Monash Startup Day: Exploring Malaysia’s Dynamic Startup Ecosystem
11 September 2024
Monash University Malaysia hosted its first Monash Startup Day, a startup-focused career fair connecting students with local upcoming startups. Jointly organised by Monash Malaysia Career Services and the Monash Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hub, the event opened doors for students to explore the dynamic world of entrepreneurship and career opportunities. Monash Startup Day was also supported by our startup partners, Youth Ventures and NextUp Asia.
With over 20 local startups in attendance—including Carsome, Hiredly, Teach for Malaysia, Endeavor Malaysia, and others—the event attracted more than 350 student participants who actively engaged in the day’s activities.
Monash Startup Day’s highlights included resume checks by Hiredly and Youth Ventures, professional LinkedIn headshots, and a panel session on "The Power of Networking" featuring startup founders and Monash Alumni – Kimberley Wan (Otomate Me), Jeff Cheok (Mole & Forward Founders), and Shawn Tham (UniLah), and moderated by Dr Daniel Loy from the Monash Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hub.
The panel session highlighted essential networking strategies, including overcoming hesitations about initiating conversations and leveraging the principle that "your network is your net worth."
It emphasised the importance of using LinkedIn for digital engagement and creating detailed contact lists for manual networking.
The discussion also contrasted low-maintenance digital interactions with high-maintenance in-person meetings and offered practical tips on starting effective conversations for both networking and general communication.
Overall, Monash Startup Day facilitated connections, gathered insights and paved forward new pathways for our students interested in the startup sector.