iiiNNO & Startup Ecosystem

iiiNNO has attempted several community-driven initiatives. Some attempts have failed, and some initiatives have sustained themselves with the help and contribution of members in the Taiwan/Asia startup ecosystem. 

Question #1: how to take an active role in Taiwan/Asia ecosystem?

• A. Be resourceful 

  • Promote and bring awareness of other people's initiative. One of the fastest and most well-respected methods is sharing and promoting others. 

• B. Be active in community discussion  

  • Actively engage in a Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn comment section, and share your point of view to support the initiatives. Or if you have yet to form an opinion, then congratulate for the presented effort. 

• C. Share photos and stories & recommend

  • Program and event organizers are busy promoting, planning, executing, and wrapping up the event or program. 

    • >Take some photos and write a summary with a hashtag if you are there. 

    • > Recommend others to join a great program, write a testimonial on Facebook/LinkedIn/Instagram or a medium post and tell everyone why you like it and why others need to take a look or join. 

  • This act of kindness means a lot to the community's growth, where a simple post/sharing ignites more ecosystem contributors to continue the effort to make things great. 

• D. Respect & community first

  • Each ecosystem's way of getting things done and collaborating may be different, especially regarding the role of ecosystem actors. 

  • > In Taiwan, there are a lot of central and local government programs and initiatives. Most of the programs, like incubators/accelerators, are 100% back or partially backed by the government. Therefore the program needs to meet both the needs of entrepreneurs and government KPI. 

  • > In Japan, the local government manages the entrepreneurship/startup VISA program instead of the central government (like Taiwan and Thailand central government manages startup/entrepreneur VISA programs instead). Therefore the role of local city government is critical to the inbound program.

  • Entrepreneurs with great empathy will have an easier journey in adopting, then adapting new ways of doing business in each ecosystem.  

Question #2: What is the Taiwan Puzzle-Up Startup Ecosystem Line group by iiiNNO (a.k.a 500 people group)?

A startup's starting point is solving a problem by removing or reducing the pain points behind the program. Or the starting point can be to create a product/service to be hired (Clayton M. Christensen was the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, the person behind the theory/framework of disruptive innovation).

The Taiwan Puzzle-Up Startup Ecosystem group chat started on Facebook in 2014~2015, then later moved to Line using the group chat (when Line's open chat function has yet launched). 

The objective is to bring like-mind people who want to collaborate instead of competing. 

The initial program that the Group Chat aimed to solve was when different central government ministries, city government commissions, and private corporations began to invest in resources and create events in other cities or the same towns. A grass-root and inclusive communication platform became a challenge to present events organized on the same day or very similar initiative were repetitively launched. 

As the ecosystem grows, international organizations and entrepreneurs wish to connect to Taiwan ecosystem actors, and several directories or ecosystem maps were made. The Chat/Line group members decided to work together to define the role of actors and create a map that is supported and inclusive by the ecosystem. The version of the map created collectively in xxxx was used by Business Next and Taiwan Startup Hub (TSH). Moreover, it was reported by Asia as known startup media from Singapore. 

Question #3: How to actively engage in Taiwan Puzzle-Up Ecosystem Line Group?

Following the general guideline of question #1 in this article would be a great start. 

Here is the list of additional suggestion

• #1: Understand how this group works 

  • The Line group is free to join, and due to the nature of the Line chat group, there is no admin and no privileges control. People in the group interact with each other with accountability, trust, and good intentions. The group has existed for over seven years, and most members have been in the group for more than 3~5 years. The ecosystem actors would use this Line group as one of the communication and co-creation platforms of choice. 

  • iiiNNO is very fortunate to be part of this movement and has the honor of serving everyone in the group. 

  • We believe in inclusiveness and trust our members to be accountable for inviting people who are actively interested in developing the Taiwan startup ecosystem or active contributors who wish to give and co-create. IiiNNO does not keep a list of priorities or be in the middle person to approve. When a member leaves the group, a new member will usually be added by any Line group members. 

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• #2 Keep an updated/current program in Line' note 

  • We welcome new members to introduce him/herself. There is no standard template. We encourage everyone to look at the historical introduction found in the LINE Note of the group and start the post by sharing about one's profile. 

  • We encourage the existing members who have a new role or job in the ecosystem to upload a new or edit an existing profile using Line Note. 

• #3: Read and follow the group's posting guideline 

  • The group's guidelines will be updated and modified to foster inclusiveness and co-creation. Please kindly read it and embrace where you can. 

  • We welcome any suggestions or comments to guide the group positively. 

• #4: Check out the member's list and read the member's profile

  • There is a good chance that the person or resource you are looking for is already in the group. 

• #5: Ask a question to foster the advancement of your startup and help others while you are focusing on yours.

  • We believe in helping others first while achieving your goals. Moreover, they eventually leave a legacy for others to build on their success. Y Combinator, in recent years, has encouraged all their entrepreneurs to adopt such a mindset.