PETALING JAYA: There have been many success stories and Malaysia has even been called the “Disneyland for entrepreneurs” but amidst the triumphant startup company stories, there are also the failures that no one hears about.

Jeannette Goon of The Star Education squeezed some of her time and sat with Chris Leong, Director of Strategy at Soft Space for a chat on entrepreneurship in the Malaysian scene.

Chris Leong is a thirty-two year old entrepreneur who played a part in the founding of Soft Space – a technology company specializing in mobile point of sales solutions. The product which enables every business the capability to accept card payments anywhere, anytime, securely has won multiple awards in Malaysia and also in the ASEAN region.

According to Chris, a person needs to know what his or her path is before venturing into entrepreneurship. “Don’t just go for the ‘cool’ factor. You must be willing to sacrifice,” he says.

The article embraces the fact that even successful entrepreneurs that start up a company may not have taken the best course of action, if they do not have the drive and tenacity required. Chris also shared some insights on the founding of Soft Space, its aim and it current market. Coming from a reputable background himself, one of Chris’s first entrepreneurial stint in the past is when he started his own business and worked with Cradle Fund — an agency under the Finance Ministry. He founded an angel investment group and mentored students in the Microsoft Imagine Cup.

“The life of a true entrepreneur is full of worry and sacrifice,” he writes in a blogpost, as a reply to the frequent student programmes that promote entrepreneurship as “a cool thing to be in”.

“The first thing an entrepreneur loses would most likely be the social life. Clubbing and drinking sessions and any other non-essential activities would most likely be the first to go,” he writes.

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A Disneyland for Entrepreneurs