NewExploit Technologies CEO Philip Lim speaks about his management style as wellas new directions that the organisation needs to take.
When he first arrived at Exploit Technologies late last year, Philip Lim was surprised at the number of Masters and PhD holders he would rub shoulders with everyday at the office.
"I had just done my MBA (in 2008), yet when I came here, I found that every other person here had a Masters and higher degree," quips the new Exploit Technologies CEO, when asked about his first impressions of the organisation.
The brain power concentrated within his Biopolis office in Singapore is something he is proud of, and he emphasises: "Our folks are not just strong technically but commercially as well."
Now, the head of an organisation that helps market A*Star's 800 to 1,000 patents ranging from infocomm to bio-science wants to build a team that works even more closely, so as to get more good technologies out of the lab and into the marketplace.
Asked how he would do things differently, the 47-year-old refers to his experience as a soldier in the Singapore Armed Forces.
"What do you think makes the country's armed forces strong," he asks rhetorically, quickly following up with the answer: "It's the system...the teamwork."
"On an one-to-one basis, our soldiers are not faster or bigger,but assembled together, as a system, we can be superior," he says.
The former brigadier-general spent 20 years with Singapore's Ministry of Defence, before making the leap to private enterprise by joining Singapore Food Industries in 2007 as its general manager for food distribution.
He came into Exploit Technologies as general manager in August 2009,before becoming CEO in December 2009.
"My game is to get the system to work better," says the new head honcho of an organisation that has helped turn countless great ideas into commercially viable products in the past six years.
This means making sure that the different segments, say, infocomm or manufacturing technology, are aligned together to produce technologies that can go to market faster, and at the right time.
Running a company that is already well on its feet thanks to founding chairman Boon Swan Foo, Philip says he intends to run Exploit Technologies with a reward and incentive scheme in mind.
For potential investors, this means providing value, in the form of more linkups with local startups that have groundbreaking technology.
For startups that rely on Exploit to help "marketise" their products, Philip says a key task would be getting a technology proven as something that can be manufactured en masse and accepted by customers.
On creating value, the football fan draws on the example of Manchester United - even though he is a Liverpool fan.
Star player Cristiano Ronaldo, he points out, joined The Red Devils for under ₤20 million when he was still a budding teenager but was later sold by the club for a massive ₤80 million last year.
Philip says he is aware of the challenges ahead. The biggest markets are in India and China, he notes, and a lot of the investment dollars for innovation are still rooted in Silicon Valley.
But he is confident that "forward-looking" innovators and investors will see value in Singapore.Beyond the well-quoted pluses like a stable government and being at the crossroads of East and West, the Republic is blessed with a can-do attitude, he says.
"There is a will to want to make things work, there is a consensus- a give-and-take - to make things work here," he adds. "Singapore has that attitude about teamwork and the willingness to contribute."
(In Part II of the CEO interview, Philip speaks about areas that Exploit will focus on)
