[This is sponsored content with MDEC.]
It’s no secret that entrepreneurs are looking to network and upskill the most that they can during the pandemic, with free classes, courses, and workshops galore.
While there are plenty of places local entrepreneurs can look to, MDEC is currently running Malaysia Tech Month from July 29 to August 30.
To put it simply, Malaysia Tech Month 2021 is a completely free, month-long, mega virtual event featuring digital and technology keynote speakers, workshops, discussion panels, and business-matching sessions. MTM is already happening, but worry not, there are still 2 weeks worth of events and you can also rewatch the ones you’ve missed.
And to help you out with not getting overwhelmed, we’ve identified 6 types of entrepreneurs and the conferences that would match them best in this event.
1. For the esports entrepreneur
If you’re an entrepreneur looking to venture into the esports industry be it through sponsorship, hosting tournaments, selling products, developing games, etc., the Creative Tech Summit Esports Conference is for you.
It’s a three-hour long event featuring 2-3 talks about what kinds of monetisation opportunities you can leverage in the esports industry as well as what are the risks and opportunities of investing in pro players.
Date: August 25, 2021.
Time: 2:00PM to 5:00PM.
Speaker(s): Carlos Alimurung, CEO of One Esports; Clement Hui, Director of The Pantheon; Muhammad Asrul Jalani, Head of Production from IO Esports; Mohd Hazman Bin Hassan, CEO of KITAMEN.
2. For the AI entrepreneur
Whether or not you’re an entrepreneur who wants to benefit from AIs to boost your business or run an AI-based startup, the events that might pique your interest are these back-to-back AI-centric panel discussions.
Do note that many of these events touch mostly on how to get AI working for you in e-commerce, and there will be sharings from an Amazon developer from the Netherlands on what Amazon learnt from building and scaling AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) in their business.
Should you also be interested in learning more about how you can leverage on AI to upgrade customer service experiences, you can watch the third session on the rise of conversational commerce which was recorded here.
E-commerce aside, there are more interesting AI-related talks you can access like There’s No Such Thing As Artificial Intelligence by Apple’s Siri co-creator.
Date: August 12, 2021.
Time: 9:00AM to 12:00PM for the first 3 sessions, and 4:15PM to 5:15PM for the fourth session.
Speaker(s): Rama Sridhar from Mastercard, Singapore; Ganesh Kumar Bangah from Commerce DotAsia Venture Sdn Bhd, Malaysia; Saqib Shaikh from Microsoft; Zain Suharwardy from Accenture; Brian Fernandez from Capillary Technologies; Sohan Maheshwar from Amazon Netherlands; Valerie Cheng from AiChat; and Dr Luc Julia, Apple.
Since this event has already passed, you can watch the recorded sessions here.
3. For the young entrepreneur
Now entrepreneurs come from all walks of life, and in the startup ecosystem, it’s evident that even children are starting early with their entrepreneurial ambitions.
If you’re the parent of a budding “kidpreneur”, or are simply interested in knowing more about how someone from the younger generation managed to make it big in what they do, this chit-chat session with 7-year-old Kautilya Katariya, who’s the world’s youngest computer programmer, might be someone you want to learn from.
Date: July 30, 2021.
Time: 2:00PM to 2:30PM.
Speaker(s): Kautilya Katariya.
Since this event has already passed, you can watch the recorded session here.
4. For the hiring entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs looking to monetise from job-seeking professionals or to create a more equitable hiring system, these events are catered to your niche.
The topics range from how to design a more equitable AI hiring system, to how to improve your LinkedIn presence, workplace attitude and communication, etc.
Even if you’re not a hiring entrepreneur and just a professional looking for job opportunities, Week 3 is where you can meet hiring managers from various industries like software development, data science, cybersecurity, and digital global business services.
The equitable AI hiring system discussion has already passed, so you can access the recorded event here. As for the other two events, here are the details:
Date: August 16 (for the LinkedIn one) and August 17 (for the workplace one), 2021.
Time: 3:30PM to 4:30PM (LinkedIn) and 3:00PM to 4:00PM (workplace).
Speaker(s): Ivana Bartoletti from Deloitte; Sunita Kannan from Microsoft; Dr Samara Banno from Women Leading in AI; Ryan Ng from LinkedIn; and Hanie Razaif-Bohlender from Dragonfire Corporate Solutions.
5. For aspiring techpreneurs
As this entire tech month is meant to focus more on the digital side of entrepreneurship, here are workshops for aspiring techpreneurs who are just starting out and are looking to upskill with what little resources they have.
For these entrepreneurs, there are 2 upcoming events you can look forward to which touch on how to level up your digital skills and how to monetise from digital freelancing which will be happening in Week 3.
There are also several relevant past events that you can learn from which talk about future predictions in the digital economy, how to build a culture of innovation within your own business, etc.
Date: August 16 (levelling up digital skills) and August 20 (how to monetise), 2021.
Time: 2:00PM to 3:00PM (leveling up) and 3:00PM to 4:00PM (how to monetise).
Speaker(s): Louise Leong from Facebook; Smriti Khullar from Google; Irene Ong from LinkedIn; and Nur Ashikin Halil from GLOW.
6. For the fintech entrepreneurs
Last but not least, for the fintech entrepreneurs (and yes, including you crypto geeks), there are events tailored to your community happening this month as well which includes a bootcamp and showcases that are all in Week 4.
This regulators bootcamp will feature a panel of experts from Securities Commission Malaysia, Malaysian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, and Fintech Association of Malaysia.
As for the events, there will be sharings on how fintech organisations can build transparency and trust within the financial ecosystem, what are the obstacles with getting institutional funds onboard with cryptocurrencies, etc.
Date: August 23-24, 2021.
Time: 9:00AM to 5:00PM (first day) and 11:00AM to 4:00PM (second day).
Speaker(s): Ian Ow, Founder & CEO of Ablr; Justin Kong, Founder & CEO of Payd; Richmond Yau, COO of Versa; Syakir Hashim, Country Head of Wahed Invest (Malaysia); and Sharian, CEO and Founder of Senang Insurance.
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Even if you fit none of the “types of entrepreneurs” we’ve listed above, there’s still much that you can benefit from this event.
Digitalisation is an innovation that many entrepreneurs across industries have to adopt, and there are panel discussions and talks that allow you to learn more about market trends, explore business opportunities, and potentially collaborate with investors and digital talents who are looking to network in this space.
- You can learn more about Malaysia Tech Month 2021 here.
- You can see past articles we’ve written about MDEC here.
Featured Image Credit: Unsplash/Pexels