Mr. Shangkong | Hong Kong and Taiwan take different start-up routes
While cross-strait rivals count on technology advantage, city could make push in fintech
What can a start-up really sell? A product, service, or just a concept? This must be the first question every start-up founder should ask.
I was in Taipei for a Google event about start-ups and innovations last week. Google sent 10 best-performing Hong Kong start-up "students" in its EYE Program, an initiative to support small businesses to grow, to Taipei to meet their peers.
The difference in a start-up business model between Hong Kong and Taipei is obvious from the first slide in their presentations.
Most Taiwan start-ups are more about hardware design and production, such as smart helmet and health care devices to track the heartbeat and other key indicators. The common interest comes from the island's long advantage in technology-related manufacturing.
We all know Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, which made Apple's iPhone that changed the global mobile phone industry. Seen from that view, Taiwan's contribution to the world has been huge.
Today, Taiwan is more ambitious than just making iPhones, or any product for already well-established names. It wants to have its own Apple on the world map - a Taiwan start-up that can make the world say "wow".
If hardware technology is Taiwan's forte in the new global competition in start-ups, then Hong Kong's advantage looks more ambiguous.
