"I hope some of you will turn out to be wildly successful, that I will be able to look back on this day in the future, and say, 'I was there when this company was founded!"

This was the clarion call that Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat issued to the 290 enthusiastic participants at Startup Weekend Singapore (SWSG) Mega 2017, one of South East Asia’s largest community-organised hackathon held at the National University of Singapore (NUS) UTown.

Startup Weekend Singapore Mega 2017

SWSG, a 54-hour event supported by GIC, aims to get the community of aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch ideas, form teams and pitch their newly-launched company to a panel of judges.

Startup Weekend started in Singapore in 2010 and is in its 11th edition this year.

One of the most successful projects from Startup Weekend is Carousell, an online classifieds marketplace, which won SWSG 2012.

Heng's three key ideas on innovation

So what's Heng's take on innovation?

1. Innovation is an outcome: Heng said that the outcome of innovation is a new value, as it raised productivity, and create breakthrough products, services and business models that change markets, societies and the world.

2. Innovation is a process: Heng noted that the process is "non-linear and unpredictable". He added that it's about experimentation, it's about doing and seeing what works and what doesn't, learning from mistakes, and then doing again and again.

3. Innovation is a mindset and an attitude: Heng also said that innovation is believing that there are better ways of doing something, and the willingness to act on that belief.

On an innovative mindset, Heng said that he was increasingly of the view that the spirit of collaboration and partnership is a critical factor for innovation.

More importantly, Heng said that innovation does not take place in isolation, but as a product of a lively ecosystem of entrepreuers, funders, mentors, corporates, and educational institutions, adding that the government is also a stake-holder in the ecosystem.

Heng concluded by asking the participants to commit to the outcome of creating new value; dedicate themselves to the process of experimenting, failing, learning, and doing; and pursue themselves ideas with a mindset of partnership and collaboration with others.

Fun fact: innovation was mentioned 29 times in total in his speech.

Top photo provided by GIC.