Tee Khoon will lead the overall sales function for the country and nurture key industry relationships
Singapore-based propertytech group PropertyGuru has announced the appointment of Dr. Tan Tee Khoon as its new Country Manager and inducted him into the executive leadership team.
Tee Khoon will lead the overall sales function for Singapore, the group’s flagship market in Southeast Asia, focussing on value creation for partners, as well as nurture key industry relationships. He will also partake in further shaping up the company’s proposition towards audiences and lead its implementation towards its partners (real estate agents and developers).
Tee Khoon will report to Jeremy Williams, the group’s Chief Business Officer.
An industry veteran, Tee Khoon brings onboard three decades of experience in the country’s property scene. Most recently, he served as the Executive Director at Knight Frank Singapore. Prior to Knight Frank, he was the CEO of Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA), which was the property industry’s accreditation body prior to the inception of the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA).
Launched in 2007, PropertyGuru claims it currently enjoys over 70 per cent market share.
“Tee Khoon’s exhaustive industry experience and knowledge will be of immense value as we continue to deliver solutions and services that bring efficiency to our clients’ businesses. Our ambition to create a digital ecosystem for the property industry that supports the growth for developers and agents, is a vision that Tee Khoon shares,” said Jeremy Williams, Chief Business Officer of PropertyGuru Group.
“I believe in the power of data-driven decision making. Data is the currency for success in property. I have closely worked with PropertyGuru over the past years and the group’s focus to bring technology adoption for agency and developer business is something I am looking forward to work together on,” said Tee Khoon, who will head a team of 50 Gurus.
Asenso’s products incorporate chatbot-assisted loan applications, NLP to support local languages, frictionless loan approvals, cashless e-wallets, and a data-driven online marketplace
Singapore-based fintech and retailtech startup Asenso Tech has received US$1.2 million investment from CARD MRI, a microfinance institution in the Philippines, and Talino Venture Labs, an enterprise venture accelerator targeting underserved markets.
Asenso Tech, a joint venture between CARD-MRI and Talino, is building an integrated platform leveraging new technologies that will provide micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) with access to fair capital, supply chain, marketplace, and loyalty and rewards systems. Its idea is to create a link and integrated supply chain between MSMEs — especially the local sari-sari stores (community-based ‘mom and pop’ stores) — and consumer packaged goods manufacturers.
The startup supports MSMEs across the supply chain and stimulates their growth through what it calls its four pillars: “Puhunan”, sustainable capital through low-cost, fair, and frictionless microfinancing; “Paninda”, an aggregated demand marketplace that lowers the cost of goods for MSMEs; “Suki”, a loyalty programme to reward frequent MSME customers; and “Likha”, a marketplace to help community entrepreneurs expand their reach.
Asenso’s products already incorporate credit scoring powered by Artificial Intelligence, chatbot-assisted loan applications, neuro-linguistic programming to support local languages, frictionless loan approvals, cashless e-wallets, and a data-driven online marketplace.
“In Southeast Asia, 64 million MSMEs account for 97.2 per cent of employment in the region. In the Philippines, MSMEs comprise 99.6 per cent of all registered businesses and provide 70 per cent of the nation’s employment. Operating independently, they have limited access to capital, no buying power, no leverage to negotiate with suppliers and manufacturers, and severely limited distribution and marketing reach,” said Winston Damarillo, Co-founder of Asenso and CEO of Talino Venture Labs.
“We are harnessing technology precisely to serve the broadest base of people. Our measures of success will be: lowering the cost to serve this market, levelling the playing field for micro players, and improving the lives and the economic stature of micro entrepreneurs,” added Damarillo.
“People assume that new technologies would alienate common folk and their humble enterprises. But Asenso, powered by the partnership of CARD MRI and Talino, are proving just the opposite. These same technologies will enable the lower-income sector, who are otherwise alienated by traditional banking structures, to be able to receive low-cost and fair financing, to have access to market and the supply chain, and to gain leverage that used to be available only to the big players,” said Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of CARD MRI.
“Because CARD MRI is in the business of poverty eradication, it is important for us to offer fair credit that the masses can easily access. We know our clients by heart through over 30 years of grassroots development work, and it matters to us that they grow and succeed,” Alip pointed out.
Talino Venture Labs is an InclusionTech accelerator that serves underserved markets as the foundation for the next economy. It builds startups in partnership with large corporations, to address unmet needs with agility, scale, and cutting-edge technology. It is a subsidiary of Amihan Global Strategies, a market leader in digital transformation and a trusted partner of some of the largest corporations in the ASEAN.
Talino recently co-invested in a US$1.2 million seed round in insurtech company Saphron.
There are going to be times when you feel completely unmotivated; so what should you do?
I’m not highly motivated.
I don’t have amazing willpower or self-control.
I don’t get up at 6 am to read, meditate, drink a green smoothie, and run 10 kilometres.
That’s because I don’t believe in motivation.
Instead, I’ve built systems and habits that remove my internal drive from the equation. So, whether or not I feel “motivated,” I can still be productive.
I realize that systems and habits are not a glamorous topic, but honestly, they work.
They’ve fuelled every step of my entrepreneurial journey over the last 12 years — from the early days, when JotForm was just a simple idea, to growing a team of over 110 employees who serve 3.7 million users.
Habits and systems have made it all possible.
If you create reliable systems and continue to improve these systems (instead of your willpower), you don’t even have to think about motivation.
Let’s break it down a little.
What the heck is motivation, anyway?
In the simplest terms, motivation is your desire to do something. It’s a sense of willingness that exists on a spectrum — from zero interest to a burning desire to take action.
When your desire is strong, motivation feels effortless.
But when you’re struggling, just about anything sounds better than starting the assignment, making a tough phone call, or hitting the gym. Procrastination takes over — until the agony becomes overwhelming.
“At some point, the pain of not doing it becomes greater than the pain of doing it.”
I love this quote because I suspect we’ve all felt this painful moment. That’s when it’s harder to stay on the couch than to get up, put on your sneakers, and go outside.
Extrinsic motivation is external. It’s money or praise or trying not to look clumsy on the tennis court.
Intrinsic motivation comes from within. It’s the desire to act, even when the only reward is the activity itself (or completing a task).
Intrinsic motivation implies that you’re acting for authentic, honorable reasons. For example, you start a business to help people or solve a problem — not because you’re dazzled by visions of fame and fortune.
Motivation gets in the way, though, when we rely too heavily on it.
No matter how much you love your business, there are probably moments when you don’t want to take action.
Maybe it feels scary or impossible, or the task at hand is downright boring.
That’s when systems can do the heavy lifting. Here are a few strategies that have helped me to build sustainable systems so I don’t have to rely on motivation.
1. Choose your focus areas — and ignore the rest
Focus and motivation might seem like two different topics, but they are closely intertwined.
Take me as an example. This year, I have 3 work priorities:
Hiring really great people;
Creating quality content;
Equipping our users to work more productively
These themes inform everything I do. If a project or an opportunity doesn’t fit into one of these three buckets, I say no. Distractions slip away and I can make real progress.
For example, I spend the first two hours of every workday writing out my thoughts. It might be a problem I’m trying to solve or a new idea. I don’t book meetings during this period and I definitely don’t answer emails.
But, if I arrive at work feeling less than inspired, I give myself permission to do something else — as long as it fits within my three focus areas. Instead of writing and problem-solving, I can read articles or books on these topics, meet with a product team, or watch a lecture.
All that thinking and exploring soon makes me feel more engaged. Once I’m engaged, I come up with better ideas. And good ideas inspire me to take action.
This process isn’t accidental. It’s a simple feedback loop I use to get moving on days when my brain feels stuck in neutral.
2. Remember that motivation is optional
In a 2016 article for The Cut, author Melissa Dahl shares,
The only motivational advice anyone has ever needed: You don’t have to feel like getting something done in order to actually get it done.“
Go back and read that again, if you want. I know I did. Let it sink in.
It’s surprisingly brilliant. Your feelings don’t have to match your actions — especially when you truly want to move forward.
You could feel tired, but still put on your goggles and go for a swim. You could feel like you’d rather staple yourself to the chair than build another PowerPoint deck — and you still get the presentation done.
Dahl also quotes Oliver Burkeman, author of The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking, who writes:
“Who says you need to wait until you ‘feel like’ doing something in order to start doing it?
The problem, from this perspective, isn’t that you don’t feel motivated; it’s that you imagine you need to feel motivated.”
Once again, this is where routines can outsmart feelings. Sure, you might feel like watching cat videos, but every morning, you sit down at your computer and open a blank document.
You write for two hours (or whatever your routine entails) and you don’t bother taking your emotional temperature.
Progress ensues. Then you repeat, repeat, repeat.
3. Delegate whenever possible
The other day, I had a great idea during my morning workout. It was one of these eyebrow-raising lightbulb moments.
Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with my three focus areas I mentioned above. So, I made a note in my phone and asked our COO to follow my mental thread.
I was tempted to chase it myself, but I knew I had to stay focused.
I realize that delegation isn’t always possible, especially when you’re just starting out or money is tight. JotForm is a bootstrapped company.
But when it’s possible, delegation can pay off, big time. Offload an activity if:
You can regain precious time, energy or focus and apply it to something that will truly move the needle for you. That kind of work is priceless. Stretch yourself a little and measure the results. You can always test delegation in baby steps.
Someone else can do it better. In my case, there’s almost always someone on our team who has more knowledge or niche expertise than I do. They’ll create a stronger result in less time — and again, I don’t get distracted from my goals.
The importance of enjoying the ride
We’ve talked a lot about everyday motivation. But how do you sustain your drive for the long run?
It’s an important question. The answer will look a little different for everyone, but ultimately, we’re all motivated by joy and meaning.
Guardian columnist (and The Antidote author) Oliver Burkeman first led me to Buddhist teacher Susan Piver. Tired of forcing herself to be “good” and master the daily to-do list, Piver decided instead to focus on the pleasure of her work:
“Once I remembered that my motivation is rooted in genuine curiosity and my tasks are in complete alignment with who I am and want to be, my office suddenly seemed like a playground rather than a labor camp.”
She asked herself what would be fun to do and then focused on what she loved about each activity.
In the end, her day looked the same as it did when she was “disciplined” — but the experience was nearly effortless:
“Yes, discipline is critical, just like all the teachers say.
And there is definitely stuff that needs doing that is just never going to be fun, like paying bills and cleaning the cat box.
But I suggest that instead of being disciplined about hating on yourself to get things done, try being disciplined about remaining close to what brings you joy.”
Talk about a perspective shift. We all go through tough times, work at jobs we don’t love and endure genuine unfairness.
But if you’re struggling to do something you care deeply about, go easy on yourself.
Tap into why you started your business, or why you’re flexing your creative muscles in the first place. It’s a much happier way to move through your days.
To recap: establish your systems and habits. Stay focused on what matters. Delegate and tune out the noise. Your motivation will grow.
Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.
Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.
Its non-equity model allows founders to have full ownership of their ideas and products, and at the end of the program, they will get opportunities to meet VCs and CVCs
WeWork Labs has announced that it has launched SPACE-F, a foodtech startup incubator and accelerator in Thailand, in partnership with the National Innovation Agency (NIA), SET-listed Thai Union Group PCL, and Mahidol University’s Science Faculty.
SPACE-F is aimed at building a sustainable ecosystem to nurture foodtech startups in Thailand. It claims to be the first such initiative in the country and plans to provide services and support to empower the next generation of innovation in food tech.
The program will have two tracks: the Incubator track for initial-stage startups; and Accelerator track for growth stage startups (for both Thai and non-Thai nationals). It will accept applications until 31 July 2019.
Eligible applicant startups must propose innovation in one of the following areas: health and wellness; alternative proteins; smart manufacturing; packaging solution; novel food and ingredients; biomaterial and chemical; restaurant tech; food safety and quality; and smart food services.
The SPACE- F program will run for up to 15 months for Incubator and three to eight months for Accelerator. Its non-equity model allows founders to have full ownership of their ideas and products, and at the end of the program, founders will have opportunities to meet qualified investors including Thai Union Group PCL and other VCs and corporate VCs.
SPACE-F will be located at Mahidol University’s Faculty of Science and provides downtown lab access to high-tech machinery and instrumentation to facilitate the research and development of ideas.
“The time is ripe for foodtech advancements, and along with the perfect partners for this program, we are excited to select Thailand as the first stop to launch our partnered Food Labs program and help bring to life some of today’s brightest ideas right here in Thailand,” said Adrian Tan, Head of Labs, Southeast Asia for WeWork.
WeWork Labs recently debuted its Food Labs program, which is its first innovation space dedicated to powering the future of food and aims to support growing startups by bringing together entrepreneurs, industry experts, and investors to build a community to address the biggest challenges facing the global food industry.
As a bid to drive innovation and economic growth within the kingdom, startups attending the SPACE-F program can also apply for the SMART Visa program from the Thai government which provides numerous privileges to help attract skilled manpower.
SGX was a pilot partner during the development of Smartkarma’s corporate solutions service
Singapore Exchange (SGX) announced that it has invested an undisclosed amount into local investment research startup Smartkarma, as reported by Tech In Asia. Joining the round are Sequoia Capital India and Wavemaker Partners, both existing investors in Smartkarma.
SGX’s investment was a move to tap into the startup’s investment research network. Smartkarma is reportedly in the preparation to launch its corporate solutions, which include a range of services for C-suite and investor relations personnel of listed companies.
SGX was a pilot partner when the service was first being developed and will be the first exchange to bring the platform to all its listed and upcoming companies as well as global bond issuers.
With the investment and partnership, all companies listed on the exchange will be able to utilise Smartkarma’s network of independent analysts and investors.
Chan Kum Kong, Head of Research and Retail for SGX, said in a statement: “As SGX continues to uphold the standard and availability of research coverage through initiatives such as partnering with the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Grant for Equity Markets, we are also investing in new models to serve investors and companies now and in the future.”
–
