TODAY, Singapore plays host to more than 5,500 tech startups. They are following a well-trodden path of disruption that can be traced back 20 years to Amazon and its transformation of the dusty world of books.

Since then, multiple industries have been disrupted and transformed beyond recognition. The music industry, once the bastion of regular purchase cycles revolving around charts and releases, has been completely atomised by iTunes; Airbnb has transformed the hotel business, itself already under huge strain from online travel agents.

Everywhere one looks, categories are being re-imagined, re-engineered, ripped apart. Think Uber, think Netflix. Names that just a few years ago we had never heard of, but which are now synonymous with business growth and innovation - household brands that people complain about (often on social media) when they cannot access them.