Entrepreneurs.my

Facebook-ed Chalkboard App

Muhammad Hafiz — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:49:36 +0000

Over the past few months, most consumers who followed some locations for the latest updates of Today’s Specials, found difficulty in knowing what locations they have followed. One reason is that Chalkboard has often focussed their development towards the small and medium businesses and not towards consumers. One of their engineers, Anuj Bheda brought up this interesting perspective that they need a common focal point to get the consumers to be able to know what is going on around them, and suggest building a Facebook app. The technology team, together with their designer Serge Baluyot, worked through the Christmas and New Year holidays, and finally, the new Chalkboard Facebook app are ready to be released.

The app allows people to find out what offers are nearby, all at one glance, where it acts as a one-stop shop for our users to find out what are today’s specials that are around them and what their friends have been viewing. As an example, one shares about freshly brewed coffee or newly imported beer on the app, and the app will accordingly decide where the best place to hang out would be.

On top of that, another good value of creating this app is to take advantage of the virility of social networks, which benefits both businesses and consumers on the Chalkboard network, which will increase the sharing and discovery of specials coming from their merchant partners and induce a form of virility that will help them attract more customers. A “follow” function is also created, to allow the consumers to discover new locations and engage with the small and medium businesses. With the “follow” function, the consumers are given the choice, to subscribe and get updates via email and Facebook on the latest Today’s Specials to the location of their choice. In addition, a “recommend” function is added as well, to allow any consumer to refer a location with an interesting Today’s Special to their peers. An activity feed is built as well, for the user to monitor what locations their friends are currently checking out. Even better, the app also allows one to recommend a merchant to his/her entire social network on Facebook as well.

As an example, if one likes a particular cafe, he/she can “follow” it within the app, which will alert he/she to any future updates the merchant posts on Chalkboard. And if he/she have Facebook friends who is also using the app, they will know that he/she have followed that particular café.

To make it better, since the app utilizes the geolocation capability on HTML5 browsers, they also built an additional function called “Change Location” where a user can change the location of where they are to see what might be there in another location of their choice. Particularly for older browsers which are not geo-location compliant, the function will be of help.

The Chalkboard app is an useful utility app to discover what is around you and engage with the businesses directly. The feedback from the consumers will be valuable to the businesses and help them to improve to serve their customers better.

Echelon 2012 Startup Marketplace opens for submissions!

Muhammad Hafiz — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:02:39 +0000

Echelon 2012 Startup Marketplace is now officially open for submissions. e27 is reaching out to their various media partners across the region to help get the word out to Asian startups in their communities.

The Echelon 2012 Startup Marketplace, formerly known as Echelon Launchpad and Startup Exhibition, has been re-crafted based on the feedback of the Echelon alumni and it will also present more emphasis on all the participating startups at Echelon 2012 and provide them with a more engaging platform to interact with investors, corporate, government agencies and the general public.

The Startup Marketplace is now open for online submissions until 31 March, 2012. To simplify submissions, e27 has adopted Adeo Ressi of Founders Institute’s One-sentence Pitch format. e27’s handpicked panel of judges will score all the valid submissions and shortlist qualified startups to pitch at e27’s four Satellites in Singapore, Jakarta, Manila and Hong Kong.

The Top 50 pitching startups will be selected to exhibit at Echelon 2012 on 11 – 12 June, 2012. Each two-day exhibition slot will cost SGD 400 and will provide the startups with some of the best opportunities to secure regional funding, partnerships and exposure. The best 10 pitches will also be featured at Echelon
2012 with an on-stage pitching opportunity to the main audience.

If you are an Asian startup looking to bring your company to the next level, then Echelon 2012 Startup Marketplace is the place to be.
Join the ranks of wellbacked Echelon alumni such as Flutterscape, Insync, Fashionspace and Cardinal Blue to showcase the region’s best.
Application for Echelon 2012 Startup Marketplace can be done at http://bit.ly/startups2012/

All Deals Asia Launches the First One Stop Deals Iphone App

Daniel CerVentus — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:11:27 +0000

All Deals Asia announces the launch of a first of its kind iPhone application that gives users access to deals from more than 50 daily deal sites across the Asia Pacific region. With thousands of deals consolidated in one place, this App allows users to easily browse and compare deals, instead of having to visit several deal websites. The deals can be sorted by country, date, popularity, categories or proximity, making it a breeze for users to make their choice.

“By consolidating deals from different deal websites and organising them into a single platform, we believe this will help customers save both time and money when searching for the best discounts,” said Ms Goh Yiping, Founder of All Deals Asia Pte Ltd. “Our iPhone App will offer greater convenience and also enhance users’ deals shopping experience.

Besides helping users to save time during deal search, the App has a handy voucher reminder feature that deals buyers can switch on to alert themselves to use the voucher at a specific date and time. “As a frequent shopper for deals, the alert feature helps remind me to redeem the deals before they expire,” said Elliot Chan, a beta user of the AllDealsAsia App.

The App has a location-based capability built in, allowing users to view deals available near their location via the “Nearby Deals” feature. Deal redemption at participating merchants is also seamless and paperless as users just need to present their e-voucher on the App.

“With a wide smart phone adoption rate in Singapore, this new iPhone App will bring in new opportunities for our merchants and deal partners,” added Yiping.

“Though the application is only available on the Apple iTunes store now, we hope to release the App for Google’s Android platform very soon,” mentioned Yiping. In the next version of the App, users can look forward to receiving push notifications of new deals.

About All Deals Asia Pte Ltd
AllDealsAsia is Singapore and South East Asia’s first and largest one stop deal aggregation portal with over 300,000 registered subscribers and 100,000 Facebook group members. AllDealsAsia collaborates with merchants and deal partners to actively source for the best deals in town, ranging from lifestyle, entertainment, travel, food and beverages, beauty and fun activities. The AllDealsAsia portal is available to consumers from Singapore and across South East Asia, namely Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia as well as Australia.

For more information, please visit www.alldealsasia.com.

Ctrl+Alt+Compete, the movie premier in Malaysia

Daniel CerVentus — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:49:51 +0000

Microsoft just made a movie and you are invited to watch it on 18 of Jan 2012 at Microsoft Malaysia’s office. Why is this important to entrepreneurs? It is because this movie is about startups. Register yourself at http://on.fb.me/vdJLs0

About the movie Ctrl+Alt+Compete

“There are literally thousands of start-ups being formed or in their infancy right now. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to start a company as an entrepreneur, to have to deal with the headaches of forming a company, its employees, getting funding by doing presentations and even dealing with the potential failure? Microsoft has just produced a full-length documentary film called, “Ctrl+Alt+Compete,” which was directed by Brian Giberson

The film gives viewers an inside look at the difficultly facing new start-ups through the eyes of five CEO’s (founders), their teams and the brutal truth and struggles they face. The film also features notable faces in the tech industry, like the lovely Veronica Belmont, Simon Sinek and the always cool, Cliff Bleszinski.

Event details:

When: 18 Jan 2012

Time: 5pm

Where: Microsoft Malaysia, Level 29 Tower 2, Petronas Twin Towers.

Registration Closes on Jan 15 2012.

On screening day, please arrive on time as you will not be able to enter Petronas Twin Towers after 6:15PM.

What Happened in the Morning Session for CPB2011 Open Day?

Daniel CerVentus — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:54:28 +0000

Thanks to Reshwindblade for the recording this is what went down in the CPB2011 open day. If you are in the tech sector and you missed out what is the Computing Professional Bill 2011, you can check out our write-up and what LoyarBurok wrote.

Here is the video.

Making it Ghetto and Lean

Daniel CerVentus — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:47:42 +0000

Fat Sumo aka Noah Kagan is well known for many things. Being part of the early team in Facebook and Mint, he also started a startup called Gambit. His most recent venture is something call AppSumo, which is a daily deal site for Startup Geeks. This site was first started with an outsourced work which cost around USD 50 and since then it has grew to to half a million customers buying course, bundles, themes and tools at a discounted rate. Find out about his idea of making it ghetto and testing your idea in this 5 min ignite talk.

Disclosure: We are big fans of AppSumo.

Malaysia Government To Screw Up ICT Industry

Daniel CerVentus — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:18:28 +0000

Welcome to Malaysia, where the government is trying to push for a new law that requires any computer professional to be certified with a soon to be form Board of Computing Professionals. This board is supposed to determine who is qualified to practice in the ICT industry. This also means all Malaysians who are in the computer industry would probably need to pay a yearly fee to join this board. This is bullshit.

The beauty of the ICT industry it is democratize a lot of stuff. There are a lot of self taught experts or hackers poking around computers. By having a formal organization will hamper development of the ICT industry.

Does it mean these two folks will not be qualify to do anything in the computer industry because they are drop outs?

Here is the draft for the act, judge for yourself
CPB2011 Draft

Update: See what are the public comments for the draft act here.

There is also an open day for the public to learn about about the act here.
When: December 13, 2011, 9.30 am to 5pm
Where: Dewan Perhimpunan, Aras 1, Block C4, Kompleks C, Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi, Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan

UPDATE: Petition to kill the bill is here.

50% of Carlist is acquired by Catcha Media Berhad

Daniel CerVentus — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:05:45 +0000

As Catcha Media Bhd is looking to become an internet conglomerate again and it’s recent acquisition of a decisive 50 per cent stake in car portal, Carlist.my would make this a reality. Carlist was founded on the basis there are a lot of stale cars listed on most traditional sites. It currently boast a total of over 43 thousands car listings.

The 50% stake was purchased for an undisclosed stake but speculation hovers around RM 5 Million with Carlist valued at RM 10 Million. As a comparison, Proto Corporation (Japan) acquisition of MTM Multimedia, the publisher of titles such as Motor Trader, Bike Trader and Autocar ASEAN was around RM109.67 million.

Catcha Media Berhad (“Catcha Media”) announced today its results for Q3 2011, with revenue increasing by 20% as compared to Q3 2010. The announcement coincided with changes in the company’s management, where founder and non-executive director, Mr Patrick Grove, will assume the role of CEO.

Who Says Socialmedia Don’t Matter in Asia

Daniel CerVentus — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:31:26 +0000

If you are an entrepreneur in Asia and not marketing your product using socialmedia, here are some stats about how much adoption of social media in the region. These slides and data are compiled by WeAreSocial Singapore

We Are Social’s Guide to Social, Digital & Mobile in Asia (Overview, Nov 2011)

View more presentations from We Are Social Singapore

If You Have a Youthful Project, This is Your Time To Pitch

Daniel CerVentus — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:02:23 +0000

MyHarapah, the youth centric foundation will be having some in-depth discussions on the Economic and Government Transformation Programmes with key experts from PEMANDU. Networking opportunities with various industry leaders and your peers. Up to RM15,000 in grants up for grabs at exclusive pitching sessions. Accommodation and food at the luxurious Palace of the Golden Horses.

If this sounds too good to be true, you ain’t seen nothing yet. They are only but some of attractions available free of charge to participants of the Youth Defined: Shape Our Future workshop, happening on the 10th to the 12th of December.

Be prepared for two and a half days of intellectually-stimulating talks, forums and group sessions designed to discuss in detail selected NKRA/NKEAs and defining what the ETP/GTP mean in the eyes of the country’s most valuable stakeholders: YOU.

This will culminate in the Summit on the final day to report and announce the findings of the project so far as well as presenting the draft of the Youth Action Plan proposal. To add even further icing to the cake, said proposal will be handed to the Prime Minister himself, who will also be attending dinner.

(What the heck is the ETP? Check it out here. )

Event Overview:
Date: December 10 – 12, 2011 (Saturday – Monday)
Venue: Palace of the Golden Horses
Fee: Free of charge. Food and accommodation will be provided.
Click here to register: http://bit.ly/ydworkshopreg

Tentative agenda
(1) Saturday, 10th December
Registration, icebreakers, networking sessions and presentations by subject matter experts on our Economic and Government Transformation Programs. Hear it from the very people who are working behind the scenes at the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU).

Dine with Dato Seri Idris Jala, CEO of PEMANDU, at our welcoming dinner – where he will be answering your burning questions and sharing his thoughts on young people their role in our country’s development. Watch a video of Dato Seri Idris Jala talking about the ETP here http://youtu.be/VzgP1qFvDpY

(2) Sunday, 11th December
In-depth focus groups and discussions on how young Malaysians see their country moving forward and how we would like to contribute to this development.

There will also be two forums touching on the role of the Government and its agencies in this transformation program, and the role of Entry Point Projects in the economic transformation of our country.

(3) Monday, 12th December
Brainstorming for concrete ideas on how young people can move our economy forward – with the opportunity of pitching each project for the myHarapan Youth Action Grants (yes, that’s real money for YOUR ideas!).

Throughout the course of three days, there will be plenty of opportunity to network with participants from around the country and enjoy the good food and great company.

What are you waiting for? Simply click though this link to register http://bit.ly/ydworkshopreg