Why is there so less Singaporean going the entrepreneur route compare to ppl from other countries like US?

Are you an entrepreneur? If not, why not?

Cuz if succeed, salty people will say “aiya he lucky la”, “aiya their family rich la”. Cuz if fail, salty people will say “aiya he loser la cannot find job anyhow open business”

"He zuo pian one la"

Yes. One of the selling points of SG (iirc) by LKY was that we'll produce a competent workforce for people to hire. And thats just been the norm.

the corporate world pays too well and the cost of failure is too high

\+1 on the market size. On top of being a small market, Singaporeans are also extremely price sensitive. The only way to really scale is to venture overseas, or just stay an SME forever - which can also be very lucrative

You're wrong, I brought all the MAG 7 stocks so technically I'm a entrepreneur because all these billionaire are working for me.

Most superior route!

Kiasu. Kiasi. Kiabo

As a private investor from Silicon Valley, I see that Singaporeans are remarkable in trading, investing, and diplomacy. I also see that they can never reach their fullest potential because they just enjoy a cushy high paying job. Singaporeans complain about foreigners establishing F&B outlets but I question my friends why they don’t start their own F&B company? Singaporeans like to drive their nice BMW to dine at Starbucks complaining about Chinese brands invading Singapore, eating food imported from Malaysia. They get inspired in UK but not inspired to start their own venture in Singapore.

Why must be entrepreneurship be considered the "better" route?

Americans are natural risk takers. Gotta give them that. 

cuz of the education system? Oh and dont compare US..... they have Y combi leh. SG got what? the risk is just not worth it.... unless ur lao pei lao bu rich

relatively tight labour market, no social safety net for business failure, high costs of labour and rent, very little protectionism for new companies that have to compete against big players right away, risk-averse sheltered population, rent-seeking economic structure that rewards ownership of critical resources like land and access to existing business ecosystems, I could go on and on... people respond to incentives, and the incentives to not start a business and work instead are quite high in Singapore

cost of failure in SG is too high, you'll notice that most entrepreneurs here come from rich families so they can afford to fail

Ultimately, it boils down to how we were taught growing up to be practical and kiasi Take any fresh grad from local uni here. Let’s say they did well in uni, got offered a high paying role in a bank VS creating your own startup, who will pick the latter? Its so uncertain at the least. Practicality & risk taking (which is a big part of being entrepreneur) are on the opposite sides of the same coin

It took me 7 years for me to get a +55% PA (YTD, MWR) growth on trading, time to scale up. People are seeing the risk of doing business are forgetting the risk of loss of income as your grow older, especially in this AI era where job is much harder to come by. Having multiple source of income is important

there are quite a few tho. scale it to population size. compared to the us singapore is so small. how many entrepreneurs can it really support.

because the gov wants to groom you from young to be slaves to the economy.....wonder why there is no emphasis on entrepreneurship?

If we start with the basics, the first two big problems are high operating costs and the need to almost immediately jump into regional or global markets. As much as it is easy to start a business in Singapore, the same can't be said for funding it. F&B is so competitive and it's not for lack of trying. You see so many local owned restaurants opening and closing. One-man tech startups are much easier to sustain, operating from home, low operating costs etc, but these are very low profile.

Small population does play a part. You sell $1 bottle of water to everyone in SG vs everyone in Malaysia, etc. Rents are high islandwide from limited land, brick and mortar disincentivised. Hire worker also expensive cause currency + CPF + expectations due to cost of living. Most goods-related businesses you import from any of your neighbouring countries also likely cheaper than the local that factors in these operating costs into their pricing. Service-based businesses most low skill stuff there are hungrier foreigners here willing to do for less (technician, handyman, digital marketing, haircut, pet grooming) etc. High skill stuff we have ah all ah gao ah mao lawyer is their own firm. Tall poppy syndrome / crab mentality in SG strong. Other country see local struggling business they support, we just want to put each other down, look at any typical local entrepreneur do marketing on IG/TT flooded with smart alec armchair comments that are just negative (the mindset of "other people take risk, they MUST fail, or MUST have some catch to it, that's how I justify staying in my job salaried is the correct choice!")

So less

Let’s be honest - Singaporeans are molded from day 1 to take the low risk path. Study hard, good grades, good job. There is no societal support for rolling the dice. Seen as too risky, will ruin life, and if you fail you’re seen as a failure. Now compare with the US - drop out of Harvard and do start up? You’ll find people who support you. Start company that fails? You’re seen as a good bet by investors because of the experience. No issues raising more investment. Even many big corps look at startup experience as a plus.