As you may be aware by now, TSS will NOT be moving into Zhongshan Soccer Stadium. This will come as a surprise, considering Taiwan Startup Stadium (TSS) kicked off our programs only a few short months ago.
The change came from an agreement reached between the Taipei City Government and the National Development Council (NDC), our government partner that brought the HeadStart Taiwan plan to life, acknowledging that the Taipei City Government has re-designated the future use of the expected stadium venue for other projects. As a result, the immediate next step will be the expansion of the current temporary location of TSS at Songjiang Road in Taipei to accommodate the growing operations.
Our strategy going forward? Embrace the change.
This change invites us to face head-on what startup founders have to deal with every day: Uncertainties. Scenario changes. Paradigm shifts. We regularly encourage startups to run their businesses with agility, ready to tackle the unexpected, and now is our opportunity to practice what we preach.
Our approach is connecting talented tech entrepreneurs with relevant resources, channels and networks by pragmatic programs we launch over time, so to expedite their growth globally - such as our Accelerator Bootcamp, international conference outreach, and Founders League mentorship. Having served as Captain at TSS for almost half a year now, I've come to an important understanding: the Taiwan Startup Stadium vision we are building is far more than a fixed piece of architecture -- it literally spans the globe. In a few months' time we've built an extended network of startup founders & mentors here in Taiwan from Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi and Kaohsiung, as well as entrepreneurs either from or operating internationally in the US, HK, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, India, Germany, UK, France, Denmark, and even Russia. The level of feedback and support from the startup community, our mentors, advisors, industry friends and partners has been tremendous. We are extremely grateful for, humbled by, and charged with the good will around the globe.
The TSS mission is to internationalize the Taiwan startup ecosystem. While you could say we've just pivoted, our spirit remains unchanged.
It's hard to believe that TSS has only been publicly launched for two months, given all that has been happening! Here's a glimpse at what's been going on since May, as well as some more background on Taiwan Startup Stadium's long-term mission and programming objectives!
In the future, you can expect to see more updates about Taiwan Startup Stadium's progress as our programs for Taiwan startups expand and we get nearer to our official grand opening at Zhongshan Soccer Stadium. Stay tuned!
PS: Are you a university student looking for an internship in the startup industry? Don't forget to apply for the 2015 Taiwan Startup Stadium Internship Program by July 24!
We thought hard and iterated a few versions before we arrived at the name Taiwan Startup Stadium. Given most tech development districts worldwide are some kind of park, zone, city and so on, we figured the historic Zhongshan Soccer Stadium itself actually represents the pinnacle of awesomeness, ready to take on the future and become the home base of Taiwan's technology startups.
Symbolically, startup entrepreneurship has a lot in common with what it takes to be an athlete on a playing field: excellence, competitiveness, persistence, speed, teamwork. By recreating the stadium as a startup workplace, we'd like to nourish and share these aspirations with entrepreneurs from Taiwan and around the world.