You don't really need a business plan to begin, don't overthink, START!
EFFECTUAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Dash, Founder of Act2
IABS 2026 WORKSHOP — REHUMANISING BUSINESS
PARALLEL TRACKS — ROUND 1 • 2:00 – 3:15 PM • 8 OCT 2026, SUNWAY UNIVERSITY
THE OLD PLAYBOOK
- Write a business plan predicting 5 years of revenue
- Chase VC funding & pitch ROI projections
- Scale fast, worry about profit later
- Sit through incubators & accelerator cohorts
- Predict the market, then execute the plan
THE EFFECTUAL WAY
- Start with who you are, what you know, who you know
- Risk only what you can afford to lose
- Build with the partners who show up — not cold pitches
- Treat surprises as fuel, not risk to eliminate
- Control what you can. Stop predicting what you can't
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Seasoned business owners
who feel they're stuck in a rut and dont know what's next
Bootstrapped business owners
who want language and frameworks for what they're already doing
Aspiring founders
intimidated by the VC-and-incubator path
Corporate intrapreneurs
launching new initiatives without a startup-sized budget
Students & early-career professionals
exploring entrepreneurship for the first time
Those on the fence
Anyone who's been told they need a pitch deck before they're allowed to start.
IT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE
AirAsia
Airasia started with just 2 planes and someone willing to bet with what he had.
Public Bank
Public Bank was built by a bank clerk willing to start simple by addressing a problem small retailers and businesses face
99 Speedmart
99 Speedmart started as a tiny sundry shop in Klang in 1987
What you're told
Every founder is told the same story: write the business plan, chase the funding, scale fast, worry about profit later. But most of that story was written for venture capital — not for you.
What could be
Effectuation is the actual decision-making logic used by experienced entrepreneurs — not a theory dreamed up in a classroom, but a pattern researchers found by studying how successful founders really think. In this session, Dash breaks down why starting with what you already have — not what you're missing — may be the more reliable path to building something real.
THE 5 PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTUATION
Bird in Hand
Start with your means — not a goal you haven't earned yet.
Affordable Loss
Risk what you can afford to lose, not what you hope to gain.
Crazy Quilt
Build with self-selected partners, not competitive analysis.
Lemonade
Leverage surprises. Don't waste energy avoiding them.
Pilot in the Plane
Control the future — don't waste time predicting it.
They all have 1 thing in common. Their founders started with what they had, not what they were chasing.
Rehumanising Business — Internet Alliance Business Summit 2026 • www.iabs.my
Rethinking Entrepreneurship