Right after the Startup Village we met with the team of startup Optic2Connect – the winner of the Skolkovo grant – Insead graduates Christoph Salentin and Ching Eng Jason Png. Both are graduates of the prestigious Insead Executive Program, active employees of large companies, and dreamers.
Christoph Salentin is a partner at Optic2Connect, works for a multinational company in China, is an investor, and plays the piano and saxophone.
Ching Eng Jason Png is a partner at Optic2Connect, works at the Institute of High Performance Computing as a director and senior scientist, and plays the guitar.
Christoph: We haven’t played together yet, but it’s still to come. The main thing now is not how we can play musical instruments but how we get Optic2Connect started.
Jason: These days I don’t get much opportunity to play the guitar, only when I come home for a short period of time. We have discussed a lot with our families about what we’ll have to go through – studying at Insead, work and own a startup.
Christoph: It’s good that there is Skype and social networks. This gives great possibilities to always be in touch with home and family.
Jason: They support us a lot and do understand the fact that we have to spend long periods of time outside the country, not to mention away from home. Most probably the company will be incorporated in Singapore. We already have several offers. At later stages we will come and check out the possibilities at Skolkovo. We were amazed by the work at Skoltech and will try to participate in its programmes.
Christoph: Let me try and explain what the idea of our startup is. We had 5 days for idea development and document preparations, that’s why we went into the sphere that is the closest to us from the scientific point of view.
Jason: I have been engaged in silicon photonics for many years, shortly from the inception of this sector. My thesis was one of the first in this sphere, and my scientific supervisor is the founder of the sector in Europe.
Christoph: There are two ways of data transfer. The old way allows transferring data electrically with the speed of up to 10 Gbit/sec. The new way allows much more, 100 Gbps (billion bits per second or Gbps) or even 1000 Gbit/sec and combines electrical and optical signals on the CMOS. This new technology is called silicon photonics and it is an great development but creates its own problems. New devices communicate on the basis of photons and they have to be linked with the electrical devices on the chip. And how to optimise the communication between both of them, the electrical and the optical signal, that is our solution - our project Optic2Connect offers simulation software, which will allow optimizing the speed of the new devices already in the design stage.
Jason: On the long term horizon there are even more opportunities coming up. Mobile diagnostics, for example. Or “flexible” electronics where computers, tablets and any other devices can be integrated with clothes. But this is the future. For the competition, in order to begin with our journey, we needed a simple and more comprehensible product and therefore we are focusing on silicon photonics first.
Christoph: Considering that we have one leading expert in this field in our team (Jason), it was obvious to first focus on silicon photonics. But once we had developed the idea, the big work starts. We were meeting colleagues, showed our presentation to everyone, constantly worked on it, consulted with bankers.
Jason: Luckily we could build on of the most important things provided by Insead – networking. This is probably the main feature of the graduate program. Without team work, a capability to establish relationships and use them – you can’t get very far.
Christoph: At Insead everything is build around diversity. Beside world class lectures the cross cultural experience is very deep. Students were from different countries, each with their own specific culture and a big variety of business backgrounds.
Jason: My previous boss was an Insead graduate and he recommended me in the program. You can learn a lot here which will allow you not only to become a successful manager but also to find your way, establish your business. It’s a myth that business schools only raise managers. They give a serious basis for developing your own business, which increases the chances for success.
Christoph: It is very important that no one limits you in learning. Often at Insead professors offer you to stay longer after lectures because he has something more to share with you. Sometimes lectures would continue till 11 pm. This is a new pace of life which considerably changes your way of thinking . We are better prepared for the startup.
Jason: Coming back to Optic2Connect. We are now standing in front of a whole series of meetings; based on the results we will launch the project. Everything will be very quick. We have about six months until the first big release. (... part deleted ...) I like very much the model suggested by Steve Jobs. As different from many start-ups who create to sell, he created to develop. I think this is very close to our understanding of a startup.
Christoph: We dream that one day our business will help people and in a broader sens it will make a small change to the world. Since early in my life I follow the slogan. Do not dream you life, live your dream.
Jason: This is how a startup begins, with a dream.