Arrival

It’s about 11:55 am on September 18, 2023, and I have just landed at San Francisco International Airport. As I glanced out of the window, I noticed a Singapore Airlines plane taking off. Being away from home for 9 months (because of NOC), the sight of the plane triggered memories of home, and I found myself yearning to be on an SQ flight heading back.

Landed in SFO

Returning to reality, I will be attending the TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 Conference, which runs from September 19 to 21. Prior to this event, I was engrossed in watching a TV series called Silicon Valley, and it somewhat shaped certain expectations in my mind.

 

“Parodying the culture of the technology industry in Silicon Valley, the series focuses on Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch), a programmer who founds a startup company called Pied Piper, and chronicles his struggles to maintain his company while facing competition from larger entities.”  – Wikipedia

 

I am eager to explore the innovative startup concepts that people are currently developing and to participate in the prestigious TC Startup Battlefield. For more information on what the Startup Battlefield involves, please refer to the details below.

 

“TechCrunch Startup Battlefield is the world’s preeminent startup competition held at TechCrunch Disrupt. For over 15 years, TechCrunch has featured the top startup talent from around the world, across any industry in tech.” 

Event Day

Registration

Look at the crowd!

It’s the day of the event, and I observe the crowd, noticing people in blazers and business suits. As a student attending a major tech conference, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat out of place. Nevertheless, I am excited to be a part of this community, to network, and to absorb new ideas. I hope to be inspired and to add depth to my journey. Perhaps, one day, I will become a successful tech entrepreneur.

 

3 things that stood out to me

1. Nuvilab – Dataware for Food Services

 

Out of all the startups in the showcase exhibition hall, Nuvilab stood out as my favorite. I believe it has a significant impact on the world.

Here is a short description of what they do from Crunchbase.

 

Nuvilab leads the digital transition of Food Industry to sustain the environment and improve personal well-being. With its instant food recognition technology, Nuvilab AI Food Scanner can accurately analyze the food type and volume without any hassle. By utilizing Big Data, food related information including leftover food details, user preferences, optimized menu recommendations, nutritional benefits can be integrated to provide personalized nutritional report and guidelines for healthy dietary habits.

 

Upon talking to the business lead to understand more about the product, I learned that they are using AI to scan and analyze food, utilizing the collected data to optimize how food is served and produced. Additionally, it was fascinating to discover that they are collaborating with MINDEF to explore a pilot aimed at reducing food waste. This is a real issue, as I observed firsthand the significant amount of food being discarded after each meal, filling up the bins. Overall, to me, this represents a responsible use of AI, particularly in the context of the current AI boom, the ongoing arms race, and the questions surrounding ethical AI use.

 

2. Shaquille O’Neal

Additionally, as a basketball fan, it was truly exciting and fascinating to witness Shaq sharing his entrepreneurial journey and philosophy. During this talk, he emphasized his investment in edtech and startups with the potential to ‘change people’s lives.’

Throughout his speech, he delved into how he ventured into investing and admitted to struggling with money management initially. For instance, when he received his first paycheck, he made the decision to buy cars for himself and his family, displaying poor financial practices. Nevertheless, it is inspiring to witness his current success, and it serves as motivation for me to strive for similar success in the future.

 

My favourite quote from Shaq:

“I went to a conference in ‘97 or ‘98 and I heard a beautiful bald-headed man by the name of Jeff Bezos say if you invest in things, it’s going to change people’s lives,” O’Neal said.” 

 

You can find the talk here too!

3. Startup Battlefield

Finally, the main course – Startup Battlefield, a pitch competition.

2 startups stood out to me:

1. BioticsAI – improve prenatal ultrasound scans with AI
BioticsAI is a startup that has built an AI-based platform that plugs into an ultrasound machine to prevent fetal malformation misdiagnosis. When I saw the pitch and product demo, I was amazed at what AI can do in the medical field. And listening to the judges question them – opened my eyes to how VCs would tackle and ask hard questions. For example, they asked if they are building hardware or if it’s software that aims to integrate into existing systems. Read more here.

 

2. Argi-Tark – helping farms replace pen and paper with digital tools to track labour and production
A software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform designed to help farms digitise, track and analyse their labour and production.

The founding team made a point where – “Agri-Trak differs from other agricultural SaaS solutions because it was built by a farmer who is aware of the challenges that farmers face and how difficult it is for them to turn profits without accurate data to make informed decisions.”

This further reinforces my belief that background truly matters, and if you want to build a product, you should pick a domain where you have expertise. It will only make it more credible. As such – this inspired me to think of my next venture – perhaps something related to what I been working on during my internship at Mavennet / Stablecorp.

 

Networking

Finally, I concluded my trip to San Francisco by meeting with the NOC SV Programme Manager and other NOC SV students. It was a gratifying experience to connect with like-minded individuals, engaging in discussions about exciting potential startup ideas. Truly thankful for this experience!

Dinner with NOC SV Programme Manager

Meeting NOC SV People