Week in Review: DNA’s exclusive with Mr Dell himself

  • Conversation from networking opens eye to new monetisation
  • No more critiques, feedback in public events for this founder

 Week in Review: DNA’s exclusive with Mr Dell himselfTHE big news for me this week was the exclusive interview Digital News Asia (DNA) got with Michael Dell, founder of Dell Inc. While Dell’s handlers predictably tried to steer us away from some uncomfortable questions for him, by and far we asked the questions we wanted to.
 
Gabey Goh did a great job in her two-part article and I think you will find some interesting snippets throughout those articles for you to take away, especially on trends Michael predicts beyond the PC.
 
Meanwhile, looking beyond, re-looking at why and looking at how were some of the key questions that Hugh Mason, cofounder of JFDI.Asia, was trying to trigger with six teams which were part of the Kuala Lumpur leg of the MSC Malaysia Startup Accelerator Lite programme.
 
This is a pilot programme that Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) hopes will “help local ICT startups break through barriers to growth.”
 
Only six ideas/ startups were chosen as MDeC wants to focus on quality as it strives to support and accelerate entrepreneurs’ path to success.
 
The event ended with a three-minute pitch by each team and I was asked to listen and comment, with Hugh the one throwing questions as us. Besides me there was Dhaksinamoorthy ‘Dash’ Balakrishnan and Dr V. Sivapalan.
 
We did our best to share our thoughts but looking back on it now, I feel like I should not give people advice on their business – not in a public event anyway. Still struggling to make DNA a commercial success, I certainly am in no position to critique and offer suggestions publicly. In private you can’t get me to stop talking, but it just does not feel right to do so in public.
 
But again, you only know after you have done something new. So at least I did it and now I know. And now you know too!
 
But we need to go out and network at these events and so it proved helpful to me because of a conversation I had with someone who said it is useful for entrepreneurs to look at their business and question if they are “missing anything.”
 
For some reason, that struck with me from that Wednesday, April 2 event. And last night, I suddenly realised I was not monetising an obvious part of DNA. It was frustrating that I had missed it for so long, but better late than never. The trigger for this was going out and networking with your peers.
 
Speaking of networking, this is of the telco kind – we have two excellent pieces this week for you to enjoy. The first is an analysis piece by Goh Thean Eu and Edwin Yapp on the technology challenges Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) will face as it seeks synergies from its Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd acquisition.
 
Few publications looked at the deal from this angle and the two possible business models TM will employ.
 
We also wrote about how YTL Comms and its YES mobile operator could be close to being profitable after investing around RM2 billion over the past four and a half years. You will also find out who its LTE vendor is likely to be.
 
I also have chosen to highlight two articles on the importance of culture as part of an ecosystem that nurtures and creates success. Hugh Mason’s piece talks about how such a culture is in fact emerging in Malaysia while Dr Shawn Tan’s article laments that this culture is missing in education. I think you will enjoy them too.
 
Finally, this week’s most popular article was Taiwanese startups target Malaysia.
 
Wishing you a restful weekend and a productive week ahead.
 
Editor’s Picks:
 
TM-P1 deal: Analysts cautious of tie-up
 
Time is running out, start the GST journey now
 
Dell's journey beyond the PC
 
YTL Comms to be profitable soon?
 
Building an ecosystem: Building the right culture
 
University research culture in Malaysia

 
Previous Instalments:

Week in Review: Growing the ecosystem, one exit at a time
 
Week in Review: Investors ask the wrong question

Week in Review: Tootpay scores one for the ‘old-school’ boys
 
Week in Review: Tech tales from two cities

 
Week in Review: We need to get behind the MaGIC CEO

 
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