This week was an important one for the firm as we had 3 critical meetings lined up to chart and determine the company’s next growth stage.
On Mon, it was more preparation work to prep for our next call with our potential German strategic partner for one of our Green tech projects. We were also trying to create our official website and I was offering suggestions to our COO by applying a particular think-out-of-the-box method which totally surprised all of us with the results.
Last Fri, my colleague sent me a list of writeups on the mission statement, investment philosophy and values of the green tech fund we would publish on our newly formed website. I was having my usual Sat morning breakfast at the hawker centre the next day when I had a light bulb moment.
Why can’t I get AI (Artificial Intelligence) to help me write them instead? Would it provide better answers? I happened to have ChatGPT as an app on my phone, so I typed: “Provide a mission statement for a green tech fund.” The reply blew me away immediately for its sophistication and all-encompassing mission:
“Our mission is to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future by investing in innovative green technologies that address pressing environmental challenges. We are committed to supporting companies and projects that promote renewable energy, resource efficiency, and environmental conservation, ultimately creating a cleaner and more sustainable world for current and future generations.”
Woah!! I quickly decided to get the responses for the other 2 (Investment Philosophy and Values) and fired off an email to share with my COO and group CEO. They were mightily impressed when I checked with them on Mon. I then suggested to them to start to use ChatGPT themselves to see how AI will make us more efficient. We have to embrace AI or be left behind. As Thanos had said, it is inevitable.
On Tue morning, we had a Zoom call that was arranged last week with a professor from a local university. I happened to come across his name when I googled for a researcher who was an expert in the field of biochar that we are interested in. I found his name and contact details on a symposium that was held in June where he was a keynote speaker. I dropped him an email and he responded the following day to suggest that we have a video call this week to explore further.
He roped in a few of his younger colleagues for the call with our team as we were also interested in knowing his thoughts. We had wanted him to recommend a researcher who could help us conduct a pyrolysis experiment with some new materials we will provide to see the end results as part of our Biomass project.
In the end, we agreed to stay in touch and the professor invited us to an upcoming event that will officially launch new Biochar standards for S’pore. This is the material that we are very interested in exploring further. The event will also be a good networking opportunity to meet with producers and researchers alike.
The main event of the week was a video call on Tue afternoon to Germany. This was the first official meeting with the CEO of the company and we wanted to establish a strategic partnership with them in South East Asia for our green tech project.
Our CIO has been working hard over the last 2 months to establish a rapport with one of the shareholders based here. They have hashed out a financial model that is a win-win strategy for all participants. It will be a game changer if we can pull this off, by bringing together the investors, the German technology and the on-the-ground expertise from our neighbouring country. It will be an ESG breakthrough that will help contribute to slowing down climate change while working towards a carbon-zero common goal.
This first meeting went very well, much better than I expected. Toward the end of the call, we were like old friends sharing about future possibilities and the ongoing Oktoberfest. It was indeed a very good meeting and there were all smiles and laughter at the end of the call.
Wed afternoon was the last of the important calls for the week. We had a video call with our in-house lawyers to kick-start the process of constructing the VCC (Variable Capital Company) infrastructure for our fund company. Given that VCCs were only launched by the authorities in 2020 and it was the first time we were working on a VCC, we have to rely heavily on the lawyers to guide us in this process.
It was also timely for us to begin this process as it would take us approximately 2 to 4 weeks to complete. This also ties in with the near completion of the In Principal Approval to-do list requirements. We need to revert back to the authorities before they can officially issue the CMS fund management license to us.
We ended the week on a high note by having our TGIF snacks and drinks session in the office on Fri at 4:30 pm. This was the 2nd time we have had this once-a-month chill event since I started work here. Everyone became more relaxed and chilled as we got to know each other better. We also talked more after some wines and finger food 🙂 while getting to see the lighter side of ourselves and our colleagues. We want to work hard and play hard too. Time to move on to my 2nd month of work and stick to the timeline we agreed upon.
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