- 6 hours ago
Creative Sprint 2026 kembali untuk tahun ketiga dengan memberi tumpuan kepada pembangunan perusahaan sosial melalui sokongan yang melangkaui pembiayaan. Program ini menghimpunkan pelbagai pihak berkepentingan bagi membantu usahawan membina perniagaan yang mampan dan mencipta impak sosial jangka panjang.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Malaysia has made significant investment in entrepreneurship through grants, accelerators and financing initiatives.
00:07While funding remains important, many founders discover that capital alone is not enough to build sustainable businesses.
00:14Social enterprise fees are an additional challenge of balancing commercial sustainability with meaningful social impacts.
00:21And beyond funding, they need access to mentorship market opportunities, strategic partnership and a supportive ecosystem to grow.
00:30Now in its third year, Creative Spring 2026 brings together foundations, financial institutions, investors and ecosystem partners to demonstrate how
00:41collaborative support can help social enterprises build stronger businesses and create lasting impact.
00:47Together with us today online is Ahmad Azwar Zainuddin, Chief Executive Officer of Satu Creative, the organisation behind Creative Spring
00:552026.
00:57Hello Azwar.
00:59Hello Hafiz, good morning.
01:01How are you doing?
01:02Very good, very good. Thank you for having me this morning.
01:04Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for your time also.
01:06So funding is often seen as the biggest hurdles for entrepreneurs and many sports programs understandably focus on grants or
01:14financing.
01:15And we often hear that entrepreneurs need funding to succeed.
01:19And why do you believe funding alone is not enough, Azwar?
01:24Of course, let's not beat around the bush here.
01:28Funding is, of course, very important.
01:30But there are other factors to business success other than funding.
01:33I think when we look at it, it is very important that business, for instance, have product market fail.
01:38When I share with the many entrepreneurs that we work with, a lot of the reason why businesses fail is
01:44not so much because of funding, but more so because they are a product looking for customers.
01:49So looking at the success of entrepreneurs, it is important that we look at multiple facets, not just the ability
01:55of funding, which is, of course, very important.
01:57But at the same time, looking at other factors such as the upscaling of the entrepreneurs so that they're able
02:03to navigate the very challenging business landscape.
02:07At the same time, also building the network that is so important for business to success and to succeed.
02:12We cannot run from the challenges that might occur during the program or any program that we organize.
02:21And once founders receive funding, the real work begins, absolutely.
02:26And from your experience working with entrepreneurs, what are the biggest challenges founders face after receiving the funding?
02:35The biggest challenge that I observe working with many entrepreneurs over the many years that I've been in this field
02:42is delivering on the plan.
02:43Because the challenge is things don't normally go according to plan.
02:47I like to share this famous quote by, I always joke that is a philosopher, Mike Tyson, who says that
02:53everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.
02:56So looking at this, getting the money is just the beginning.
03:00It's an important factor.
03:01But on top of that, entrepreneurs, it's very important for them to be able to navigate.
03:05And in order to do this, they need to be creative.
03:07They need to be flexible.
03:09At the same time, of course, very, very important, resilient.
03:12Things are never going to go according to plan.
03:15There's going to be challenges, there's going to be obstacles, there's going to be frustration.
03:19So it's important that we're able to be creative, be flexible, and be able to stand resilient as we go
03:26through this journey.
03:29This is the third year you are running the spring in 2026.
03:34And you often talk about the importance of the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
03:38And you keep mentioning that entrepreneurship ecosystem that cannot be break in whatever terms.
03:44And at this moment, what does that actually mean?
03:47And why that matter is really important to sustain and to protect at all costs?
03:53I really believe that it takes a village to raise a successful enterprise or business.
04:00So looking at ecosystem, resources are available, perhaps, right?
04:04It could be funding, it could be expertise, it could be market access.
04:08But more often than not, these ecosystems, they are fragmented.
04:13So it's important that we connect this.
04:15I think with Satu Creative, we function a little bit because we see a gap here where we function as
04:21an intermediary almost to connect the ecosystem,
04:24bring them together, be able to source deals, source businesses that are attractive to be invested in, to be supported.
04:31At the same time, we look at the funding landscape.
04:34There are many channels of funding from the conventional ones like banking, the slightly new one like venture capital.
04:42But at the same time, the alternative funding like P2P and ECFs and all that.
04:47So it's important that we bring all these folks together.
04:50And from my experience, people are really willing to help.
04:53And it's just that we need to talk to each other.
04:55It doesn't always need to be formal.
04:57It doesn't always need to be on a big stage with a huge screen at the back.
05:01You know, things can happen over dinner, over meetings, casual meetings, coffee, where we discuss together, learn, exchange ideas, learn
05:11best practices.
05:12And this is where I see ecosystem is critical.
05:16You can have entrepreneurs, but without the right ecology, it is very challenging.
05:20Yeah, Azul, I strongly believe that supporting entrepreneurs isn't the responsibility of any single organization.
05:28And how actually can foundation financial institution, investors, corporates and government agency as a whole work together more effectively to
05:37support entrepreneurs?
05:38Your POV, Azul.
05:41That's my point of view.
05:43Yes, Hafiz.
05:45Already in Malaysia, we're well supported.
05:48It's just that looking at this, where are the gaps so that we can achieve the impact that we aspire
05:53to create?
05:55So in order to do this, this is where I'm always very supportive.
05:59I think we need to create a cluster of support.
06:01I think that shows the maturity and the thrivingness of the ecosystem.
06:08So, but what needs to happen is some coordination, some sharing, some learning, so that rather than business as usual
06:16doing the same thing over and over again,
06:18we can actually learn and grow and improve and enhance how we can support our businesses.
06:24Because I truly believe in the years that I've worked with entrepreneurs, whether it is in Sabah, whether it is
06:30in Sarawak, whether it is in Selangor, Penang,
06:32we have the talent.
06:33We have the people with the drive, with the ideas, with the creativity.
06:38What needs to happen is for us to connect them with resources, with skills, with expertise, with market that is
06:47already available.
06:48In fact, it's just need to bring them together.
06:50And as well, social enterprises have gained greater attention over the past few years,
06:56but many people still wonder how they differ from traditional businesses to up till now.
07:03And what makes social enterprise different from traditional business and why are they becoming increasingly important in Malaysia today?
07:12I'm not too pedantic about the academic terminology of social enterprise.
07:16For me, where I see businesses being able to create a meaningful impact, creating change,
07:24and that is the purpose of why they exist and the impact is tangible and visible, hence we need to
07:30support them.
07:31So this is how I look at social enterprise.
07:33And the amazing thing is a lot of young people, we're looking at Gen Zs or maybe the late millennials,
07:40they are coming to the fore with the experience, with the skills, with the energy to make this change.
07:46If I can just share an example.
07:47I just got back from two locations where we're visiting our entrepreneurs.
07:51One was in Johor, one was in Kuching.
07:54If I can share, like in Johor, we have a business that are recycling very challenging,
08:00very difficult to recycle materials.
08:03And they have the patent pending, they've gained investment and they've built a factory and they have customers.
08:12And these businesses, while they have achieved a lot in the short span of time that we work alongside them,
08:18and of course, a lot of them, it is their own initiative,
08:20but they need further support for them to be able to grow and fulfil their potential.
08:26Another business that I visited recently was in Kuching, Sarawak, where we visited,
08:30where they buy a coffee, they train farmers how to produce better, cultivate the coffee better.
08:38So looking at this, once the coffee is better quality, then they're able to purchase it at good price
08:44that are multiple times higher than what they would be able to sell if they were to produce
08:49and cultivate the coffee using traditional method.
08:52So these are, they already exist and there are more that, you know, perhaps we haven't met yet,
08:59so again, we are seeing them creating the impact, creating an impact at increasingly greater scale.
09:06Social enterprise is no longer at the fringes where businesses are, you know, surviving and supporting a few beneficiaries.
09:13They are actually creating meaningful impact.
09:15If I can share the business that I visited in Kuching, they were already supporting 600 farmers,
09:20and that's very impressive, and it is through their own initiative.
09:23Initially, they were doing it themselves, but recognising that there is a gap,
09:27we feel that it's important that we bring the ecosystem, we bring ourselves to support these businesses.
09:34As well as mentioned in Creative Spring 2026 media released recently that focus on three key tips this year,
09:43and it is Income Pathway, Heritage Conservations, and Scalar Solution to be selected as the three teams for the programme.
09:52So why these three teams become focused for this year's season as well?
09:56Yeah, it's interesting because it stems from empathy, it stems from listening.
10:01So over the years, as you mentioned, this is our third year running Creative Spring as our own initiative together
10:07with the ecosystem.
10:07So from the participants that have enrolled over the years, whether it's in Klan Valley or whether it's in Penang,
10:14we see that our entrepreneurs at this juncture are very much clustered within these three categories of sustainable livelihood,
10:22where they're helping people raise income through means of improving their production process
10:27or through means of supporting them by creating jobs.
10:30Or we also look at a lot of interest in arts, and I feel that arts and culture has huge
10:36potential.
10:36It's untapped, and it's something that we need all to come together and pay attention to.
10:42And lastly, of course, sustainability is very important.
10:44We see a lot of businesses, for example, Materials at Work, which I shared in Johor,
10:49where they are coming up with very innovative, very tackling really important issues.
10:57And this is where we landed.
10:59Of course, we took the information that we gather as well, the conversation that we have with our partners,
11:05like Yayasan, Asana, BSN, RTM, and so forth, that we realize that these are the pillars that we can match
11:14between the supply side, which is the entrepreneurs, as well as the demand side, perhaps, the market,
11:18as well as the investors.
11:20Azwar, this will be my final question.
11:23For those who are watching today who may be thinking about starting their own purpose-driven business
11:27and thinking of being part of Creative Sprint 2026, what advice would you give to them?
11:34All right.
11:35First and foremost, amazing that you have ideas, you have passion.
11:39So for that, if you are looking for support, whether it is learnings, community, or funding,
11:44I would very much invite all of you to sign up for our Creative Sprint.
11:49You can go on to our website, satchiprity.com.
11:52I'm sure in the front page, big banner is there waiting for you.
11:55And please join us.
Comments