a Stranger in a Strange Land
Harald Weinbrecht
Not a Stranger in a Strange Land
Doing business in Malaysia as a foreigner has its good and bad points.
It’s actually a positive when you deal with other foreigners. However,
when you deal with locals, especially those from mid-sized companies,
it can be a negative in more ways than one.
Harald Weinbrecht
ISS Consulting
Firstly, they might get intimidated and assume that your costs would
naturally be very high. Secondly, they might think you don’t understand
their business.
Harald Weinbrecht has been through all that. “It’s a perception thing,”
he says. “‘What do you know, you’re just a kwailo’ – I used to get that at
first but I’ve lived here for many years now, so it’s not such a problem
anymore.”
That’s an understatement. Harald has actually done very well for
himself. His company, ISS Consulting, has the distinction of being the
only company listed on Mesdaq that’s owned by a foreigner. He also
has offices in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as operations
in Dubai.
Not bad for a self-described kampung-boy. “I was born in a small
village of about 1000 people,” says the German-born Weinbrecht. “My
primary school and secondary school was just a few kilometers from
my house.”
He began his career in banking where he did an apprenticeship. It was
during that time that he first discovered the wonders of IT.
156 157

14. Technopreneurs Association Yet, success was elusive and soon all parties discovered that Silicon Valley
could not be built in a just a few short years. The government realised that
of Malaysia (TeAM) policies without stakeholder input was not effective and technopreneurs
found that there was no avenue for them to voice out their concerns,
needs and interests.
Thus TeAM was born out of the need to further the interests of
The Internet boom of the late 1990s and the setting up of the Multimedia
technopreneurs and to assist in the development of the knowledge
Super Corridor in 1996 brought forth a new agenda for Malaysia; to
economy in Malaysia.
reposition the nation from an industrial economy to an innovation- and
technology-led economy. TeAM has three key initiatives and objectives:
This new direction triggered an influx of economic and business 1) To act as a think tank and as a voice for technopreneurs. Much has
activity creating a new class of entrepreneurs in Malaysia – technology been accomplished in the six years since our formation. The first
entrepreneurs or Technopreneurs. initiative was the completion of a White Paper entitled “Fostering
A Sustainable Environment for Technopreneurship in Malaysia”.
Technopreneurs were mostly young, highly-educated and technology-
This document received widespread acclaim in media, industry
savvy entrepreneurs who wanted to live this new dream of creating the
and government circles for outlining the major issues and challenges
next new billion dollar global technology company.
facing small- and medium-sized technology companies in a way that
encompasses the views of the industry’s grassroots. It served to share
Armed with support from the Multimedia Development Corporation
the views of the community of technopreneurs with government
(MDeC) and the government, they set forth building their companies
and led to better execution of the government’s plans for the MSC.
from scratch, not knowing where the Internet was heading but wanting to
We continue to act through many discussions with key policy makers
be in the slipstream of this exciting new era.
and help guide Government policy to have the greatest impact and
benefit for industry.
The government too was as enthusiastic as these technopreneurs and
spurred the growth of technology initiatives and policies from growth
2) The second and equally important objective is for the professional
corridors to telecommunications infrastructure to venture capital
development of members and the industry in general. TeAM has
funding.
initiated many events to share information and knowledge that help
to develop the skills, knowledge and abilities of technopreneurs
including forums, seminars, workshops and dialogues. These
172 173

15. initiatives are ongoing and we continue to provide innovative
and invaluable programs to further the development of members
and industry.
3) The third objective is to provide community education and to bridge
the digital divide. This has included technopreneurship programs
offered to more than 25 public and private universities in the country
where we promote technopreneurship as an alternative career path.
There is still a long way to go. The nation is also promoting the growth
of a biotechnology industry and TeAM supports this initiative. We now
include this new industry within its objectives.
While TeAM has been successful in achieving many of its objectives and
is now a highly recognised industry organisation, the principal aspiration
of making Malaysia globally-renowned and Malaysian firms globally-
successful remains to be achieved.
Hence TeAM will continue to work closely with the government and the
different agencies promoting the ICT and biotech industries to strive
towards creating more successful technopreneurs who can compete with
the best in the region and globally.
That is our goal and in championing the interests of our members and
stakeholders, TeAM will continue to do its best to improve the ecosystem
for technopreneurs and technopreneurship in Malaysia.
174