4 ms·

Building an engineering team in Singapore

15 points by ValentineC 11y ago

outside1234 11y ago
The only thing Singapore has in common with India, Indonesia and the Philippines is that it is relatively close to them. Why not do the development in India or the Philippines? Both of them have decent to great workforces.
- infecto 11y ago
  Genuine question. I have found it hard to work with and manage teams in India and Nepal. There is an ingrained idea that your boss is always correct and have found it hard to create teams that openly discuss ideas and are willing to reject thoughts and propose their own. It was a workforce of yes men/women. Has this changed or are their ways to overcome this?
- CyberDildonics 11y ago
  It is very likely the Singaporean government is enticing them to be there.
  - mikeyouse 11y ago
    Singapore is also a tax-avoidance jurisdiction which is coming under increased scrutiny from the G20 countries. Setting up 'actual' operations there rather than a pass-through tax office can give credibility to the revenue and profit transfers. It's a very sensitive issue in Australia at the moment; http://www.afr.com/technology/technology-companies/google/yes-google-does-pay-tax-on-2-billion-ad-revenue-5-million-in-singapore-20150413-1mjymy http://www.afr.com/technology/technology-companies/google/ye...
- dharma1 11y ago
  Singapore is the de facto base to South East Asia. It's also a great place to do business, a clear legal framework and tax regime, very multi cultural, has a government that understands and supports technology and is a great place to live and work for talent from everywhere in the world.
  - eric-hu 11y ago
    I can't emphasize the legal framework enough. I'm currently in Thailand and the laws here are like sewage cologne for startups. One Thai investor perceives China and India as poor markets to enter. They're big enough to stand on their own. Don't bother making software for that market, they have enough minds and startups there. (His perspective) The Philippines is less developed than Thailand. I talked to a startup there and learned that something like 90% of their citizens don't have bank accounts. They send money across the country via cash deposits at 7-eleven. The story I'm told is that Thailand is up and coming after Singapore for startups, since Singapore is so expensive. Having been here for a while, I have my doubts, but I'm still observing.

15 points by ValentineC 11y ago

The only thing Singapore has in common with India, Indonesia and the Philippines is that it is relatively close to them. Why not do the development in India or the Philippines? Both of them have decent to great workforces.

infecto 11y ago
Genuine question. I have found it hard to work with and manage teams in India and Nepal. There is an ingrained idea that your boss is always correct and have found it hard to create teams that openly discuss ideas and are willing to reject thoughts and propose their own. It was a workforce of yes men/women. Has this changed or are their ways to overcome this?
CyberDildonics 11y ago
It is very likely the Singaporean government is enticing them to be there.
- mikeyouse 11y ago
  Singapore is also a tax-avoidance jurisdiction which is coming under increased scrutiny from the G20 countries. Setting up 'actual' operations there rather than a pass-through tax office can give credibility to the revenue and profit transfers. It's a very sensitive issue in Australia at the moment; http://www.afr.com/technology/technology-companies/google/yes-google-does-pay-tax-on-2-billion-ad-revenue-5-million-in-singapore-20150413-1mjymy http://www.afr.com/technology/technology-companies/google/ye...
dharma1 11y ago
Singapore is the de facto base to South East Asia. It's also a great place to do business, a clear legal framework and tax regime, very multi cultural, has a government that understands and supports technology and is a great place to live and work for talent from everywhere in the world.
- eric-hu 11y ago
  I can't emphasize the legal framework enough. I'm currently in Thailand and the laws here are like sewage cologne for startups. One Thai investor perceives China and India as poor markets to enter. They're big enough to stand on their own. Don't bother making software for that market, they have enough minds and startups there. (His perspective) The Philippines is less developed than Thailand. I talked to a startup there and learned that something like 90% of their citizens don't have bank accounts. They send money across the country via cash deposits at 7-eleven. The story I'm told is that Thailand is up and coming after Singapore for startups, since Singapore is so expensive. Having been here for a while, I have my doubts, but I'm still observing.