How does government support for small businesses in Asia compare with support in the U.S.?
U.S. government programs aren’t as good because the American VC community is so strong that they don’t have to be. In Asia, the VC community isn’t nearly as developed. Resources are very scarce from the time an entrepreneur develops an idea to the time he gets real commercial traction. And there aren’t a lot of people with the kind of skills you find in the U.S., people who have made dozens or hundreds of investments and recognize patterns of failure and success. Singapore has replaced that with grant programs that impose some of the discipline an experienced VC would provide. They hand you the money but then they check up to make sure what you’re doing will eventually create value. That support’s not as good as you’d get from a VC, but it’s maybe 30 or 40 percent as good. Government processes also are much more streamlined than in the U.S. Starting up Innosight Asia, we got a government grant within two weeks of applying for one. Does the Asian culture of entrepreneurship differ from
