Fintech is one of the startup scenes that flourishes in Singapore. The country has a conducive ecosystem for this sector since Singapore is a developed nation and the business hub for ASEAN countries. It is true that fintech is very well-received there and it attracts many fintech startups to make Singapore their base. For the startups itself, Singapore has an important meaning since incubators, accelerator programs and funding are easy to find.
Here is an advice on how to make a fintech startup stand out among others from one of the Singapore accelerator programs that have garnered many interests in fintech landscape. The man is Felix Tan, who has an illustrious career in finance and made to established his own startup, FinLab, that went on to be valued at US$100 million in October 1999. Now he is a mentor for fintech startups in Singapore and also an angel investor.
Three things to know if you want to make your fintech startup the best in Asia:
1. The Return on Investment (ROI)
Today, ROI is considered as a measure of success. Because ROI is a backward looking indicator. The challenge in a world with so many information out there is the ability to filter out unimportant things. The ability to identify the trends in the future comes from this information and it will help you to formulate the needs to ride the trends where from it you can also generate ideas. Remember that ideas are nothing if you can not pull it out of your head and make it real. So, in this case, the first ROI is the Return on Information. The second is the Return on Ideas, and the last is the Return on Investment.
2. Bank of ideas
Have you ever heard that invention is the best way to predict the future? Yeap, Felix Tan said that. When an idea emerge and you want to make it real, there might be no technology to support the idea, yet. This is why you have to invent it, so you can see the future in it. If your idea is not working at that time, you may keep them away in a bank of ideas. Later on, when everything seems right, you can pull them out and have it implemented. you have something new to the market and this invention might make you a pioneer or leader. The bank of ideas is very important since you are dealing with professionals who have the ability to execute ideas.
3. Know what to offer
A startup is going to need an accelerator program that meets the most of the need to accelerate the business growth. However, remember that it is a two-way street relationship between a startup and an accelerator. So, as a startup you don’t just think about how much stake that you might give up. A startup should see how to leverage, grow and scale their business. An accelerator will see if the startup is capable of solving the problem in the huge market and whether they can compose a good team with many expertises.
So, attract investors and try to have a good relationship with the accelerator to be the best fintech startup in Asia.
