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create a socially-intensive, lifestyle product
that’s useful for the masses.
The app is simple – users plan their
events, and receive recommendations
on nearby venues together with area
guides and reviews. Local businesses can
utilise the app to reach out to a market of
hungry, tech-savvy consumers, who can
seamlessly organise events, making it a
win-win situation for all.
Splory is happy for the opportunity
to experience a part of the Silicon Valley
culture, realising that it is what it is today
because of how readily people there em-
brace the driven, and creative culture that
places importance on customer validation,
as well as honesty and helpfulness.
The key takeawaywas the set of ‘Garage
Rules’, or, Silicon Valley values encom-
passing risk taking, openness and trust,
informality and a free flow of information,
something the Malaysian startup scene
should adopt.
“There’s really nothing to dislike in San
Francisco. Food is readily available here, in
all sorts of styles; check out the Naan-N-
Curry along O’Farrell St.” he opines.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, he has this
to share: “Be truthful to yourself, step
backward from the “million dollar idea”
to look at the other perspective and lastly,
hustle and grind yourway to success. Don’t
be afraid to let go of an idea but make sure
you learn something out of it.”
STARTUP
Malaysian Startups in Silicon
Valley:
Valuable Lessons for All
FireFlyz
speakstotwoMalaysianstartupsofdifferingexperiencelevelsinthee-commerce
industryontheir triptoSiliconValleyasparticipantsof theMSCMalaysiaGlobal Linkages
program, an effort byMalaysia’sMultimediaDevelopment Corporation (MDeC) toboost
the potential of local startups by linking themto the SiliconValley ecosystem.
John Wong (CEO) and Joshua
Wong (CMO), FaveChic
After
hitting the dot combubble in 2001,
John Wong of Catcha.com fame delved
into publishing, retail and e-commerce
for around 10 years. The father of three
and serial entrepreneur is back in the
e-business scene with co-founder Joshua
Wong (incidentally, also a father of three
and co-founder of Dealmates.com) to
startup FaveChic, a mobile platform for
users to discover overseas fashion where
regional fashion bloggers curate product
offerings for the community.
As John and Joshua are not new to
the game, they have adroitly spotted how
social media trends such as Pinterest are
strongly powered by curation and recom-
mendation, and hence sought to explore
that avenue by bridging consumers to their
favourite products.
The two fathers took the opportunity
afforded by MDeC’s Silicon Valley Link-
ages program to establish connections
with potential investors, partners and
acquaintances. Like the other program
participants, John and Joshua agreed that
people there were friendlier, candid and
forthcomingwith their ideas and feedback,
which made for a refreshing experience.
With the useful contacts established,
FaveChic is already planning ahead for
their next trip to SV. Aside from business,
there’s a lot to see and do. Joshua recom-
mends Pho Kim Long in downtown San
Jose for Vietnamese cuisine, and Cascal
Restaurant inMountain View for Mexican.
Hog Island Oyster bar in San Francisco
Ferry Building is also worth checking
out, and for the more healthier of our
lot, Pluto’s Salad in Palo Alto University
St. The best that both agree on, though,
would be In-N-Out, a fastfood chain selling
delicious, juicy burgers.
Yi Jun, CEO of Splory
Splory
is amobile, social-network based
platform that helps people create, organise
and plan casual get-togethers on the go.
Founded in 2013 by 21 year old Yi Jun and
co-founders Lee ChunHow(COO),Wilson
Beh (CMO) and KengWah Loon (Creative
Director), ‘Splory’ is a semi-amalgamation
of the words “explore, review and recom-
mend”, a result of the founders’ zest to
While the SV environment is conducive
to startups, Joshua cautions would-be
entrepreneurs: “The startup road is tough
and often, entrepreneurs tend to side
track due to funding issues. Startups are
not for everyone.” He then adds; “If you
are self-disciplined, passionate and have
a team of partners with the right skills
and determination, don’t wait and start
one now ... Never give up if you believe
in your idea.”
Lio Yi Jun and Ooi Yee Ching during
their visit to Salesforce Inc.
JohnWong and JoshuaWong with fellow
startup, ReservO, at the Googleplex.