MALAYSIA EXPLORES BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

On October 16, 2012, AyalaLand, Ayala  Foundation and Ayala Property Management Corporation   welcomed  32  businessmen representing  24 IT companies from Malaysia to a site visit at UP AyalaLand Technohub,  Commonwealth Ave., Quezon City. The group’s  visit  was part   of a two (2) day Specialized Marketing Mission co-sponsored by The Embassy of Malaysia Trade Office Manila (MATRADE) and the Philippines’  Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO).

The site visit started with a short welcome  program and briefing  on the key infrastructure programs of Ayala Land as well as the  technology business incubation program being managed by Ayala Foundation.  A local official from the Office of the Quezon City Mayor, City Administrator Manny Sabalza  and,  ICTO Deputy Director, Monchito Ibrahim encouraged the trade mission  to look around for possible  ICT businesss ventures/opportunities in the Philippines.

The visit also opened up opportunity for  start-up companies  under AyalaTBI-Ayala Foundation  like Haystack, MICOM and Teknologika   to introduce their products and discuss areas of interest with the trade mission members  for possible  business collaboration.The visit paved the way for  Malaysian businessmen to meet and engage with big locators at Technohub such as Pointwest, Sea Change and LiveIT Companies in an information sharing session. The foreign guests and their local counterparts  discussed   updates and developments in the ICT industry affecting  both countries. It also included an observation tour of office buildings and physical facilities at Technohub.

An Afternoon Spent with Entrepreneurs

A Kape + Teknolohiya session was held at the conference room of UP-AyalaLand TechnoHub in Diliman, Quezon City last October 10, 2012 featuring Mr. Arnel Guiang.

Mr. Guiang, a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur was more than willing to share his takes on how his companies have evolved over time and how he himself started with a degree in computer engineering to a full-blown businessman. He also shared his strategy from previously focusing on release of new products to what is now custom-development to tailor-fit the needs of his clients.

The event, which was targeted towards a select group, paved way for sharing between representatives of Juan Great Leap, Babypips, MemoKitchen, Systema Corp., Technominds Eascom, De La Salle University, PCIEERD-DOST, and DOST-UP Enterprise Center. Discussions on how to nurture kids’ entrepreneurial spirit to Java development and boot strapping for prototype releases were amongst the topics. The group was also able to voice their concerns towards software woes, market shifts, and angel investing. Indeed, a few hours with this group was worth all the knowledge gained.

For more on Arnel Guiang’s company, please feel free to check his site at http://www.guiang.com/ with each of his portfolios found at

http://flobattle.com, http://intelligentmouse.com, http://mtools.guiang.net/, http://smsblast.guiang.com/, http://vvmail.mobi/,

http://www.guiang.com/cybersecurity/.

Does Networking Truly WORK?

The world is inundated with positive reasons for and practical recommendations on networking both offline and on. It seems an inevitable development of the modern era’s cult of the individual and the post-modern’s demolition of hierarchies in favor of diversity, interconnectedness or inter-referentiality. Hence, networking has become one of the most crucial linchpins of hyper-successful Internet technologies and applications of our age.

But does networking truly change a company? Karen E. Klein, a writer who covers entrepreneurship and small-business issues in her Business Week column, recently published an excerpt of her interview with William Baker about his research on whether networking affects company performance. Baker, from San Diego State University, studied 1,600 business executives from small, midsize, and half-large companies across the United States.

According to Baker’s study, networking may not show direct impact on a company’s profit or market share, however it shows “a strong main effect on performance measures relating to innovation, most notably the ability of firms to develop new products…. those who do a lot of networking were more likely to be innovative and to have a large percentage of new products.”

The interview also discusses the correlation between networking and a company’s agility in terms of market response. Companies with increased networking tend to slow down their response time but bring in better results as critical thought is deepened by their exposure to new ideas. On the other hand, companies that are less aggressive about networking, when exposed to new ideas generated by this activity, make adjustments to become eagle-eyed and more fleet-footed in this new landscape. 

Boozing and schmoozing

Well, we at AyalaTBI like to call it the “networking reception,” an academic calls it “building your external social capital,” and to rephrase its definition to Christine Comaford-Lynch, CEO of business accelerator Mighty Ventures, networking is a way to “be fun and financed.”

There are tons of good and practical advice in the Internet on how to make networking work for you, from arming yourself with business cards to where to hold your drinking glass (left hand, so the right is always ready for the next handshake) and how much eye contact is comfortable (60%) and how much is creepy (more than 60%).

Of course, it’s best to practice and get yourself pumped with goals for the evening. Networking is a skill not a sixth sense we are all endowed with so practicing is not as lame as it sounds.

Ask yourself: “Why am I going? What do I need to accomplish? What can I give to the group?” Obsess over the rules and the advice (“Am I going over 60%? Am I being creepy now? What about now?) during a networking event and that crucial positive impression you’re trying to make is shot.

Comaford-Lynch’s feature on networking in Business Week is riddled with buzzwords that can actually serve as fun mnemonic mantras to networking challenges like lack of time and follow-through. An advice she offers is the “drive-by schmooze.” The practice seems the elevator-pitch counterpart of networking and a vital technique when there’s little time to make sure that your connections are meaningful to your business. There is also the “Rolodex Dip,” which strengthens the connection established during the networking reception and serves as crucial follow-through that most people often neglect come morning.

Whatever the phrase or your perspective of it, networking at AyalaTBI’s Innovation Forum and Kape@Teknolohiya sessions should work to your advantage. The people of AyalaTBI are also there to help with the networking, so just approach us and ask to be introduced to those people who might be relevant to the work you do.

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Next: Ok, but does networking truly work?