Rice & Chips: Technopreneurship and Innovation In Asia

by Dennis B. Posadas

This book enumerates the unwritten rules of innovation that have worked in Silicon Valley. Using these rules as a benchmark, the author Dennis Posadas, points out the similiarities and differences between Silicon Valley and Asian countries like China, Taiwan, India, Singapore and Korea.

109 pages, paperback

First published May 28, 2007

About the author

Dennis Posadas is the author of Leap: A Sustainability Fable (Singapore: Pearson, 2015), Greenergized (UK: Greenleaf, 2013), Jump Start: A Technopreneurship Fable (Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009) and Rice & Chips: Technopreneurship and Innovation in Asia (Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007).

Dennis's books with Pearson and Greenleaf have been blurbed by Bill McKibben (NYT bestselling environment author), Mary Ellen Egan (Forbes), John Vidal (The Guardian), and Eric Spiegel (CEO, Siemens USA).

He blogs at www.theasianspectator.com. He has also written a few short stories and ebooks for the Kindle platform.

His published credits include Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com, Forbes Asia, The Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, South China Morning Post, YaleGlobal, Dartmouth Business Journal, Singapore Straits Times, Singapore Business Times, Japan Today, UCLA AsiaMedia, UPI, Carbon Trading UK, Jakarta Post, Inquirer.net and other newspapers. He was formerly a technology columnist for the Philippine newspaper BusinessWorld.

Dennis is an engineer by training and has been a technical consultant for a waste to energy company and a low carbon transport company. He has been an international fellow (Asia-based) of the Washington, DC based Climate Institute. He was formerly an Intel Corporation fellow to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Advanced Study Program, and a former Deputy Director of the Philippines Congressional Commission on S&T and Engineering.

He lives with his wife Joy and children in the Philippines.

Reviews

[Sheryl]

My good friend, Melvin, made me realize that to teach is to learn twice. When he offered me a part-time job to teach Technopreneurship in his school, I admit I was a bit hesitant. However, I accepted the offer, and took the challenge. It was indeed my first time to learn and to teach Technopreneurship at the same time. Luckily, my boss/dean/friend, Melvin, advised me to buy Rice & Chips book of Mr. Dennis Posadas so I would be given an overview of what Technopreneurship is all about.

Rice & Chips is the first book of Mr. Posadas, a Filipino author and technology columnist for the BusinessWorld newspaper. His book gave me a clear overview of technopreneurship and the role of innovation. The author believes that Asian countries can develop a Silicon Valley model. He enumerates the 8 unwritten rules that have worked in Silicon Valley in the 1930s.

1. There must be a critical mass of brilliant engineers and scientists, venture capital, key suppliers and other players needed in technology venture formation.
2. There must be a university or research institute that does research and development on par with the rest of the world, and publishes and/or patents its results to gain recognition for its achievements.
3. There must be stories of successful entrepreneurs that are handed down from generation to generation.
4. Culture is an important key to innovation.
5. Geographic proximity is very important.
6. Those living abroad and at home must organize themselves formally to exchange ideas regularly, help mentor startups, and help with policy-making.
7. A good financial and legal framework for startups should be available.
8. Realize that failure is an important learning opportunity.


For someone who wants to learn about Technopreneurship, it would be a good start to read Mr. Posadas' Rice & Chips. Kudos to the author!

[Reggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw this book at the bookstore after my APEC Digital Opportunity Week trip in Taiwan. Through this book, I came to understand more about the techno-parks and incubation centers I've visited in Taiwan. This book makes a good road map for any economy that would like to be an ICT power. However, I just wonder as the author did not touch on this -- can an economy leap-frog to become an ICT power without going through the Industrialization stage?

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

can give you a good overview of the asian countries

[Ej Piñez]

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