We really, really want to see you all at Echelon Asia Summit 2019
We have been giving away free tickets to attend our annual Echelon Asia Summit 2019 event at Singapore Expo, May 23-24 –and the response has been astonishing.
The free tickets are running out real fast, but we really want to see you at the event. So we decided to give away 20 more FREE Starter tickets!
Friendly reminder of what Starter tickets can give you: Full access to content on all four stages (featuring more than 100 speakers!), more than 200 exhibitors, the Official Echelon App, and the Echelon Official Afterparty at only US$10!
To get the promo code for your ticket, answer the following question: Echelon Asia Summit 2018 –last year’s event– was held in what month?
1. The answer is only one word
2. It is written in all caps
3. It is NOT the same month as this year’s
4. That’s it. No more hints. It’s super easy!
And here are the steps to claim the tickets:
1. Go to this page
2. Click “Enter Promotional Code”
3. Put in the answer to the question in the blank space for promo code
4. Pick the ticket of your choice. And another one for your friend. And another one. And another
5. Complete transaction
6. See you in 20 days!
With the #MeToo campaign turning two years, Echelon is examining whether the tech world done enough to create a safe space for diversity and level the playing field
It has been almost two years since The New York Times published a story detailing decades of allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein. Actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd were among the women who came forward to speak up against him.
This news story opened a Pandora’s box, with hundreds of women across the world coming out to share their sexual assault stories at workplaces, offices, hotels, and even streets and public transports, under the hashtag #MeToo on popular social media platforms, including Facebook.
The #MeToo campaign had massive repercussions not just in the movie world, but the tech world, too. Many high-profile women came forward to narrate the stories of sexual exploitations by widely-admired men in the tech world. The list included Cheryl Yeoh, the Founding CEO of the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC), who in a detailed blog post shared the story of sexual assault by Dave McClure, former Head of 500 Startups, at her apartment back in 2015.
Now, with #MeToo campaign turning two years, has the tech world done enough to create a safe space for diversity and level the playing field? Echelon 2019 is examining this through a panel discussion.
Titled #Metoo 2 years on: Has the tech world done enough to create a safe space for diversity and level the playing field?, the discussion will be moderated by e27’s Senior Writer Anisa Menur Maulani.
The panelists are:
Gail Wong, Co-founder, Ladies Investment Club
Wong is a champion of women’s causes. She empowers women with their finances/business via proprietary programs, and coaches business leaders to bring their whole selves to work and life, and thrive on their terms. She has compassion for women resigned to fear, overwhelm, or dependence with their money, or those in gender-skewed business. She enjoys connecting with women about money strategies and aspirations.
She also organises and invests financial, human and social capital in women-led companies. Fusing both specialties as a practitioner and coach, she engages in uncommon conversations about what matters most to a person, and guide them through challenges to win in their lives.
Born in Singapore and a mother of two, Wong has worked in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and London. She is also a vocalist, yogi, and a mental wellness advocate.
In Wong’s own words, human beings are the happiest and most productive when all three facets of being — mind, heart and spirit — harmonise. “My own search for higher purpose over a lifetime of academic and professional success propels me to coach talented people, who desire to serve the world to own their unique brilliance, truth and values. Together, we design life on their terms, one that fully expresses and maximises who they are.”
“My passion to forge a new normal – financial zen and mastery for every woman – inspired “Courageous Conversations about Money”. I bring women together in a safe space to demystify money and learn to handle it as naturally as our homes, careers and children.
She also leads investment platforms pairing female capital with women-led ventures. She champions and advises women leaders out to make money meaningfully.
Ling Lin, Head of Product, TransferWise Asia
Lin is all about product and customers. She has 10-plus years of experience in startup, product, general management, people operations, user experience, and international expansion.
As the Head of Product, Lin looks after 15 currencies across three products – send money, borderless, and cards. She has spent her time across North America, Asia, and Europe.
Prior to joining TransferWise, she was Senior Product Manager at Amazon. Previously, she was Chief of staff for OnePlus.
Lin holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Master of Science/Bachelor of Science from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Mike Davie, Founder and CEO, Quadrant
Currently based in Singapore, Davie has been leading the commercialisation of disruptive mobile technology and ICT infrastructure for over a decade with leading global technology firms in Asia, the Middle East and North America.
He parlayed his vision and knowledge of the evolution of ICT into the creation of DataStreamX, a data analysis platform, in 2014. DataStreamX ultimately evolved into Quadrant, a blockchain-based platform that allows organisations to verify and interpret complex datafeeds, with a primary focus on location data. With Quadrant, organisations and individuals can now have full trust in their data and use it to build targeted solutions and allocate resources efficiently to meet the requirements of their customers, citizens, and colleagues.
Prior to founding Quadrant, Davie was a member of the Advanced Mobile Product Strategy Division at Samsung where he developed go-to-market strategies for cutting edge technologies created in the Samsung R&D Labs. He also provided guidance to Asia and Middle East telcos on their 4G/LTE infrastructure data needs and worked closely with them to monetize their M2M and telco analytics data.
Davie is a frequent speaker at ICT and Big Data conferences around the world. Topics of his talks include Monetisation of Data Assets, Data-as-a-Service, the Dichotomy of Real-time vs. Static Data.
In his personal time, Davie maintains a lifelong passion for extreme sports including Xterra, kite boarding, triathlons, snowboarding, and ice and rock climbing. He has participated in Xterra triathlons in places around the world including Malaysia, Thailand, and the APAC Championship in Philippines. He has also run the DMZ Half Marathon along the border between North and South Korea.
Have you booked your ticket yet? Use the code ECHELONFUTURE to secure yours.
The funding round for Triplogic is the latest in the Indonesian logistics tech sector in the past few months
Indonesian logistics startup Triplogic today announced an undisclosed seed funding round from venture capital firm East Ventures.
The Bandung-based startup plans to use new funding to support product and tech development.
It will also use the funding to expand its logistics network by partnering with small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs (SMEs) to become their drop shipping points.
The startup is currently working with over 1,600 SMEs and aim to add more than 15,000 drop points in 2019.
Triplogic itself is currently operating in 61 cities across Indonesia, including Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Jogjakarta, and Palembang.
“Triplogic is not just an ordinary logistics company that only does parcel delivery. We are an end-to-end partner that provides logistics, parcel delivery, fulfillment, and distribution services for SMEs. As a Logistics-as-a-Service (LAAS) company, we focus on creating a strong supply chain ecosystem,” explained Triplogic CEO and Co-Founder Oki Earlivan in a press statement.
Co-founded by Earlivan, Rowdy Fatha, and Krisna Adiarini, Triplogic’s services included instant delivery by setting up drop shipping points in SMEs and local shops that feature smart lockers and drop boxes.
The funding round for Triplogic is the latest in the series of funding for Indonesia-based logistics and warehousing startups, such as Kargo and the fourth batch participants of GK-Plug and Play Indonesia.
“East Ventures has invested in a wide range of companies within the commerce and supply chain ecosystem, and we are extremely excited about how our ecosystem is starting to take shape,” said East Ventures Partner Melisa Irene.
“All the e-commerce platforms we have invested in creating value by helping customers obtain their products easily, creating a seamless online-to-offline experience; the recent example, Fore Coffee. We realised that Triplogic, as the last mile player, is the missing piece in the puzzle of our core supply chain ecosystem, and it fits perfectly,” she added.
Growth is fantastic, but it needs to managed in such a manner whereby sustainability is not lost
Andreas Ehn was the first hire Spotify ever made back in 2006.
As the tech juggernaut’s first CTO, he was responsible for hiring the engineering team and leading the development of the systems that form the basis of music platform that most of us now use everyday.
Ehn recently made a trip to Sydney, Australia, as part of his role with Antler, a global startup generator and venture capital company which provides exceptional individuals with the opportunity to launch their own business.
Ehn spoke about building and scaling successful startups, sharing his tips and advice for other founders and entrepreneurs.
User Growth Vs Team Growth
“There are two sorts of growth that you battle with, but that also ultimately defines your success as a startup: one is the growth of your user base, and that’s the good side. But then the other side, which should be driven by the growth of your user base, is the team.”
“When I was at Spotify, which was roughly the first three and a half years, we doubled our headcount about every year. I think that’s at the upper limit of sustainable growth. A lot of startups have grown faster than that but I think that’s very difficult while retaining a fairly efficient organisation and culture.”
He went on to warn founders:
“You can have false positives when you try to identify your product market fit. Just because something grows really fast doesn’t necessarily mean that you can sustain it. You have to understand why does it grow and can I keep fuelling the fire in a sustainable way.”
Hiring is Key
Capturing and utilising great people with amazing skills is an important step toward success.
“When you meet exceptional talent I would say bring them on board even if you don’t have a specific job for them because you will find something valuable for them to do,” says Ehn.
“If you can keep the number of people (staff) down and still serve your customers, that’s an extreme benefit because you can keep the organisation much more focused and there’s an enormous overhead to headcount growth.”
Although overall, Ehn identified that hiring is difficult for most organisations across the world, irrelevant of their size or industry.
“Each company has its own problems, but regardless of geography hiring is a constant challenge,” he says.
“Either you’re in a geography where there isn’t much of it, or you are but there’s a lot of other companies competing for it. Regardless of whether your in a place that doesn’t have a lot of great engineers, or if you’re in the middle of Silicon Valley, it’s equally hard because it’s just more competitive where there are large talent pools. Everyone struggles with that.”
Being a Tech Leader
Throughout his career Ehn has been a leader in numerous forms. First as an engineering manager, then a CTO, as well as a board director, founder, advisor and investor. All roles in which he has lead teams or people to achieve better outcomes. From those experiences, Ehn says the most valuable aspect he has learned is to be transparent.
“Make sure everyone in the organisation has all the information,” he says.
“Part of that is just how you communicate and document that in a way that is accessible.”
He said this is increasingly important that leaders of digital teams who may be dispersed across the globe.
Government Assistance
This needs no explanation:
“I get this question a lot: what can we do as a government for startups. There’s a lot of things you can do but most of them involve not getting in the way.”
Winning Founders
When asked what he thinks founders ought to be or possess in order to be successful in the future, Ehn said:
“Someone that has insight that is not commonly understood yet, something new that people in general haven’t thought of or definitely think can’t work and has the ability, skillset, but perhaps most importantly, the tenacity and drive to pursue that and fight off all the obstacles that will be in his or her way along the road. And when everyone thinks you’re going to lose, you still think you’re going to win.”
Scratch Your Own Itch
Knowing how to start or what to focus on when launching a business can seem daunting. Instead, Ehn suggests entrepreneurs should simply “scratch your own itch”.
“What you need to think about it is how common a problem is it, how big of a problem is it?” he says.
“If you really want to turn it (your idea) into a startup then you need to be confident that the business solves a big enough of a problem for a big enough of a market that is willing to pay to get this problem solved.”
Krungsri Finnovate, Thailand-based Krungsri Bank’s venture capital arm injects an undisclosed amount into the startup’s Series A+
Krungsri Finnovate, a VC arm under Krungsri Bank, announced that it has invested into the extended Series A round of Thai customer relations management (CRM) startup Choco CRM, as reported by DealStreetAsia. Besides CRM, Choco CRM also offers point of sales (POS) services.
Prior to investing the undisclosed amount into Choco CRM, Krungsri Finnovate has invested in four startups. It previously funded blockchain and online payment unicorn Omise, fintech company Finnomena, proptech startup Baania, and AI-based banking system developer Silot.
Choco CRM targets small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with its CRM and POS solutions that offer personalised rewards and promotions. It claimed to be able to connect with the end-users through a physical card, mobile phone number, and a mobile application.
“The goal of this investment is to facilitate SMEs operators to be able to deliver financial services and to achieve business management efficiency and to have access to enhanced financial services, including Information-based Lending platform of Krungsri,” said Krungsri Finnovate managing director Sam Tanskul.
As for Choco CRM, its founder and CEO Sirasit Suriyapattanapong stated that this partnership has helped paving way for Choco CRM to access the financial services market, in addition to its current customers such as restaurants, gadgets, and fashion stores.
Krungsri will be a key driver in the development of a payment gateway for Choco CRM’s POS users.
Before securing this investment, Choco CRM had secured US$1.25 million in funding from InVent back in September 2018. InVent is the corporate venture capital arm of Thailand’s telecommunication firm INTOUCH Holdings.
The company is experiencing a crisis and is trying to raise enough money to get through the year
Honestbee, the grocery-delivery startup that is navigating choppy waters, has fired CEO Joel Sng, as reported by TechCrunch.
The exit of Sng means the only remaining Co-founder is Jonathan Low, who is in the engineering department. It is not immediately clear who will take over from Sng.
The Co-founder was let go amidst a full-blown crisis whereby they company shut down their operations in the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong operations. They have also suspended food-delivery in Thailand.
The company plans to lay off about 10 per cent of its staff and was reportedly being pursued for a purchase by Grab. Honestbee had held acquisition talks with Grab, Go-Jek, and others in recent weeks.
Honestbee has had no issues raising money, having nabbed US$46 million over the past three years. But, TechCrunch reported a burn rate of US$6.5 million per month that appears to have come to a head this week.
The startup seems to be trying to raise enough money to get it through the year.
The future of Honestbee seems to be an offline supermarket, a futuristic store that integrates technology into an offline grocery experience.
TechCrunch previously reported that Honestbee was struggling to pay suppliers and was experiencing payroll delays. The article also stated that executives within the company were leaving.
Honestbee released a generic statement about their current struggles but has mostly refused to comment to media questions about the company’s future.
Helping businesses transact faster as part of Singapore’s move towards a Smart Nation
Extensive paperwork and lengthy application processes are two major pain points cited by business owners when transacting with government agencies.
Administering a business is hard work all on its own, and business owners need to feel supported when dealing with government transactions.
Solutions for this and many other everyday issues are continually being looked at by the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), the government’s digital transformation arm. GovTech harnesses the power of digital technologies to strengthen Singapore’s tech capability and interconnectedness within government networks, in an endeavour to improve the quality of life in the island nation.
In an effort to enable faster, fuss-free and more secure digital transactions, and as part of a greater framework to foster a Smart Nation, GovTech spearheaded MyInfo Business in 2019.
Bringing it up a notch with MyInfo Business
This digital service is an extension of the existing MyInfo platform. Personal data services found in MyInfo have now been expanded to include corporate data with MyInfo Business. Since January 2019, MyInfo Business has been in a pilot with three local banks – Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank (UOB) – to facilitate speedier credit assessments for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
With the consent of the SME business owner, MyInfo Business automatically populates bank forms with business data including the basic profile of the owner, business address, UENs and names, shareholders, capital, financial highlights, grants and more. Banks retrieve the information digitally from government agencies in a secure manner, which effectively eliminates the need for paper documentation and verification, thus saving precious time for business owners.
Through MyInfo Business, banks were able to process account openings and loan applications faster, cutting down transaction time by 60 to 70 percent on average.
SMEs would also enjoy the benefit of streamlined operations, shortened application times, reduced reliance on hard copy submissions, and improved access to commercial services.
“It’s a hassle-free experience with MyInfo Business. All we have to do is login and submit already-verified information to the bank. This would have taken us days to complete in the past, but now it only requires a streamlined eight minutes to process,” said Mr Eric Chua, Chief Executive Officer at Rocket Buzzer.
A springboard for business management
Beyond the pilot, MyInfo Business APIs are scheduled for release in the second half of 2019. This would further promote the development of intuitive and convenient digital commercial services for SMEs, and is part of the Singapore government’s efforts to co-create a Smart Nation with the private sector. It is expected that around 220,000 SMEs would gain from this initiative.
Enterprises looking to offer B2B digital services via MyInfo Business can visit https://business.myinfo.gov.sg to find out more, and subscribe to the mailing list to receive updates on the service.
A national digital identity in a Smart Nation: the future and beyond
MyInfo Business is a vital component of Singapore’s National Digital Identity (NDI) platform, which also encompasses SingPass, CorpPass, and MyInfo. With NDI as a key enabler for Singapore’s Smart Nation vision, citizens and businesses alike will benefit from the growth of seamless and secure digital transactions. The NDI platform will also be a core infrastructure which industry partners can utilise to build innovative services. As Singapore gears to accelerate adoption of technology, services like MyInfo Business will contribute greatly towards a vibrant Digital Economy.
The sale includes ownership stake in some notable businesses
Axiata Digital Sdn. Bhd. (AD), the digital services arm of Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata), announced that it has agreed to sell its Digital Ventures portfolio at a valuation of USD 140 million.
The portfolio companies currently under management are StoreKing, BIMA, FreedomPop, 11street and etobee. Co-investors that include Allianz X, Kinnevik, Millicom, LetterOne, Intel Capital, Atomico, Mangrove Capital Partners, LeapFrog Investments, and Kejora Ventures.
“The partners in Pegasus 7 understand our vision, our markets and our portfolio companies which we’ve built to focus on our ecosystem of telco and digital assets. We strongly believe this handover will ensure the assets continue to thrive through access to our customer base, joint marketing, and other synergistic activities,” said Mohd Khairil Abdullah, CEO, Axiata Digital.
Under Gautam Saxena’s leadership, founder and CEO of Pegasus 7 Ventures, Pegasus said that it will drive the growth of the portfolio. Saxena is a senior investment banker and former Head of Asia Telecom and Media with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
“The addition of these assets to the Pegasus 7 portfolio is synergistic with our thematic focus and will serve as an enabler for our future growth path,” said Saxena.
Currently, the existing portfolio is largely focussed on companies that address the needs of underserved consumers and encompass services such as micro-insurance, online to offline (O2O)/rural commerce, e-commerce, last mile solutions for banks, and e-mobile virtual network operator (e-MVNO) segments.
Pegasus has stated that it plans to accelerate value creation by scaling these companies and enhancing their access to global financial, strategic, and operational partners.
In the meantime, Axiata Digital said that it will continue to focus on its three core verticals which include digital financial services (Boost), digital advertising (ada), and digital platform (Apigate).
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e27 TOP100 winners will be awarded a fast-track pass to compete at SLINGSHOT!
Every major city in Southeast Asia has a goal to become the major startup hub in the region. They all have their own unique characteristics — be it market size, specific industry or gaps that have not been filled by a competitor.
For Singapore, its advantage is access to capital and corporates. According to Enterprise Singapore, the city-state is home to 150 VCs that facilitated 353 deals worth US$10.5 billion. Furthermore, many corporates like Google, Facebook and Microsoft have made Singapore their APAC headquarters.
This has helped create a honeypot effect that has resulted in the city hosting over 4,000 startups employing 22,000 people.
It is in this context that Enterprise Singapore is officially opening its SLINGSHOT 2019 programme. The international pitching competition is part of the agency’s mission to “deepen efforts with global and local partners to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Singapore”.
It has also partnered with e27‘s TOP100 programme. The winning startups at Echelon Asia Summit 2019 will be fast-tracked to pitch at SLINGSHOT.
This year, the competition is introducing a few new programmes. They are as follows:
Dealmaking: The startups will be selected according to investment and co-innovation interests from judges and corporates. This means that startups can feel confident at least a portion of the prizes up for grabs. This includes S$25,000 (US$18,300) in cash and an investment opportunity from ST Engineering. FundedHere is also offering a S$200,000 (US$147,000) investment opportunity.
Startups will also have an opportunity at S$25,000 (US$18,300) from Danone, L’Oréal and Rolls-Royce.
Other non-financial prizes include 18 months of workspace at JTC LaunchPad, 3-months access to Found8 community programmes and hot-desking space and cooperation possibilities with Ascott, Philips and WeAre Group. The startups will also receive a free booth at the tech conference SWITCH.
Meetings are necessary, but often viewed with dread by employees. So how do we fix it?
It was Friday at 4pm.
Our product teams were presenting the results of a fun hack week. One group shared a QR code, so we installed their multiplayer quiz app and started to compete.
The first quiz was called, “How well do you know JotForm?”
Given that I founded the company 12 years ago, you would think I’d have an unfair advantage.
I placed 18th.
I got stuck on a question about our mascot, Podo. I was slower than my staff, too.
Regardless, the afternoon was so much fun. We laughed and talked and I felt proud of what the teams created. It was like a productive party.
Technically, this was a demo day, which is one of our few scheduled meetings. Every Friday, our teams show what they’ve learned or built throughout the week.
Demo days aren’t status meetings; we share tangible results, not droning updates. And we keep it short. An hour, max. Show your work or a quick video clip and let’s move on.
I share this story, because I believe that all meetings are not created equal. They’re not necessarily a “scourge” on your company.
Meetings are part of life as a founder or entrepreneur, but they’ve also become a hotly-debated topic — especially in the tech industry.
In a leaked email to his Tesla staff, Elon Musk says large meetings are the “blight of big companies and [they] almost always get worse over time.”
Musk also tells his staff to “walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it’s obvious you aren’t adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time.”
That’s a pretty clear directive.
So, what’s the solution?
Before JotForm had over 100 employees and 3.5 million users, I didn’t think much about meetings. It was just me at first, and the business grew slowly.
Now that we have three offices on two continents, I approach meetings much more strategically.
I don’t want to waste my time — and I really don’t want to lock my employees into pointless status updates. They’re the brains and the engine behind this business.
I want to empower them to do their very best work, and to enjoy the process.
Ultimately, every entrepreneur needs to set their own boundaries and create a meeting strategy that fits their organization. Here’s what works for us.
1. Individual team offices
Our company has small, cross-functional teams of 4–6 people. Each group includes a designer, developer, UX specialist, and any other roles they need to create new product features, from start to finish.
Each team also has its own office, with a door that closes.
By working in the same space, teams don’t have to plan formal meetings. They can share ideas and feedback all day long.
It’s continuous self-management — and not only does this model inspire great work, it also prevents that dreaded calendar Tetris, where your schedule becomes a colorfully-unproductive puzzle.
Clearly, people also need quiet work time. Our teams set their own rules around interruptions and breaks — but the key here is that they decide.
I know this structure might not work for everyone, but it’s worth considering what could slash those lengthy meetings.
Maybe your team uses Slack or Messenger for quick requests. Or you could create a weekly “office hours” period when everyone is available for informal questions and connections. Experiment and see what works.
2. No status meetings
“It’s hard to come up with a bigger waste of money, time, or attention than status meetings.” — Jason Fried
I spent my summers in our İzmir offices which are by the incredible blue/green waters of the Aegean sea. After a recent status meeting with our San Francisco team, I decided to cancel these updates for the summer.
I do know that I want to spend those evenings with my family at the Çeşme beaches, instead of staying late at the office. We’ll schedule ad-hoc meetings instead. And I know I’m not alone in this change.
Pinterest engineering manager Brian Donohue recently described a three-day, no-meeting schedule the company is testing with product engineering teams:
“It’s not a big revelation that software development requires long stretches of uninterrupted time to focus.
As Pinterest has grown, we’ve noticed the number of meetings also has increased.
Having so many meetings can fragment an engineer’s entire day, eliminating the stretches of uninterrupted time required to build software.”
Donohue says that this “seemingly small change” has already had a big impact. Over 91 per cent of the developers say the switch has made them more productive and 80 per cent say the no-meeting schedule is respected.
Pinterest is still experimenting, but it’s fascinating to see how another company is trying to balance uninterrupted work time with effective team communication.
3. Walking meetings
Given that the typical American sits an average of 9.3 hours a day, walking meetings can boost your health and creativity, tear down hierarchies, improve communication, and make people happier, among other reported benefits.
Steve Jobs, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, and Mark Zuckerberg have also been known to take it outside when they’re meeting with one or two other people.
I’m a fan of this meeting style, too. I always try to go for lunch and a walk with new employees, for example. We get to know each other in a relaxed way, and (hopefully), they start to see me as more than just “the boss.”
Don’t try to bring seven people on a walking meeting, of course. But if you have the time, ability, and appropriate weather to escape the office, give it a try.
4. Email feedback
A recent Fast Company article quotes interaction designer Don Norman, who says email is “the office memo turned cancerous, extended to home and everyday life.”
I get it. Most people hate email. At worst, the inbox can feel like a Sisyphean to-do list or an extended leash.
But if I’m going to pick between email and a meeting, I’ll go electronic — and it’s not because I don’t want to talk to my teams. Instead, I can give them thoughtful, considered feedback, and I do it on my time.
The “interruption” (which is really my job) comes at the end of the day when I sit down and pursue that all-important Inbox Zero.
5. Specific goals
Productive meetings have a clear goal and introduce new, useful (and usable) information.
There are two weekly meetings I look forward to: one with our Data Team and one with our User Research Team. Data Team share data analysis, conversion rates, test results and other helpful stats. The User Researchers tell me what they’ve learned from user interviews and usability tests they have completed.
If there’s unusual behaviour on a metric, we talk about it and try to generate solutions. I always learn so much — and the details they share directly influence my work.
The anti-meeting backlash can make founders feel like every conference call or briefing is a waste of time. I don’t think that’s true.
A meeting that quickly and efficiently accomplishes its goal, while effectively aligning the participants is well worth the space in your schedule.
Business is a team sport. Nothing great is achieved in isolation. We all need to talk over plans and ideas, but finding a more strategic approach is valuable for everyone.
6. The power of “no”
Author Kevin Ashton says “the word ‘no’ has more creative power than ideas, insights and talent combined,” but most people aren’t taught to use it:
“We are taught not to say “no.” “No” is rude. “No” is a rebuff, a rebuttal, a minor act of verbal violence. “No” is for drugs and strangers with candy.”
Clearly, the ability to say “no” is a privilege and a form of power. Not every employee can flex that power in all situations. But, when you can — and especially if you’re making the rules — let’s say no to unproductive meetings.
After all, meetings shouldn’t be a four-letter word. The act of sharing ideas and updating our colleagues shouldn’t be something we dread. It should fuel the organization, not drain its momentum.
So, maybe we can’t all walk out of meetings or hang up on long-winded calls, but we can be more strategic. More respectful of each other’s time.
Let’s try to change how we work and communicate, for everyone’s benefit.
