MAY 2018 FORBES ASIA | 19Prepare to be wowed when you enter Spectrum on the fifth
floor of Singapore’s Duo Tower. Apart from cutting-edge tech-
nology, this enormous space—28,000 square feet—is loaded
with sleek design, inspirational quotes, a stand-up meeting
room where vintage records can be played, a cofee bar that
doubles as a catering station, and a space for conferences and
events. The club opened in January, and there are 300 seats
for residents, with most yet be to be occupied.
This is Taizo Son’s base—a place from where he hopes to
help shape Singapore’s tech ecosystem. The rationale is this:
If you get key players together—entrepreneurs, investors,
executives, government oicials, academics, artists—ideas for
a better world take shape. Breakthroughs happen. Synergies
develop. Startups achieve scale.
Apart from Son’s Mistletoe, 15 firms operate there, including
Jenga Solutions (Chinese blockchain consultants), Jobbatical
(Estonian headhunters) and MC Payment (Singaporean fintech
operators). Resident memberships, which include a desk, start
at $455 a month; for the larger nonresident crowd, it’s $275
and up. VIPs willing to pay more get access to Door 25, a
whisky bar designed to give elites a “discreet enclave” where
they can sip from their own liquor stocks.As special advisor to Golden Equator, a fund manage-
ment/family oice group that owns the club, Son can bring
tech visionaries in for leadership forums. He’s also on hand to
advise on club services, including private counseling on strat-
egy, investment deals and fundraising. According to Shirley
Crystal Chua, the group’s chief executive, Son’s ailiation with
Spectrum has already proved indispensable. “He brings us
reputational value,” she says, “as well as fruitful international
collaborations.” —J.A.P.THE COMMAND CENTER
EQROY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
learning. “Sometimes he will come to my place while I am work-
ing. We will spend time together as he grows.”
Last year Son devoted substantial time to boosting Singapore’s
tech players, speaking at both large conferences and small events.
his year he’s cut back on that, instead preparing to launch a slew
of projects, including the new tech town and Bathroom 2.0.
Another project that commands his attention: revamping
education. Son intends to create an updated Singapore version of
one of his startups in Japan, Vivita. It’s a self-directed tech hub for
children, where creativity reigns. Sotware experts act as mentors,
allowing youngsters to experiment—with 3-D printers, laser cut-
ters and computers—and create their own inventions, including
robots. He asks rhetorically, “Why are people sticking to school?”
What’s essential, he believes, is honing creativity; memorizing
knowledge will become obsolete as robots become ubiquitous.
his runs counter, however, to a school of thought that argues for
the importance of students building a base of fundamental knowl-
edge to draw on, or else they won’t know what they don’t know
when consulting Google or directing a robot.
Ater 20 years of practicing “Westernized management,” Son
drastically changed his approach two years ago. “I unlearned
everything and changed to the opposite way,” he says, “and my
performance is better.” By that he means that he now has his net-
work of associates at the startups he funds functioning outside of
traditional norms. “We have no approval process, no management
meetings, no procedures, no hierarchy,” he says. “hey invest my
money by themselves.” He calls these 70 associates “fellows” and
they range in age from 23 to 70.
One fellow is Kenta Adachi, a 37-year-old senior director whojoined the network ive years ago. He has a seat in the Tokyo oice
and manages his own $10 million venture fund, called Idaten
Ventures, for manufacturing and logistics. Since starting Idaten
last year, he’s had free rein to choose which entrepreneurs to back.
So far he’s selected six, seeding them with an average of $500,000
each. “Taizo thinks, ‘If you think it is great, do it,’ ” he says, add-
ing that he oten texts his mentor for investment strategy advice.
“hat’s his way—he trusts me and believes in me.”
In Singapore at Hatcher+, cofounder John Sharp, an Austra-
lian, says, “We love the guy. He understands the future of an idea.
He is supportive but not a micromanager; he’s more interested in
watching you execute.” he company’s oice is in JTC LaunchPad
at One-North, a large cluster of repurposed Singapore factories
that house some 800 startups from 43 countries.
As the interview’s allotted time ends, Son’s public relations
assistant interrupts from Tokyo. It’s time to press on to the
photo shoot. A grinning Son poses in two locations in Spec-
trum’s huge lobby, his oice manager carrying the laptop com-
puter so the consultant can supervise. He seems most poised
atop a funky green circular chair. Here his whimsical style
breaks free. He’s wearing brown Prada shoes with triple-color
soles—blue, white and yellow—their thick black laces match-
ing his black leather bag, which sports a tassel. He’s dressed in
a close-itting gray suit and tie, and minus his trademark hat
with an upturned brim.
Son sums up his thoughts. On some projects he expects
Mistletoe to make money; on others it won’t. “It’s okay if I drop. I
can drop,” he says emphatically, referring to his net worth. “I don’t
know what it is now—and I don’t care.”The fifth floor of Duo Tower houses a Singapore technology hub.F