Indeed, Dr Chan believes many entrepreneurs fail due to unexpected considerations.
"The biggest challenge I have, in terms of a start-up, is actually not the technology itself," he says.
"It is dealing with the personnel.
"When you are in a start-up company, every employee is a key employee and managing that is the hardest thing."
He says he has first-hand experience of the consequences of not getting this right.
"I have been involved in a number of start-ups. Many have failed, and many of them failed not because of the technology. They failed because of personality."
The experience has taught him that in start-up companies "the whole arrangement has to be very transparent".
He advises that particularly in collaborative ventures, everyone should get a "fair deal" and that agreements should be put in writing.
Ultimately, however, Dr Chan believes entrepreneurship is about risk and risk-taking.
"I often think that jaywalkers are good entrepreneurs," he says.
"They tend to take the risks and they want to get things done very quickly."