Month: December 2019

Sino Hua-an to acquire tech company Touchpoint Group- Press release

Hua An Group acquired a technology company TouchPoint Group at a signing ceremony today. With the acquisition, Hua An will own 100% equity of TP Group, comprising of TouchPoint International Sdn Bhd and Wavetree PLT. The acquisition is valued at a total investment of MYR72.0 million.

With this acquisition, Hua An now includes digital business transformation solutions as part of its portfolio. This is in line with Hua An’s vision to be a digital transformation enabler in Malaysia. “With the advancement in digital technology and the development of more sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) that disrupt conventional businesses worldwide, this space is going to be one of the fastest-growing industries. With this in mind, I am proud to announce that Hua An will now have a technology arm, and is ready to expand our business into a new growth area. Aside from being a potentially profitable venture, this acquisition will bring a whole new set of expertise and knowledge that we are excited to expand into,” says Y.A.M. Tunku
Naquiyuddin Ibni Tuanku Ja’afar, the Executive Chairman of Huan An.

TP Group is a leader in the digital business transformation solution space in Malaysia, that offers a unique mobile community platform solution based on a digital ecosystem that allows users to do multiple things online and for local businesses to connect with their customers.

Emerging Payments Association Asia Signs MOU with ASEAN Financial Innovation Network- Press release

The Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA), the only payments association in Asia, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) to promote the benefits of the APIX Platform to the payments community, with an aim to further develop the industry.

Signing the MOU with AFIN is part of EPAA’s effort to advocate open banking. EPAA’s Project Open Banking Asia initiative is a 51-country initiative investigating API adoption, regulatory guidelines, the Fintech ecosystem, and innovation. EPAA’s research will help formulate policies and standards for the Asian payments sector.

APIX, the flagship product of AFIN, is a global cloud-based platform that enables financial institutions and fintech’s to discover one another on a curated global marketplace, design experiments collaboratively in the sandbox and deploy innovative solutions rapidly at a lower cost. The collaboration with AFIN represents significant value for current and future EPAA members.

John Ryan, Director General of Policy and Projects at EPAA, said “With AFIN onboard, participants—banks, fintechs, paytechs—get access to a safe, cost-effective environment that fosters learning, innovation, and collaboration.”

“AFIN is pleased to welcome the EPAA into our ever-growing community of FinTechs and service providers. Our objective is to promote effective policies and standards in the financial services industry. The EPAA will help accelerate our value creation for the industry,” said Manish Diwaan, Managing Director of AFIN.

Founded in 2018, the Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA) is the only payments association in Asia and has in a short time since its inception made significant waves in the payments industry. It has hosted more than 30 successful events, connecting nearly 1,000 payments leaders, driving payments’ advocacy and policy development.

Ucommune unveils three new co-working spaces using innovative asset-light management model- Press release

Ucommune’s latest spaces provide a hub for entrepreneurs and thought leaders to innovate and collaborate.

“The ‘Asset light’ style of management is an innovative approach that allows us to rapidly expand our footprint in China,” said Dr. Daqing Mao, founder, and chairman of Ucommune. “With smart technology and standardized business operations, we can rapidly connect more members in communities across China, unleashing their potential and creating maximum value for society.”

Also read: gojek Xcelerate introduces 10 women-founded startups to its second batch

Using this model, owners can revitalize real estate assets by leveraging Ucommune’s brand and resources to build communities and stimulate local business development. To ensure product and operational quality, Ucommune has released a ‘Standardized Operations Process Manual’, an extensive guidebook covering design, construction, financial management and more.

Since introducing the model, Ucommune has completed over 30 projects in Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Urumqi, Hulunbuir and other cities. Members include SMEs and international enterprises, and span a range of industries from technology and AI to design and culture. Looking ahead, Ucommune will continue harnessing the asset-light system to expand to China’s major cities, overseas markets, and establish itself as a global pathfinder and partner to businesses in the coworking space.

Softbank to face valuation cut in OneConnect IPO- Bloomberg

Masayoshi Son, head of Japanese conglomerate Softbank, is facing another valuation cut in one of his investments, said a Bloomberg report.

Ping An Insurance’s OneConnect Financial Technology Co. launched its US$500 million US initial public offering on Tuesday at a much-reduced valuation compared with its last funding round in which SoftBank participated in 2018. This latest sale comes just a couple of months after the investment powerhouse saw the value of one of its most high-profile investments, WeWork, tumble from US$47 billion to less than $8 billion.

OneConnect, which provides cloud computing and other technology services to small- and medium-sized financial institutions, is marketing shares at a valuation of about $4.4 billion to $5.2 billion based on the deal size before an over-allotment option of up to 15%, according to Bloomberg calculations based on an overnight filing. That’s a steep drop from the $7.5 billion OneConnect was valued at when it raised $650 million from investors including Softbank and SBI Group.

Investors had pushed back against the company’s proposed valuation, Bloomberg News reported last week. OneConnect had been gauging whether fund managers would accept an enterprise value equivalent to ~8-10x estimated sales, people familiar with the matter said.

Indonesian consumer insights platform Populix bags US$1m seed funding- DealStreetAsia

Indonesian consumer insights platform Populix has closed a US$1-million seed funding round led by Intudo Ventures and followed by Gobi Agung and Pegasus Tech Ventures, according to a DealStreetAsia article.

Founded in January 2018, Populix, through qualitative and quantitative studies, provides insights that help clients better understand Indonesian consumers and improve business decisions. It leverages technology to accurately understand consumer feedback in real-time.

In addition to research projects, Populix also generates revenue through selling in-house research and datasets to clients. Populix, which was recently inducted into Gojek’s Xcelerate program, says it will use the proceeds from the seed round to develop new products, enhance marketing efforts and hire new staff.

Populix’s products range from intensive research studies to simple surveys and can be arranged either on a project or subscription basis. During the company’s first year of operations, Populix claims to have completed research on more than 70 brands across 27 industries including multinationals, SMEs, institutions, and individuals based in Europe and Asia-Pacific looking to gain insights on Indonesia’s dynamic consumer-driven economy and consumer preferences.

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The latest Map of Greater Southeast Asia’s digital economies, released by AppWorks, a leading accelerator and venture capital firm in the region, is indicating to founders that the rise of mobile broadband in economies where GDP growth is accelerating past 6 per cent is setting the stage for amazing improvisation in tech use and commercial problem-solving. It may come as a surprise to some, but Taiwan can play a pivotal role in that innovation surge. 

As the supporter of the largest accelerator-born community in the region focused on tech founders, our team watches closely these developments. Our portfolio companies and the 1113 founders and 376 active startups of our Accelerator alumni network are living examples of the magnet that Taiwan has become for founders in this region. 

Starting small, in a huge region called GSEA

We refer to this region as Greater Southeast Asia (GSEA), positioning it as ASEAN + Taiwan, inclusive of such territories as Hong Kong and Macau, and East Timor. The nomenclature is driven by our observation of consumption habits and statistical data, as you can see in the map below, which hangs in our accelerator space. 

We include Taiwan in this grouping because its economic evolution has become something of a beacon for SEA founders who want to build beachheads around the region. Let’s start with a single statistic to understand why. 

The total e-commerce economy market size in Taiwan is USD$42 billion. This is almost 66 per cent of the size of the entire GSEA combined.

Founders who emerge in GSEA and come to Taiwan to grow stronger 

This unique attribute of Taiwan is a magnet. There is also a push factor in ASEAN nations. That mechanism is prompting SEA founders to seek out a tested, developed market for their ideas.

This movement is observable through growth statistics that suggest a plethora of pent up consumption demand driven by tech adoption and through example companies that have done it. Let’s start with the country data. 

Five countries in GSEA show growth in GDP per capita of over 6 per cent, as of last year. They are Cambodia at 6.83 per cent; Laos at 6.72 per cent; Vietnam at 6.5 per cent; the Philippines at 6.47 per cent; Myanmar at 6.45 per cent. Indonesia and East Timor show growth of 5.2 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. 

In Vietnam, a country of 95 million people, many early-stage startups are rapidly developing — Sky Mavis; Axie Infinity; Triip.me (AW#18). Engineering talent that moved overseas and went to tough schools like Harvard have now come back and are starting new companies by the dozens. 

In Indonesia, we have seen the growth of five unicorns, including Gojek and Bukalapak. In other areas, it’s not so straightforward. 

Google recently released yearly results from a long-term study that looked at the potential for SEA’s growth. 

Today, seven urban centres drive over 50 per cent of the internet economy in the countries depicted in GSEA. The “beyond metros,” or rural areas of a few SEA countries, account for 85 per cent of the population, but only 48 per cent of the Internet economy, as you can see from the picture below. 

While use cases may exist for tech, and while consumer demand may be growing, it’s harder to really scale in some emerging markets without solid strategies and consistent talent.

Even though the creativity and innovation ideas are off the charts, many things like stagnant offline players, unavailability of engineering talent, government red tape and just pure infrastructure fragmentation stand in the way of “moving fast and breaking things,” so to speak. 

SEA founders are coming to Taiwan is because they see a microcosm of development opportunities in Taiwan that they can take back to the rest of Asia, after getting focused here.

“Taiwan was a great gateway to Chinese-speaking countries [in SEA],” says Triip.me founder Hai Ho (AW#18). “There are [also] 200,000 and growing Vietnamese living in Taiwan. There are more daily direct flights between Taiwan and Vietnam, too. It is a good market.” 

AppWorks startups are gaining momentum in Taiwan

Over 376 AppWorks startups have continued to scale and expand by staging in Taiwan through our Accelerator or by becoming one of the AppWorks portfolio companies. Over 1,113 founders in our network have helped the country become a focal point for this region’s growth. 

These companies demonstrate just how nimbly a company locating in Taiwan can grow, figure out e-commerce strategies, and even acquire other companies and engineering teams while nurturing a huge market inside and outside of Taiwan. 

Shopback (AW#13), the e-rebates payment platform founded by Henry Chan and Joel Leong in Singapore, came to Taiwan to scale up their e-commerce knowledge and market deployment. 

Shopback has reported annualized sales figures of USD$500 million a year. It has operations in Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. 

Some other investments include 91APP (Taiwan’s Shopify); Carousell, which has localised to Taiwan by building an office here (it’s also localised in several other ASEAN markets). 

Taiwan is also the kind of place where you can build a company, or two, and IPO them, in a relatively quick time. For example, Jerry Kuo, one of the two siblings that started Kuobrothers, IPO’d in 2016. Jerry then IPO’d a second company that grew out of the original Kuobrothers Group, called MobiX, earlier this year. 

There’s also M17, started by Singaporean Joseph Phua. M17 started as a dating app company called Paktor and was based in Singapore. Joseph merged that company with a Taiwanese company called 17 Media to form what is fast becoming a massive social entertainment company that focuses on live-streaming. A recent acquisition of competitor MeMe Live has brought M17’s live stream market share to over 60 per cent in SEA’s developed markets. That wasn’t the only M17 procurement, though. 

M17 bought AppWorks Accelerator alum FBbuy, a company that developed an innovative way for people to buy items on Facebook. If someone simply typed in “+1,” in a comment, the scanning app would move the coveted item being discussed into a shopping cart. Joseph acquired that company and integrated it into a live-streaming commerce app called HandsUp. 

Early-stage is also heading to Taiwan

There are also a number of early-stage companies with inherent exposure to SEA who have heeded the call to come to Taiwan. 

At our upcoming Demo Day #19, over 65 per cent of the cohort will have originated or started their startup ideas in GSEA. Two female founders offer some examples.

Annie Zhang, from Hong Kong, will pitch Matters Lab as a decentralised platform for media and content sharing, which enables content providers to generate their own immutable content and get paid for it. They’ve generated about 25,000 customers in seven months. 

Telepod founder Jin-Ni Gan, a Malaysian living in Singapore, will also pitch. At a recent mentor day, she showed off her miniEV startup already operating in seven markets in the region. 

Her last slide was a photo of kids without shoes walking down a dirt road that cut through what looked like smoke from a jungle fire at a rubber plantation.

“My childhood was similar to this one,” she said, and then ended her pitch with the message that tech and creativity have a strong potential to make this life better for billions of people. 

That’s a story that is familiar to many founders here in Taiwan, and it’s one that will only scale rapidly in time. As the region grows, the probability that mission-driven founders who are intent on building fast-moving scalable startups will see that Taiwan is a launchpad for the regional market. 

Jin-Ni Gan, Founder of Telepod, at the AppWorks Accelerator Mentor Day, September 2019.

Another quick look at the GSEA market landscape should give founders, and investors, something to think about. 

Out of the five countries mentioned earlier that have GDP growth north of 6 per cent, three of them — Cambodia, Laos, and East Timor — have mobile internet penetration rates under 40 per cent. 

Myanmar, which has 21 million Internet users, only provides Internet to 36 per cent of its population. Nearly all of those users — 99.8 per cent — get their Internet through mobile phones.

In emerging market economies, a glut of software and tech availability is enabling founders to test use cases for new technology and consumer products.  Often, these use cases employ leapfrog innovations that are further ahead than the traditional infrastructure or tech use cases in developed markets. 

After spending six months in Taiwan, XFers (#18) teamed up with Zilliqa in Singapore to launch a stablecoin. The lack of avenues for remittances makes the mobile form factor an attractive device for gaining access to capital and tapping into new virtual banks and blockchain technologies. Going forward , data seems to indicate that this innovation in SE Asia driven by a connection to Taiwan will be more prevalent. And it will continue to shape fintech and more.

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When startup founders are working hard in the early stages, they often spend most of their time in building their product, launching the brand and raising capital.

In this situation, recruiting is mostly an afterthought. However, in the bigger picture, when you’re building a startup which will go to win in the long-run, finding talent is just as important as business development or acquiring customers, if not more. 

Like the classic chicken-and-egg situation, savvy startup founders delay their hiring until they can afford it, yet, their business can’t afford to grow until their team has grown.

Business growth can be extremely difficult unless you have the right team. Being stuck in this dilemma can be very frustrating.

At some point, founders need to get good at hiring themselves. But for beginners, here are a few pieces of advice I can give to help the recruiting hurdle easier.

Just like dating, hiring is about searching for quality versus quantity. Whether you are looking for the ideal hire or the perfect match, the ability to attract people is key. Here is what you can do for your startup. 

Company introduction and job description = dating profile

Let’s start by comparing the creation of a job description to how you might create your own dating profile. When you first register on a dating app, you tend to put the most appealing photos on your profile, along with a personal description, interests, and what you look for in a match.

Your hiring profile should look much the same. You want to share quality information that will trigger people’s interests.

1. Seduce your audience

“I am Asian, 5’3, love drinking wine.” 

If this is my dating profile description, it is unlikely that anyone would swipe right. Unless I have a really hot profile photos.

The common mistake with many startups is that they use the lazy cookie-cutter three-line introductions.

For example: 

VIVACIOUS is an AI-based dating app for iOS and Android. It was founded by a group of National Taiwan University Engineering graduates in 2019.

VIVACIOUS is a top 30 dating app on Google Play and Apple App store, and now has over 30,000 downloads.

So the question is, how do you expect to stand out if your description looks like a “copy and paste”?

It needs to be unique. A good profile should take potential hires on a journey, sharing values, mission and vision (VMV), and also helping them understand who you are as a founder.

Instead of a three-line description, I may write a profile description (like the one below), showing how the company is unique: 

We are a group of National Taiwan University graduate engineers who saw a problem shared among our peers. Many people struggle to find a date due to the lack of opportunities in their busy schedules. Using AI, we have created a unique dating platform experience called VIVACIOUS to help bring people together on an intimate level and bridge that missing happiness. Just a few clicks away, you can begin an adventure to find your significant other.

As a Master of Human Resources, you will be leading our engineering and marketing team on a journey that will help many lonely hearts find the love they deserve.

For big corporations like Apple, Google, or Microsoft, their reputation needs no introduction. However, startups are much different, as most are relatively unknown. Your profile is an opportunity for you to attract potential hires, just like you would when using a dating app. 

Knowing your position, market value and how to write a job description (JD)

If Keanu Reeves is my type, my dating profile should not just say, “looking for Keanu Reeves look-alike”. This is because looks are not everything, as a matching personality is just as important.

Let’s say Keanu’s looks is equivalent to a candidate’s skill qualification, personality is the determinant if one can work well within the company culture. If the potential hire has the looks “skill” but not the personality, be aware that they may not be an ideal candidate.

Be sure to elaborate when listing out a Keanu Reeves description, by combining both looks and personality. This way candidates can better understand if they will potentially be a fit for the position on your team.

When writing the job description, I would suggest listing bullet points, from most important (must have) to least important (nice to have/ prefer). Remember to keep it short and concise, without cluttering the page. Listing out too many points can work negatively by limiting your funnel. Always be aware of who your audience is and the market value of a position.

If the description is for a senior position, but the title and salary appear as a junior position, you are unlikely to attract the candidates you are after.  

For example, the Human Resource position for “Vivacious” may appear as: 

Vivacious is looking for an experienced HR Manager to join our growing team. The HR Manager will be heavily involved in operations execution and strategic planning.

This role will be responsible for the development of compensation & benefits, performance management, employee relations, talent development program, leave processing, training, and onboarding.

Requirements:

1.Ability in executing HR tasks with extreme efficiency and limited resources

2.Have experience designing, building and leading the implementation of strategic scalable HR initiatives

3.Adapts and thrives in a demanding, start-up, fast-paced environment

Good to have:

1. Minimum 5 years’ of HR experience

2.Experience with start-up companies is a plus

3.Payroll experience 

Know where your target audience (TA) spends time

If my interest is drinking wine and I am looking for someone who would enjoy drinking wine with me, then attending a wine tasting event to look for a potential match would probably be an ideal place to start. 

This is the same in hiring. When you are finding talent, you have to think about where your talent would spend their time.

Do they show up at certain events, work for certain companies, or have their own Facebook group… etc?

Start by looking in the right direction, and focus on those online and offline locations.  

Know the competitor

Know your competition. Gather as much information about your competitors, such as their job posting content, company performance, company culture, strengths and weaknesses.

This information will be helpful when determining the strategic positioning of your startup to potential hires.  

Have your pitch ready 

Hiring moments can sometimes appear at the most unexpected times. You should always be ready to pitch your startup, otherwise, an opportunity with a talented candidate could be missed.

Be confident when giving your pitch, keep it short, concise, and most importantly, be persuasive.

Referrals are key

We focused on the points above first because they need to be fully understood prior to the most important step of them all — asking for referrals. Referrals are critical relationship keys that unlock doors and allow you access to more potential new hires. 

Searching your existing circle of resources for suitable candidates should always be your first step. You can usually find what you are looking for when working through people you trust.

Often times, it is usually a faster and more cost-effective way to hire. Instead of relying only on job postings, career sites or recruiting services, focus on building a stronger network.

Conclusion

The hiring chicken-and-egg problem is frustrating but not impossible. It can take months to find the right candidate. So it is crucial that you have a plan and a strategy ready.

Start crafting your startup profile today, practice your pitch, and when the opportunity presents itself, you will be prepared to win the perfect candidates that will change the game for you.

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Image Credit:  Michel Boulé

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Xiaomi Co-Founder and CEO Lei Jun

Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun steps down amidst sales decline – TechNode

Xiaomi co-founder and chairman Lei Jun has stepped down as the company president for China, according to an internal company letter.

According to a report by TechNode, his resignation followed a drop in the company’s smartphone market share since he took the position in May.

In addition to Lei Jun, Xiaomi also reshuffled seven other high-ranking executives.

Market research firm Canalys reported that Xiaomi’s smartphone shipments in China declined 20 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter and 33 per cent in Q3 with market share shrinking to nine per cent from 12 per cent during the six-month timeframe.

OYO elevates Aditya Ghosh to board, aims to focus on profitability and quality control – Bloomberg

Indian hospitality tech giant OYO has elevated key executive to board as part of its effort to push for profitability and quality control, Bloomberg wrote.

Aditya Ghosh, who had served as OYO’s chief executive officer for India and South Asia, is stepping up to a board position. He will be succeeded by Rohit Kapoor, the company’s current new real estate businesses chief.

Prior to joining OYO, Ghosh led Indian budget airline company Indigo.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news, July 9: Xiaomi even on first day of listing, 11 Street Thailand nabs investor

500 Tuk Tuks names 10 startups from its second fund – e27

500 TukTuks, the Thailand unit of early-stage VC fund 500 Startups, today announced the 10 new startups it has invested from its second fund.

This second batch of investment follows the first batch of six it had announced earlier this year.

The companies in the list range from property tech to nanotech.

Tribe Accelerator facilitates additional US$15.7M fundraising to boost blockchain innovations – e27

Tribe Accelerator, Singapore government-supported blockchain accelerator, has facilitated the fundraising of S$21.5 million (US$15.7 million) for its participating companies through its ecosystem of corporate and investor partners.

Enterprise Singapore also supports the fundraising.

The fund itself was announced on the first Demo Day of the Tribe Global Demo Tour for its second batch of participating companies in Singapore today

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Tribe Accelerator (“Tribe”), Singapore’s government-supported blockchain accelerator has facilitated the fundraising of S$21.5 million (US$15.7 million) for its participating companies through its ecosystem of corporate and investor partners.

Enterprise Singapore also supports the fundraising, further signaling a total backing on the evolution of blockchain technology and its applications through collaboration and exchange of ideas entering 2020.

At the Singapore Fintech Festival X SWITCH 2019, Tribe also signed MoU with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) FinTech Hive, the largest financial technology accelerator in the Middle East. The move gives Tribe access to a new pool of innovators, investors, and corporate partners.

Tribe also launched OpenNodes, a hyperconnected blockchain ecosystem platform in association with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

The fund itself was announced on the first Demo Day of the Tribe Global Demo Tour for its second batch of participating companies in Singapore today. Besides Singapore, the demo days are also being held in Dubai, Shanghai, and Abu Dhabi.

Also Read: In Photos: The launch of blockchain focussed Tribe Accelerator

Tribe Accelerator’s Global Demo Tour is the final phase of the accelerator programme, whereby its portfolio companies are set to showcase their blockchain solutions to chosen innovators present.

“Every idea or solution shared during the Demo day has the potential to revolutionise the way the linked industry works in the present. We will continue to harbour companies that can change the face of the blockchain industry and benefit the end-user – making the technology more mainstream,” said Ng Yi Ming, Managing Partner of Tribe Accelerator.

“At SGInnovate, we are focussed on helping entrepreneurial scientists build Deep Tech startups that can make a positive impact globally. This partnership with Tribe allows us to get closer to the action and support some promising startups through investments and venture building efforts to commercialise their products on a larger scale,” said Hsien-Hui Tong, Head of Venture Investing, SGInnovate.

Among the second cohort of 9 participating companies showcasing market-ready solutions is Affle, AID:Tech, Aqilliz, Bluzelle, DiMuto, Eximchain, Pilab, Torus, and WhiteCoat.

Dublin-headquartered AID:Tech, one of the participating companies, seeks to tackle the issue of fraud in public spending by offering solutions for aid and social welfare programs in the form of an interoperable decentralised digital ID protocol for end-users. It enables entitlements such as remittances, donations, and healthcare to be digitised and delivered through blockchain technology in a transparent manner.

Meanwhile, DiMuto integrates blockchain technology into its services, offering what it’s called a Trade Solutions Platform. It aims to help businesses gain greater visibility in the supply chain to reduce inefficient trade dispute settlement processes and enhance access to the global market.

Another company is WhiteCoat, a digital healthcare provider offering on-demand telehealth services in Singapore. It is currently offering an end-to-end, blockchain-integrated healthcare service, ranging from diagnosis, treatment, medical referrals to the delivery of medication in Singapore facilitated through its application, WhiteCoat app.

The blockchain integration in Whitecoat aims to enhance the verification of patient identity and prevent exposure of medical records in the event of a cybersecurity breach.

Also Read: Blockchain accelerator TRIBE introduces OpenNodes to build an innovation melting pot

Tribe said that it is focussing on driving government partnerships with countries that are keen on leveraging futuristic technology for economic development across the globe. The main mission is to build a world-wide collaborative ecosystem.

“Going forward we will focus on enabling global government partnerships which is a must to fuel-up the current ecosystem. One of our goals is to drive the adoption of blockchain at a national level as countries like Singapore pursue their Smart Nation ambition. Mighty Jaxx, one of our participating companies from Batch I is already supporting OpenCerts, a government initiative in Singapore, that enables the issue and validation of tamper-resistant digital certificates,” Yi Ming closed.
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Your employees are amongst your organization’s most valuable assets, and taking the initiative to improve their performance can underpin your business’s success. Communication is a critical element in any staff management process, but what else should your management strategy include?

Taking a coaching approach to managing your employees could help you successfully connect with your team and guide them towards improved performance. This is because coaching is a collaborative and consultative approach to managing employees. 

Whether you’re dealing with an underperforming employee or you’re just looking for new strategies to enhance your team’s performance, it’s important to identify any issues, take an interactive approach to employee management, and create workable and effective action plans for management.

At the core of this type of management strategy lies four key steps: explanation, employee feedback, discussion of ideas, and implementing an action plan and follow-up.

1. Identify and explain the performance issue

Coaching involves bringing performance issues to attention that help employees correct them before they become major problems. You need to give a clear explanation of the situation and your employee’s performance and describe the behaviour using examples so they understand.

Make sure you also clarify why something has to change. For example, you can note, “I know you’re extremely capable, but recently your team members have noticed a slower response to work requests. This has impacted our project deadlines, which we’ve had to move back.”

Also Read: How tech companies get employees to work overtime and why we fall for it

You can also describe how their performance is affecting the team’s outcomes and in turn the organization’s bottom line. Use an objective, neutral tone and avoid reacting emotionally when discussing performance issues.

2. Ask for employee feedback

Once you’ve presented your explanation, check in with your employee. Always give them a chance to provide feedback and explain the reason behind any performance issues they have. For example, probe for feedback by stating, “I value your input and want to understand if you see the same opportunities for improvement here.”

Challenge your staff members to review their goals and come up with ideas for improving their performance. Reserve judgment and interruptions until you’ve heard their account, and ask questions for clarification where necessary. Impediments to performance can include things like time, training, tools, and temperament, so you could ask something like, “Do you think these barriers exist? How do you think we could eliminate them?”

3. Discuss ideas for solutions

Once your employee has had the opportunity to provide an explanation and layout of their perspective, you can move onto the next step: reviewing and considering potential solutions. Start with the causes of the issue, and focus on their performance rather than criticizing them as an individual. For example, say, “I’d like to come up with a few different ideas to support you in doing your best work.”

When exploring solutions to specific issues, take a life-link coach approach to manage your employees by looking for ways to empower them by boosting their self-belief and self-worth. For example, you can check their previous high performance by saying, “I have every confidence you can reach your targets because for the most part you’ve been a stellar, valuable employee in the organization.” Additionally, provide the guidance your staff member will need to achieve their goals.

4. Create an action plan and follow-up

Devise a clear action plan for improvement and get your employees to commit to change. Consider setting up SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) performance goals to ensure they’re specific enough to be tracked and measured.

Don’t forget to communicate your confidence in your employee’s ability to make the necessary changes. For example, say, “I have every confidence you can meet these performance targets.” For already high-performing employees, focus on continuous improvement.

Also Read: The importance of one on one meetings with your employees

When creating a plan for improvement, set up milestones or time frames for following up and giving regular feedback so you can track progress and make adjustments where necessary.

Regular feedback can keep your employees on track and empower them by making them feel valued, but don’t overlook the importance of getting your employee’s feedback as well. For example, ask this: “How do you think it’s going? Do you have any adjustments you’d like to make?”

If your employees fall short again, offer constructive feedback for improvement. If your employee matches or exceeds expectations, recognize and reward them.

Effective coaching supports high-performing employees

Coaching is a powerful tool that any manager can use for employee performance management, but it seems many organizations aren’t harnessing the power of training and development.

Also Read: The importance of one on one meetings with your employees

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently revealed that US organizations with 100-500 employees provided, on average, six minutes of training per employee every six months. In the UK it’s a similar sorry story, with 57 per cent of British SMEs not offering any staff training and development.

What does this really mean?

For employees who are already highly productive, it can further enhance their contributions to the organization by supporting continuous improvement and preventing stagnation.

This is why, coaching for performance management helps to support your team with improved morale and higher engagement — whilst, at the same time it ensures you’re employees are accountable.

Lastly, it can provide them with the motivation to innovate and improve productivity to become high-performing staff members, and this could pave the way for a competitive and profitable organization.

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On a car ride next to his one year-old granddaughter and me, his twenty-something kid, my Dad blurted out that he plans to vlog, coyly with his signature nervous laugh. My jaw must’ve dropped but I’ve mastered the art of concealing my expression –thanks to becoming a mom of a toddler.

“What do you want to vlog about?” I asked. Well, I know he recently got so into marathon, but I never thought that THAT was the intention.

“I want to inspire people my age to get moving,” he said, plainly. Oh, wow, I can barely get out of my seat to grab a proper meal let alone exercise and here he is, well into his remaining fifties, talking about moving and how he might have the platform to do so.

It got me thinking about what the internet has done to his generation.

OK, Boomer

According to a quick Google search, Baby Boomer is the generation born between the early to mid-1940s and the mid-1960s, came of age in an era before on-demand media.

Also Read: 10 thought-provoking op-eds on e27 you need to read now

Baby Boomer is often associated with the cynical group of older people that think Millennials and Generation Z are entitled brats that never have the taste of hard work, being born and living their adulthood in the age of technology. The image stands to the point of the respective age group hating each other’s guts become normalcy, with the younger thinking the older outdated and cocky.

The term “OK, Boomer” was a viral sensation overnight when on November 4, 25-year-old New Zealand politician Chloë Swarbrick used the phrase as a rebuttal to one of her older colleagues in Parliament after the man heckled her during a speech about climate change, Vox reported.

Swarbrick then made herself clear in a following essay for the Guardian, that the meme represents a wealth of generational political concerns. “My ‘OK boomer’ comment in parliament was off-the-cuff, albeit symbolic of the collective exhaustion of multiple generations set to inherit ever-amplifying problems in an ever-diminishing window of time,” she quoted writing, pointing on the climate change issues that Boomers are known to dismiss.

Tracing it back, the hit phrase didn’t just happen overnight. It was TikTok that set the tone for the phrase to become a symbolic meme. It was sung by Peter Kuli & Jedwill in a rebuttal of baby boomers’ rants about kids these days.

The song titled “OK BOOMER!”, defines boomers as racist, fascist Trump supporters with bad hair, amplified by Gen Z’s users on the platform that rides on the song to share their own annoying encounter with the older generation.

Despite what you think about the phrase, in itself, the phrase carries the ageism undertone as well as a more complex issue such as calling out political indifference and jarringly different views on urgent matters like climate changes.

Ironically, it doesn’t exclusively put all Boomers in the same box of Millennials-haters, as the knowledge of the phrase itself shows that they’re -in fact- avid social media users that keep up with what’s going on.

Back to my Dad

How exactly my Dad came up with the idea to video himself and spread the body movement message is what I was intrigued to explore.

In the Think With Google’s piece, I found that Google has done some research about Boomers’ YouTube’s behaviour and it ticks all the boxes with my Dad.

Also Read: Op-Ed: Hey, investors: Indonesia can do with more innovation

First of all, yes, they watch YouTube, even more often than we might guess. My Dad, when he’s not entertaining my kid, his face is glued to his tablet with a headset on and you guessed it: He’s on YouTube.

Some factors that make Millennials and Boomers have more in common in their YouTube behaviors actually caused by stark differences in the time they’re now living and the facilities that in their heydays were still impossible.

The article’s first point emphasises on how Baby Boomers turn to YouTube to save time as they’re in the dawn of retirement.

One of the Baby Boomers that Google interviewed explained the logic behind it. The 63-year-old lady preferred YouTube to commercial programming that she said takes too much of her time. Also, with YouTube at hand, reading instruction suddenly becomes a drag.

The same thing happens with my Dad. There’s interactivity in typing keywords of a video you wish to find on YouTube rather than receiving what regular programmes on TV offer you for the day, and that speaks volumes, especially because Baby Boomers didn’t have the luxury of internet access in their youth.

Compared to the older generation, Baby Boomers possess both the awareness and the pride that they now have the power to information with YouTube, enough to learn things by browsing.

The information they video-searched also varies, from researching about product or service’s details before making a purchase, or in my Dad’s case, daily news, often times the absurd ones so he can parade his findings to his WhatsApp friends.

From the survey, Google recorded that 68 per cent of Baby Boomers say they watch YouTube videos to be entertained, with entertainment, music, and news as the most-watched categories on the platform.

It’s not exclusively about Millennials

My Dad saying he’s interested in a future as a vlogger says a lot about how significant the Boomers generation still is.

The Think With Google’s piece also reveals that people over the age of 50 account for 51 per cent of consumer spending, ultimately creating opportunities for brands that can think beyond impressing only younger generation and can also deliver a relevant message to the bigger spenders.

Also Read: The importance of one on one meetings with your employees

My Dad was in the know about the latest GoPro camera that he apparently has favourited to someday really purchase. For now, he said, he plans to master marathon and becomes regulars in races, slowly increasing his kilometres and building the marathoner lifestyle.

“Only then,” he continued, “I can confidently vlog about my journey.”

Boomers vlogging is not a mere trend. I bet if I make a quick search now on YouTube, I would find a channel run by Baby Boomers that I wouldn’t otherwise know if it wasn’t for my Dad’s fascination over vlogging.

Brands, businesses, and startups should start doing their homework of addressing the 50 something and include them in campaigns.

It’s time to embrace that Boomers, the ones off the media, are not the hopeless enemy of Millennials. They’ve just caught up with technology and has started sprinting to hone their digital skills, not to get competitive, but to taste the ease.

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Image Credit: unsplash.com/idoevolve

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There is a common theme that late-stage funding rounds in November shared with the early-stage funding rounds: There was a great variety of verticals being involved that it was almost difficult to pinpoint a dominating theme.

There was a media company that was looking to foray into commerce, an AI company that looks to expand beyond its existing digital marketing offering, and even a major e-commerce group adding extra fuel to a platform that they have invested before.

Amartha
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): LINE Ventures, Bamboo Capital Partners, UOB Venture Management

In addition to the funding news, November was also an exciting month for Amartha as its CEO and Founder Andi Taufan Garuda Putra was also named as special presidential staff for Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo.

Appier
Funding: US$80 million in Series D
Investor(s): TGVest Capital, HOPU-Arm Innovation Fund, Temasek’s Pavilion Capital, Insignia Venture Partners, JAFCO Investment and UMC Capital

Appier said that the new funding will be used to support global market expansion, talent acquisition, and innovation in AI for new industries beyond digital marketing.

Also Read: In October, these 10 later stage funding rounds are taking things to a new height

2C2P
Funding: US$52 million
Investor(s): IFC, Cento Ventures, Arbor Ventures

The company said that it will use the funding to accelerate the company’s growth by investing in new technologies to enhance its payments platform, hiring local talent, and consolidating market share in Southeast Asia with a goal to expand beyond the region over the next year.

HarukaEdu
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): SIG, AppWorks, GDP Venture, and Gunung Sewu Kencana

The company said that it will use the fresh funds from the new round to support the expansion into B2B services through its corporate online training platform as well as backing up its lifelong learning platform Pintaria, aimed at helping Indonesian working adults to upskill and reskill.

Travelio
Funding: US$18 million in Series B
Investor(s): Pavilion Capital, Gobi Partners (co-lead)

Travelio will use the funding to “solidify its leadership position and further accelerate its growth”. It plans to invest in marketing, talent, and development of new product verticals to better serve tenants and property owners throughout the life cycle.

Frontier Car Group
Funding: US$400 million
Investor(s): OLX Group

With this plan, OLX Group officially became the largest stockholder in the company.

Workmate
Funding: US$5.2 million in Series A
Investor(s): Atlas Ventures, Gobi Partners, Beacon Venture Capital

The company said that the fresh funds will be used to increase investment in sales, grow the technology team, and expand to new cities.

Also Read: No, Singapore seed stage is not dead

Lend East
Funding: US$50 million in debt capital
Investor(s): Unnamed family offices and credit funds in the US, Singapore and India

The startup has already “received its first cheque” and looks to close the round by Q3 2020. It plans to use the funds for onward lending to borrowing platforms.

POPS Worldwide
Funding: US$30 million
Investor(s): Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund Investment Pte.Ltd, Eastbridge Partners Pte.Ltd

Along with the funding, the company also announces the launch of the POPS App, which the company said will deliver free high-quality premium content and original series, shows, and videos from music, entertainment, and kids.

theAsianparent
Funding: “seven-figure” Series C
Investor(s): Mirae Asset Financial Group and NAVER Corporation

The latest funding will be utilised to further implement theAsianparent’s diversification strategy, which entails expanding its foray into the commerce business.

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Image Credit: rupixen.com on Unsplash

The post These late-stage funding rounds prove that November is a sweet month for the tech ecosystem appeared first on e27.

Decided through a vote in the e27 Telegram Group, Startup of the Month is an initiative to highlight an important milestone that a startup has made in one particular month.

In one of those rare occasions, the e27 Community on Telegram had voted for two startups to win the Startup of the Month title.

Securing both 40 per cent of votes by the time this article was published, Myanmar’s Kone Si and Singapore’s Tookitaki have made headlines in November with their own unique milestones.

Also Read: Startup of the Month, October: Indonesia’s Crewdible

A voice from emerging market Myanmar, transportation tech startup Kone Si recently announced a six-digit investment for nationwide expansion from Yangon Capital Partners (YCP), a Myanmar-focused venture capital under Trust Venture Partners, and Nest Tech– a Vietnam-based venture capital company, as reported by local media.

This is the second round of investment for Kone Si after it initially received pre-seed funding from Phandeeyar in 2017.

A regulatory tech company, Tookitaki announced a US$1.7 million extension of its Series A funding round led by Viola Fintech, an Israeli US$100 million cross-stage venture fund, and SIG, a global venture firm with early to mid-stage investments in over nine Asia-founded unicorn startups. The investors were joined by Nomura Holdings through its venture capital arm (Nomura Incubation Investment Limited Partnership) as well as existing investors including Illuminate Financial, Jungle Ventures, and Spring SEEDs Capital, an investment arm of the Singapore government.

With the new funding, Tookitaki expects to enhance its product offerings, help around research and development, recruitment, and to drive its global expansion effort to the US and Asia Pacific.

Congratulations to both winners!

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Image Credit: Pietro Rampazzo on Unsplash

The post Startup of the Month, November: Myanmar’s Kone Si and Singapore’s Tookitaki appeared first on e27.