Bangkok Post
In a wide-ranging interview, the Bangkok Post talks to Quest Ventures’ James Tan on “steering startups”.
On Singapore: “Singapore is small but we have been blessed with many opportunities and an ecosystem that has the ability to put its money where its mouth is to drive certain areas where we can see trends developing,” says Mr Tan.
On ASEAN: “On the challenge side, we know we are small so we have to look outward and the best place is our own backyard which is Asean. So we should be tapping into those [markets] and ACE wants to lay a foundation for this region to be a perfect ecosystem as a whole. We are doing that with the GIA.”
On public sector influence: Mr Tan’s preference is for the public sector not to interfere too much. Startups should be allowed to bloom and compete within the private sector, and government only needs to step in if it foresees some kind of systemic or social harm.
