HI Cheryl,

Transparency ? not sure I follow.

the databases I referred to were/are published by MDeC (of MSC Companies), SMECorp (admittedly large of 100s thousands SMEs) and PIKOM (of their members). think both MSC companies and PIKOM's list is available off a link off their respective websites. in MDeC's case, the MSC companies are tracked qualitatively (SCORE+) and quantitatively (revenue, headcount et al) as well.

point I was trying to make was a directory of listings alone isn't enough. yet another directory of startups may seem like the solution, but I don't think so. also think the OP should realise that part of any founder's task is to promote his own company, to get his product well known. it's part and parcel of running a startup. in the age of mobile and internet advertising, multiple options avail themselves. if product take up doesn't materialise, then perhaps different questions should be asked. I do agree with the OP though that the Malaysian mindset has a huge inertia against accepting locally made solutions. it's been a bane of the IT industry for a long, long time.

Malek, we're both of the same generation, we're old skool that way old friend. this isn't our forum anymore for our own needs. now you and I should should fight for the next generation. let the past be the past. there're many examples, some of which you've quoted, which ring true and yet we've found our own way through that miasma. it could have been easier but the obstacles made us. let's have a drink next.

i'd agree. beep me when you're free. you know how to reach me.

Cheryl, i'll ask again. there are databases of startups published by MDeC, SMECorp, PIKOM available. what would be the difference in what's being proposed ? different publishers perhaps where new sources of revenue are created.

One can understand the gift of space, but perhaps the interior décor was decided upon before your arrival. I do note your use of "gifted" in quotes. reminds me of a movie a Malaysian funded, the Serigala of Wall Street, pun intended before we dash into conclusions.

arms and legs are critical, but they shouldn't be overused nor over comitted. we all have 24 hours in a physics given day. the notion of physical space is valuable but I do remember liberalization of that, as a team effort (note the lack of creative capitalization) seems to indicate.

let's discuss the last part. ;)

Cheryl, the "build it and they will come" mantra died in the first dotcom boom of the 1990s. there's a real challenge in geographic dislocation, and redefining the notion that in trying to be different, every startup space employs the same formulaic model of industrial concrete design, doof bags and green astroturf corners.

while such stereotypical tropes are still peddled by event managers to liberate government of taxpayer funds, what we'd truly need is a liberation of the system. an opening of ideas not controlled by a select elite, promulgated by media which is non myopic nor continued by cloistered views which inhibit.

i'd support a Malaysian Burning Man with my own funds, done the same way as Burning Man. provided the same event managers aren't the primary financial beneficiaries.

to paraphrase Walter Wriston: talent, like money, goes where it is needed and stays where it is well treated.

That would be a question for MDeC. I left 45 days after that DNA article was published. the large customers we'd worked with then were mentioned in the article: MARA, Faber Group, Celcom, AirAsia among others.

SMECorp, MDeC and even PIKOM routinely either publish or collate such a database. what would the efficacy of this model be though, i'd wonder.

this phenomenon can be mitigated. have given one such example in a longer comment here: http://magic.userecho.com/topic/459026-promotion-of-malaysian-technology-companies-is-poor-to-international-markets/