We need to champion people who take risks and reward the indomitable spirit of taking action

Razer founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan (Credit: Razer)

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There is no doubt e-Payment is the way of the future; its benefits for Singaporeans are unquestionable. Now, the government has set the objective of turning Singapore into a cashless society whether through Nets, PayNow, RazerPay or GrabPay or other contenders.

The recent RazerPay proposal seems to have brought out hordes of critics out from the woods.

While many have praised Min-Liang Tan (Min), CEO of Razer, as an innovator who is willing to step up to the challenge, the proposal, and Min himself, have been heavily criticised.

Also read: Razer lays out US$7.34M plan to roll out RazerPay, an e-payments system for Singapore

As a founder, this sort of response is discouraging and makes me question the environment we are fostering (or not) in Singapore. I’m not here to defend the RazerPay proposal, but I am here to urge everyone to look beyond the proposal and the message we send to our fellow entrepreneurs.

Here are some of the shortcomings in the proposal:

(To be clear, I agree with some of them.)

1. What value does RazerPay bring to the e-Payments industry?

2. How does RazerPay measure technically?

3. How successful can RazerPay be? Isn’t it just another wallet?

4. Aren’t there better alternatives? Especially NETS since they are already dominant?

5. The RazerPay proposal doesn’t highlight anything new.

The personal criticisms include:

1. Min is just drumming up publicity for Razer’s IPO

2. It is a marketing ploy

3. He was being cheeky and did not expect Prime Minister Lee to reply. Things escalated quickly.

This begs the question, where is all the resentment coming from? Why is the backlash so fierce?

Being an armchair critic is an easy pastime in the digital age. But it is alarming to observe how unkind some of the comments have been and they have not been particularly constructive either. (Not all, some are educated and practical.)

Which leads to the larger problem:

If entrepreneurs have the added burden being wrong before we even try … how can we ever be right?

Singaporeans should feel encouraged to take chances, to stand up and give it a shot. Even if one was to fail, there is something to be said for the courage to try.

We need to champion people who take risks and reward the indomitable spirit of taking action. We need to stop being daunted by failures only to be rendered to inaction. Let’s not censure the risk-takers who took a chance and put up a hand or flippantly discourage those who are thinking of trying something new or different.

When you do that, you break the spirit of entrepreneurship and of trying.

In their own ways, each and every entrepreneur or founder is trying. Most of us fail. Most of us don’t make it. We know the chances of us succeeding is low So please, don’t add to the weight of doubts that entrepreneurs have to face by shredding them into pieces.

Otherwise, how do we dare to dream?

The Question: How can we be part of the solution?

Yes, Razer has no experience in large-scale payment transactions and operations. Their proposal lacks the technical details that experts wanted. Yes, it has its weaknesses, and it doesn’t highlight anything new. But that’s not really the problem is it?

To deride the proposal for recommending a way forward when nothing evident was being done at that time is unbecoming.

Also read: Nets could become Singapore’s national e-payments service operator

In this instance, Min has shown the initiative. He stood up, raised his hand and delivered on what he promised — a proposal in the form of RazerPay. He cannot be accused of “all talk, no action”. Min took a chance and put his money where his mouth is, albeit based on a playful exchange on Twitter, blown out of proportion.

Is Min a marketer? Of course, he is. He demonstrated that in proposing the e-Payment system to Prime Minister Lee. And there are no two ways about it, Min is an exceptional marketer, and a successful one at that. One does not build a company from the ground up and turn it into a thriving global cult brand through pure luck. He’s savvy, knows his market and has a keen pulse on his customers.

Then, there’s the jab about the political undercurrent of the tagline: For Singaporeans. By Singaporeans. (It’s a variation from Razer’s tagline — For Gamers. By Gamers.)

Some suggested that Min is doing this as an investment for his personal net worth; to cover up his company’s losses. But to put it in context, this is the man who made it into Forbes 50 before he turned 40 — on his own accord. He is a self-made man. More zeroes in the bank might not be his goal in life or give him satisfaction. At a certain point, ‘more money’ doesn’t serve as a motivation. Instead, changing perceptions, breaking things and doing the impossible is what drives people

True, he is a public figure and yes, “he signed up for it” — the ‘it’ not being particularly well-defined. And perhaps, he “should be used to it” – the brickbats thrown at him. Yet, just because he became a ‘public figure’ (by way of establishing an illustrious company) does not validate the mudslinging.

And how about the faceless, nameless team who worked on RazerPay? How about the time and effort they have put into developing the proposal?

Because Min made good on the promise to Prime Minister Lee, more people have sat up and taken notice of the cashless system debate and issue. It brought a new widespread interest in FinTech in Singapore.

The magnitude of the criticism is disheartening; The rhetoric we should be focusing on is not how bad RazerPay is, or how it won’t succeed. The critical question should be: How can we contribute to making a difference?

Sim Wong Hoo of Creative Technology used to be one of the few recognisable, high-profile, public technology company founders. He popularised the term “NO U-Turn Syndrome”, emphasising how Singaporeans had to gain permission from high authorities before taking action. He believed that being overly-compliant stifles innovation and creativity .

In 2017, Singapore can proudly claim two high-profile tech unicorns – Razer and Grab.

Min’s story is very un-Singaporean, and many have hailed him as the rockstar of the startup world. Before starting Razer, he worked as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. He then left the secure and respected legal profession to move to San Francisco to start a gaming company. But if Min’s Razer was not a success, will we still celebrate him/ Razer as much today?

Based on an August 2017 report, the cessation rates for businesses spiked to 22% last year. While you don’t have to be a cheerleader for every entrepreneur or silly ideas in the market, I hope we can all collectively reflect on the kind of community we will like to build for the future generations.

Also read: Should Singapore go cashless? Here is a productivity driven angle

If RazerPay fails, then what? We try again. We learn from the mistakes. We avoid the pitfalls. We adapt. We reiterate. Till we succeed. Same goes for NETS, PayNow, GrabPay, or any other solutions.

But if we take every innovator we have and hurl bricks at them and drag them through the mud, then who will step out?

This article first appeared on The New Savvy.

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Featured Image: 123RF

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