Asian Entrepreneurship: the role of culture

*Thursday 1 March 2012 *

Hosted by: Marks & Clerk
Organised by: Asia-Pacific Technology Network

Speakers

* Shantanu Bhagwat, Principal Director, Frontier Investments Group
o "Thoughts on India and elsewhere in Asia"

* Dr Wilson Ng, Reader in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Westminster University, London
o "Organizational creativity & entrepreneurship in Biotech SMEs in
China, Korea and Japan"

* Hugh Purser, European Representative, Dimeled Pte Ltd
o "Entrepreneurship: does Culture Matter?"

One of the big unanswered questions about the Asian success story is how much of this success is due to innovative entrepreneurship, rather than to a general "catch-up" process, in which existing western products are basically imitated and adapted to Asian markets. On the one hand,
Silicon Valley has massively benefited from entrepreneurs of Chinese and Indian ancestry, a number of whom are now taking their experience back
to Asia. On the other hand, there is Japan where a culture of group decision-making seems to have totally stifled anything approaching Californian-style entrepreneurship.

In this seminar, three observers of the Asian entrepreneurial scene will try to assess the comparative scene across Asia. How significant is it
that Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines seem to have relatively high levels of entrepreneurial activity? Why is Singapore so attractive
to venture capital and private equity? In Korea, China and India, where big state-owned enterprises or family-owned conglomerates are so
important, are small entrepreneurs starting to play a significant role? Are we overlooking a significant sector of Japanese entrepreneurship?
What about Taiwan?

Location: Marks & Clerk LLP, 90 Long Acre, London, WC2E 9RA, UK
Nearest tube station: Covent Garden

Timing: Registration from 17:00: seminar from 17:30 - 19.15 (followed by refreshments)

Pricing:

* Free to Marks & Clerk clients and APTN's annual supporters
* £45 + VAT (Executives)
* £25 + VAT (Asian citizens/institutions, officials, executives from
Small Companies)
* £12.50 + VAT (Academics),
* Free for the Media

To Register - please send your name, affiliation, phone number, category to [email protected]

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Shantanu Bhagwat

An engineer by training, Shantanu Bhagwat is a one-time diplomat turned venture investor and advisor to start-ups. These days he divides his
time between UK and India, working with early stage companies and on ideas to improve political systems and governance in India. In a career
spanning two decades, Mr. Bhagwat has worked across geographies and industries, including several years in Japan and in the UK. Previously a
Partner at venture capital firm in London, Mr. Bhagwat has also worked at Monitor Co. in London. Prior to that, he spent several years as a
fast-track career diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service, working in New Delhi and Tokyo. Over the last few years, he has spent a lot of time
thinking about and commenting on globalization, innovation and entrepreneurship across geographies and sectors, with a particular emphasis on India. He is a personal investor in and sits on the Board of several start-ups in India. A graduate in Computer Engineering, Shantanu holds an MBA from London Business School where he was a Chevening Scholar. He is a Charter Member of TiE - a global non-profit network of entrepreneurs and a past member of Mensa International. He is also a frequent speaker and panellist at conferences on Venture Capital, Innovation, Asia and India.

Dr. Wilson Ng
PhD Management Studies (Cambridge), MBA (London), CDipAF (ACCA), MA
(Cambridge)

Wilson Ng is a published researcher in the financial growth and strategic development of SMEs. His current research is on managing creativity in technology SMEs in the EU. Wilson is a Reader in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Westminster University, London where he teaches research methods, innovation and entrepreneurship, and organizational creativity. Wilson sits on the editorial board of two scholarly journals. Outside his scholarly activities, he remains a member of the Asian advisory board of a Euronext-quoted risk capital firm in Belgium, Gimv nv, and a director of several public and private firms in Singapore and Malaysia. Prior to his academic career, Wilson was a career investment banker with NM Rothschild in London and Singapore. He was a Research Councils UK Fellow & Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Leeds University for a number of years before joining Westminster in 2010

Hugh Purser
former consultant to Singapore’s National Science & Technology Board (now A*STAR), European Representative of Dimeled Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based digital media & LED business