Knowledge@SMU

English

Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University

What do Egyptian tomb raiders and martial-arts-loving entrepreneurs have in common?

Singapore Management UniversityInstitutional Knowledge at Singapore Management UniversityKnowledge@SMU Office of Research3-2010What do Egyptian tomb raiders and martial-arts-loving entrepreneurs have in common?Knowledge@SMUFollow this and additional works at:http://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/ksmuPart of theEntrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, and theTechnology andInnovation CommonsThis Journal Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Office of Research at Institutional Knowledge at Singapore ManagementUniversity. It has been accepted for inclusion in Knowledge@SMU by an authorized administrator of Institutional Knowledge at SingaporeManagement University. For more information, please emaillibIR@smu.edu.sg.CitationKnowledge@SMU, "What do Egyptian tomb raiders and martial-arts-loving entrepreneurs have in common?" (2010).Knowledge@SMU.Paper 185.http://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/ksmu/1857/21/12 What do Egyptian tomb raiders and martial-arts-loving entrepreneurs have in common? - Knowledge@…1/3 knowledge.smu.edu.sg/article.cfm?articleid=1274   (http://knowledge.smu.edu.sg)What do Egyptian tomb raiders and martial-arts-loving entrepreneurs havein common?Published: March 02, 2010 in Knowledge@SMU Share on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://knowledge.smu.edu.sg/article.cfm?articleid=1274)“Entrepreneurship” is a relatively modern addition to popular lexicon, as businesses and individuals increasingly taketo jumpstarting new ways in which money can be made.However, the actual practice of entrepreneurship can be traced back to the days of mummies and tomb raiders ofancient Egypt, noted Howard Hunter (http://www.law.smu.edu.sg/faculty/law/howardhunter.asp), president of SMUand a professor of law.According to Hunter, the production of mummified animals for human tombs was run by a system of artisansoperating very much like the small and medium enterprises (SME) of today. Small fortunes were made by theseentrepreneurs – they were probably known by another name back then – for providing the animals as “additionals”for the tombs.There was a second group of entrepreneurs as well. These are people who would sneak into the tombs to steal thehighly-valued preserved animals and re-sell them for profits. So both legitimate and not so legitimate SMEs thrived.To the strait-laced corporate executives of today, this might sound like a rather crazy business model, but for theancient Egyptians, it represented a means to which money could be made.Hunter shared this nugget of entrepreneurship history at the launch of the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business PlanCompetition (LKYGBPC) (http://www.smu.edu.sg/lky/2010/index.asp). The objective of the competition, organisedby SMU’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE)(http://www.smu.edu.sg/institutes/iie/About%20IIE/Overview.asp), is to encourage that same spirit of enterprisethat the ancient Egyptians had.Guy Harvey-Samuel, CEO of HSBC Singapore – the competition's presenting sponsor – said he hopes that theLKYGBPC will be a source of inspiration for young entrepreneurs to realise their potential in enterprise.Yet, inspiration, critical as it may seem, can be difficult to sustain – especially where beginner's luck is absent. Justask Chatri Trisiripisal, a 38-year-old entrepreneur who shared his personal accounts of multiple setbacks at theevent.Asian stringsFor Trisiripisal, the past 13 years of striking out as an entrepreneur has been anything but easy. Like many otherAsians, he had a childhood where the expectation was to study hard, score good grades and find a steady job witha stable income.“That’s what happens in an Asian society. You tend to be a pressured to be what you’re not," he said. A normal lifeis to stay in a safe zone with only fear and no dreams. The life of an entrepreneur is different. You have to combinepassion with dreams and be willing to take risks.Trisiripisal did not ignore childhood social norms entirely. In fact, he studied very hard and graduated from HarvardBusiness School with an MBA. As with many of his peers, ambition took him to Wall Street. But after a few immersiveyears in America's financial capital, Trisiripisal found himself to be unsuited for the corporate life.Entrepreneurship was not something that Trisiripisal had always wanted to explore, but something struck a rawnerve when he sat through an entrepreneurship talk where a businessman shared his success story. He was inspired.Over the years, Trisiripisal would dabble in various businesses – not all of them succeeded. He also cut his teeth inthe financial world, working for Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest fund managers, with more than atrillion dollars worth of assets.Today, Trisiripisal owns businesses in retail, finance and real estate. He wears many hats: chairman of the EvolveGroup, a leading retail group with operations in Asia and Latin America, and chairman of Indiabulls PropertiesInvestment Trust, a Singapore-listed property investment trust that focuses on Indian real estate – with a market7/21/12 What do Egyptian tomb raiders and martial-arts-loving entrepreneurs have in common? - Knowledge@…2/3 knowledge.smu.edu.sg/article.cfm?articleid=1274capitalisation of more than $920 million (as at Feb 24, 2010).Yet, the young millionaire calls himself “probably the biggest failure in the room”, having gone through many low anddepressing periods in life – he was fired from a job once; he became so broke at one point in time that he lived onone sandwich a day; he became obese; and he even "abused alcohol".The stress carried on even as he got his business going. Trisiripisal recounted a time when he had only a month'sworth of cash flow left for his business – one of the many times when he felt he could have given up. It wastempting. After all, he had a brand name MBA to fall back on. However, he chose to turn those setbacks intoinvaluable lessons. Putting it simply, he said: “You have to really love your concept. Just embrace failure as awonderful gift and move on.”After so many failures, Trisiripisal's new response to failure has evolved into a "no big deal". With perseverance, heeventually turned in a slew of successes: He got five companies up and running; he is starting on his sixth. Heserves on the board of Project Sunshine, a volunteer group for terminally-ill children. He shook off his obesity andreclaimed his love for muay thai – a form of Thai-boxing that he had been practising since childhood.Crazy dreamsTo Trisiripisal, entrepreneurship is not merely about building businesses, or raising one’s own profile by sticking hisfingers into many pies. There is a higher purpose: “Entrepreneurship is about chasing a crazy dream and changingthe world into a better place.”Using Amazon.com as an example, he noted how when founder Jeff Bezos started the company back in 1994, theconcept of buying things online was still a very alien one to most people. Critics did not believe that someone wouldbuy a book online. For seven years, Amazon.com was racking up losses to the tune of US$2.5 billion. Yet, when theInternet bubble burst, it was one of the handful of survivors that emerged stronger than ever. In 2001, Amazonturned a profit. More importantly, retail would be forever re-defined and Bezoes has rightly earned a place in historyfor pioneering the service.An entrepreneur will always live a life of fear and love, said Trisiripisal. “If you feel fear and succumb to it, forexample, when your biggest customer drops out or your investor stops funding you, then you will run away. But ifyou believe in your concept more than anyone else in the world, then you will be a warrior,” he said.Clearly, the roadblocks to being a successful entrepreneur are numerous. They include a fear of failure,complacency, as well as letting society, family and friends dictate your life, said Trisiripisal. One has to be“delusional” about a business idea and love it to the point of obsession to be able to survive the setbacks thatinevitably comes with it. “If everyone loves your idea, it’s not special, it’s mainstream,” he said.Kaizen, EvolveCertain philosophies guide Trisiripisal's style of management. He is a self-professed firm believer of the Japaneseconcept of kaizen, or continuous improvement that has no limits. To him, kaizen is a key to how businesses cangrow. This was why he named one of his companies “Evolve”, which signifies continuous change, development, andprogress.Trisiripisal also believes that every business deal must be a win-win for all parties. “It is short-sighted to squeezeemployees, suppliers and even the venture capitalists who support you. You must make sure that all of themsucceed,” he said.From Trisiripisal’s point of view, businesses must add value and change the world for the better. Using his mostrecent start-up, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts, as a example, Trisiripisal noted that the mixed martial arts academy wasthe result of his passionate belief that practising martial arts can mould a person’s mental strength, confidence andinstil discipline.A dedicated martial artist himself for 20 years, Trisiripisal, who, besides his muay thai proficiency, also holds a bluebelt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, has a very clear vision for Evolve: to see a branch of the school in every major city in Asia.Just 12 months into its inception, the academy is the number one mixed martial arts academy chain in Asia and hasbeen featured on CNN and ESPN, said Trisiripisal.For an entrepreneur like Trisiripisal, or the tomb raiders of ancient Egypt, no dreams are too crazy.Share on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://knowledge.smu.edu.sg/article.cfm?articleid=1274) (#top) (#top)7/21/12 What do Egyptian tomb raiders and martial-arts-loving entrepreneurs have in common? - Knowledge@…3/3 knowledge.smu.edu.sg/article.cfm?articleid=1274A ll materials copyright of Singapore Management University (http://www.smu.edu.sg) and the Wharton School (http://www.wharton.upenn.edu) of theUniversity of Pennsylvania (http://www.upenn.edu), Privacy Policy (http://knowledge.smu.edu.sg/privacy.cfm).

What do Egyptian tomb raiders and martial-arts-loving entrepreneurs have in common?

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University

Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University