Are Taiwan’s Startups Becoming Disconnected from Its Core Strengths and Capital Markets?

When Taiwan’s Startups Become Disconnected from Its Core Strengths and Capital Markets Yesterday my supervisor asked how many companies with hot listings in recent years had ever pitched at matchmaking events. The implication may be that we should spend less time at startup matchmaking events, and that current startup projects may be disconnected from Taiwan’s strengths and capital markets. How did earlier entrepreneurs succeed? Many came from National Taipei University of Technology, formerly Taipei Institute of Technology, working hands-on to solve customers’ problems and grow with them. One group studied air conditioning, once ranked behind electronics and mechanical engineering. Air conditioning evolved into cleanroom construction, and semiconductor facility-engineering companies now earn handsomely. Did those founders raise money at matchmaking events? Many electronics founders also came from National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University. After university or graduate school, they worked at large electronics firms or ITRI’s electronics or mechanical institutes, learned market needs, then started businesses. Chairman Hong (洪) of 印能 graduated from Chiao Tung’s electrophysics graduate program and spent ten years on Powertech production lines. Seeing bubbles damage process yields, he developed debubbling equipment. The company was profitable in its second year, and nearly every semiconductor fab is now a customer. Taiwan’s ecosystem needs to rethink its connection with core strengths and capital markets. To build here, use Taiwan’s resources. After all, the world’s largest non-US company is here, and electronics has generated an enormous industrial cluster. Connect with those strengths and Taiwan’s capital-market support. Others will ask about software and platforms: must Taiwan remain digitally colonized? Taiwan has substantial money but few people. With a resource-limited startup, our first requirement is focus, and our second is still focus. Maximize strengths rather than cover everything or constantly compensate for weaknesses. The same applies to a small island with limited resources: concentrate, understand our advantages, and define our position. We need not win an Olympic gold medal in every event. These views begin from Taiwan. A venture starting overseas, with customers, fundraising, and employees abroad, need not necessarily connect with Taiwan’s strengths and capital. To illustrate: if a Taiwanese founder raises money in the United States or Singapore and describes a software platform whose paying customers are all in Taiwan, will investors want to listen? Say instead that you work in semiconductors, TSMC is a major customer, and you collaborate deeply on a particular project. See whether they want a longer conversation.