From start-ups to scale-ups

In an invited commentary, SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer offered five suggestions to help Singapore’s start-ups scale up to be larger firms. First of all, he pointed out that investment in the capital of the new firm appears to be much more effective than grants or subsidies of an equal amount. Secondly, he highlighted the importance of networking, stressing that international and in particular regional expansion will be necessary, and that will require networks with other entrepreneurs. His third suggestion is to help entrepreneurial ventures diversify technologically, citing a research in the biotechnology industry by SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean Professor Gerry George and Associate Professor of Strategic Management Reddit Kotha, which indicates that the performance of younger firms benefits greatly by entering early on in their existence into new technological niches. Prof De Meyer also stressed that education for entrepreneurship needs to shift gradually towards education for growth. He added that at SMU, this is split up into four phases: business-model development, innovation development, go-to-market stage and financial modelling. Lastly, Prof De Meyer pointed out the need to invest more in design, in terms of the broader concerns of the definition and establishment of product concepts and development road maps, or the translation of social evolution into product designs. He concluded that we will need to be patient to see some of these scalers develop, but we also need to start now with creating the conditions for their success.