 |
The Dot Com guys in the news
Veteran IBM-ers Cheam Tat-Inn and Ng Kien Lock are among the talents being lured from their cushy corporate jobs to head tech startups, suggesting an important trend.
Cheam Tat-Inn
to head a Silicon Valley-based startup in KL
Cheam was managing director of Compaq Computer Malaysia before he resigned this month to join an as-yet-unnamed Silicon Valley-based startup, to help head its Asia-Pacific operations in Kuala Lumpur.
He spent 11 years with IBM prior to joining Digital Equipment, and later Compaq where he was appointed as managing director in July. In a difficult 1999, Cheam steered the company to achieve double-digit percentage revenue growth and pushed its online sales and direct-selling model, making Compaq the brand of choice for consumers and home users.
Ng Kien Lock
CEO, startup travel portal MariMari.com
Ng who also notched 11 years in IBM, had started the networking business for Big Blue in Malaysia and replicated it across Southeast Asia. He last held the position of general manager of e-Business Solutions, before jumping ship to join startup travel portal MariMari.com last November.
Ng's move signifies the vast potential in Net-based travel reservations and his commission undoubtedly is to take MariMari.com to a successful initial public offering (IPO) in the near future. "I have always shared with my peers around Malaysia and the region that e-commerce will shape the future leaders in business. This is not going to be a wait for years to come.
It is just around the corner. I have decided that it might just be better to do something about it myself," he said on his appointment as CEO.
The company currently operates in six countries within the Asia-Pacific region, and will sign on partnerships and strategic alliances in rapid succession in the coming year with airlines, hotels, telcos, banks. travel/ tour agencies, limousine services, car rental agencies, restaurants, golf courses, travel magazines and other major Web sites.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
