Sometime ago, I attended the PHP users group meeting in Singapore. While waiting for the meeting to start, I met this tall, young guy who introduced himself as Neo. He had founded an association that did sound Matrix-ish to me at that point of time. Intrigued by the concept, I promised to get back to him and know more about his association- TAWA- Technopreneurs’ Association of Wireless Applications.

Earlier this week, I got back in touch with him and asked him some questions that myself and other Storm chasers would have wanted to know. After all, this is what CST stands for- promoting and helping start ups and entrepreneurs to achieve their missions. What followed was an interesting volley of questions and answers- mentioned here. With this, we added another category on the site: BrainStorm- where we storm the brains (Bad one I know) of some interesting storm chasers with our questions.

ChasingTheStorm has no association with TAWA, and this is not a paid plug or anything. Pure intentions, zero bullshit.

While they are not half as cryptic as in Matrix the movie, the questions (from Shalabh) and their answers (from Neo) here:

1.  Shalabh:  Give us a twit pitch on TAWA (140-180 characters)
Neo Wee Wu: TAWA aims to create a cohesive and entrepreneurial resource-sharing platform within the wireless sector through business networking events and workshops.
2.  Shalabh:  And another one about yourself

Neo Wee Wu:I am a typical Singaporean who had undergone a typical education in Singapore for the past 16 years. I came from a middle-income family. Without financial backing, I had to take up 4 part-time jobs for allowances during my university days. From my past working experience, I have come to believe that life is never a smooth journey.  Hard work and a clear objective are essential ingredients for success, and during the planning for our event, I ensured that my team are clear about the objectives and are willing to work hard for our common goal.
(The twittometer goes Beep!)
3.  Shalabh: How exactly do you help entrepreneurs through TAWA?
Neo Wee Wu:TAWA serves a marketplace where entrepreneurs can exchange ideas and business contacts. Our business networking activities provide numerous opportunities to foster new business relationships at virtually no cost to the entrepreneurs. In the future, we wish to develop funds or loan schemes to finance wireless start ups.
4.  Shalabh:  Does TAWA only help start ups in the wireless sector? What exactly is the “wireless sector”?
Neo Wee Wu:There is no clear definition of “wireless sector”. However, it is broadly referring to the field of wireless communication which includes players from the mobile handsets makers, GPS makers, telcos, ISPs and even software makers.
During the planning of the first TAWA event, we came to realise that it is very hard to draw a clear distinction between a technology company which develops internet applications and those which develop mobile applications since the type of expertise required are pretty similar. The wireless sector encompasses many players who may be involved directly or indirectly. As such, the values that we bring to the industry may very well extend beyond what we might narrowly define as the “wireless sector”.
5.  Shalabh:  Why did you choose Wireless sector specifically? Is there less awareness or more opportunity in this area?
Neo Wee Wu:Wireless sector is still young and possess a lot of opportunities. Despite having strong infrastructure, Singapore is still lagging behind some other developed countries in terms of the availability of software or wireless solutions.
6.  Shalabh:  How many members does TAWA have?
Neo Wee Wu:We have 5 active members and we are still growing.
7.  Shalabh:  Does TAWA operate in Singapore only?
Neo Wee Wu:TAWA started in July 2008. Currently, it is operating within Singapore but we intend to expand our regional presence in the next 1 or 2 years’ time.
8.  Shalabh:  You yourself are very young, with little work experience. Do you think the start-ups take you seriously? Why should they take you seriously?
Neo Wee Wu:I agreed with you that my team is young. However, age is not the best benchmark to measure the efficiency and the capability of the team. In fact, I selected my team members based on their characters, passion and commitment.
Furthermore, I have observed there is an increasing trend of younger Singaporeans taking the path of an entrepreneur. With a young management team, our organization helps to bind these young entrepreneurs together. We are not only there to provide business networks and resources but also, to give support and encourage our peers to move on.
9.  Shalabh:  Can you share with us some examples where entrepreneurs have benefited through TAWA?
Neo Wee Wu:We had our first TAWA networking forum in Sept 2008. Mr Ken Chua, CEO of iCELL Network, has made the opportunity to showcase the new security features of Wireless@SG – Wireless@SG VPN service and Seamless and Secured Access.  This is an example of how our existence can help these companies to reach out to the correct audience, that is, audience that are interested in technological innovations and are much more ready to try new products. In this way, we help the entrepreneurs achieve better market penetration.
We are currently planning for an event of a larger scale where more entrepreneurs can showcase their products.
10.  Shalabh:  You must have some interesting insights into some cool new start ups that you might have met. Can you share with us some of them?
Neo Wee Wu:I am not sure you have heard of this company – Human Network Labs. It develops mobile social networking applications for mobile devices that allow users to know who’s around you as well as the relationship between users.

11.  Shalabh:  What are the major concerns that start ups in this sector have? How similar are their concerns as compared to any other start ups? What are some unique issues facing entrepreneurs in this sector?
Neo Wee Wu:It is a complex technology sector. Wireless or mobile applications need to take into account of compatibility issues across different platforms. It is a common problem faced by all hardware engineers and software developers in the whole technology industry.
Monetizing such wireless applications is a problem. However, the more serious issue is to address the security of this wireless network. Entrepreneurs must have these at the back of their minds when developing their products or services.
12. Shalabh:   Do you think the entrepreneurship culture in Asia is as advanced as some western countries?
Neo Wee Wu:Technology ventures are always within the radar screen of entrepreneurs and venture capitals in all parts of the world. It is hard to conclude whether entrepreneurship culture in Western countries are more advanced than in Asia.
13.  Shalabh:  What do you think about the funding environment here in Asia? Are investors usually more tight fisted when it comes to incubating or investing in a start up?
Neo Wee Wu:As mentioned earlier, investment strategies will be different here in Asia. The key difference is the investors’ risk profile. In developing Asian countries, almost any industries are fast growing. Technology venture is just one of the many that Asian investors can park their money with whereas the more mature Western economies have to rely on technology and innovation to drive development of their nations. Hence, they are much less risk adverse, and are willing to take bold moves to find the one gem in million ventures. This is very evident in US where we witness the bubble in the private equities market.
I am not saying that Asian investors are not ready to fund early stage startup.  I would like to reinforce the point that you need to develop a solid business model to prove to investors that your business will succeed.

p.s. anyway, if you have developed good business model in the first place, you should be able to generate revenue to keep yourself afloat. Besides funds, business incubators are there to provide advisory and networks for expansion.
14.  Shalabh:  Where do you see TAWA, 2 years from now? (The proverbial 5 years is too much in today’s dynamic environment)
Neo Wee Wu:I wish to hold a mega business exhibition which showcases the products of the wireless/mobile start ups from the region.
15.  Shalabh:  Again, if you had to microblog a message from TAWA to the start ups or entrepreneurs, what would that message be?
Neo Wee Wu:US financial tsunami has wiped out the global market confidence but not the ambitions of the entrepreneurs. It is “the survival of the fitness”. Pull through and you will be there!

In case this discussion has intrigued you enought to know more about TAWA please contact them through their website. Neo is contactable at weewu.neo(at)tawa.sg. CST encourages its readers to take full advantage of this association and forward this to someone who they think could benefit from the association.

Or as always, leave your comments here – we will pass them off to TAWA, and others get enriched as well

Adios!