08 November 2014

One thing that’s obvious Silicon Valley is how easy it is to network. “Business is all about who you know” - right. It is so easy to get a meeting with almost anyone here. It just takes one cold request to become friends with strangers. People willing to spend their time meeting new people. They are ready to help. Just don’t be an asshole.

Dave McClure said it best - “For an ecosystem to work, we need enough people to believe in it.” Everywhere you go you’ll overhear conversations related to the ecosystem. People here talking about companies as long term investment. The fact that everyone willing to help each other out with no hidden agenda proved this. It’s like when a company focuses on employee personal growth, the company will grow. When you help someone in the ecosystem to grow, the ecosystem will grow. When the ecosystem grows stronger, everybody earns their reward.

So here’s my call to Malaysians. We just need to do two things for the ecosystem to grow.

First, we always help each other out. Don’t deny a request for help. Make yourself available to others. It doesn’t matter if you already made it. Or you’ve failed many times and haven’t cracked it yet. Or if you just a starting up. Heck, if you have to, give advice to your competitor. Spread the wisdom.

Secondly, we always believe in the ecosystem. Regardless of what people say about Malaysia’s ecosystem. No matter what restriction we might have. We will keep building great companies. We’ll keep growing great talents. Because we know entrepreneurs are a unique breed. We thrive in the restrictive environment.

We’ve seen the success stories, we are seeing money flowing in. It is working. Let’s keep hacking at it!