In yet another development, Malaysia’s SmartBite has raised US$100K via equity crowdfunding platform pitchIN
SingPost’s US e-commerce units seek bankruptcy protection [Reuters]
Singapore Post said its two struggling US e-commerce units, Jagged Peak and TradeGlobal, have filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a six-month process to find buyers for the businesses failed.
“Under the supervision of the bankruptcy court, the US subsidiaries intend to pursue the sale of all or substantially all of their assets,” SingPost said late on Wednesday.
The underperformance of the two firms has hit profits at SingPost, which counts Singapore Telecommunications and Alibaba Group Holdings as its biggest shareholders.
Square Yards raises US$20M from PropertyGuru founders [press release]
Square Yards, a tech-led real estate brokerage platform in India, today announced that it has raised US$20 million of equity capital from a clutch of investors, including Bennett Coleman & Co Limited (Times Group); Genkai Capital; Steve Melhuish and Jani Rautiainen, Founders of PropertyGuru; Koh Boon Hwee, former Chairman of Singtel and DBS. Some of the existing investors also participated in this round.
The company wants to aggressively ramp up its investments in strengthening its technology infrastructure, building a go-to consumer brand, as well as expand to newer geographies in emerging countries especially those that have a large primary residential market and fragmented distribution.
Founded in 2014 by Tanuj Shori and Kanika Gupta, Square Yards is a technology-led real estate brokerage and mortgage marketplace. It has 3,000 employees, and presence in 10 countries.
OVO announces Karaniya Dharmasaputra as President Director [press release]
OVO, Indonesia’s leading digital, rewards and financial services platform, has announced the appointment of Karaniya Dharmasaputra as President Director of PT Visionet Internasional (OVO), taking the helm from Adrian Suherman who led OVO for three years.
Dharmasaputra is Co-founder and CEO of Bareksa, the first integrated online mutual fund marketplace in Indonesia and also as Co-founder and Chairman of Indonesia Fintech Association (Aftech).
Before building Bareksa, Karaniya held positions in leading media companies, KOMPAS TV, KapanLagi Youniverse, Liputan6.com, The Jakarta Post, VIVA, and Tempo.
Dharmasaputra said: “This trust is a mandate for me to sharpen OVO’s perspective, becoming more than a fintech company into a strategic partner for the Indonesian government in accelerating financial inclusion and digital economic growth. As more and more people adopt digital payments, we should also put stronger focus on educating the community, enabling them to fully enjoy the benefits of digital economy.”
SmartBite, an AI-powered food delivery startup catering to working professionals in the Central Business District (CBD), has raised over RM418,000 (approximately US$100,000) via a successful equity crowdfunding campaign on the pitchIN platform.
This brings the total investment amount to over RM2.93 million (US$700,000). Previously, SmartBite has raised around US$300,000 from two series of funding and has received a strategic investment from Marna Capital, Rhombus Food Holdings, the founder of Hop Lun, Eric Ryd, Noodles Digital as well as angel investors from Asia and Europe.
The investment will be used to expand its corporate offerings in catering and employee benefit programmes. The SmartBite programme helps companies manage their F&B requirements for events, meetings and any corporate activity, by providing their platform and support to ensure a simpler and faster way to handle the entire process. Corporates can now directly engage SmartBite instead of having to manage multiple suppliers and vendors for their F&B needs.
Wow! Momo raises US$23M from Tiger Global [press release]
Wow! Momo Foods, which owns and operates two quick-service restaurant brands Wow! Momo and Wow! China, has raised Series B funding worth US$23 million led by Tiger Global.
Sagar Daryani, CEO and Co-founder of Wow! China/Wow! Momo, said: “This partnership is indeed a big step forward in our endeavour to become an Indian origin QSR chain with an aim to go global in times to come. We will smartly use the capital infused to further scale our operations backed with disruptive research and development to reach out to a larger consumer base within the country.”
Quona Capital continues its investments in fintech for inclusion in emerging markets
Fintech venture firm Quona Capital announced a US$10 million extension round to a Series A financing in Indonesian P2P lender Julo. The round was led by Accion, with participation from existing investors Skystar, East Ventures, Provident, Gobi Partners and Convergence. The new funding will provide growth capital to help Julo expand its business and build enhancements to its proprietary credit scoring technology.
Established in 2017 by co-founders Adrianus Hitijahubessy and Hans Sebastian, Julo offers consumer loans via digital channels using alternative data to power its proprietary credit scoring technology. Its core product is 3-6 month installment loans, priced at a variable rate of 3-5% per month, with a nominal origination fee charged to lenders.
Ganesh Rengaswamy, Quona Capital co-founder and partner, said: “A significant majority of Julo’s loans are used for productive purposes that can enhance the economic well-being of families and small businesses — driving financial inclusion in Indonesia, which is a cornerstone of Quona’s focus.”
A guide on how IP works and tips for tech startups to deal with Chinese IP laws
For a long time, China has been considered the black hole of IP laws: foreign companies and tech entrepreneurs saw China as a law-less place full of copyright-copycats and intellectual property thieves. However, in recent years, China’s IP laws changed dramatically and have revolutionised the way IP is governed.
Trademarks and patent effectiveness is improving dramatically in China. Through a current governmental focus on revamping the IP processes, China has incentivised the IP system to continue to improve, and it is set to continue developing over the years.
Additionally, “laowais” (foreigners) are no longer discriminated against in the Chinese courts for merely being foreign; though going toe to toe with SOEs (state-owned enterprises) is still likely to be a very tough battle.
All these improvements in the Chinese IP system have shown that the Chinese market is turning out to be a great place for tech startups to start their business.
How the Chinese IP system works:
Like any foreign company, it’s essential to know one thing: Your global patents are worthless in China.If you want to be protected here, you need to have filed locally for all your IP & patents.
The types of IP you can file in China:
Patents: There are multiple types of patents, and it’s essential to know which type to apply for, including design and invention. Tech startups should apply for a patent for both core and fringe technologies. These should be filed with the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). This process can also take up to 6 years.
Trademark: Unlike in other countries, a company should register both their Chinese names (Pinyin and Character) and their English name as their trademark. Companies should register their main trademarks with the China Trademark Office (CTO) and conduct a trademark search prior to registration.
Copyrights: This step is not entirely necessary for all companies, but once a company registers their work with the National Copyright Administration (NCA) this provides a public record of their IP registration and can be used as evidence in a copyright dispute.
How do you protect the registered IP?
Identify: Identify the particular concept or product that you wish to patent
Register: Go to the relevant government registry and apply
Update: With every development to your business, the product or government regulation, make sure you update patents accordingly
You will need to be proactive and enforce your IP to be taken seriously here. Otherwise, you will get pushed around.
The Chinese system is a “first to file” process – meaning, the first person who applies for the patent will be the one being awarded one. In most other countries, if you can prove through sales or other means that you are the deserving party, you will be awarded the patent. This is not the case in China, and it reinforces the need to update every iteration and change you make to your IP.
Specifically for tech companies, the process for applying for an IP is slightly different. To file for IP, you will need to disclose the first and last 50 pages of code for your copyright application, so this should be taken into consideration when doing any coding.
How to protect your IP and business in China:
When doing business in China as in any country, you will often find yourself partnering with other companies or individuals and ultimately sharing your IP. This is especially common for tech startups that may need to construct a supply chain within China.
When sharing your IP, it is important to tread carefully as you should always be extremely careful about what you disclose to any potential partners. There are four main steps any savvy businessperson should take:
1. File an idea or patent as soon as possible. The second you have filed for an IP you are protected.
2. When sharing your IP in China, you should make sure all your IP applications have already been filed before you start partnering or sharing information.
3. As an extra measure, it’s important that you sign an NDA before you disclose any details. You should be especially careful when disclosing information to manufacturers or individuals throughout the supply chain.
4. File for an IP for every small iteration and change to the product; it’s cheap and easy and will save you in the long run.
5. Keep an eye out on developments in IP Law. The Chinese government can publish new laws out of the blue so it is essential to carefully follow databases and government news sources that announce new IP laws and the date that they come into action. By staying updated and prepared to meet any changes in the law, you can focus on developing your business as opposed to working with the government’s limitations.
Protecting your business and IP is especially important for tech startups entering into a joint venture. When writing up the contract or agreement for the JV, it’s crucial that you clarify exactly who will own the IP rights and any ideas generated throughout the partnership.
How to protect your IP In the manufacturing process
Once you’re ready to begin manufacturing your product, it’s important to know that your IP troubles may not end there. Apart from using NDAs with manufacturers, protecting your IP is also about designing the manufacturing process in a way that stops people from stealing your ideas.
1. If your product is IP-intensive, segment the critical steps of the design and production processes so that not one outsourced company or individual has access to the whole design to copy your IP.
2. Differentiate your product by including a system or technological aspect that is difficult to imitate.
Along with signing NDAs with manufacturers, implementing the above steps will ensure your tech startup faces little harm from attempts to copy your IP.
The new cyber-security law
The new cybersecurity law passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has had huge impacts on IP that affect tech startups:
Data localisation: According to the new law business info and data on Chinese citizens gathered within the country should be kept on domestic servers. This data can also no longer be transferred abroad without permission. Data stored overseas for business reasons must be government-approved. This may be especially challenging for tech startups whose main base of operations is not in China.
User consent: Internet platforms could be required to get consent from users to collect their data.
Government cooperation: Internet operators need to cooperate with and provide technical support for government investigations involving crime and national security. This involves handing over data to authorities if wrong-doing is suspected.
Equipment testing: Mandatory testing and certification of computer and network security equipment before entering the Chinese market.
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How you design your pitch deck gives potential investors tons of insights into how you plan on building your product
Creating a good pitch deck is hard, creating a great pitch deck is even harder. We look through applications for our startup services: a lot of them are great, some of them … not so much. Why?
One of the main reasons is that the pitch deck is incorrect or incomplete.
We’d like to share with you a few hints and guidelines on what we expect from a pitch deck. That way, you can up your chances of leaving a lasting impression.
By the end of your pitch deck, we should have the answers to the following questions:
1. Why you?
2. Why this?
3. Why now?
That’s easier said than done, of course. We often see simple mistakes, such as missing information, overcrowded slides, a lack of research, confusing or contradictory statements, typos, etcetera.
Take extra care to avoid these blunders, please! This will help us and especially you!
How can you avoid this? Do your research and create a sound structure for your pitch deck. Take us on a journey. Show us all the aspects of your company that we want to and should know about.
A great place to start is to include the following dimensions and answer these sample questions:
1. Problem → What problem are you addressing?
2. Solution → What solution do you offer?
3. Product → What is your product?
4. Vision → What’s your vision today, in a year, in five years?
5. Market size → How big is your (addressable) market?
6. Competition → Who are your competitors (direct and indirect)?
7. Business Model → How does your business work? How do you plan to make money?
8. Status and roadmap → Where are you today? What key milestones do you want to achieve in the next 12 months?
9. Team → Who are you? Why are you the right team to build this?
Last but not least, pitch deck design matters. We don’t expect you to have your corporate identity completely figured out – or even having a logo yet. Just prove to us that you have a good feeling for form and function. After all, an image is worth a thousand words. How you design your pitch deck gives us tons of insights into how you plan on building your product, even if you’re not a designer.
The launch marks the market immersion programme that enables Singapore-based startups to showcase their solutions to Thai enterprises, government entities
The Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), a national private-led organisation seeking to drive entrepreneurship and innovation in Singapore, joins hands with True Digital Park (TPDK), an innovation ecosystem for both Thai and international startups industry players, to officially launch the new True Digital Park–ACE Singapore Centre.
The partnership was announced today during TDPK’s T.O.P 2019 – Together of Possibilities Grand Opening event.
Back in May 2018, ACE and True Digital Park signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that represents the collaboration between Singapore and Thailand in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation.
The opening of the Centre marks ACE’s support for local and international startups with market access opportunities. The Centre is the second one launched by ACE this year and the first within Southeast Asia.
With the Centre, Singaporean startups will be able to leverage on the TDPK-ACE Singapore Centre as a Landing Zone for access to local partners, spaces for work, and participate in market-focussed programmes.
True Digital Park (TDPK) has been a key strategic partner for Singapore startups to ‘soft-land’ and use Bangkok as a launchpad into the Thai market. Located in the heart of Bangkok’s cyber-tech district, the facility houses startups, venture capitalists, accelerators, and government offices.
Singapore startups arriving in Thailand through TDPK will be able to plug-in from day one to help them gain a foothold in their internationalisation plans.
In conjunction with the opening of the True Digital Park-ACE Singapore Centre, ACE also brought along a delegation of 14 Singapore startups. These startups are part of a 4-day ACE Market Immersion Programme to identify and explore business opportunities in the Thai market.
They are:
Ai Pallete, an AI platform for FMCG product innovation.
Excide, a platform that scales finance capabilities for SMEs in Southeast Asia by leveraging on technology to re-design finance processes and implemented by a curated group of qualified finance talents
Fleetnetics, a flagship product of DewTouch, is a platform that takes car rental, spare part distributors and motor garages to the cloud.
Haulio, a Singapore-based digital container haulage network.
Infinitus, a blockchain-based mobile application that protects and safe keep users’ private keys, mnemonic phases, pincodes, and recovery seeds for all types of crypto wallets.
Motorist.sg, a Singapore’s AutoConcierge Platform that simplifies vehicle ownership.
OFFEO, a design-driven online video maker that enable small businesses and marketers to create compelling social media videos easily.
Omniaz, a platform that drives the global alcoholic beverage industry toward technology and data to become the leading global BevTech company.
Rock Nano Global, a company that creates gamification and game-based learning type products.
SecureAge, a data security company headquartered in Singapore that places real security and usability on equal footing.
Ezyprocure, intelligent procurement solutions to market that help maximise productivity, cashflow, and profitability.
Small Batch Learning, a startup that solves the problem of “how do we fund free education” by launching the world’s first Smart Learning Network.
SmartAHC, a platform that provides data infrastructure, which leverages on Internet-of-Thing, Artificial Intelligent, and Computer Vision Technology, to bridge the livestock data and livestock producers’ ERP system.
TakejiDesign, a startup with a mission to produce disruptive media and technology that helps businesses and/or organisation achieve greater efficiency and excellence by driving impact in their industry and consumers’ daily lives.
On the sidelines of the launch was also the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between ACE and the Singapore-Thai Chamber of Commerce (STCC). STCC is a registered chamber in Thailand with about 250 corporate members that promotes and develops various aspects of economic and social relations between Singapore and Thailand.
Under the MOU, companies in each of ACE’s and STCC’s respective ecosystems can expect to benefit from access to community events, workshops, programmes, business contacts, and investor networks, among others.
Acronis states that the funding will allow it to expand the engineering team in Singapore, Bulgaria, and Arizona
Cyber protection startup Acronis announced that it has received a US$147 million investment led by Goldman Sachs. The investment round, the company said, sets the valuation of the company to over one billion dollars.
Acronis said that the funding will be used to expand its engineering team in Singapore, Bulgaria, and Arizona; build additional data centers; and grow through acquisitions.
Additionally, Acronis plans to use the capital to accelerate the business growth in North America in partnership with Acronis SCS, an independent software vendor and distributor for the public sector.
Acronis was founded in Singapore in 2003 and incorporated in Switzerland in 2008. Using AI technologies and blockchain-based data authentication, Acronis offers data protection in any environment, including physical, virtual, cloud, mobile workloads, and applications.
“The investment round led by Goldman Sachs will help us to fast-track the product development through acquisitions of companies and additional resources, and accelerate the growth,” said Serguei Beloussov, founder and CEO of Acronis.
Recently, Acronis announced the Acronis Cyber Platform that enables third-parties to customise, extend, and integrate Acronis’ cyber protection solutions to the needs of their customers and partners.
Acronis products include:
Acronis Cyber Protection solutions for data safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security.
Acronis Cyber Platform that enables third-party developers to customise, extend and integrate cyber protection into their solutions
Acronis Cyber Infrastructure that provides the most cost-efficient and secure environment for running cyber protection solutions and data storage.
Acronis Cyber Architecture that guarantees the privacy of data and gives customers the full control of data location.
Acronis Cyber Cloud that enables service providers and enterprise IT to deliver cyber protection services to end customers.
Furthermore, Acronis also noted its plan to focus on the combination of traditional data protection and cybersecurity into one integrated solution addressing all Five Vectors of Cyber Protection– ensuring the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security of data (SAPAS). The SAPAS covers services such as backup, security, disaster recovery, and enterprise file sync and share solutions.
The company has dual headquarters in Switzerland and Singapore and currently operates in 18 countries.
Also, Indonesia finally will have its green data centre campus, and FIT Company launches a wellness ecosystem app FITCO
InstaReM launches digital money transfers from Canada [Press Release]
InstaReM, the Singapore-headquartered digital cross-border payments fintech has launched its service in Canada, in a move to strengthen its presence in North America.
InstaReM is registered as a Money Service Business with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to remit and transmit funds out of Canada. The launch of the digital money transfer service will help individuals and businesses in Canada to send money to over sixty countries with InstaReM’s Zero-Margin and Low-Fee international money transfers.
Canada is one of the leading remittance-sending countries in the world, which is attributed to the large expat population from different parts of the world. In 2017, as much as US$24.6 billion was sent out of Canada in remittances with countries like China (US$4.14 bn), India (US$2.88 bn), Philippines (US$2.37 bn), France (US$1.23 bn) and Italy (US$1.07 bn) being the top recipients, according to the World Bank.
Wellness startup the FIT Company launches FITCO, combining all wellness-related services under one app [Press Release]
The FIT Company, a healthy lifestyle and wellness startup, announces the launch of FITCO, a mobile app that offers holistic wellness service. Right now, FITCO has two main services categorised under two main pillars: Move, for physical activities, and Eats, for access to healthy, nutritious food.
With its services, Move lets users book personal, group, or trainer-led fitness sessions based on schedules and locations with the on-demand coach. Eats, on the other hand, lets users choose a menu from a nutritionist-approved daily catering service or consultation with a nutritionist.
FITCO is now available in both Play Store and App Store.
Indonesia to get its Green Data Centre Campus early in 2020 [Press Release]
Jakarta, Indonesia will have its first green data centre campus early in 2020, an official statement said. SpaceDC, which is the company behind the initiative, will use natural gas to produce electricity to power the data centre.
Furthermore, it will also recycle waste heat from the gas generators to provide cooling through absorption chillers, a unique energy-saving feature for a Southeast Asian data centre.
The 1.8-hectare campus in Jakarta Barat will house two data centres, the first being JAK2, a 2.6MW Tier III facility.
“Lowering the environmental impact of data centres is at the heart of SpaceDC’s company philosophy. When selecting a site, we always look for innovative ways to use local natural resources to create green energy and reduce our carbon footprint,” says Darren Hawkins, CEO of SpaceDC. “Our 26.6MW Indonesian campus will be powered by natural gas, which will both reduce the environmental impact and increase the overall fault tolerance of the site.”
Indigram Labs partners Department of Science and Technology, NIDHI-SSS to fund potential startups [Press Release]
Indigram Labs Foundation (ILF), a technology incubator and accelerator, announces that a US$1.4 million seed fund is in operation to support promising startups under the scheme “National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations – Seed Support System (NIDHI-SSS)” of the Department of Science and Technology.
Indigram Labs is an agriculture ecosystem, focusses on the technological, social, and financial solutions. It is one of India’s leading agribusiness incubators based in New Delhi and aims at fostering and nurturing viable business ideas through the process of consulting, mentoring, leveraging technology tie-ups and giving access to various platforms.
NIDHI seed support is a system for providing financial assistance to potential startups with promising ideas, innovations, and technologies. This will help a few of the incubatee start-ups with innovative ideas and or technologies to graduate to a level where they will be able to raise investments from Angel Investors or get a loan from commercial banks /financial institutions.
Startups with innovative and executable ideas/products oriented to the agriculture sector are welcome to apply for this opportunity through the Indigram website.
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Apart from eliminating the cost of significant dedicated infrastructure, cloud-based solutions usually come at a pocket-friendly price
Choosing the right authoring tool for your business is a matter of diligence. After all, an authoring tool is supposed to reduce the time of course development and the wrong choice can actually cost you more time.
With several types of authoring tools now available in the market, business owners have a significant variety to choose from. However, one special variety of authoring tools that are fast gaining popularity is cloud-based authoring tools.
Cloud-based authoring tools allow users to virtually eliminate the time taken to create the course material and upload it to the learning management system.
However, being on the cloud gives these authoring tools many other advantages. Some of them are:
Saves time
As mentioned earlier, the foremost benefit of using cloud-based authoring tools is quick delivery of course materials. With online creation, approval, and delivery, new updates and course contents can be rolled out in as little as one day.
Cloud-based authoring tools also save time by eliminating the need to involve the IT department for permission to download the authoring tool on your device. It also helps users avoid slow installation processes and is not dependent on system maintenance to deliver optimum performance.
Moreover, many cloud-based authoring tools offer standardisation features that allow for a common change to be applied across content assets and templates. This means no more spending hours replacing a logo across hundreds of pages of content.
Another way these authoring tools save time is by eliminating the need for review meetings to ensure content is up to the mark. When multiple users can access and work on the course content at the same time, everyone stays on the same page.
Speaking of being updated with developments, another great advantage of cloud-based authoring tools is their ability to enable collaboration.
Enables collaboration
It is obvious how a cloud-based eLearning authoring tools can enable collaboration. The time-related benefits of collaboration were described in the previous section.
However, the benefits of collaboration exceed quick delivery of course content. Being able to collaborate means stakeholders and users in remote locations can connect, share ideas, and make changes to the course material in real-time.
This means the comprehensiveness of your course is not limited to the capabilities and understanding of a single resource.
Making changes is easy
Unlike downloadable authoring tools, cloud eLearning authoring toolsenable users to make changes to the course content, even after it is “live”. Sure, making changes to the course content in a computer hard-drive and uploading to the LMS is possible, but is hardly time-effective.
On the other hand, with cloud authoring tools, an instructional designer simply has to log in to their account, make changes, and save them. These changes will start reflecting in the course content whenever a learner next logs into their account. The best part is, many authoring tools allow designers to make small changes to the course content even through mobile devices.
Secure online storage
As secure as you may take your cybersecurity, data saved on a computer hard drive can never be considered safe.
Even a simple and honest mistake of saving the course content in the wrong folder can result in the loss of invaluable course content that was the product of paid man-hours.
Using a cloud-based authoring tool absolutely eliminates this risk. Not only is your data protected in a cloud server, most authoring tools automatically save any changes made to the content, along with an “edit-history” of the content.
Easier to track progress
Most modern cloud-based authoring tools come loaded with tracking technology such as the xAPI. This technology allows designers and organisations to effectively monitor how the learners are interacting with the course content.
The tracking abilities powered by xAPI also allow users to track learner performance metrics such as test results and time taken to complete assessment exercises.
Easier standardisation of content
Cloud-based authoring tools provide shared access to templates and resources to everyone involved in the course development process. This central repository doesn’t just give the designers a library of reusable content; it also makes sure the branding and formatting of the course content are consistent throughout.
Conclusion
The future is based on the cloud, and the future is here.
This doesn’t just mean that businesses of all shapes and sizes can find a cloud-based authoring tool to suit their needs. It also makes this smart solution scalable.
As your business needs growth, you will be able to add more collaborators to your authoring tool, without a hole burning inside your pocket.
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By skipping past the difficulties our emotions can bring, we miss important opportunities to grow
What do scorn, hate, anxiety, shame, and regret have in common?
According to David Hawkins, they may be killing us.
It’s no secret that our emotions can play a significant role in our mental and physical health. But Hawkins, a psychiatrist and lecturer, theorises that what we feel daily is a matter of life and death — at least on the cellular level.
Hawkins’ theory is based on his recent finding that all emotions have a specific amount of energy. While Hawkins believes lower-energy emotions like anxiety and shame contribute to cell death, more positive states of mind like peace, joy, love, and reason can actually make us healthier.
Powerful as our emotions may be, here’s the good news: we’re not victims of the feelings that negatively affect our lives. Research on neuroplasticity demonstrates that the human brain is more than capable of reorganising itself.
But where do we start? How do we gain control of our emotions — and even leverage them to be stronger leaders and creatives?
Learning how to manage our emotions begins with a basic understanding of the brain.
The science of our emotions
Our brains are made up of two primary structures.
The limbic system controls our emotions and behavioural responses, triggering a sympathetic nervous system response when we’re under stress. This is part of the fight-or-flight reaction, the brain’s instinctive, physiological way of protecting us when it senses we’re in danger.
Have you ever felt nervous before a big presentation? You have the limbic system to thank for your sweaty palms and stomach butterflies. Ever been cut off by a reckless driver on the interstate? Your cheeks grow hot, and your heart begins to race because your limbic system senses a threat. In short, the limbic system helps us survive.
The prefrontal cortex, on the other hand, is far more evolved. If someone’s ever told you to “use your head,” they’re probably referring to the prefrontal cortex, the conscious part of the brain that allows us to reason, delay gratification, and experience the meaning beneath our emotions.
While the limbic system is responsible for keeping us alive, problems can arise when it’s in the driver’s seat for too long:
“When people are in the grip of fear, anxiety or depression, they are unable to make realistic assessments of situations,” writes Dave Gray, an author and visual thinking coach. “The prefrontal cortex goes ‘offline’. Creative thinking and innovation, indeed, all higher-level brain functions, are stifled”
So, how do we find mental balance?
If the limbic system is the brain’s accelerator, the prefrontal cortex is like the brakes — helping us slow down, assess the situation, and respond to our emotions appropriately.
Learning how to hit the brakes is the premise of emotional regulation, or the ability to control how we respond to our feelings — and an important step toward our personal growth and wellbeing.
The art of emotional agility
No one is born with the ability to self-regulate. We see this with babies who can’t fall asleep without being rocked, and toddler meltdowns in the grocery store checkout line. Children communicate through emotions.
By the time we’re school-aged, most of us have learned how to temper our emotional responses to difficult situations, whether through positive thinking or distraction.
We learn that we can control our emotions, and they don’t control us — a critical facet of our wellbeing. In fact, emotional regulation is a vital part of maturing socially and an important pillar of mental health.
But there’s a difference between merely moving past our emotions and actually managing them. While emotional regulation focuses on preventing a negative response, emotional management can help us leverage emotions for personal and professional growth.
Harvard Medical School professor and psychologist Susan David calls the practice of managing our emotions by mindfully engaging with them “emotional agility:”
“Whereas positive thinking and avoidance have overemphasised the role of our thoughts, emotional agility is a skill set that builds on our ability to face our emotions, label them, understand them and then choose to move forward deliberately,” David writes.
“It is the ability to recognise when you’re feeling stressed, be able to step out of your stress, and then decide how to act in a way that is congruent with your values aligned with your goals.”
If emotional regulation is a science, then emotional agility is an art.
With the ability to strategically embrace and harness our emotions, we can grow in our creative, communication, and leadership abilities. As a social scientist and author Joseph Grenny writes:
“The ability to recognise, own, and shape your own emotions is the master skill for deepening intimacy with loved ones, magnifying influence in the workplace, and amplifying our ability to turn ideas into results.”
Between the occasional disappointment of slow growth, the frustration of a bug in our software, or even simple office miscommunications, my tendency is often to move on, with a smile on my face. There are bigger things to worry about, and I want my team to see me as positive and resilient.
Isn’t that what good leaders do?
While staying calm in the face of adversity is part of managing a team, it’s not necessarily the best way to manage emotions. In fact, evidence shows I may be doing myself a disservice by wearing a grin when my pulse is speeding beneath the surface.
Burying emotions has an equally risky impact: When we avoid or numb how we feel, our emotions often come back magnified. One study shows that smokers who actively tried not to think about cigarettes ended up dreaming about cigarettes, which led them to smoke more.
Numbering our emotions can negatively affect our behaviour, but more importantly, it can also limit our potential. To become truly resilient, we first have to experience our emotions. We have to allow ourselves to feel difficult things and experience life’s trials in order to grow stronger and wiser.
While it’s tempting to escape uncomfortable emotions by quickly moving on, distracting ourselves, or faking positivity, choosing to dig in and feel them can strengthen and stretch us:
“Unless we can process, navigate and be comfortable with the full range of our emotions, we won’t learn to be resilient,” writes David. “We must have some practice dealing with those emotions or we will be caught off guard. I believe the strong cultural focus on happiness and thinking positively is actually making us less resilient.”
Hiding from our emotions also disconnects us from ourselves. Difficult feelings mirror what we care about most in life, because “emotions like sadness, guilt, grief and anger are beacons for our values,” says David. For example, if you feel frustrated when a colleague arrives late for a meeting, you probably value respect and punctuality.
2. Tell a new story
While moving on to the next meeting or email during a moment of anger or disappointment seems like the simpler response, it can be more beneficial to reframe how we feel — to challenge the story our emotions are telling us.
When we view our emotions as “negative,” an escape attempt is inevitably around the corner. But reframing how we feel helps us to challenge and take ownership of our emotions
Beneath the surface of every feeling is a story. Think about it: in the face of a harsh and uninvited critique, you’re probably frustrated by your co-worker’s lack of tact, but look deeper, and you’re probably threatened by his comments because you wonder if you actually are incompetent.
Often, these stories represent core beliefs that took root much earlier in life.
To manage the emotions that surface in the heat of the moment, Joseph Grenny recommends exploring your “primal story.” For example, if you feel ashamed when a colleague criticises you, try to trace back the origin feeling or experience.
When was the first time you felt ashamed of yourself?
As long as we believe these “primal stories” to be true, Grenny says we’re doomed to be victims of our emotions, which leaves us feeling out of control.
But understanding your origin story is the first step to challenging the emotion that comes from it:
“I’ve become aware of the primal origin of the stories I tell — and learned to challenge the perception that my safety and worth are at risk in these moments,” writes Grenny.
3. Build your emotional vocabulary
Managing our emotions also means simply identifying them. A big emotion without a name can feel overwhelming and unending. But naming our emotions empowers us to be realistic about their impact and find a solution.
Psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett says misinterpreting our emotions can cause us to respond inappropriately — and that’s easy to do since many emotional sensations feel similar.
Rather than describing yourself as sad, which feels vague, try labelling your emotion as “dejected” or “disappointed.”
Feldman Barrett refers to this specificity as “emotional granularity,” which can help us more deeply understand our circumstances, or reframe negative emotions to feel less threatening. For example, realising that you’re disappointed by an investor’s reaction to your presentation probably feels more manageable than a vague sense of sadness.
Hitting the brakes to accelerate growth
Reframing and naming emotions may not be an escape route for everything we feel, but that’s not the goal in the first place.
Emotional agility aims to manage, and even leverage, emotions to move forward in our work and our relationships. Because when we can hit the brakes on the emotions that hold us back, we can begin to accelerate toward the things we want the most.
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Rajesh Grover will be Managing Director for 99.co Indonesia, and Vivek Kumar will be new Head of Product
Real estate platform based in Southeast Asia, 99.co, just announced the appointment of two executive hires of the position of Managing Director and Head of Products.
Rahesh Grover, who previously co-founded Lamudi and managed the company’s profitable market of Sri Lanka and Bangladeshi, has been appointed Managing Director of Indonesia-based 99.co.
Vivek Kumar, who takes the role of Head of Product in 99.co, used to lead one of the two product teams at MagicBricks, and was a product leader from Amazon and Snapdeal.
In 99.co’s official statement, the company noted that the new hires will help shape the trajectory of 99.co within the real estate classifieds market.
According to Darius Cheung, 99.co CEO and co-founder, both new additions have extensive experience within proptech and will form a part of 99.co’s move towards a young, entrepreneurial team, purpose-built plans.
“The traditional classifieds portal model is a sunset business. Innovation within classifieds is not just about improving features step-incrementally but developing a new and futuristic model,” added Cheung.
Grover will be responsible for driving profitability of Indonesia operations while growing the business, while Rajesh will be responsible for managing a team across three countries; US, China, and Singapore to deliver seven commercial products for Asia Pacific, European, and Latin American markets.
