The government of Taiwan's Yunlin County will operate EZ10, a Level 4 autonomous-driving electric shuttle bus produced by France-based Ligier, for public transportation in a green energy park under development and other sight-seeing spots in coastal and downtown areas.EZ10 underwent road trial run in Taipei in August and in Kaohsiung in October 2017. EZ10 has six seats, plus room for another six standing passengers. At full power charging, EZ10 can run for 10 hours at an average speed of 20-25km/hour.The development of the green energy park is a project modifying an existing industrial park occupying land area of 1,176 hectares. The green energy park is planned to house PV power stations totaling 800MWp, with establishment scheduled for 2019.EZ10 in the front yard of a famous temple in YunlinPhoto: 7StarLake

Co-founder of Acorn Campus Ventures Bob Lin started six businesses, three of which succeeded and the others failed. In addition to being an angel investor, Lin is also the author of top-selling books. Lin has been through it all, from making a fortune to losing every penny. He put his thoughts and wisdom gained from four decades of experiences in his books in hopes of helping more people. Lin declined the title of a venture capital guru in modesty, stating that he continues to make investments and keeps writing about the industry he observes closely.Lin is also the founder of Multidimensional Angel Group and co-founder of Healthilink China.Finding a direction for TaiwanAs he often gives advice to Taiwan's National Science Council and Miinistry of Science and Technology in regard to the country's innovative startup development, Lin suggests three major directions for Taiwan to develop its own unique startup scene.Stand on the shoulders of giants and make continuing improvementsIn the past decade, many Taiwan startups have been focusing on developing peripheral products for the semiconductor and display panel industries, for example, improving clean rooms, masks or production equipment. With the growth of industry giants, many medium businesses got to go public. Such a development model can still carry on but it should be noted that many industry giants have reached maturity and their growth is slowing down, which has resulted in a decreasing number of startups in related fields.Duplicate US and European startup scenes in TaiwanSimilar to China, many Taiwan startups try to copy how US and European firms operate. For instance, after America's largest online restaurant reservation service company OpenTable was launched, quite a few similar services began to emerge in Taiwan. It is not a big problem to duplicate other people's success model in China because of its massive market size. However, for a Taiwan startup, even if it makes No. 1, future growth may be limited. Talent, technology, capital and market are the four elements to startup success. Lin thinks for Taiwan startups to survive, they have to make major breakthroughs with respect to the four elements. It's not a problem to copy other people's success model. However, startups must have a close understanding of market needs to be able to thrive.Leverage Taiwan's unique advantages to develop new business or expand existing businessTaiwan has abundant natural resources and has made great achievements in agriculture, fishery and aquaculture. Some sectors have even made themselves well known around the world with no help from the government, such as pineapple pastry. Other sectors with differentiating features include cultural and creative industries, tourism, healthcare and biotechnology. Among them, developments with respect to healthcare can include food safety further to pharmaceutical and medical equipment segments.Lin is prepared to invest in a Taiwan startup team which combines a special local delicacy with another Taiwan strength - automated production equipment made with precision machinery technology. Such a venture has the potential to change consumer habits and therefore is a real innovation.Investing in four major sectorsHaving successfully fostered 30 startups, Lin still gets in touch with about a dozen startup teams and invests in three or four of them every year. He mainly invests in four major sectors.Healthcare sectorOptimistic about the healthcare sector over 10 years ago, Lin funded Winning Health Technology Group, China's largest hospital management software provider, in 2006 and has enjoyed the company's rising share price ever since. He also started Healthlink Services with a Chinese team in 2008, providing emergency medical services and DNA testing. Healthlink Services serves as a third-party platform matching patients, insurance companies and hospitals. It provides members emergency medical transport and emergency medical instructions over the phone. Healthlink currently has 30 million registered members in China. All their medical information from the time they enter a hospital to the time they are discharged is put on record, which also serves as the basis for Healthlink to further pitch its health examination services including genetic analysis. There is also E-call service directed at medical assistance for car accidents. Furthermore, Lin has also recently made investment in gene therapy, which is a hot and trendy topic nowadays.Automotive industryLin had a stake in electric vehicle battery supplier Farasis 10 years ago and has served on the board of directors for eight years. Co-founded by American and Chinese entrepreneurs, Farasis holds very specialized technologies. Its automotive battery shipments ranked No. 1 for six months out of the past 12. It has also received funding from China's largest automaker. Jingchi, a Chinese autonomous driving startup, is another company Lin has poured capital in. Jingchi was established by a former Baidu employee in charge of Baidu's autonomous driving research.Data-related businessFour years ago, Lin provided capital to Paxata, specializing in big data analytics tools. In the business world, raw data has to undergo a complex compilation and redundancy deletion process before enterprises can do any analysis. In view of this, Paxata provides tools for business analysts to quickly turn raw data into useful information and begin model building. Paxata has also received investments from Microsoft, Intel and Cisco. Another startup Lin has invested in is R2.ai, which helps enterprises create data models using artificial intelligence (AI). Data scientists often spend a large amount of time trying different data models in order to find the best one. With R2.ai's tool, it only takes half a day to find the best model, significantly improving data modeling efficiency.FintechLin began investing in Fintech years ago, for example, in BaseVenture, headquartered in San Francisco. BaseVenture mainly helps fund administrators and fund managers in the alternative investment industry simply and automate how private funds are managed. It provides a platform for administrators, managers, clients and investors to work together and securely exchange documents.Often invited to deliver speeches or provide consultation, Lin put emphasis on the four elements to corporate success - talent, technology, capital and market, wherein market and talent matter the most. Lin drew an analogy between operating a business and building a house. Before you build a house, you have to find a good piece of land, which is like the market to a business. The market has to be large and rapidly growing. A company will not succeed in a market with problems. Talent is like the foundation of a house. With a good startup team, even if you select a wrong topic, you can always make adjustments and still have a shot at success. On the other hand, if you work with wrong talent or your team cannot work together, after your startup burns through all the cash, the game is over.When you have all four elements, you will have differentiation. There must be at least one element that makes you stand out from the competition. That is, you have to build up an entry barrier. For example, have your intellectual property protected or else it will soon be copied or stolen. There are many ways to start your own business. Opening a breakfast place or restaurant so that you are your own boss is one choice. However, engaging in an innovative startup that can fundamentally change the way people live will positively impact the world.(Editor's note: This is part of a series of interviews focusing on the problems and opportunities that Taiwan-based startups face. The interviewees are venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley and Taiwan.)Bob Lin, co-founder of Acorn CampusPhoto: Bob Lin

Six startup teams received awards at IDEAS (Innovative DigiTech-Enabled Applications & Services) Show 2018 held by Taiwan's government-sponsored Institute for Information Industry (III) in cooperation with APEC on July 24, according to III.IDEAS is an annual event for startups around the world to present their innovations in areas including e-commerce, AI (artificial intelligence), big data and VR (virtual reality)/AR (augmented reality). There were 36 startup teams from Taiwan, Vietnam, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Papua New Guinea attending the event.The six award winners were Dipp, Uspace and Olis Innovation from Taiwan, Toss Lab and Luxrobo from South Korea, EzQ Company from Vietnam, III said.Dipp offers a smart platform for automatic production of printed advertising; Uspace integrates smart parking space locks with IoT gateway systems using smartphone app for public parking space sharing; and Olis integrates many convenient tools to hike efficiency in customer management and re-marketing.Toss Lab offers an instant communication platform to facilitate office communication; Luxrobo runs a platform for teaching IoT programming languages; and EzQ offers a retail platform to enable fast trading among online shopping operators, logistics service provider and consumers.Vice economics minister Wang Mei-hua, in her speech delivered at IDEAS Show 2018, indicated that Taiwan's law was amended in early July 2018 to remove fund-raising barriers facing startup businesses.Six startup teams win awards at IDEAS Show 2018Photo: III

As many as 50 startup teams have demonstrated their latest innovations at an annual conference, dubbed TEC #2 Demo Day, hosted on July 24 by Taidah Entrepreneurship Center (TEC) of National Taiwan University (NTU), with some of their innovations even winning iF and Reddot awards.The startup teams, all developed with assistance of the NTU Accelerator and NTU Garage Incubator - two major units of the TEC - displayed their R&D achievements in four major areas including FinTech, smart IoT, health and medication, and cultural and creative living.Members of the startup teams include some former presidents at foreign banks in Taiwan, and attending physicians at hospitals, all performing well in their specific professional fields.Among the teams is FLIPWEB, a virtualized property trading platform, which has recently won the 2018 Young Award from Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau and obtained Taiwan's first digital asset brokerage patent.In the area of web applications, StyleMap has set up an alliance with over 4,800 hair stylists to roll out a smart online hair-style book for consumers to grasp the latest fashion styles. Meanwhile, startup 3drens has also had its wearable wireless communication device Sherpa patented for working well in helping mountaineers smoothly go through adventures.Additionally, the GOGO Furniture designed by a startup from central Taiwan, showcased nine-piece K/D furniture that can be taken apart and reassembled, thus saving space and able to be easily transported. The furniture design won both iF and Reddot design awards in 2017.Since its inception five years ago, TEC has had a total of over 150 corporate mentors, and it has lately invited five more enterprises as new mentors, namely Diamond BioFund, Fubon Financial Holdings, Advantech, Kuobrothers and the United Daily News Group.

Taiwan biking software platform Velodash app has been selected by Singapore to record the country's RIBA (Round Island Bike Adventure) activity to be held on August 5, the city state's national day, and organizers of the event will grant gold, silver and bronze awards to cyclists completing the adventure based on the app records.Voldash CEO Molly Huang said that the app can not only serve as a biking recorder, but also help plan cycling routes, schedule group rides, and make riding appointments, with global cyclists also able to do exchanges on the app.Huang said that Velodash app has incorporated thousands of cycling routes in Taiwan, Japan, the US and Singapore. Since its launch in May 2018, the app has attracted 8,000 users, including 5,000 in Taiwan.Huang said Velodash app was recommended by France telecom firm Orange Fab to RIBA organizers after her company attended a 2018 Taipei International Bicycle Show promotion held in June in Singapore by Taiwan External Trade Development Council.Velodash biking appPhoto: Company

7-Eleven has opened its second unstaffed X-Store in Taipei, relying on AI (artificial intelligence) and IoT (Internet of Things) technologies to serve customers.Customers are identified through either using an electronic wallet card or facial recognition via a biometric system equipped with NeoFace, an AI engine developed by Japan-based NEC. Upon identification, personalized words is displayed by a screen and spoken by a smart robot to welcome the customer.A POS (point of sale/service) system integrated with image recognition technology can recognize merchandise items purchased by a customer for calculating total price. Prices of merchandise items, displayed on electronic tags on the shelves, can be remotely updated.President Chain Store, which runs the 7-Eleven chain in Taiwan, opend its first unstaffed store in January 2018 at its headquarters initially for use only by its employees. The second store in Taipei is open to the general public around the clock.7-Eelven's unstaffed X-Store in TaipeiPhoto: President Chain Store

As a leading player in IIoT (industrial IoT), Taiwan-based Blutech has established the world's first commercialized IIoT service platform and is applying its LoRa LPWAN system to work out a smart aquaculture monitoring solution to help fishing farmers boost fish survival rates, according to the firm's CEO WF Chen.Chen said his company has helped farmers set up the first smart fishing farm in southern Taiwan with a space of up to 13 hectares, with its LoRa LPWAN (low power wide area network) system, which shows a 99.9% accuracy in data transmission following months of non-stop trial operation, significantly helping aquaculture operators reduce unnecessary losses.Chen continued that the system allows users to monitor data of fishing farms via smartphones, saving significantly on management manpower and power consumption, and reducing waterwheel malfunction rate. Of course, he stressed, big data analysis is also needed to provide smart analysis to better improve aquaculture operations.Fishing farmers usually have little knowledge about when and what fishes to raise because of the lack of data concerning weather, bacteria, and power supply interruption. As monitoring requirements vary with different fishes for farming, monitoring methods must be constantly adjusted in accordance with the requirements and all the data concerning water, power, air, temperature and vibration must be monitored, according to Chen.Chen indicated that besides fish farming, horticulture and livestock farming sectors all require the support of IoT, big data analysis and AI to boost production efficiency, adding that AIoT is also a crucial application sector deserving great development efforts.Statistics show that global smart aquaculture market scale reached US$500 million in 2016, and is expected to experience a CAGR of 160% in the coming years to reach US$1.2 billion by 2022. Over 40% of fishery products consumed by human beings are sourced from aquaculture farms.

China-based Xiaomi launched its latest smartphones including the flagship Hongmi Note 5, in Seoul, South Korea, priced KRW200,000-300,000 (US$190-285), in cooperation with local telecom carriers SK Telecom and Korea Telecom. Their competitive pricing of less than US$300, far below Korea-based vendors' smartphone ASP of over US$500 in 2017, has quickly caught much attention in the Korea market.Xiaomi's operating profits have always been below 5%, but the slim-profit strategy is also the China-based smartphone vendor's strongest weapon in its foray into new territories. Xiaomi has already outraced Samsung Electronics in India's smartphone market and is now looking to challenge the Korea giant on its home turf.Currently, Samsung is the largest smartphone vendor in South Korea with a 55% share, followed by Apple at 28.3% and LG Electronics at 15.7%. The three handset vendors together already account for 99% of the market, leaving almost no room for any other players.To nudge its way through the barriers, Xiaomi has introduced Hongmi Note 5, featuring a 5.99-inch screen, 12-megapixel back-end and 5-megapixel front-end cameras, and artificial intelligence (AI) support, priced at KRW299,000; it has been a star in Xiaomi's winning lineup for the race in India. Although Xiaomi has not revealed the number of its smartphone pre-orders from South Korea, sources from local channels have reported positive feedbacks from consumers.Xiaomi is also said to be considering establishing its own retail store in South Korea.China-based brand vendors have often embraced a strategy of growing market share first before turning their focus to profitability - a strategy that major Korea business groups used to rely on in the past. These large businesses now face a strong challenge in defending their home market without the weapon that they have already given up. It should not surprise anyone if China-based vendors gains the upper hand in the smartphone competition in South Korea.

In a media career spanning nearly three decades, Tally Liu served as senior vice president of Knight Ridder, in charge of finances, operations, internal audit and new technologies at the second-largest newspaper company in the United States. Liu took part in Knight Ridder's investment deals and gained extensive experience in Internet business investments. Liu, now an angel investor, is a certified public accountant (CPA). He was also chairman and CEO at Newegg, a well-known online retailer of computer hardware and consumer electronics, giving him plenty of e-commerce know-how.Six things to do before starting a businessTo people looking to start a high-tech venture, Liu advises from the perspective of business operation that technology is only one of the ingredients to startup success. There are many other things to take care of. According to Liu, 50% of startups invested by venture capital funds don't last beyond five years and only 10% get to IPO. Many startups fail because their business models don't work or they lack administrative support or customer service systems. In view of this, Liu draws from his past experience and offers six pointers to those who are set to embark on an entrepreneur career.1. Not just the technology, you should also get to know the business side of operating a company even if you are running a high-tech startup.2. Know your competitors well. Your competitors will keep launching new business models and new strategies and you will have to do the same. Especially with innovative e-commerce models emerging rapidly, it's imperative that you always stay on top of the latest development.3. Know your customers well. Customer preferences change, especially when your competitor's strategy changes. Take the automobile market for example. Lexus reshaped customer service for the automotive industry after it entered the American market: 24-hour service was no longer just for VIP customers. Its rivals had no choice but to follow suit. Kia Motors also led the industry to offer 10-year 100,000 mile warranty. Furthermore, consumer preferences are diverging, said Liu. Either shopping centers featuring bargain deals or specialty stores targeting high-end consumers are packed with customers. Other businesses with no differentiating features are going nowhere fast.4. You need a great leader. A great leader is an all-rounder. There may be only 3,000 to 4,000 individuals that are CEO material in the US. More importantly, a great leader must be able to create vision. For example, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is a CEO capable of leading disruptive innovation.Liu also pointed out that every business has to do strategy planning. From an outsider's point of view, ask your management team what is being innovated and where the competitors are. When the current business model cannot carry you forward, you need to figure out a new direction.5. You need a team. If you look to start a high-tech business, you especially need a management team. It's unlikely that one person can have all the expertise in management, human resources, finances and production. You need in-house professionals to head each of these important departments, rather than passing the responsibilities to some third-party companies. Moreover, hire professional executives to oversee your company's operation and show respect for their professionalism. Do not put family members at key positions. The best example of a failed family-operated business would be Wang Laboratories.6. Follow laws and regulations, especially in the US. Learn from ZTE's case. As American government rules and regulations are constantly changing, it's critical for Taiwan businesses to have specialists keeping an eye on these changes. There has been news about companies being busted for tax evasion and getting delisted after IPO.An entrepreneur must have worldview, financial knowledge and English proficiencyLeading six SVT Angel startup teams, Liu thinks although many young entrepreneurs in Taiwan have PhD degrees, their education did not provide them practical work experience and they need to further strengthen their capabilities to be able to compete at the global level.He suggests that entrepreneurs develop a worldview. Take the TradingValley team Liu is counselling for example. TradingValley develops an online trading platform so Liu advised them to become a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) in the United States, with which they can provide services around the world.Furthermore, entrepreneurs should familiarize themselves with basic financial knowledge with respect to IPO so that they can communicate with venture capitalists without problems when they make a pitch to get funding. Also, they need to work on their English proficiency. If a CEO has trouble getting his point across, he won't be able to get people to invest in his business venture. All three entrepreneur qualities are essential to startup success. You may not be able to triumph even if you have all three but you'll definitely flounder if you lack any one of them.With the Taiwan government actively driving a burgeoning startup scene, Liu thinks Taiwan-based firms still enjoy great advantages as suppliers to leading American brands, for example, making components for iPhone or batteries for Tesla. In terms of OEM opportunities, although India has grabbed most of the software outsourcing work, there are other outsourcing opportunities such as product R&D and customer service for Taiwan. Last but not least, Taiwan-based businesses should try to capture Internet opportunities as e-commerce remains an area where players compete for market dominance and it's not bound by borders.A high-tech startup team has to realize that failure is inevitable regardless of the field of choice. Liu spoke frankly that almost all high-tech teams failed at one time or another. Full-blown success will unlikely come without at least 15 years of hard work. Experienced mentors help you learn the ropes faster but this can only work on the basis of mutual trust.(Editor's note: This is part of a series of interviews focusing on the problems and opportunities that Taiwan-based startups face. The interviewees are venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley and Taiwan.)Tally Liu, former senior vice president at Knight Ridder and currently an angel investorPhoto: Joseph Tsai, Digitimes, May 2018

Sandy Chau, co-founder of Acorn Campus Ventures as well as an active real estate investor, engages in investment undertakings throughout the United States and Greater China. His success in startup investment and business operation can be attributed to what he experienced as he was growing up. Born in Shanghai, Chau received primary and secondary education in Hong Kong and Vietnam as he travelled back and forth between the two places. In Vietnam, he witnessed social unrest including the Vietnam War, political coup and student strikes, while in Hong Kong he saw the social stratification and inequality between Chinese citizens and the British ruling class. He learned how to quickly adapt to new environments and figured out how to survive and thrive. Such characteristics helped him reach success.Eight golden lessons from Chau to entrepreneurs In the 20 to 30 years of time from his childhood to adulthood when Chau first began his business, he frequently had to transfer schools and move to new cities. He transferred schools six times and lived in seven different places, staying an average of four years in each of them. Having to constantly adapt to new environments, Chau has learned that past experiences may not always apply to new situations and he must be able to look at things from new perspectives. This works for venture capital investments as well. Drawing from his years of hands-on experience and realization, he offers some suggestions to people who look to start a business.Success is the mother of failureAn ancient Chinese proverb says, "Failure is the mother of success." Having experienced small failures helps people cope with major defeat. However, to business starters, success is the mother of failure, Chau believes. When people who have had everything going their way face a new situation and have problem carrying on with their success, it's because they are limited by their old success models. Chau thinks it is like learning to play ping pong - breaking old habits is more difficult than starting anew. In other words, the biggest challenge in high-tech venture is not whether one is able to analyze the issue but whether one can think outside the box and learn to look at things from new perspectives.Be open-minded and keep learningPeople in the high-tech business have to keep learning and always stay on top of the trend, especially as business models are constantly evolving. If you think you are successful and become full of yourself, you will probably stop learning and fall out of reach. A young entrepreneur who Chau once counseled became CEO at the age of 30. After receiving investments from large venture capital funds and private equity funds, the entrepreneur followed their advice to acquire other firms. Then, he grew arrogant and thought he knew everything. Eventually, he stopped learning and his business also stopped moving forward.It's more important to stay flexible than to stick with the original startup planA business plan is only good on the day it is written because afterwards, the market is changing every day. As such, it is imperative to stay flexible than to stick with the original business plan.Leverage technology to manage your businessA high-tech business needs competent R&D professionals but the efficiency and quality of the management team is also critical to a company's success, particularly their ability to use high-tech advances to manage business operations.Reach deep into the marketLook deep into market factors in the planning stage of your business. Without first knowing where your market is, even if you have the best technology in the world, you have no one to sell it to.Engage in teamworkNo one can do it all alone. You need professionals of multiple disciplines to build a dream team. A business founder should be open-minded and search for talent that can complement the team. The founder is usually a creative person that can come up with new ideas but corporate management requires people with control and managerial capabilities. As such, the founder should be able to recruit talented professionals and adjust or enhance the original business plan.Finish what you start and see what you are capable of achievingIt generally takes 12 years from the time a high-tech startup develops a product prototype to the time it goes public. Many people try to sell their companies in the fifth year just to make their investors happy. The decision is made merely for investment returns. Their startups have no chance to develop into full maturity and they have no chance to unleash their personal potential. Therefore, as a startup grows from one stage to the next, the founder has to think carefully how to proceed. With investments pouring in, there will be pressure on how the company should operate, which may be for the sake of investment returns, rather than for the good of the firm.Step out of your comfort zone and take on a challengeYou will have a shot at success if you are bold enough to be different and travel a new path. Have the courage to try and innovate. Step out of your comfort zone so that you don't limit yourself. When an entrepreneur originally working at IBM's German subsidiary started his own business, his plan B was to drive a taxi for a living in case he failed. As it's important to have some stability in life, with a contingency plan in place, he was able to get his wife's support and went ahead with his venture.Chau came to Taiwan to invest in real estate in 1986-1987, so he is no stranger to Taiwan. Chau pointed out a group of daring young people created Taiwan's high-tech business in the 80s but most young people today stay in their comfort zone. They are not willing to venture out to explore opportunities or study abroad. They may dream big but do not follow up with actions. They talk like a wolf but act like a sheep. He asks those who with the drive to start a business not to be deterred by failures. If you stumble and fall but you get up and stand tall, you'll earn more respect."Many people are afraid of making a mistake so they hesitate to make a decision. That is a bigger mistake," said Chau.(Editor's note: This is part of a series of interviews focusing on the problems and opportunities that Taiwan-based startups face. The interviewees are venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley and Taiwan.)Sandy Chau, co-founder of Acorn Campus VenturesPhoto: Joseph Tsai, Digitimes, May 2018