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How NUS Overseas College funds innovation and talent in Silicon Valley

How NUS Overseas College funds innovation and talent in Silicon Valley

Creating opportunities that promote startup businesses locally will go a long way in encouraging young and talented students to stay back and build their businesses in their homeland

There is an overall shortage of talented individuals in the world today. The tech industry is severely lacking strong minds who would take the world to the next level. You would agree with me, that this shortage is more pronounced in Silicon Valley.

However, you cannot completely say that there is a shortage of talented individuals in Silicon Valley — the problem lies with the employers. Most big companies across the globe want top-notch services for meager wages. This has affected the rate which engineers and programmers accept offers after a job interview. Many business owners and top executives have gone on to blame this problem on significant funding headaches without admitting to the fact that all they are looking for is maximum productivity and minimum cost.

This is the primary reason why many U.S.-based multinational companies go on talent hunts abroad to fish out young talent. It is a win-win for them since they get to secure fresh talent overseas and break into the $25 trillion market share of the Asian internet economy.

Schools in Asia are now standing up against this movement. They are trying to prevent the export of talented minds which will into the lead to the “unavailability of talent” in Silicon Valley. Instead of losing their students to companies abroad, they have taken up the mantle of grooming young minds and guiding them through the journey of entrepreneurship.

Also read: 3 mistakes I made as a student entrepreneur in Hong Kong, and what you can learn from them

So students will no longer build their career towards working for someone else all their lives. They can now start something on their own and develop their career as their boss.

The National University of Singapore is doing a great job of grooming young talent in Silicon Valley. The NUS has various programs that foster the growth of expertise in innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology.

The budding relationship between entrepreneurs plus the organizations of the Silicon Valley and the NUS Overseas College (or NOC) has raised strong mutual interests on the development of the tech sector in the region. Students now enjoy cash incentives of up to S$50,000 in individual grants and even office spaces like Blk71 for them the base their operations, by NOC and other bodies with similar interest.

This comes with the robust government-based funding for technology and entrepreneurship, making rewards and sponsorships readily available to all students who wish to fund their startup businesses.

Students now enjoy lots of grants, like the student-run Protégé Ventures, which offers an extra $10,000 to $20,000 in donations to students who are business oriented with big hopes and ambition.

The NOC also strives to give its students different exposures by setting up international startups for them. This move is a long-term investment strategy aimed at developing the nation’s human capital.

Also read: NUS produces more successful startup founders in Singapore than Harvard and Stanford, study finds

Lots of international startups also take part in this program. Hence the NOC alumni contribute by setting up native startups that tap from the experience and values gained from their time abroad.

Take for example Studypool, a company spearheading the current movement in the tech industry of Singapore. The company actively represents the businesses that offer thousands of Singaporean interns beginners guide to the startup culture of Silicon Valley.

The head of product engineering for Studypool in Singapore, Sritam, teams up with great minds in the likes of Nick, Josh, and Nehemiah to grow this movement through the NOC program.

Students of NUS are now transiting from their traditional roles of web and software engineers to designing better market-oriented and organic growth processes for Studypool.

Other great companies are rising locally to meet the needs of students who seek help for their startup businesses. Most of these companies offer financial compensation, while others train the students in various areas of the startup process. These trainings prepare their minds on how to harness their talents and grow their businesses locally, instead of seeking to travel overseas and join multinational companies on a contract basis.

These developments go a long way to promote local startups and entrepreneurship amongst young and talented students in Asia. Both the government and other locally-based companies are concerned about the rate which multinational companies from across the globe scoop away young talents that are the future of this part of the world.

Creating opportunities that promote startup businesses locally will go a long way in encouraging young and talented students to stay back and build their businesses in their homeland. This paves the way for technological advancements and more business partnerships with other technology centers across the globe, like Silicon Valley.

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