Fireside Chat

Equal opportunity is essential to gain access to global talent.

Building a successful startup involves harnessing a team with strong individual skillsets and core talents to address existing problems. Antler, through a lens of equal opportunity, strives to identify the most suitable individual and highlight their greatest strengths.

Antler’s mission is to develop a cohort of individuals with equal opportunities for success. For instance, the company enables founders from all backgrounds to harness their individual potential by derisking the company lifecycle, starting from pre-seed stage, all the way to exit. Antler aims to lower economic risk by providing stipends, capital, playbooks and by sharing a global network. Hence, these individuals do not need to come from privileged backgrounds in order to launch their businesses.

The most outstanding applicants come from diverse backgrounds. Antler has an acceptance rate as low as 3%, and they employ a selection process that relies on referrals from a network of VC’s.

A good founder is an individual with spike, a strong drive and grit.

A founder with spike has the capacity to recognize what makes them stand out from the crowd and has the desire to leverage their outstanding traits. A good founder is set on digging deep into their ambitions to figure out the underlying intentions, and whether those intentions hold a strong currency to them and their company’s sense of being.

A founder must possess strong drive, which involves the combination of ambition, vision, and determination to act. Drive should not be mistaken for passion, as passion without the commitment to follow through often leads to failure. One common mistake founders make is dwelling on an idea for too long, rendering it obsolete in an ever-changing landscape of trends.

A successful founder needs grit — the ability to persevere through the tough duties of a founder. The journey to exit involves multiple challenges, extended work hours and the potential for disappointment. While a founder’s role is demanding and should not be romanticized, it can also be highly rewarding in the long run, making the initial challenges worthwhile.

Malaysia has the potential to develop a strong incubator environment.

Unlike other entrepreneurial hubs, Malaysia stands out in supporting companies across a wide spectrum of diverse business models. These business models encompass Industry 4.0 companies focused on digitalization, B2B companies who leverage on strong networks and forms of collaboration, as well as B2Cs business models.

As an emerging market, Malaysian entrepreneurs should focus on garnering stronger forms of collaboration between multiple stakeholders (other VC’s, industry players) within the business ecosystem. This starts by recognizing the wealth of natural talent that is yet to be developed through improving access to technical know-how and capital funding.

Antler cultivates a robust culture where members share fundamental core values, despite their presence in six continents. Their ultimate objective remains consistent across their operations in 27 countries, which is to harness the best local resources to launch of the next successful global company.