BarCamp Hong Kong. I was there…Yay…

I did not do any presentation but I did engage in some of the conversation about legality issue and pushing the boundary as an internet startup.

My first time putting my picture up.

With Rebecca Mackinnon. I look like a jailbird. Now..u know why I don’t put up my pix.

Met Leon Ho (voted top 25 Young Entrepreneur in BusinessWeek). He make me feel obsolete in the internet industry.

Henry Oh brought up an issue about legality issue about certain pornographic mobile contents might accessed by a minor and the content provider might be legally liable in certain countries even though the content might not be from his company.

I agreed we should be aware on the legality aspect of pornographic content but as an INTERNET start-up. One should pursue on launching the product and worry about the legality issue later. Internet technology or idea don’t last long in the internet space. You could claimed you are the first that create this technology but without money and marketing superiority. This so-called ‘First’ don’t meaning anything.

My point is to get the product on the market first. There ample example on companies that get the products out to the market first ( RIM – Blackberry – sued for infringement and later settled, Microsoft – should say more, Vonage - almost shutdown when the other side seek an injunction to stop them from acquiring new customer and YouTube.com – CBS launch a 50million suit.)

The next thing after attending Barcamp was some Déjà vu language that I have heard in 2002 and 2003 in K.L. First, the language of ‘Globally Centric’. In the case of HK, ‘China Centric’. In KL, the saying at that time was, if your internet company does not catered to the world audience, the VC will not pump money into your company. Coming forward to 2007 HK, the saying is if your company does not cater to China audience, no VC will pump money into your company.

In 2002, I thought this is a valid argument but in 2007, it’s a fallacy. This is a bunch crap shit that I have ever heard. One of the case in point is AirAsia.com, a malaysian home grown budget airline. When they started in 2001, with only 2 planes and $2 million ringgit in working capital and a web-only ordering system, the odd were against them. At time, they operate on domestic route only and in 2001 the broadband penetration is about 5% or less and most users still using dial-up.

But the consumers bought tons of ticket via the internet. Why? The product. They offered the lowest price in town and the only way to get them is via the net. If the consumer/s don’t have internet connection, they will find one. And AirAsia.com is the success story today.

What does it has to to with the internet and population(or so called critical mass)? If you have a compelling product/s that the consumers wants and need. Your potential customers will find ways to buy it from you. So..the language of ‘China Centric’ and ‘World Centric’ is full of shit to me. Its a language created by VC to say ‘NO’.

Another similarity is VC money is scarce in HK, which is the same language that appeared in KL during year 2002. In 2007 HK, same story. The technology has advanced but the VC money is still the same story.

So..damn Déjà vu…man

Now…after all the HOO HAH about BarCamp, what is next? Barcamp is good to network and learn some insight on technical aspect of programming, on how to scale your web-server, printing technology and etc. I do sincerely take my hat off to the organizers of Barcamp (you know who u r, so I won’t name names…too lazy to write) and the sponsors ( I like my Barcamp T-shirt and the Pret-A-Manager sandwich). So much hard work has been put into it.

Finally, I don’t know if any media coverage for this BarCamp Hong Kong. I realized without coverage from mainstream media house, BarCamp will not expand itself and the next session will be attended by the same bunch of people. That is my thought….

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