Disqus - Latest Comments for motochan

Re: Rewriting our National O/S

James Chan — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 03:06:15 -0000

I don't disagree, but like the spirit and direction it points at. Thought exercise vs. pragmatism differs so much anyway.

Re: 3 reasons why hybrid mobile apps are the best

James Chan — Fri, 03 Jul 2015 02:43:42 -0000

Hybrid apps only make sense if the product owner isn't sure if mobile is part of their core strategy yet or intends to undergo intensive user testing and plans to throw their code away and work on native. The article is written as an introduction for the uninitiated, and is positioned for new leads, presumably because the cost of hybrid apps is lower and is an easier decision for folks looking to dip their toes into the pool; not necessarily the wrong/right one though.

Re: Stripe to enter Singapore market?

James Chan — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 12:04:59 -0000

I first met Diede van Lamoen in Singapore in Q4 2013, who said Stripe was looking to be "in select cities in SEA" very soon. I wasn't my breath because it's not as trivial for Stripe to offer merchant accounts as they need to work a lot more closely with one bank as their Merchant of Record, and banks in our region don't act fast especially when it comes to risk and IT.

BrainTree beat them to it, thanks to Paypal's presence and familiarity with regional financial compliance. Can't wait for more, though I'd be curious which local bank's IT department is that forward looking!

Re: Rewriting our National O/S

James Chan — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 23:14:02 -0000

I hope we'll all be surprised, sooner than later.

Re: Rewriting our National O/S

James Chan — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 23:13:42 -0000

I'm a huge Asimov fan and especially loved the Foundation Series. I'm less sure about the mind control bit of the Second Foundation though, heh.

Re: Sound Off: Johansson in Luc Besson's 'Lucy' - What Did You Think?

James Chan — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 13:50:37 -0000

ScarJo said earlier that she had needed him around as a reminder, presumably of her own humanity. I think her request was an expression of humility and humanity, despite her "rationale" loss of concern for pain, fear and whatever other trait that Besson tells us is holding us back. It's also a reminder that imperfect humanity can still contribute, and that omnipotence can tolerate imperfection. Just look at Q of ST:TNG and his non-trivial excursions with any favorite ST captain.

Re: No employees, no office, and a handful of cash: how a Burmese entrepreneur’s dream came true

James Chan — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 18:59:43 -0000

The Rebbiz team is one of the cooler folks around the scene who grok it. I'm sure they'll go a long way in the months and years ahead.

Re: My gaming and workstation build

James Chan — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 07:13:47 -0000

I'm having trouble with my H60 in this case as well. It's made worse by the Asus Maximus VII motherboard, which has daughterboards around the CPU and takes up space which the tubing could have been at. I also think my tall RAM chips don't help.

I'm most certainly not shortening the tubing. I'm this close to giving up and going for an air-based cooler.

Re: Singapore’s HipVan raises $1.12M from LionRock Capital and Toivo Annus

James Chan — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 11:47:50 -0000

I've seen Danny learn and mature a lot since his Foound days. Glad to be an early investor.

Re: We will invest upto US$500K in seed stage: Blume Ventures’ Sanjay Nath

James Chan — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 23:04:57 -0000

Props to Sanjay for being cool venture folks in the early-stage scene in India; no mean feat! One of my favourite co-investors to work with.

Re: Forget roaming – this tiny sticker gives you unlimited data in 55 countries

James Chan — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 21:54:18 -0000

I pay VND 5,000 per day for 1 GB in Vietnam. Average data rates are also comparable elsewhere in the region, and SIM swapping is not as nice, but is not a huge hassle when you're doing nothing on the plane. Corporate plans across groups/region is certainly the way to go.

Re: Singapore startup gets record $5.6M seed funding to turn your phone number into a URL

James Chan — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 05:04:21 -0000

GNum is probably a spinout from GlobalRoam, which is now majority-owned by Spice Group. It's not what I would consider a conventional startup, and Tembusu is also not known in the early-stage financing scene to be a seed investor, more a PE-type.

Either way, good for them.

Re: We needed a place to hangout, so we built a lounge

James Chan — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 02:29:36 -0000

Looking awesome, can't wait to visit next week.

Re: Global Brain focuses on Southeast Asia with US$66M fund

James Chan — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 04:57:03 -0000

I don't doubt e27's reporting accuracy, as it can only be as accurate as what you were told. Did a quick google search and came up with these, which didn't seem to suggest "just SEA".

Feb 2012 - official press release by KDDI with geographic areas of "Japan and overseas" http://www.kddi.com/english...

Feb 2012 - article by then-named Penn Olsen describing it as "Japan, Asia and the US", in that particular sequence. http://www.techinasia.com/k...

Mar 2012 - short blurb listing it as "US, Japan and other Asia-Pacific regions." http://www.telecompaper.com...

Mar 2012 - KDDI's US office had a separate press release (http://www.kddia.com/en/pre... which had a bit more on SEA "According to the firm, opportunities in the U.S., Singapore, China, Korea, and Taiwan are strongest at the moment. Other up and coming regions include India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia."

Mohan, do you know if GB has made any investments in Southeast Asia so far?

Re: Global Brain focuses on Southeast Asia with US$66M fund

James Chan — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 04:00:40 -0000

Funny, I don't recall Yurimoto-san ever saying that the US$66M KDDI fund was to focus on Southeast Asia when he was talking to me about a possible involvement in GB late last year. It sounded like KDDI was much more interested in the US. Pivot due to recent Japanese investment activity, or marketing twist?

Re: Is IPO a plausible exit strategy for Singapore startups?

James Chan — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 02:22:18 -0000

We don't have the analysts who know how to provide coverage to tech stocks. It's unlikely to happen in the near future imo.

Re: Matchmaking app Noonswoon closes seed round at US$3M valuation

James Chan — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 06:00:48 -0000

Congrats Mickey and team! Good job with the funding round.

Re: Where are the startup incubators and accelerators in Asia? Here’s 100 of ‘em

James Chan — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 01:35:37 -0000

#81 Neoteny Labs has been renamed to Silicon Straits. www.motochan.com/2012/12/20...

Re: Here’s why investors should bet big on m-commerce startup Carousell

James Chan — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:54:59 -0000

Good guys, all the best in their fundraising efforts!

Re: Golden Gate Ventures makes first three investments in Southeast Asia

James Chan — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:33:03 -0000

Congrats to Vinnie & Jeff, and the Coda, Redmart and TradeGecko teams.

Re: Geekcamp Singapore oversubscribed, opens another 150 tickets

James Chan — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 05:33:57 -0000

Pity I'll be in the US then. Would have loved to be there!

Re: Neoteny Labs Principal, James Chan, discusses key differences in Venture Capital markets across India, China, US, and SEA

James Chan — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:13:08 -0000

The title seems a little odd, given the content. Still, thanks for the interview!

Re: Japanese 'The Avengers' Trailer Filled with Awesome New Footage

James Chan — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:31:56 -0000

Awesome, great job with First Showing Alex! James your old buddy here saying hi to you from Singapore ;-).

Re: We’re Rebranding: Announcing ‘Tech in Asia’

James Chan — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:15:22 -0000

Yay congrats. The logo does resemble that of political parties though hehe.

Re: eCommerce Ventures in Indonesia – A Sucker’s bet

James Chan — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:27:36 -0000

In the absence of an ubiquitous payment solution, which I'm sure several Indonesian startups are trying to work on as we speak, I still think eCommerce is viable as a venture category, and that the services won't be what we envision such services to be. I'm confident emerging markets will find their own ways of getting around any limitations.

That's entrepreneurship for you.