Mr Thomas Clayton: There actually is a ton of job security overall from a career perspective.

Wanted: Super-smart people. With S$12 million raised in its second round of financing, it is manpower and not money that is the biggest challenge facing social messaging startup Bubble Motion today.

Originally founded as a voice messaging company a few years ago, Bubble Motion soon recognised the power and importance of social media and sharing. “Based on what was happening with the social Web, we morphed into a social messaging company, leveraging our intellectual property and technology assets, and in early 2010, launched our Bubbly service,” said Mr Thomas Clayton, Chief Executive Officer, Bubble Motion.

He likened Bubbly to a service where people share SMS and voice updates with friends, family, fans and followers, bringing social networking to mobile phones. “It is a lot like Twitter, but with a voice,” said Mr Clayton. “And we have since grown to over 8 million users across India, Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines.”

Building on this traction, Bubble Motion recently raised one of the largest venture capital rounds in Singapore so far this year – S$12 million in growth capital to accelerate the roll-out of its voice-based social communications service across Asia. Participating venture capitalists include SingTel Innov8; Infocomm investments, the venture capital arm of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore; as well as Silicon Valley heavyweight Sequoia Capital.

Positioned at the intersection of the mobile and social media opportunity, the company is focused on building a technology platform that distributes its services through operator networks, the Web and smartphones, a domain that leans more towards the leading edge of technology. And it is looking for the right people to do this.

“We’re looking for just super-smart people who have relevant technical and marketing skills, like to learn new things, and are hungry for breaking new ground,” Mr Clayton said.

However, finding the right people isn’t always so easy. “Singapore is doing a great job of creating an ecosystem here that fosters and facilitates technical innovation,” Mr Clayton observed. “The pool is improving, and yet it still has room to grow when it comes to being able to quickly and easily identify and hire people who possess the skills and attitudes that are effective in fast-paced and dynamic early-stage growth companies.”

Identifying talent is one challenge; hiring them is another, given the perceived lack of stability and security compared with larger, more established organisations. “Being in a startup is certainly not for everyone,” Clayton conceded. “For people whose only priority is job security, there may be more suitable lines of work.” 

Still, he thinks that there are good reasons why prospective candidates should give startups a shot. “In this world, while there is no 100 per cent security with any given role or company, there actually is a ton of job security overall from a career perspective, as there is a healthy competition for great people who have the experiences and attitudes that are needed,” he said.

“People move around from company to company on a regular basis, and this sort of cross-pollination is not only normal and expected, but healthy in that ideas and companies evolve quickly when people come together easily, each bringing their own experiences and expertise.”

In Bubble Motion, engineering and mobile talent will have the opportunity to build up that breadth of expertise and experience. “You will see us expand our operator relationships in our current countries while moving into new markets,” said Mr Clayton, emphasising the opportunity for staff to work in the different countries which Bubble Motion operates in. “Our vision is to make the service available through other ways, so that people can use the service globally and through whatever means they choose.”