Why these three startups are turning to this programme in order to face today’s fundraising problems head-on

Southeast Asia has solidified its position as one of the best places in the world to build, and by extension, expand one’s startup pursuits. This, however, does not preclude fundraising challenges from cropping up in the region particularly for startups that are still in their growth stages.

What makes fundraising such a challenge for young startups in the region can be derived from three particular pain points: access, credibility, and efficiency.

There is a problem with the lack of access to active and relevant investors that most founders experience. This is furthered by the limitations of what networks can be tapped within one’s small and personal circles.

As a consequence, founders are compelled to take on limited funding opportunities from its similarly limited network of potential funders, even if those funding opportunities may not be the best for them and their particular startups.

There is also a problem with the difficulty of establishing credibility when trying to raise funds. Because new founders do not necessarily have an extensive track record to convince potential funders that their startup idea is worth investing in, it prolongs the whole fundraising process.

This becomes a problem because fundraising is necessary ammunition for startups to launch their ideas into fruition, so when there is a delay in outreach, courtship, and due diligence being established from both ends—it ultimately hurts the startup.

Moreover, founders deal with efficiency problems due to the use of multiple service providers across fragmented processes, with each one trying to get a share of the fees. The lack of visibility and analytics over investor activity and the entire fundraising process also poses problems that render any active attempt towards startup growth completely inefficient.

Three startups that are overcoming these challenges

​Furnishing is extremely expensive in Dhaka. Especially when students, young professionals move to Dhaka from other cities to pursue better opportunities. Let’s Furnish is the first-ever furniture subscription platform in Dhaka where any resident can subscribe to a trendy furniture rental service starting from BDT 300 a month. Also, the company provides a free swap to help them keep up with trends and feel no burden of cost.

In order to better navigate their way through the respective challenges that startups in the region face, Let’s Furnish connected with the e27 Fundraise Programme. Through the fundraise programme’s features, Let’s Furnish is given access to e27’s network of investors, build rapport with the investor community through sustained engagement, and manage the entire fundraising process in a single online platform—effectively combating that common challenges that keep startups from ultimate growth.

Let’s Furnish isn’t alone on this road. On the flip side of the coin is Lily & Lou, a Singapore based fashion marketplace that lets customers customise and design their own wardrobe.

With Lily & Lou, consumers can choose to buy ready-to-wear garments, or edit and visualise each design through an in-house customisation app that displays 3D renders on the fly. Once customers decide to check out, production will kick start where the company issues a lead time of 5-7 working days.

The three core beliefs that drive the company are sustainability, responsible consumption, and the need to provide more channels for people to personalise their clothes as a means of embracing one’s individuality.

Joining Let’s Furnish and Lily & Lou is Asia-Pacific based Fintech investment platform, Helicap.

The company specialises in the alternative lending space in Southeast Asia & Oceania, where they position themselves as agnostic investors promoting the industry’s best practices through their strategic expertise.

The company has a proprietary technology-enabled credit scoring model that helps them determine the best-in-class companies to invest in where they target an 8-12% return annually to their investors. Also, Helicap’s main thrust is helping people improve their livelihoods by driving financial inclusion and enabling their partner platforms to transform the way consumers and SMEs access credit today.

Initiatives such as the one being endorsed by Let’s Furnish, Lily & Lou, and Helicap are ones that we find important, which is why it is imperative for companies like them to gain access to potential investors that can contribute a lot to their startup growth, thereby empowering these companies to help more people in the long run.

Ultimately, they serve as great examples to the passion that the region’s startups have not only for growth and expansion, but more importantly, for helping people and making a meaningful impact in their lives. This is why companies like Let’s Furnish, Lily & Lou, and Helicap need to be nurtured and supported by platforms like the e27 Fundraise Programme.

e27 Fundraise Programme and its three-pronged approach

There are several solutions out there coming from different facets of society that all do their part in minimising these regional obstacles. What makes the e27 Fundraise Programme particularly unique, however, is its three-pronged approach to solving common fundraising problems.

In order to democratise fundraising for startup founders, the e27 Fundraise Programme has come up with three umbrella solutions that accommodate the three pressing challenges in the region’s tech ecosystem. These three umbrella solutions are the following: increased visibility, sustained engagement, and digitalisation.

Through the programme, startups are empowered to let investors know that they exist. While most young startups find difficulty in carving a name for themselves, the programme—because of e27’s massive network of investors—effectively puts young startups within their radars making fundraising well within the realms of possibility.

The second prong is focused on establishing sustained engagement between startup founders and investors, thereby helping startups build rapport with the investor community. This is achieved by giving startups the platform to show investors their startup growth and progress over time.

Lastly, in a community whose lifeblood is digital innovation, the e27 Fundraise Programme makes use of digitalisation as a way to help startups manage the processes of their fundraising pursuits from end to end, and within a single online platform that they can keep track of over the course of their negotiations.

With this three-pronged approach, startups who sign up for the programme can guarantee better funding opportunities to come their way.

The e27 Fundraise Programme is in partnership with Wholesale Investor, Australasia’s leading venture capital and capital raising platform for sophisticated and accredited investors. For more information on the programme, you may enquire here.

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On September 28th, 2019, I joined the StartupViet (Hosted by VnExpress.net)’s Bootcamp for top 80 startups as the Moderator for the Panel discussion “Go Global”.

It was a sweet coincidence that before our panel session, the startups had an in-depth dialogue with Grab’s representative in Vietnam. The discussion really brought me back to an article idea that I have had for quite some time, what are the key components to Grab’s success in Vietnam?

Recently, Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading start-up with an estimated valuation of about USD$14 billion, just announced a plan to invest USD$500 million into Vietnam this September to spur development of the country’s digital economy.

Last year, I was amazed when I had the chance to attend the launch of Grab’s R&D centre in Ho Chi Minh city: their large-scale system integrates emerging technologies such as Big Data, AI, and Human-Data Interaction to improve the in-app user experiences (UX) and tailor the UX to Vietnamese users.

A look at the ride-hailing market

According to a recent report by ABI Research, the automotive industry has continued to slow down while the ride-hailing market has continued to grow considerably. Another recent report by Google estimates that the ride-hailing sector will reach a valuation of USD$30 billion by 2025 with services expanding to more than 500 cities in Southeast Asia.

Yet, despite such growth, some vendors are experiencing significant losses. GoJek lost its 2nd Vietnam CEO within 5 months and Uber has had infamous struggles with a reported net loss of USD$1.1 billion for Q1 2019 and its widely publicized exit from Asia last year following Grab’s acquisition of its Asia operations.

Meanwhile, Grab was Vietnam’s most downloaded ride-sharing app from January to July, followed by GoViet (GoJek), Be and FastGo. According to ABI Research, Grab had over 70 per cent of Vietnam’s ride-hailing market in the first half of the year, compared with Go-Jek at 10 per cent.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news: GrabKitchen launches cloud kitchens in Thailand, Vietnam, accelerating regional expansions

Let’s see how Grab can maintain its dominance in the APAC region!

Grab’s phenomenal growth

Grab entered Vietnam in 2014 as a taxi aggregator well before it added private car services, which of course took a page from Uber’s playbook.

At the beginning of 2018, Grab tapped into Vietnam’s tech talent with its new R&D centre in Ho Chi Minh City. This conveys the company’s philosophy of developing highly localized products to target consumers in their countries while tapping the best-specialized tech talent from around the world to enhance UX and platform efficiency.

Later, they entered Vietnam’s online payment industry by partnering with the Vietnamese fintech firm Moca to launch a digital wallet. Grab also formed a joint venture with Credit Saison, a Japanese credit card company, to offer loans and credit analysis to consumers and micro-entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia.

These movements pushed the total payment volume on Grab’s mobile application more than doubled% in the first half of 2019 and GrabPay mobile active users grew by more than 65 per cent.

As mentioned above, in 2018, Uber sells SEA business to Grab, this helped Grab reach over 160 million downloads with more than 9 million drivers and agents for its fintech services. The deal put Grab in absolute control of Southeast Asia’s ride-sharing market.

Within the same time period, GrabFood saw a gross merchandise value rise 3 times with average daily orders hitting 300,000 in Vietnam. Grab has also shown a willingness to localize for local eaters, for example, GrabFood has signed contracts with Lotterria and other popular Vietnamese cafes and chains to bring them their favourite foods.

Earlier this month, Grab signed a partnership with Vietjet and Swift247 in which the company will provide a “super express delivery service” to provide expedited deliveries in cities in Vietnam with the potential for future international expansion

By the end of 2019, Grab will have fulfilled its plan to become the one-stop app to offer services and solutions for daily needs from transportation, to food, to entertainment, and seamless cashless payments similar to the role WeChat plays in China.

The factors driving the success of Grab

The result is obvious to see. The real question is, how could Grab do that – the thing that Uber left and Go-Jek couldn’t do?

1. Grab mastered the super app 

The very first factor is the so-called ‘super apps’ – the one-stop app that satisfies a range of daily services.  For Grab, this includes services such as transportation, paying bills, ordering food, and even booking hotels. This factor is a key component behind the success of both Go-Jek and Grab and it is what Uber left behind in South East Asia one year ago.

Grab, like all such super-apps, provides enough benefits and functionality to keep its users from ever needing to close the app.  It can cover everything at every step at any time. Today, users in Vietnam can pay bills, book hotels, order food and send parcels all from the Grab app.

2. Grab has rewards and subscriptions 

Reward programs are also helping to build customer loyalty. Grab now offers points for spending on its app. Users can redeem points for cash vouchers at KFC, coffee shops, or for free Grab bikes.

3. R&D as a differentiator 

Grab has shown its serious and long-term commitment to Vietnam. Grab now has more than 1,000 staff members in Vietnam which include more than 100 engineers in its R&D centre. This is a smart move.

As we all know, Vietnam is one of the emerging hot spots for tech talent in the region. Plus, hiring the local tech staff brings the company an unprecedented opportunity to deliver a platform catering to the region’s mobile-first environment needs. With this, they can gain a combination of deep local understanding and best-in-class engineering.

Also Read: Grab reportedly wants to merge OVO with Ant Financials DANA. What does it mean for the rest of us?

Last but not least, the focus on customer experience! As I mentioned above, their Ho Chi Minh R&D Center is like a “futuristic room” where their large-scale system meets emerging technologies such as Big Data, AI, and Human-Data Interaction to improve the in-app UX and tailor the UX to Vietnamese users. This is Grab’s way to fully understand and penetrate markets while providing the best possible experiences.

4. Hyper localisation

Just look at the way Grab managed to master each Southeast Asian market’s transportation needs: GrabBike in Vietnam, GrabBajay (three-wheeled motorized vehicles) in Indonesia, ThoneBane in Myanmar, Tuktuks in Thailand, and Remorque in Cambodia.

“Our strategy has always been, and will continue to be, to focus on Grab services in a country, our customers — and providing what we think and what we hope to be outstanding customer experience.” – Russell Cohen, Grab’s head of regional operations, told the Nikkei Asian Review.

Grab is truly among the giant tech companies and they clearly understand the power of ABCD Technology. These benefits gave Grab valuable data insight into its customers and drivers on its network which leads to the promotion of traditional transportation modes in several markets. For business, real-time unified data can be used to unlock automation functions and enable them to fully understand the market needs of customers.

These above characteristics are, for me, the most important characteristics for a startup to go global and become a unicorn.

As Vietnam ranks third among Grab’s top markets and the Southeast Asia Internet economy is expected to exceed USD$240 billion USD by 2025, this is just the beginning for Grab and I am excited to see how far they will grow beyond ride-hailing towards the daily super app.

–

Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

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Image Credit:  Afif Kusuma

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Many people still don’t understand what UI and UX really mean, often endowing both concepts with false meaning. To make it clear, let’s take a brief look at the two definitions.

Although both concepts work closely together, they are not to be confused with each other. In fact, user Interface comprises elements of the product that the user interacts with. These include colours, buttons, keys, images, etc. Simply put, it is a layout of the product.

User Experience is a broader concept. It determines how exactly the user interacts with the product and how they feel about it — whether they are satisfied with the functionality or not. UX includes all aspects of user interaction with your company, service or product. As you know, the clients are always right, and their positive impressions are your key to success.

The major trends of 2019-2020

Now that you know what UI and UX are, let’s discuss the main features that will rock the industry in the near future.

Dark themes and dark mode

 

Dark themes are gaining more and more popularity every year. This approach has several advantages. Such themes are eye-friendly, battery-saving, and more elegant.

While most designers still prefer to use white themes because of their versatility, dark themes offer the opportunity to make your product more stylish. Still, the wrong combination of colours in a dark theme can become a real torture for the eyes. So keep the colours balanced to add a pure style to your product.

An additional impetus to the growing popularity of dark themes was given by Apple with its macOS Mojave update on September 2018. The brainchild of Steve Jobs continues to set trends and designers tend to follow them.

Surreal and custom design

Custom design has always been trendy. The design doesn’t tolerate uniformity and monotony, so a truly creative approach is needed here. Therefore, the more unique your product’s style is — the better. This is highly relevant to narrow-niche products.

As for surreal design, don’t go too heavy on it. Although for some this design may look obscure and odd, this is precisely the main advantage of this approach.

Also Read: 2 tech trends to keep a watch for in the coming decade

Think about famous surrealist paintings by Salvador Dali or Pablo Picasso. They can be seen in the world’s great galleries of the Louvre and the Hermitage. Now, imagine that you can create something similar, but in the application or on the website.

This will immediately evoke subtle associations, and the product is likely to lure in users.

But don’t forget about balance and appropriateness — surreal design is hardly a good fit for a healthcare application or a legal services website.

Minimalism

The minimalist approach goes well with the previous trend of custom design. Ease of comprehension and use is the key to success today. The faster the user grasps the functionality of your application and jumps into it, the better.

Complex applications with a mess of interactive elements are a thing of the past, and there is nothing that portends their comeback.

Minimalist design is gaining ground due to the fact that users are no longer surprised by the complex and interesting design solutions. Content comes back to the first place – that’s why the user actually opens your application.

Minimalist design is perfect in simplifying user access to content, and that is why it is gaining popularity.

What’s more, minimalist design combined with dark themes gives an excellent result. Recall how much fun and excitement Playdead’s indie-game Limbo caused in 2010. Yes, this is a narrow-niche solution, no doubt.

 Voice interface

Voice control has already penetrated into all spheres of our life so you can find it in any device now. In the coming years, this trend will continue gaining momentum.

The most interesting thing is that voice control is not about design at all, since this feature doesn’t imply any visible elements. However, some designers try to portray the voice control interface in the form of futuristic moving objects.

Nevertheless, voice control is a crucial component of UI and UX, as it is actually a part of the minimalist design. Fewer elements of user interaction result in intuitive agile control.

Creative loaders

The load (or pre-load) indicator can be found in almost every application and website. The customers don’t like to idly spend their time waiting until the necessary file is downloaded, so you need to try your best to improve their experience.

Also Read: 5 mistakes to avoid when building a business from scratch

This is where creative loaders come into play. Instead of a typical moving stripe, they can be designed as a bouncy ball or a spinning wheel, for example. Thus, they attract the user’s attention and distract them from boring anticipation.

Due to the fact that modern users value speed and simplicity, the trend for smart loaders will definitely persist in the coming years. Here, you can find good examples of loaders to get inspired to create your own.

Summary

Summing up, we can say that 2020 will follow the motto of chaos, creativity, and innovative solutions. Switching from proven, trivial solutions to a more out-of-the-box approach is a trend for another couple of years.

Of course, the design pattern should be consistent with your product’s aims and niche, but don’t be afraid to experiment. Perhaps, it’s high time to make your app or website look more rockstars!

–

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.

Image Credit:  Irina Grotkjaer

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Cool Japan Fund, a Japanese entertainment-dedicated fund, announced an investment of JPY5.5 billion (US$50 million) into gojek, as gojek’s eventual foray into entertainment sector with the launch of its video streaming service goplay.

According to an article from Variety, Cool Japan says it will work with Gojek to spread Japanese culture in Indonesia through both the platform’s food delivery and video streaming services.

“[This investment in gojek] was decided under very strict screening,” said Naoki Kitagawa, a former representative director of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), who became president and CEO of Cool Japan in June last year.

Cool Japan Fund (CJF) Inc. was launched in November, 2013. Funded by both the public and private sectors, the company aims to promote Japanese exports, such as anime and food.

However, the company is not without trouble. The initiative has been reporting losses, with the fiscal year ending in March showed a US$160 million loss. The year before, the fund lost US$90 million.

Critics blame the public-private arrangement as a sign of a lack of accountability regarding performance.

Also Read: Women-focussed media Clozette secures US$10M funding from Cool Japan Fund

“[The Cool Japan Fund] is allowing projects to move forward unchecked without releasing to the public its profits and losses for current projects,” Takayuki Shimizu, a member of the House of Councillors from the Japan Innovation Party, said.

Among the known failures was an investment of US$9 million in a department store in Kuala Lumpur in 2016, resulting in CJF selling its shares in the venture two years later at a presumed loss. No amount of loss was disclosed.

In April this year, it announced that it was co-investing alongside talent agency Yoshimoto Kogyo and telecoms giant NTT into Laugh & Peace_Mother, a business for distribution of educational content.

Previously, Cool Japan was a backer of the Daisuke animation website, which became wholly owned by games company Bandai Namco in 2017, following a buyout.

In August 2018, Cool Japan announced that it would put up to US$47 million into another fund, Japan Contents Factory Investment Business, to support the creation of Japanese visual content aimed at international distribution. Other partners are NTT Plala, YD Creation, Bungeishunju, and supermarkets to multiplex giant Aeon Entertainment.

Also Read: AIA Indonesia takes part in gojek’s Series F funding in a strategic partnership

The Japan Contents Fund seeks to help companies bankroll pre-sales contracts to provide capital until payment of license fees. It also plans on supporting production companies for visual content within a contract that promises payment after completion with Video On Demand (VOD) media services.

Cool Japan has also announced investments in a fashion brand for working women, and a direct to consumer winery promoting the consumption of sake by U.S. consumers.

gojek has been consistently adding partners-investors to its Series F funding, from Google, JD.com, and Tencent in February, to local conglomerate Astra, who invested US$100 million in March 2019.

In July 2019, Visa also joined the Series F funding, right after Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank involvement in the round.

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SoftBank downgraded after WeWork’s US$9.5 billion rescue package- Bloomberg

A Jefferies analyst downgraded SoftBank Corp in its second Hold rating on Friday for engineering WeWork’s $9.5 billion rescue package according to Bloomberg report. Jefferies Group held a ‘buy’ recommendation on it since at least 2014, and moved it to ‘hold citing the increased risk of SoftBank “throwing good money after bad.”

Jefferies joins HSBC Holdings Plc in recommending that investors hold for now.

Once some of the brightest stars in the SoftBank’ portfolio, Uber and WeWork now number among its worst performers. SoftBank is planning to take a writedown to its Vision Fund of at least $5 billion to reflect a plunge in its value, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Analysts are recommending investors to buy shares in Masayoshi Son’s company even as it faced billions of dollars in writedowns from the WeWork IPO and a sharp decline in shares of Uber Technologies Inc. But now Son’s decision to double down on WeWork has prompted a rare voice of dissent to emerge.

India’s telecom giant Airtel picks up 8.8% stake in tech startup Vahan Inc- Deal Street Asia

Bharti Airtel Ltd has acquired a minority stake of 8.82% in Bengaluru-based software development startup Vahan Inc, said a report by Deal Street Asia. The acquisition of Vahan is a part of Airtel’s Startup Accelerator Program to support the growth of early-stage Indian tech startups.

The initiative will give startups early access to Airtel’s online and offline distribution network, deep market understanding and ecosystem of global strategic partners. Vahan specialises in providing jobs by using artificial intelligence-driven bot (web robot) and a messaging platform, became the first company to join the program.

Startups will also access to advisory services from Airtel’s executive team. Airtel’s scale and digital capabilities around distribution and payment can drive growth for startups that face multiple challenges in scaling up, said Airtel Chief Product Officer Adarsh Nair.

Cool Japan Fund invests US$50M in gojek, despite reported losses- e27

Cool Japan Fund, a Japanese entertainment-dedicated fund, announced an investment of JPY5.5 billion (US$50 million) into gojek, as gojek forays into the entertainment sector with the launch of its video streaming service goplay.

According to an article from Variety, Cool Japan says it will work with Gojek to spread Japanese culture in Indonesia through both the platform’s food delivery and video streaming services.

“[This investment in gojek] was decided under very strict screening,” said Naoki Kitagawa, a former representative director of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), who became president and CEO of Cool Japan in June last year.

Cool Japan Fund (CJF) Inc. was launched in November, 2013. Funded by both the public and private sectors, the company aims to promote Japanese exports, such as anime and food.

Also read: Following Nadiem Makarim’s resignation, gojek names new leaders

Indian online hotel booking startup MiStay raises funding from ah! Ventures- VCCircle

Founded in 2016 by alumni of IIT-Madras, MiStay Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, which runs online hotel reservations startup, has raised an undisclosed amount from investors including the Mumbai-based ah! Ventures, wrote VCCircle.

The round was also supported by a group of investors led Hyderabad-based entrepreneur, Sumit Nagpal.

Bengaluru-based MiStay said it will use the funds to expand its footprint and grow its leadership team. In 2017, it raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Axilor Ventures and a group of angel investors.

It claims to have grown five times since its pivot to the consumer market and says it has achieved operational profitability. It is currently present in 100 cities through 1,500 hotels.

Chinese biggest co-working space provider Ucommune files for US IPO- Deal Street Asia

Beijing-based Ucommune, which was valued at $2.6 billion about a year ago, has appointed Citigroup and Credit Suisse to work on a listing, while Bank of America has a minor role in the deal, as it files for a US IPO, said a Deal Street Asia report.

A prospectus was lodged with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in late September, they said, and the company has held preliminary meetings to sound out investors before the formal public marketing process begins.

China’s biggest shared workspace provider Ucommune’s decision to explore a listing has surprised investment bankers given the similarities between its business and that of embattled US rival WeWork, which this week had to be bailed out in a US$10 billion deal after investors soured on an IPO plan.

A decision to go ahead with the IPO will depend on the feedback provided by potential investors, the sources said.

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On Wednesday, October 23, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo announced the list of ministers and heads of institutions for his new cabinet. Despite the continuous mention of the “digital economy” jargon throughout his campaign, the new cabinet came out as a shock for the national startup ecosystem –one of the leading players in the country’s creative economy sector.

There are two major questions that remain. First is the merging of Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) into the ministry of tourism, transforming it into ministry tourism and creative economy. “Merging” is the terminology that they prefer to use instead of elimination. While the ministry itself will be led by a young, leading name in the creative industry, the merger may indicate a changing level of priority for the creative industry –which also included the startup ecosystem. This is especially crucial considering Bekraf’s significant role in the industry.

The agency’s programmes specifically target the needs of creative professionals, considering the list of deputy that was in charge of the different sectors in the agency, from research, funding, infrastructure, marketing, intellectual property rights, and inter-agency relationship. Ideally, with its own potential and complexity, tourism should be handled by its own agency.

Never look down on creative economy

According to research by central statistics agency and Bekraf in 2016, Indonesia’s creative economy sector contributed 7.35 per cent of the nation’s GDP or the equal of IDR922 trillion (US$65 billion). The figure has continued to rise that it is projected to grow by 4.13 per cent by the end of the year. Creative economy employs up to 17 million workers from various fields –including tech.

Also Read: Indonesia’s IDN Media foray into e-sports by acquiring GGWP.ID

According to other sources such as the Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company e-Conomy SEA 2019 report, this year, Indonesia’s digital economy sector is expected to reach US$40 billion and is predicted to grow up to US$133 billion by 2025. The e-commerce, travel, and media sector will play a key role in driving the figure and pushing Indonesia to become a top player in the Southeast Asian region.

Some concerns

In addition to Bekraf, the other institution that works closely with the digital industry is the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. In the past years, former minister Rudiantara played an active role in advocating startup industry players with his ambitious target of giving birth to new unicorns. To support the mission, the minister had taken several steps including the issuance of new regulations.

Johnny Gerald Plate has been named as the new minister to replace Rudiantara. While the new minister has been a familiar face in the political sector, he is a relative newcomer in the creative and digital industry.

This is basically the second point of our concerns.

The Indonesian creative and digital ecosystem is growing rapidly and it requires the government to run just as fast with it –if not more. Disruptions, as provided by players in these industries, have been proven from time to time to drive changes in society. Our tech ecosystem has gone beyond its early-stage; we have even entered the scale-up stage at the moment. This development requires an individual with a relevant, strong track record to lead the policy-making institutions. Especially since Plate was given the mandate to handle the matters of cybersecurity, data autonomy, and protection of local ICT industry. A rather serious and daunting task.

Also Read: MHomecare wins Indonesia-Korea Startup Demo Day 2019

On Monday, October 22, the presence of Nadiem Makarim at the Merdeka Palace gave a fresh, new hope for the industry. Many were expecting to see the set up of a new ministry that specifically handles digital and creative economy, but he was being appointed as minister of education and culture instead. There is no denying that human resource development is a crucial matter  But given his track record in running a disruptive business model, it feels like a waste to not maximise his potentials.

It is hard not to be pessimistic

The Indonesian digital industry had facilitated access to financial services for the underserved community, with the connectivity provided through their tech innovation. The ride-hailing vertical has opened up new job opportunities and transformed SMEs through the use of digital tech. We have not even talked about the New Retail, healthtech, edutech, and other verticals that have created significant impact in Indonesia.

It is hard to accept the political calculation that the President had to make. We sincerely hope this is not an effort to sacrifice the creative and digital industries for a so-called greater good.

—

The article Harap-Harap Cemas Ekosistem Industri Kreatif dan Ekonomi Digital Pasca Pengumuman Kabinet Indonesia Maju was written in Bahasa Indonesia by Randi Eka Yonida for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

Image Credit: William Manuel Son on Unsplash

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Similar to many marketing buzzwords, disruption is one that has been used and misused almost as long as the word has existed. However, in today’s tech-savvy marketplace, marketers feel they “coined the phrase,” and prance around sipping overpriced lattes telling everyone just that.

So, why don’t we take a brief step back into history, to around 1954? Back in a time when marketers had never heard of disruption. Hang on, they did.

Take the classic Harvard Business Review article by Theodore Levitt on Marking Myopia – although this is specifically about the rise and fall of whole industries specifically, these changes were driven through disruption. 

Also Read: How Blockchain is disrupting the traditional finance industry

From the Ford Model T, the demise of the humble grocery store being wiped off the map by supermarket chains and petrochemical companies being challenged not once – when the kerosene light was replaced by incandescent lamps.

But again today with the rise of alternative power and battery-powered cars. Let’s face it; disruption is real, it has happened well before us and will continue well after we are gone. 

There is a clear gap in how disruption is being used   

Three or so years ago, every startup was wanting to “disrupt” or be a “disruptor,” taking on the big guys and bringing them to their knees – like David did Goliath.

But today it’s not as easy for a startup to disrupt a corporate as it was three years ago. In fact, for many startups, corporates are becoming the desired partner.   

Why this seismic shift in disruption mantra? Corporates themselves have become more nimble, innovative and aim to disrupt from within.

That is to say, embracing technology to automate, streamline and provide their highly-skilled and innovative workforce with flexible working arrangements.

Previously where many of the potential disruptors who were within companies breaking out, now they are empowered to innovate and create from within.

Startups, SME’s and corporates work together to proactively create solutions for products, services, and markets, leading to collaboration rather than decimation.

Where disruption was once being used to disassemble the ways of the past, now it is being used collaboratively create new blue ocean strategies and customer-led solutions like never before. 

How to look out for the positive indicators of disruption

There are many positive indicators of disruption, such as health and wellbeing, not to mention the obscene rates of obesity and diabetes sweeping across the planet.

Also Read: Can journalists keep up with the pace of disruption?

Fitness empire F45 is building a global fitness empire around providing a 45-minute workout regime that a business executive or family person can make time in their day for.

Food companies such as You Foods are removing the need for expensive and often nutritionally void foods, with portion-controlled, easy to access ready meals.

The outcome is more people are becoming active and eating better, thus reducing the rates of obesity and diabetes within our community.

Then with the wave of health and wellness sweeping across the globe, countries have started implementing sugar taxes. Take Singapore for instance, which banned the advertising of sugary drinks — a positive result from disruption. 

Just because we have always done something a particular way, disruption has broadened even the most traditional and dogmatic mindsets amongst us.

Does startup disruption equate to a lack of management experience? 

With just about anyone able to create a startup with a great idea and a little seed funding, there is no doubt that there is a lack of management experience in startups.

There are certainly cases in which some companies feel so casual that at a certain point we wonder if the co-founders just wanted to hang out, or actually do business.

This is not necessarily all bad, but there are significant corporate governance, systems, and processes that experienced managers can add to the fold. 

The benefit of the “lack of experience” is a new way of thinking. That’s because there are no predispositions to how things should be done.

New startup managers need to be compliant, legal and of course ethical, but besides that, a new wave of thinking is providing startups with flexibility and uniqueness that many employees and customers are crying out for in today’s market place.

Has disruption evolved from unhappy customers? 

Disruption is about change, not simply technology. Netflix is a perfect example, where people got sick of travelling out to Blockbuster stores to pick up their new release videos.

Blockbuster refused to change their business model, so Netflix literally took their customers in a number of years, closing one of the most successful global franchise businesses in history. Why?

Disruption is a customer-driven phenomenon. New technologies come and go. The ones that stick around are those the consumers choose to adopt.

Adoption is critical to success, as with the blockbuster example, Netflix was easily accessible through a Smart TV or computer, it was as expensive as renting a couple of new release movies for the whole month’s subscription and you can unsubscribe at any time – simple to adopt. 

Wrapping up 

Disruption has become part of our daily lives, from our average commute where we are connected through social media, advertising and apps to companies around the globe, through to the way we travel, communicate, do business and purchase our groceries.

Generations ago, the change would have been resisted, however, with the rise of the millennials, change is not only embraced, but it is also demanded. But true innovation and disruption should aim to change the customers’ world not only for a profit but for meaningful good. 

Disrupting for the sake of being a “disruptor” has moved on, the time is to innovate, iterate and stay relevant. Regardless if you are a startup a big corporate, social enterprise or not-for-profit — the key to disruption is making the world a better place.

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Image Credit: Alexandru Goman

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It is undeniable that OTT has been taking over the entertainment industry ever since the growing popularity of Netflix. This does not apply only to customers in the Western hemisphere –even in the Asia Pacific, changes are apparent.

The changes possess a unique challenge for operators of pay-TV services.

In an interview with e27, Vewd CEO Aneesh Rajaram points out that while the latest industry reports show that the number of PayTV subscribers is still growing annually, the growth rate has been affected by the arrival of a new population who are getting more access to the internet via mobile phones or affordable broadband services at home.

“This population is starting to choose a different mode of video consumption habits than a traditional pay-TV subscription. This results in losing existing subscribers (cord-cutters) and also failing to attract the new younger demography,” he says.

Vewd is an OTT software provider for smart TV and set-top boxes devices. In this interview, Rajaram shares his insights on the growing trends of the ‘cord-never generation’, traditional pay-TV operators in Southeast Asia, and what it means for the entire entertainment industry.

Also Read: gojek introduces local content streaming GoPlay, adding more to its super-app ambition

Everybody streams today

In this pivot from traditional methods of viewing videos to streaming content from anywhere, how can pay-TV operators compete with these platforms?

Aneesh believes that it is important to understand the key trends before the problem is addressed.

“The solution really would be for pay-TV operators to add streaming capabilities to their boxes to offer consumers more choice … and also to come up with new affordable devices for consumers to conveniently stream their preferred content,” he elaborates.

Although, this might sound like pay-TV operators need to aggregate or become OTT platforms altogether in order to float the waters. As daunting as it sounds, the statistics are in favour of the latter.

Gen Zs and millennials are more likely to stream than the Gen Ys and Gen Xs, this seems to be a widely known idea. But Rajaram says that it does not mean that the older cohorts –people aged 45-55-year-old– do not stream content.

“Even though Gen Zs and millennials stream more and more likely to use OTT services, the universal trend is that every home is starting to get streaming services and is likely to have at least one streaming service going forward,” he says.

The locational differences are mostly in the willingness to pay, in his opinion.

Also Read: Shopee takes aim at Lazada with live streaming play

Consumers in the Asia Pacific region are more likely to use advertisement-supported streaming services, compared to North American users who tend to go for more subscription-based services.

Local players in the sector such as Hotstar and Iflix are immensely using free advertisement-supported services to give consumers choices. This will eventually enable consumers to work their way into getting subscribers to pay on a monthly basis.

What is next for the entertainment industry

Netflix has been known to launch original content that is only available on its own platforms, such as Aaron Paul’s El Camino and Adam Sandler’s Murder Mystery. In the Asia Pacific region, even popular Indian movie director Karan Johar launched his movie Drive exclusively on Netflix.

This trend has led industry players to believe that this is how streaming platforms are going to disrupt the film industry.

Interestingly, Rajaram actually believes that it will not disrupt but level the playing field in the entertainment industry.

“… By providing a lot more opportunities for large as well as independent studios to get their content distributed in the world. Traditionally, it used to be difficult for independent content creators to really produce content through content distribution ecosystem,” he explains.

But now, with the existence of OTT, the number of apps and services available in the home mean that these providers can license their content to multiple players –leading to more homes reached easily at the same time.

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Image Credit: Vewd

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WeWork plans to lay off 4,000 staff [Reuters]

Office-sharing startup WeWork is planning to cut as many as 4,000 jobs as a part of a turnaround plan put in place by top shareholder Japan’s SoftBank Group after it took control of the company this week, Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The job cut will amount to just under a third of WeWork’s global workforce, and about 1,000 of the cuts will hit employees such as janitorial staff, the report said, citing people with direct knowledge of the plans.

SoftBank agreed to spend more than $10 billion to take over WeWork on Tuesday, giving a near US$1.7 billion payoff to the startup’s co-founder Adam Neumann to relinquish control.

New Gojek co-CEO says dual listing likely but no immediate IPO plans [DealStreetAsia]

Indonesian unicorn Gojek’s new joint chief executive officer Andre Soelistyo on Thursday said the ride-hailing and payments major is likely to go for a dual listing, with the IDX as its primary destination.

He declined to divulge the second destination where the company could list its shares. Addressing a media briefing in Jakarta, the former Gojek group president said the company had no immediate plans to tap the public markets.

“It’s fair to say that the [Indonesia stock] market is not well educated yet. Knowing that, if we can deliver on our mission of covering a larger part of the economy and building sizeable business opportunities, that’s comparable to some of the larger conglomerates in Indonesia such as Astra and BCA and some of the big banks,” Soelistyo said.

Visa and Revolut launches multi-currency debit card [press release]

Visa and Revolut have launched a multi-currency travel debit card that allows Singapore consumers to spend overseas in over 150 currencies at the real exchange rate without hidden fees.

Findings from a YouGov survey commissioned by Visa revealed that Singaporeans are receptive towards neobanks and have expressed strong interest in such a debit product.

Quote attributed to Kunal Chatterjee, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei.

“Revolut is the first neobank that Visa is partnering in Singapore to issue a multi-currency travel debit card. Based on a research that we conducted on Singaporeans, more than 70 per cent of millennials are keen to sign up for a multi-currency travel product offered by a neobank. In fact, Singaporeans are most concerned about not getting the best exchange rates when they visit a money changer, so it is not surprising that close to 80 per cent of millennials say they would change less money and use this multi travel currency card when travelling. As we progress into a more digital society, consumers expect to lead a digital lifestyle and make payments seamlessly when they travel without worrying about carrying too much cash.”

AI startup Crediwatch raises US$3.2M [press release]

Crediwatch, a Bangalore-based techfin company building AI/ML tools to help the financial services industry reduce credit risk, has secured US$3.2 million in Series A funding, led by ARTIS Labs. Abstract Ventures also participated.

The funding will accelerate R&D and commercialisation of Crediwatch’s platform.

Prior to this round, Crediwatch has raised US$1.6 million.

Crediwatch is a ‘data insights-as-a-service’ company that provides lenders, businesses with actionable credit intelligence on private entities they need to improve trust and increase their lending and trading activity. Crediwatch does this with no human intervention by deploying the latest practical AI and technology tools that provide the most reliable comprehensive real-time inputs.

 

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Life skills are surprisingly crucial to your success at work, too. Here’s why Mark Zuckerberg has mastered both

What are life skills, anyway? I like the definition from UNICEF: “Life skills are defined as psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.” These life skills include cognitive skills for analysing and using information, personal skills for managing oneself as well as interpersonal skills for communicating and interacting effectively with others — all critical to your success as a leader and entrepreneur.

While our parents are typically the ones to teach us life skills, there are others out there who can provide lessons about life skills. Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg is one of these people whose public experience taught me about what it really means to achieve success. Here are seven life skills that I learned from him, and how you can apply them to your own career:

Also Read: Singapore fourth in Asia for government data requests: Facebook release

1. Equanimity.This is a fancy way of saying that Zuckerberg doesn’t lose his cool when he’s under pressure or in a stressful situation. Instead, he calmly approaches even the most difficult situations because anger doesn’t breed success — it only serves to alienate or give the impression that someone feels they don’t have control over a situation. Developing this equanimity has helped improve my relationships with employees and colleagues while providing a way to think more clearly about the critical problem or pressures in front of me.
2. Critical thinking. Zuckerberg has noted his interest in always going deeper with an issue or idea in order to really make a difference, be disruptive and maximise the value. As he once said, “I got my first computer in the sixth grade or so. As soon as I got it, I was interested in finding out how it worked and how the programmes worked and then figuring out how to write programmes at just deeper and deeper levels within the system.” I could see that success only comes from taking the time to think more critically rather than just accepting the first idea that comes to mind.
3. Problem-solving.Zuckerberg has always focussed on solving problems. As he noted in a biography about him, “The question I ask myself like almost every day is, ‘Am I doing the most important thing I could be doing?’ Unless I feel like I’m working on the most important problem that I can help with, then I’m not going to feel good about how I’m spending my time.” I knew that, at the heart of every business I considered creating, there had to be a relevant problem that needed solving to help a consumer or a business.

Also Read: Why Facebook’s early investors funded this mobile medical consultation startup

4. Effective communication.While many leaders leave employee communication to others on the team, Zuckerberg has always taken on this role himself. In creating a company that increases communication and interaction between people, it makes sense that he would also take this approach with his employees. Many of those who have worked at Facebook note how he is always walking around, talking to everyone, asking questions and getting to know them personally. When I tried this for myself, I realised how much more willing my team members were to share what was going on, how they felt, and voice any ideas they had for making changes. Keeping open communication with your team not only builds trust but can also help you be a more effective leader.

5. Assertiveness.Zuckerberg is not interested in following or doing things on other people’s terms. As he noted in a Wired Magazine interview, “Sometimes we are going to do stuff that’s controversial, and we’re going to make mistakes. We have to be willing to take risks.” It’s this attitude that proves how a product, service, company and brand can make strides in completely changing an industry. Success doesn’t come from worrying about how something will work; instead, you just have to jump in and do it.

6. Mindfulness:Zuckerberg doesn’t let his critics get to him. I learned that the ability to ignore the noise around me has helped me to use the energy I would have wasted on worrying about what others thought of me. I use it to fuel creativity, innovation and actions that have furthered my business success. Taking a mindful approach to what you want to accomplish — and blocking out the rest — is critical.

7. Vision.In recent years, Zuckerberg has become more involved in shaping the global business landscape, illustrating that he is more than just a “one-hit wonder.” His recent address at the United Nations noted the need to expand Internet access to developing nations, illustrating his interest in the future of human rights and social issues. Zuckerberg has also met with country leaders as part of his vision for shaping future generations and helping tackle various global social problems. I value his leadership style and encourage those working in technology to follow suit in taking on a bigger role in real-world issues, rather than relying on politicians to do it for us.

Altering your own thinking, behaviours and actions accordingly can help you deliver positive results.

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Cynthia Johnson is the Director or Brand Development at American Addiction Centers, previously Managing Partner at RankLab (acquired by AAC Holdings, Inc. 2015)

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organisation comprising the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship programme that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

This article was first published on e27 on May 2016.

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