Steven Liew’s Post

"Why should I care?" This is the million-dollar question you need to answer if you are trying to engage your external stakeholders and lesson #3 in my series on public policy. When we meet with a government to try to get our ways, we have a better chance of succeeding if our business goals are somehow aligned with the policy and/or political goals held by the government. Take Uber's original mission at the time of its founding in 2009 - "Everyone's Private Driver". It may have resonated with all the tech-bros in Silicon Valley but I don't think any city hall official, transport regulator or taxi commissioner really cared that much about Uber's attempts to democratize limousine rides. Then, in 2013, Uber changed their mission/tag-line to "Moving people" with a punchy explainer that they wanted to "connect you with a driver at the tap of a button". In one fell swoop, Uber has broadened its appeal and its potential impact on moving people around a city. I started advising Uber on its launch in Asia in the second half of 2014. And the revised mission statement was definitely a much easier sell when I was talking to governments across the region. Why? Because a lot of the countries or cities were actually struggling with moving people around the cities using public transport. And quite a handful of these governments were also grappling with the problem of unreliable and some times unsafe taxi services. So, we have found the reasons why the governments in Asia should care about helping Uber get going. We were able to position Uber as a technological solution to ease their inner city traffic congestions from too many private cars, un-reliable and/or unsafe taxis and thereby making city mobility better. This is the elusive win-win you must always strive to achieve. In Uber's case, we got one other "win" to present to the governments. That the people in their city/country will benefit from having a safe, reliable and easily available point-to-point private ride without having to own a car. And it was a jackpot win-win-win (well, at least for a while...) Bottomline, always, always ask the question why your external stakeholders should care about the survival and continuous growth of your business. It's about putting yourself in the shoes of the elected officials, regulators, incumbent players and the wider communities. Then, craft a narrative that explains why your product is the solution to THEIR problem. If you can't solve THEIR problem, why should they care about yours? #publicpolicy #governmentrelations #lobbying #narrative #missionstatement #winwin

“Hell camps”!? It wasn’t that bad. But it was not a walk in the park either. The mad genius behind this experiential training is STEFFAN FUNG (ステファン・フォン), a former special operations officer from the Singapore military, now turned startup founder and accelerator program manager. What we went through that weekend which was quite vividly described by the very brave Olivia Poh from Bloomberg (who gamely took part in the exercise with us) was a very toned-down version of the selection process Steffan has gone through with the military. But for civilians like me, Olivia and my fellow participants, it was a tough morning. Did it achieve the stated goals of training us on teamwork and resilience? I think so. If nothing else, I now know I didn’t freak out holding my breath under water and trying to move a 5kg dumbbell from one end of the pool to the other with my swim-buddy. Yeah, it taught me me resilience and team work 🦾🦾🦾 #specialoperations #tacticaltraining #teamwork #resilience

Lesson #2 - “Get the ground truth.” In machine learning and statistics, “ground truth” refers to information that is known to be true or real, and is obtained through direct observation and measurement. In law enforcement, ground truth means the same thing. And that’s the single source of truth we seek to obtain to stress test our plans. That is why in the Singapore Police Force, all senior officers are required to do a full year in patrol. Eventually, we will be posted to different branches of the Force to do staff, investigations, intelligence, operations or other specialized work. But, we all had to put in a year’s work walking the grounds, learning basic policing and getting to know our communities. I have worked at several companies but only one made me do a stint of apprenticeship - Louis Vuitton. When I joined LV to be its first China-based lawyer, I spent my first 3 months on the shop floors in Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and eventually Shanghai. I even spent a day in the factory learning to make the handles for the bags. Even after I started doing real lawyer work at LV, we were required to spend a few hours a month attending to customers at our stores. I actually enjoyed selling bags, belts and shoes. But I enjoyed even more the opportunities to hear directly from our customers and frontline sales associates. I think this approach is equally useful when it comes to public policy. We are all going to be representing our companies or clients externally. We are talking to elected officials, regulators, leaders of NGOs, members of the communities or the media. Knowing the ground truth is critical to us coming up with cogent arguments and having the conviction to deliver them accurately and forcefully. Back at Airbnb, 3 members of my APAC Policy Team are renovating their properties in Japan to become hosts. Through their first-hand experience, we have learnt so much more about the challenges facing our hosts in Japan. Even for my other team members who aren’t hosts, we all committed to stay in Airbnbs when we travel and would always seek out our hosts to chat with them to get the ground truth from them. Walk the ground. Don’t stay in your echo chamber. #publicpolicy #governmentrelations #groundtruth #groundreality

"Do you want to teach public policy?" I got asked this question a couple of times this past week. Truth be told, I have also been thinking about it for a while. But I am not sure if people would pay to come hear me talk about public policy. So, I thought I would just do some beta-testing on LinkedIn by writing a series of posts on what I think it takes to be a good public policy practitioner. And we can see what kind of "customers' responses" I get before I do this for real. So, here’s Lesson #1 - “Use your product.” The first thing I look for in a good policy person is whether they actually know my company and what we are selling. In the case of folks applying to Airbnb when I used to run the policy shop there, I always ask the candidates if they have ever stayed in an Airbnb. I asked the same questions of my consultants. This insistence on people actually "eating your own dog food" started when I was still a rookie lawyer back in 1994 working at Baker & McKenzie Hong Kong. I became the go-to person for a lot of our gaming clients because I was an avid gamer. One of my gaming clients loved using me so much that I was even getting pre-release games so I could play them and get to know them well. From those early days, I have always insisted that I needed to know my clients' or employers' business as well as I could by using the very products and services they produced. If you are still wondering why you are not getting the job, or having troubles communicating with your internal stakeholders in the other parts of the business or not being able to close that client, maybe it's time you start asking yourself if you even know the company and its product at all. It's only through using the product, getting to know its strengths and weaknesses, seeing its impact on the broader communities that you can possibly develop a good policy plan. Through using a product, you will gain the insights and the confidence to lobby the external stakeholders to get the policy outcome you want. So, before you get into things like stakeholders mapping, narratives developments, etc., etc., try using the product a few times. Then, we can start talking. p.s. the photo is the very first Airbnb I have ever stayed in. It was back in 2015 when I started consulting for Airbnb and it was a farm-stay in the mountains outside Taichung. I learnt a lot from chatting with my host, who was on-site, for that 1 week I stayed with him. #publicpolicy101 #knowyourcustomer #eatyourowndogfood

Do this at your own peril. #publicpolicy #governmentrelations #lobbying

“The GenAI gold rush is set to ignite a dual boom in both software and hardware sectors. Initially, the “shovel sellers” – those providing essential infrastructure like graphics processing units (think Nvidia) and data centres – stand to reap disproportionate rewards compared to AI developers themselves. As the dust settles, a new wave of opportunity will emerge in the medium term for those who can creatively harness GenAI. Many businesses, lacking the necessary hardware, software and expertise, can be expected to hire vendors and specialised AI labs to deploy GenAI technology at scale. In the long term, the winners will be those who devise innovative business models that fully exploit the potential of GenAI.” - Philip M. Parker, Professor of Marketing, INSEAD And that just about sums up what is happening now and what will come next in the AI industry. I am very excited about what will come next. Interacting with a chatbot, getting it to research and generate contents or codes are but the start of what we can expect. In many ways, this period now feels like the early days of the personal computers, the “World Wide Web” and the smartphones. In themselves, all those technological advances were ground breaking when they first came into existence. But the technological advances they brought forth next are what truly changed our lives. #artificialintelligence #ai #technology

Day one of a retiree’s life. I was up bright and early today as I was volunteering at a rucking event. It was organised by Care Corner Singapore Ltd to introduce folks to the joy and benefits of rucking. It’s nice to be out and about doing something other than law and public policy. Maybe I have a new life as a fitness instructor? Or a tour guide? Anyway, I think retirement is only boring if you sit around and do nothing. Try something new. Do something you never had the time to do. Who knows? You might find a new calling. STEFFAN FUNG (ステファン・フォン) Wai Sing Yong #lifeafterretirement #retirement #rucking #volunteering #UpliftForLife2024 #rucktouplift2024 #carecornersg

“Exit stage left.” I have always loved this saying. It means “an orderly and uneventful departure, timed so as not to detract or distract.” It’s the best kind of exit IMHO. Don’t overstay your welcome. But don’t leave before the important work is done either. If possible, name your successor and have enough time for a proper handover. If not possible, build a strong enough bench so that one of your team members will have a good chance to step up and take over. I hope I have managed to do an “exit stage left” this time as I handed back my devices and access badges this afternoon. This being a Friday, there was hardly anyone in the office. There’s no fanfare. No tears. And no awkward moments where people run out of well wishes to say to the departing person. Anyhow. This is it. Retirement beckons. #lastday #retirement #exitstageleft

I love what entrepreneurs like Anton Wörmann are doing with the akiya (vacant homes) in Japan. When I first got to know Anton, he walked me through his Sangenjaya House via video-conference. I also watched his DIY video on his Youtube channel - https://lnkd.in/gG-Wwq5Y to follow the journey he took to transform this akiya into an Airbnb. Now, you can book his amazing property on Airbnb - https://lnkd.in/gMFREnYx I am really impressed by what he has achieved with so far with this property and can't wait to see more of his creations next. #akiya #airbnb #kominka #emptyhomes #japan #vacanthomes

“Hotel prices are higher than they’ve ever been there, they’re almost 7 1/2 percent higher than they were a year ago – that’s a much faster growth in the rate of inflation. It’s had NO noticeable data-driven impact on inventory for housing, or NO impact on rents, which continue to rise in the city. It’s had this hugely consequential negative impact on hosts, average folks in this city who are just trying to make ends meet.” ... There’s also location to consider. More than 50% of Airbnb units were outside of Manhattan, while hotels are highly concentrated in the borough. “All the economic activity that travelers who stayed in Airbnb listings in the boroughs and in the unusual neighborhoods – that then created vitality in those neighborhoods – is now gone. And you’re also seeing travelers having to decide NOT to come to New York,” Carney said." This is what you don't want to do. #airbnb #shorttermrental #shorttermaccommodation #regulations #publicpolicy