Entrepreneur takes tips from Woz
Few people are talking politics in Silicon Valley, says a Kiwi healthtech entrepreneur who returned on Sunday from six days mingling at the world’s biggest technology companies.
Sheng Chiong Hong visited Google, Facebook, Tesla and Airbnb, and lunched with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
The United States trip was the prize for the company he cofounded, oDocs Eye Care, winning the ‘‘social impact’’ award at the trans-Tasman Talent Unleashed awards last year.
Hong said he was surprised noone was talking about the election of US President Donald Trump.
But he said early-stage startups that relied on attracting staff using offers of shares and options were expressing concern about new barriers to immigration.
‘‘Silicon Valley is like a magnet for brains. More than 70 per cent of the talent are immigrants.
‘‘One of the issues is that to sponsor people you have to show you are a more established company able to pay a certain salary.’’
Hong said highlights of the trip included visiting Tesla’s factory and his lunch with Wozniak, which was scheduled for an hour but went on for 90 minutes longer.
ODocs makes a smartphone app and add-ons that cost about $500.
These can be used to scan eyes for signs of debilitating diseases, providing an alternative to full diagnostic equipment used by eye clinics that can cost $50,000.
The main thing he learnt from Wozniak was ‘‘finish what you have started’’, he said.
‘‘When you are tinkering with inventions, you always get distracted with new ideas. That is what happened with him initially from the experiences he shared.’’
Hong said that had made him realise that it was time for him to focus on the main objective.
For oDocs that would mean concentrating on developing its technology to detect and monitor macular degeneration and glaucoma, both of which can cause blindness.
That was rather than considering, for example, how the same technology could be used to help work out if toddlers too young to talk needed glasses.
‘‘I am in discussion with the major shareholders about making quite a major change in the direction of the company because oDocs has been focusing on a broader spectrum of clients including GPs and emergency department doctors,’’ he said.
‘‘What I am more interested in now is focusing on a business model that creates recurrent revenue from a chronic condition.’’
Hong hopes the connections he made during the trip to the US will develop into opportunities to trial his technology there.
ODocs has shipped its first 100 orders and is now preparing to analysis feedback to look for improvements, he said.
‘‘The next three months will be critical to enhance the intellectual property of the system we are going to build.’’