Last month Tech In Asia held their biggest, and many said best, annual conference in Singapore. In the event’s 4-year history it was my first time attending. It started with 800 participants but has grown to over 2000 delegates, reconfirming the startup growth we are experiencing in the region. Showcasing over 200 startups in 2 days, I began the conference in a super long queue just to collect my entry badge, and with the coffee line equally as long I prepared for a busy couple of days!

While checking out the 200+ startups showcase and listening to the conference, it became clear that next big wave of startups should focus on healthcare and the ageing population, a huge global issue across all developed and developing nations. I strongly believe that startups that focus on solving these big issues have the potential to go far. Providing solutions that affect a vast section of our population equals a big investment in future.

I attended ‘Kickstarter Hall’ where startups were given the opportunity to pitch their ideas to an audience of investors, mentors, influencers, and journalists. Given my passion for this sector and wanting to help these ‘newbies’, I stood up and offer to connect senior candidates in my network to mentor and assist all startups seeking advice. I was even given an honourable mention in one of the follow up posts. The response has been great. As an example following the conference I introduced a senior contact of mine to mentor a startup who have secured series A funding and another a seed investor who is providing expertise to another startup.

l would like to share some numbers: 50% of all startups get seed funding, of which 10% of these will get to series A. However, less than 2% of all startups will eventually get to series B and remain active thereafter. So to all startups out there – do understand what we consumers and businesses truly need, solve real problems and build out a strong network of relevant advisers and mentors…including ourselves when it comes to talent and retention advice!

A recurring question throughout the conference was ‘What keeps the founders of startups awake at night?’. Most, if not all, named talent acquisition and talent retention as their biggest daily problem. This is something that we at MitchelLake can definitely help with and what we have been doing as a company for the past 15 years. I’d be pleased to hear from you to discuss anything that has been brought up, so just reach out to me via LinkedIn.

Author

Conny Lim is a Partner in the MitchelLake business based in Singapore. She has completed over 100 assignments in her 12 year career in Executive Search spanning multiple geographies including diverse markets such as China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Having worked in global search firms, she prides herself as someone who is able to assist clients in identifying, attracting and hiring the best talent in market. Coupled with her innate understanding of local talent, breadth of cultures across Asia and global best practices she is very well placed to partner with digital, market entry and convergent technology players across APAC.