Forbes Magazine said in a column this week that life in Taiwan is “simply too relaxed and enjoyable” for entrepreneurs to launch risky startup companies.
“While more capital is coming into this tech-intensive market, there’s still a gap,” columnist Rebecca Fannin wrote.
Fannin said that the problem is not a lack of talent, but that it is related to culture.
She said that life in Taiwan does not “stimulate that hunger needed to break out of the mold and venture out of corporate life to do a startup.”
Fannin said there are exceptions, such as Shawn Guan, Umbo CV, Appier, Bubbleye, Pinkoi and SnapAsk, but that fear of failure still outweighs fear of missing out.
This is certainly not the case in Silicon Valley or Beijing, she said.
However, Fannin said the situation will change.
“I have faith that Taiwan’s startup engines will gain momentum,” she wrote. “A lot of folks I’ve been talking with lately care deeply about the future of Taiwan. They are putting their time and capital in to make things happen so that Taiwan has a chance to regain its leadership stance in technology.”
In a column published earlier this month in Forbes, Fannin said there were early indications of efforts to “jumpstart” Taiwan’s tech economy.
“Anyone who thinks that Taiwan lacks tech talent should keep in mind its core long-time focus on semiconductors, a field this nation has owned for decades,” she wrote.
Fannin said encouraging signs for a new breed of startups from Taiwan included major venture capital financings of promising young businesses ranging from e-commerce to 3D printing to mobile apps.
“The venture investment amounts going into Taiwanese startups are still tiny, at US$421 million in 2015,” she said.
There have also been reports in the US over the last few days that to encourage startup companies to catch up with the Internet of Things, Taiwan’s government has launched a new program to help them reach the global marketplace.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
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