1819T2 Hong Kong/Participant Information/Nair Naveen
Contents
SMU email: Naveen.nair.2016@economics.smu.edu.sg
Academic Year: 3
Degree: Economics
2nd Major: Finance
One random fact: I’m born in Canada and used to be Canadian. I also love stand-up comedy
Applying for Subsidy: Yes
Why TSM Hong Kong?
- What motivates you to join TSM?
Technology-backed entrepreneurship has always interested me. I believe that this TSM would give the experience and the understanding of the hurdles one would face as an entrepreneur required start one's own company up. In addition, this TSM will also build networks and give valuable insights on potential pain points of different businesses which could further generate more entrepreneurship ideas.
- Why pick Hong Kong?
The Hong Kong scene is a very similar scene to Singapore, being a mature market. However, the dynamics of the population are different and the growth potential of the startups in Hong Kong is tremendous, given their potential in expanding to the mainland China market. These characteristics are unique to Hong Kong and I am keen in understanding them as I think about starting my own business.
Starting a business
- What types of business interest you?
Finance-related businesses (not FinTech) that deal with faster ways to handle cashflow, procurement and the like. I am also very interested in the co-working scene and have been following the movements in the big players, while studying the niche markets that the smaller players have carved out for themselves. I believe that the co-working scene will evolve to involve real-estate activities and am curious on how the traditional real-estate players will react to them.
- What plan do you have in starting a business?
Having seen and studied the retail scene in Singapore, I believe that there is a lot of room for growth in an all-in-one solution that prevents stores from having to have multiple systems to enable transactions. For example, currently, an average store may have one POS machine to collect orders, another to receive orders from online vendors and a third to accept rewards-points from the mall’s system. This is a major unaddressed paint point, and moving forward, with the expectation of QR-code based payment becoming prevalent, there is a need to provide stores with easy, quick ways of adapting and integrating multiple systems into one. I am currently studying this proposition and trying to formulate a machine that can have a one-system-links-to-all methodology without causing the retailers to incur additional cost. In addition, this system can generate data that is owned by the retailer (due to PDPA), allowing them to use data-backed analytics to improve their business.
Past Experiences (optional)
- Pursued a part-time external diploma in Enterprise Development in the past (concurrently with my regular school) to learn more about entrepreneurship.
- Developed Financial packages for the coworking industry at my past internship
- Worked with startups to pitch comprehensive financial packaged to leading mall operators
What keeps you ticking?
Friends and family, and the excitement that comes from completing a seemingly impossible task.
