Tiny Tips

On the way home, Linan was bored on the train. So to keep himself awake on the train, (he's not so high because Gabriel didn't want to go for drinks with him) he typed a few tips for the teams at Amoeba.

Tiny tip 1: Grouping industries and services together doesnt make them integrated no matter how cool "integration" sounds.
The I word sounds cool. It does. But a match and mix of industries, even if united by a common theme, does not make them integrated. If an EDB officer working on nanotechnology decides to create a nanotechnology hub, simply listing names of chemicals companies, venture capitalists and materials engineering firms will not do. He would have to show how one firm that demands a particular product might be another's supplier. He needs to identify the missing links in the supply chain and find the appropriate firms to fill those gaps. He would have to demonstrate the mechanisms through which he brings the companies together.
Then he would need to decide if the collective value of this entire "integration" actually produces a significantly larger value than the sum of the individual industries. If the value add is not significant, it might not justify the cost of bringing them together initially. If he decides that the value is really significant, he will have to think about why the industries did not come together by themselves without any intervention? This leads us into the second tip.

Tiny tip 2: Why hasn't your plan already materialised if it was so profitable and lucrative.

Your plan is great, but it is highly likely that you're not the only who thinks that it is great. Top executives are paid hundreds of thousands to recognise these great profit potentials. Is it as simple as them being short sighted? If not, what are some of the barriers that they have yet to scale and how can we make it easier for them to do so.

Tiny tip 3: Will our comparative advantage always be an advantage.
To quote a Bob Dylan classic, "For the times, they are a-changin." 

Tiny tip 4: Do not automatically assume the existence of bureaucracy ridden governments in other countries, especially 30 years ahead.
"If the grass is greener on the other side, check their fertilisers". Don't be surprised if many governments are walking sneakily around our lawns.

Tiny tip 5: If you keep running into a wall, try using a ladder instead. Saves time and heads.
Don't be afraid to trash ideas that don't work. If it is not good enough, it is not good enough. Come up with a new one. Trying to bash your way through one wall will only hurt your head. Work hard, but also work smart.

Tiny tip 6: Why test their product in Singapore instead of their own country?
A company based in Germany would want to test their products in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne or Frankfurt. Why would they come to Singapore? Find that compelling reason for them to travel all across the land or ocean.

Tiny tip 7: How representative is Singapore of their market audience.

Of course, that company from Germany might want to come to Singapore because we are representative of the asian market. Hit us first before they go for the biggies - Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo etc right?
Wrong. Why won't they just go Shanghai straight? If they're trying to use Singapore as a model for an aging population in Shanghai, why not just do it in Shanghai straight? Prevents wasteful duplication.
In other words, justify Singapore really well.