A Believer That Successful Entrepreneurship Can Be Shaped And Taught
Passion precedes business ideas.
“Most people think ideas come naturally, but truth is that when I started my own company, I had no idea what I wanted to build. All I knew then, was my core interest in renewable energy,” said Chen Chiu Hao, Ted.
No stranger to technology, innovation and the local entrepreneur community at Nanyang Technological University, Ted’s latest startup – Evercomm Uni-Tech – is the latest receiver of a half a million funding from SPRING Seed Capital and Infocomm Investment.
His startup is aims to help enterprises manage and reduce their energy costs through the use of data analytics. An average enterprise in Singapore alone can easily spend up to $4 million per month on electricity bills – now imagine saving just 1% of that.
He credits most of this success not to the product idea but rather to his past experiences from college, post-graduate studies and teachings from his mentors and role models.
“I’m a strong believer that a successful entrepreneur can be made and taught. I actually did a Minor in Entrepreneurship during my undergraduate years, and subsequently took up a Master of Science Technopreneurship and Innovation Programme (MSc TIP). There, I was able to tap into the networks and also learn from the established, top-notch lecturers who had valuable real life experience in entrepreneurship.”
Singapore as a Base Camp
Yet, not everyone will be able to receive the same takeaways. A formal education is just as good as what one makes out of it, and how one chooses to apply the acquired knowledge thereafter in the real world.
For Ted, he went in knowing exactly what he needed, and what he wished to pick up through these courses. “I knew that I needed more knowledge on the business and finance side of things alongside tapping on the invaluable networks there.”
“Singapore is a great place to run a high-tech startup. Unlike Silicon Valley, there are actually many grants here such as the Technology Enterprise Commercialisation Scheme that would support us without any equity exchange,” Ted adds on.
The Entrepreneur Success Formula
Despite having the bigger financial support for the high-tech industry here in Singapore, Ted did mention that Silicon Valley has a higher percentage of successful first-time entrepreneurs. He attributed that observation to this simple formula – Learning how to learn.
“Many entrepreneurs I know at the Valley are always so open to be taught, mentored and even critiqued. Even with many people pulling them in opposite directions (which is bound to happen to any entrepreneur), they know how to apply that knowledge and make up their own mind correctly.”
As part of the new breed of high-tech innovators, Ted is currently working on raising Series A following the half a million dollar funding so they can continually deliver a better product and make a difference to these enterprises. Till this day, Ted remains thankful for his time at MSc TIP, his mentors, and his fellow entrepreneurs that are continually inspiring his ideas.
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Ted Chen Chiu Hao is the Founder and current Product Architect of EverComm Uni-Tech Singapore, an energy startup founded by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) graduates. Headquartered in NTUitive, the startup provides end-to-end energy management solutions for enterprises and it is the latest recipient of a half a million dollar funding from SPRING Seed Capital and Infocomm Investment.
Ted graduated from NTU with a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronic Engineering). He went on to further his studies with a Master of Science in Technopreneurship and Innovation in NTU.