Why Taiwan Could Be the Next Innovation Capital of Asia
10X Innovation Lab partners with Taiwanese organizations supporting entrepreneurial growth
Taiwan is an Asian success story with a long history of development and growth, and it is easy to see why. It is a technology hotspot, centered on hardware, as can be seen by its longstanding roots to the industrial and economic development from the 1960s to 1990s. Although Taiwan has traditionally been a very Research & Development focused economy, it has been able to successfully attract big tech corporations like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM over the past two decades, due to its tech talent pool.
Despite the success that these major tech companies have found in Taiwan, the country continues to struggle with establishing and building an entrepreneurial mindset amongst the working population; something 10X Innovation Lab over the years has dedicated itself to changing. Taiwanese organizations have found prosperous synergies between their global goals and 10X Innovation Lab’s services in educational courses, bootcamps, mentorships, ecosystem-building, and corporate innovation programs for executives.
Here are some of the partnerships between 10X Innovation Lab and Taiwan:
Triple iii (GCamp Startup Bootcamp): The focus of this project was to train founders in the startup mindset, methods, and global expansion. In addition, 10x Innovation Lab helped train and prepare them for international conferences and pitching to top-tier investors. This training included sharpening their pitch, polishing their value proposition and helping them with their communication skills so they would know how to interact with potential customers in the US (watch compilation video. here).
International Trade Institute (5-month entrepreneurship program): This program was set up for students in universities as ‘talent pipeline development’. Here, 10X Innovation Lab educated 230 students on entrepreneurship, guiding them from idea generation all the way through to building an MVP. The main purpose of the program was to give young talent a sense of how to start and scale a business. It was important to focus on developing this entrepreneurial mindset because, right now, many recent graduates are seeking traditional roles at large corporations rather than starting their own businesses. Given that the government’s goal is to create a more diversified economy, encouraging students to think outside the box and try new business ideas is an important step. Moreover, this program has expanded to include teaching students how to implement best practices around innovation that have been successful in Silicon Valley with established businesses and government organizations (referred to as “intrapreneurship”). You can read more about this program on our blog.
ITRI (Startup Training): This work focused on educating Taiwanese founders on how to pitch internationally. Similar to the Triple iii program, where we helped prepare entrepreneurs in refining their pitches and improving their understanding on how to appeal to a global audience, we focused on ensuring they would be ready to meet with potential international customers, partners, and investors. Because the local community and economy is still very traditional and unaccustomed to these types of engagements, the goal was to help them polish all aspects of their pitches to ensure both content and communication was highly relevant to these audiences. The 10X team also signed an MoU with ITRI at the 2020 CES Conference as a commitment to continue to refine and grow this program.
MoST (Startup Training): The goal of partnering with MoST was to deliver programs that support their ecosystem development. Replicating a Silicon Valley ecosystem in other parts of the world has proven to be extremely challenging, so to facilitate this, we supported all aspects of the ecosystem. For startups, this included developing programs and practicing/polishing pitches; for corporations, we built corporate innovation programs, and for universities, we delivered entrepreneurial curriculums to help build the next generation pipeline of entrepreneurs.
Taiwan Startup Stadium (Pitch Night / Startup Event): This event is one of the big initiatives launched by MoST. Here we actively support by providing start-up training programs to train their local startups for global expansion, while refining their value propositions and pitch decks.
Taiwan Tech Arena (Conference Optimization): By preparing some of the most exciting startups of Taiwan for the CES conference in Las Vegas, we were able to help them acquire customers, partners and investors on a global scale.
Startup Terrace (Startup Bootcamp): Another big initiative to come from MoST is the Startup Terrace. As part of this partnership, we facilitated and delivered startup bootcamps and training programs for entrepreneurs looking to build international businesses. We helped them with everything from e-mail follow-up strategies and refining pitch decks to truly understanding the Silicon Valley mindset.
DigiTimes (Startup Bootcamp): This Bootcamp is part of a new partnership established with one of the largest media companies in Taiwan. Their goal is to help create more opportunities for start-ups by utilizing their strong connection to traditional sectors. This initiative is part of a larger government-driven objective to transform traditional industries. The scope of the initiative also includes engaging more with the entrepreneurial community to deliver valuable content to further their growth.
Narlabs (Investor Speed Dating): In this exciting project, we brought 15 start-ups to Silicon Valley to engage with 15 top-tier investors including corporate venture capitalists from firms like Microsoft Ventures and Hewlett Packard Ventures, allowing both the government and the startups to create long-term relationships with Silicon Valley investors. You can read more about this program on our blog.
Today the government of Taiwan is funding initiatives to promote entrepreneurship including the Taiwan Tech Arena and the Taiwan Startup Stadium. Investing in what 10X Innovation Lab calls “entrepreneurial infrastructure”, which includes startup education, entrepreneurial communities, incubators, and more, is essential to helping any market that wants to excel in innovation and technology. Taiwan already has a remarkable pool of talent with a global scope, however, talent needs continuous nurturing and inspiration.
Therefore, 10X Innovation Lab has been working hard to help bridge the gap between Taiwan and Silicon Valley to unlock the potential of the Taiwanese startup ecosystem. Fortunately, 10X Innovation Lab has been partnering with many of Taiwan’s government and corporate entities to help break down barriers and facilitate access to Silicon Valley innovation. The founders behind 10X are truly committed to building this entrepreneurial ecosystem with Taiwan:
“We recognize the incredible opportunity for Taiwan to emerge as a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. Such talent and expertise exist across the country and we think that by adopting the strategies and the culture of Silicon Valley Taiwan will have all the ingredients for success. 10X is committed to supporting corporate, government and entrepreneurial leaders in reaching this goal of increasing Taiwan's role in the global innovation ecosystem.” — Klaus Wehage, CEO and co-founder at 10X Innovation Lab
“The best way to take your organization to the next level is to develop and engage in innovation ecosystems. Find ways to learn from the most successful companies and thought leaders who have innovated at scale, challenge your current operating model and implement their best practices. 10X can be your guide and provide you with a blueprint for how to be successful in creating a culture of innovation and transforming your organization.” — Aaron McDaniel, Co-founder & Head of Entrepreneurship at 10X Innovation Lab
If you are part of an organization that supports local startups in scaling to global markets and are interested in partnering with 10X, please feel free to reach out to our CEO, Klaus Wehage, at klaus@10xinnovationlab.com. We offer a wide range of tailored programs, ranging from online educational courses and webinars, to Silicon Valley immersion programs and bootcamps. Download our Startup Market Validation program for more.
