Mother Goose Part II: A desire to build great companies

• Only those keen to build companies need apply
• Hijab2Go aims to raise US$1mil to US$1.5mil

GET Adam Hirsch (pic) talking about what he aims to achieve with his venture development company and you better be prepared for 90 minutes of almost non-stop talk of goals, aspirations, desire and action.
 
Perhaps that’s not surprising coming from an entrepreneur who describes himself as being on a journey driven by passion. He has extended that journey and made it one of the core missions of his company, Mother Goose Venture Developers (MGVD).
 
“I want to build as many entrepreneurs as possible, and I want to build as many successful companies as possible,” he says, keenly aware that the two goals are not necessarily mutually compatible.
 
Asked if he isn’t running too fast and missing sight of the finer details that need to be taken care of to build a successful business, Hirsch shrugs it off with a “we are slightly crazy,” adding, “It is a ‘crazy’ over the desire to build great companies.”
 
In that desire to build great companies, MGVD only takes in two types of people, and they have to share one key trait: A sense of fearlessness.
 
The two types are those who want to build companies and those who want to learn to build companies, says Hirsch, promising that those who join MGVD will learn more in four to five months with them “than in spending two years at other companies.”
 
“Those who join us end up doing enormous amounts of stuff and in doing, you learn,” he says.
 
Towards that end, he recently welcomed five more companies to The Nest, the deceptively tranquil bungalow that is home to the frenzied efforts of MGVD to create traction and some life into these various startups.
 
The five companies were the winners of the Halal Tech Challenge held last month in conjunction with the launch of the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre.
 
At The Nest, they are joining e-commerce player Hijab2Go, currently the most mature startup in the stable. And while Hijab2Go is gaining traction, Hirsch already has bigger plans for it.
 
Within three to four months he wants to spin off Hijab2Go into becoming the catalyst for its own venture developer fund, Halal Venture Group, focused on the halal market.
 
“It will be separately branded and be in its own office, with an ecosystem and similar structure to MGVD’s,” says Hirsch.
 
At the same time, Hijab2Go cofounder Mikkel Bjoedstrup is working to bring in its maiden round of funding. “He is looking for between US$1 million and US$1.5 million (RM3.2 million and RM4.8 million),” says Hirsch.
 
The goal is to achieve this within the next three to four months. When Digital News Asia (DNA) suggests it may be too aggressive a timeline, he insists, “It may light a fire under our behinds to get this done.”
 
He also thinks that the latest startup about to be unleashed from MGVD is the most exciting yet. “Without a doubt, this is the strongest team we have ever put together.”
 
The opportunity it is about to tackle in the mobile space is also huge, the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) market. Describing it as a “monster venture” to be launched next month, the C2C mobile commerce application will help users shop directly from people in their city, all in one place.
 
Between mobile messaging, social media engagement, data analytics and a great user experience, Hirsch is confident that the startup will be able to innovate in the C2C/ classifieds space in multiple ways. “The venture is open for investor queries,” he quips.
 
Coming together officially next week, the team consists of Kevin Drury (ex-Nova Founders), Marshal Yung (15 years in software development, pic) and David Barton-Grimley (built and sold two companies, including being the founder of @ MyDEAL).
 
For MGVD, which acts as cofounder in all the startups it takes in, the future is all about real estate.
 
The vision, according to Hirsch is, “That, within three years we will own a building in every capital city in the region, dedicated to entrepreneurs. You are going to have an incredible concentration of focused energy and drive to succeed in our centres throughout South-East Asia.”
 
Previous Instalment: Mother Goose hoping to lay some golden eggs
 
 
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