IT And Entrepreneurship Seminar 20 Feb 2003

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IT And EntrepreneurshipSeminar20 Feb 2003

• .com not .gone

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Agenda

• Part I Introduction ( 15 Minutes)
• Part II QA session A ( 30 Minutes)
• Ice Breakers
• Education Entrepreneurship
• Keeping abreast of Competition
• Team Management
• Business Strategies
• Startup Opportunities for Entrepreneurs
• Part III QA session B ( 30 Minutes)
• Free Questions Open to Floor
• Closing Statements

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Part I Introduction
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Mr Richard Lai

• CEO of dollarDex
• Former advisor of Bain Co, McKinsey Co.
• Dean's Fellow in the Ph.D of the Wharton School,
• where he emerged as a top student
• Research Scientist in MIT, holds 3 current US
  patents
• DBS Scholar at MIT
• 4 degrees from MIT

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dollarDex

• online financial superstore
• Wealth management firm
• Licensed dealer and investment advisor in
  Singapore
• Work with 76 banks, insurers, and fund managers
  in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan to distribute
  their products the retail market

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dollarDex Achievements

• A winner of Intelligent20 Award 2002, by
  Intelligent Enterprise, for technological
  excellence.
• Top three winner in the Enterprise 50 dotcom
  awards (2001)
• Nominations for 'Hottest Internet start-up' and
  'Best B2C service' in the 2000 Asia Internet
  Awards
• Rare nominations in 2000 and 2001 for Far East
  Economic Reviews Asian Innovation Awards

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Comment from press and analysts

• A nifty financial portal that can help reshape
  consumer banking"
• - Goldman Sachs
• "Probably the smartest players in the retail
  financial services industry in Southeast Asia
  today." - Asian Banker Journal
• "Asian banking systems have not yet experienced
  the onslaught of aggregators in their markets. So
  far there is none, bar one - dollarDEX." - Morgan
  Stanley Dean Witter
• Core of a business school case study at the MIT
  Sloan School of Management
• Featured as one of the "50 Movers and Shakers" in
  a series by the Singapore Straits Times

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Part II Q A Session A
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Ice Breakers

• How is the idea of dollarDex conceived?
• Share your experiences in raising funds for
  dollarDex.

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Education Entrepreneurship
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Entrepreneurship What we can do in Education

• Question In pursuing your education in MIT, what
  core skills are relevant In building your
  business empire and as an successful entrepreneur
  ?
• The most important skills will be thinking about
  innovative business models. That means Im
  afraid, back to the basics. Some elective in
  strategy, entrepreneurship, and e-commerce would
  of course be useful. But once again, in my humble
  opinion, doing the core well is more important
  than finding the right electives.
• - Richard Lai 21 Aug 2000
• MyAngel.coms Financial Services
  PowWow

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Entrepreneurship What we can do in Education

• Question In your opinion, is entrepreneurship
  inborn or cultivated ? Or is it due to the
  culture one was exposed to ?

• There was such a thing called an entrepreneurial
  culture in a society that encouraged many to try
  to succeed in business.
• SM Lee in his Lecture
• An entrepreneurial culture for Singapore at SMU
  on 5 Feb 2002

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Keeping abreast of competition
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Keeping abreast of competition

• Question In the article Ole economy on the
  move", you have commented that the economy is
  pervasive. In line with the current economic
  situation, how do you position yourself so as to
  stay ahead of your competitors?
• "Let's face it, the old economy is pervasive and
  will be here for some time, so it's important to
  work with, and not displace, what has worked
  this will be important in ensuring a big enough
  net of establishment spend points and economies
  of scale."
• - Richard Lai Ole economy on the move
  Computerworld, 10-16 Nov 2000

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Team Management
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Team Management

• Question With a relatively small team, how does
  dollarDex manage its business in the 3 markets of
  Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei?
• With about 20 people in the team now, Mr. Lai
  is hoping to hire another six. Priding itself on
  a fiercely mediocrity system, the company has
  been known to scout for talent by prowling
  through speaker lists at conferences."
• A dotcom Success Inked in Pragmatism
  Business Times, Nov 2001

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Development Strategy
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Development Strategy

• Question One year ago, dollarDex considered to
  enter US market, under current unstable
  situation, is dollarDex still proceeding such
  plan? Which market is the dollarDex next
  development goal? Do you have plan to enter
  Mainland China market?
• Talking about market demand, American market is
  worth to enter, said Mr. Richard Lai when
  everybody is leaving America and back to Asia, I
  think it is a good time for us to permeate
  American market
• The success of dollarDex
  is not just because of Luckiness
  
• 
  LianheZaobao 2002-02-17

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Startup Opportunity for Entrepreneur
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Startup Opportunity for Entrepreneur

• Question In the article "Dotcoms not dotgone
  yet", you have commented on the future of dot
  com and have some positive views. Is it still
  applicable with the current economic condition?
  Any advice to us potential entrepreneurs?
• A large part of the market has been
  disillusioned about the dotcom bubble but
  blessed are those who believe, because we now run
  the risk of underestimating the long-run impact
  of a more efficient world
• - Richard Lai Dotcoms not dotgone yet
  Business Times, 26 Nov 2001

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Part III Q A Session B
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Part IV Closing Statements
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Thank You!