Mr. Shangkong | Can Hong Kong be a dream city for start-ups to scale up?
Low taxes and a strong rule of law provide the perfect environment for new businesses to grow
The answer is mixed, depending on whether you view Hong Kong as just a local market or a gateway to the global market.
For the past few years, many venture-capital fund friends have complained that they cannot find good companies to invest in.
Hong Kong is already the regional home of many of the world's largest venture-capital firms, but ironically dealmakers from those firms rarely want to spend their time in the city for work. Instead, they travel around the mainland looking for what they hope will become the next Alibaba.
Many venture-capital professionals do not see Hong Kong start-ups having the potential to grow their business to a market size that would be big enough to generate a decent profit.
If you just want to open a coffee shop to fulfil your personal dream in your 30s or 40s, that is not technically a start-up. A start-up must be innovative in some way.
If you want to launch a new smartphone app, then from day one you need to ask yourself who your target users will be. Is it just for the local market or does it have the potential to reach every corner of the world? Whether you can successfully scale up your business will depend on whether you can attract some venture-capitalist friends.