Adrian Waters

Turned up to the gym this morning.

Locked. Labour Day. Forgot.

That specific kind of annoyed when you've psyched yourself up for something and it just doesn't happen. We've all been there.

Stood outside for a minute. Everything shut. Except 7-Eleven.

So here I am. Americano, corner seat, laptop open. 7-Eleven coworking. Not the morning I planned.

First reaction was frustration. Totally normal. We're not supposed to be okay with everything immediately. That's not how brains work.

But I've noticed we are rarely our first reaction. That's just the initial response before anything has been processed. Who we actually are shows up a few minutes later when we decide what to do next.

I could have gone home. Part of me wanted to.

Instead I've had two hours of solid work, a decent Americano, and honestly one of the more peaceful mornings I've had in a while. One of the best things about being an #entrepreneur is more agency and flexibility over the 9-5.

We don't always get to choose what happens. But we do get to choose what we do after the first reaction fades.

Happy Labour Day. Sometimes the unplanned mornings are the best ones.

Build a business you love whizzbangidea 💓

I've sat in enough government rooms to know how this plays out.

Big ambition. Right people in the room. Everyone nodding.

Then the minister changes.
The budget shifts.
And the founders who were counting on it are left figuring it out themselves.

You cannot build a startup ecosystem on a policy cycle.

It doesn't work that way.

What actually moves the needle is less glamorous.

A university that produces founders not just graduates Monash University Malaysia.
A corporate that buys from a local startup instead of defaulting to a foreign vendor Maybank
An investor who doesn't disappear when things get hard Sharil Tarmizi.
A founder who makes it and comes back to fund the next one Joel Neoh.

None of this is coordinated. Nobody is running the master plan.

It just has to happen in enough places at the same time for long enough.

In the US, venture studios get startups to Series A in 25 months. Without them the average is 56 months.

That gap exists because people built infrastructure instead of waiting for permission.

Malaysia has the talent. The capital is there. The ambition is real. #entrepreneurship is alive and kicking.

What it needs is fewer strategy documents and more people just getting on with it.