Singapore is regularly ranked as one of the easiest countries in the world in which to do business. There are rules, for sure, but they are clearly laid out and easy to follow. New companies can be set up in hours, if not minutes. Intellectual property is respected, and the rule of law is transparent. Immigration is no less a hot topic in Singapore than other countries, but Singapore makes it easy to get highly educated workers into the country, and has a specific employment pass targeting would-be entrepreneurs. The clean, efficient city has some livability advantages over Shanghai, Manila, Jakarta, or Bangkok.

Wide use of soft power to address hidden barriers to entrepreneurialism. There is a misbegotten notion that entrepreneurs take risks because they don’t have much to lose. In fact, research shows that the number one factor predicting whether someone will become an entrepreneur is whether the person has received an inheritance or a gift. Singapore’s phenomenal development over the past 50 years means many of its citizens are sufficiently well off to take the entrepreneurial plunge without truly risking everything.

No place is perfect. While there is substantial seed capital to get a business started (arguably too much), plenty of investors primed to write huge checks to drive expansion, and significantly more entrepreneurs in Singapore than there were only a few years ago, building a team to start a new company remains challenging. And the so-called “Valley of Death” where a company has to move from a promising smart to real viability remains very real.