Rafe Fletcher: Britain produces great entrepreneurs but can it keep them?
Singapore's stable and predictable political and economic environment makes it an attractive hub for business, but may discourage homegrown entrepreneurial risk-taking. Despite producing high-achieving students, the country sees low startup formation, with many opting for secure, high-paying careers instead. While Singapore attracts major tech firms and wealthy entrepreneurs, it often serves as a base for protecting wealth rather than fostering bold, original ventures.
- ▪Only 1% of Singaporean students are active founders, less than half the OECD average.
- ▪Grab, a major regional success, was based on Uber’s existing model and benefited from strong state-linked support.
- ▪37% of students say they’ve seriously considered starting a business, but few take the leap.
- ▪Singapore attracts mature startups like OpenAI and entrepreneurs like Eduardo Saverin, but mostly as a safe haven for wealth.
- ▪The country’s efficient system creates strong incentives to join established institutions rather than launch new ventures.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Rafe Fletcher is the founder of CWG. I know that my bi-monthly musings can often sound like a paean to Singapore. If only Britain did this like the city state, it would be so much better off. Singapore thinks long-term. Policy doesn’t bend to every fleeting whim. But that obduracy is made possible by political apathy. The People’s Action Party’s (PAP) grip on power isn’t just a result of press control and nine-day election campaigns. Ask a Singaporean about politics and you are unlikely to elicit a forthright response. Such neutrality is generally born of disengagement rather than fear of saying the wrong thing. The upside is a government which gets on with things instead of chasing polls. Consistency compounds, and capital flows to a predictably business-friendly regime.
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