Day: April 20, 2020

Listen to Sebastian Starzynski, CEO of TakeTask, explains how his team has helped Poland and other nations with their Home Quarantine App to combat COVID-19.

Social responsibility at its apex!

About TakeTask

TakeTask is a mobile application used to assign, execute and verify tasks on a large scale in many locations simultaneously for any industry.

The speakers:

Sebastian Starzyński
Chief Executive Officer, Founder
Serial entrepreneur with 23 years of experience. Owner of ABR SESTA – a 35-employee market research agency, an expert in gamification and collaborative economy, a futurist, and frequent speaker at business conferences.

A volcano of positive energy, full of ideas every day, sales expert and excellent CEO. He is hardworking and very goal-oriented. He is a perfect example of an erudite, who have read all the books out there (we don’t know when because he is always working).

Mikołaj Przybyła
Senior Project Manager, TakeTask

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This article was first published on nfinitiv.

Image Credit: Sunyu Kim on Unsplash

The post Podcast: TakeTask develops home quarantine app for the Ministry of Digitisation in Poland to combat COVID-19 appeared first on e27.

Plagued by the past SARS pandemic, some of Asia’s top innovation capitals—such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan—have fought previous health battles, prompting governments and businesses to put in place stringent measures ensuring the continuation of business operations.

Lauded for their swift reaction to the current COVID-19 pandemic, governments have ensured companies remain running despite the ongoing disruption by enacting business continuity plans.

With the current economic turmoil, it is increasingly imperative to know how to navigate through today’s uncertain economy.

From one entrepreneur to another, here are some tips that have proven to be successful in maintaining strong entrepreneurial prowess through unfavourable economic conditions.

People come first: Unity in the face of adversity

Now, more than ever, building stronger relationships with employees and business partners should take precedence over aggressive competitive behaviour. Strengthening ties with employees build a united team which is important in maintaining the efficiency and resilience of the business.

As employees are at the heart of the business operations, ensuring their positive wellbeing and boosting morale amidst the grim economic outlook can be the fuel that keeps the business running smoothly.

Yet, with the uncertain impact of the virus and indefinite working structures, employees may struggle with anxiety and lack of motivation, aggravating what is already a sluggish output.

Also Read: Lessons from a student entrepreneur on building a successful startup

As such, creating unity through virtual social gatherings or checking in with one another when working from home can relieve the added pressures on the business.

Besides stronger employee relations, building robust connections with other industry leaders is an opportunistic way of forming beneficial ties and potential business partnerships. While corporate events and trade shows are on halt, it does not necessarily mean that networking has to cease.

Instead, networking can evolve alongside the changing business environment by keeping it strictly virtual. Connecting with other industry professionals can keep you in the know of new trends, placing you and your business at the forefront of new innovations for when the economy recovers.

Stay curious—this was how you became an entrepreneur in the first place

More often than not, most businesses are often preoccupied with the productivity and execution of work while the economy is healthy, giving little to no thought for reflecting and planning. When we are overwhelmed by speed and efficiency, our approach to solving a problem is often clouded by merely a solution-oriented approach which may not be the best and most effective formula in the long run.

However, with the slowed economy and free time on our hands, there is more opportunity to reflect on the triumphs and stumbles of the company and source for more innovative ways to improve the problem. Taking stock of what has been done thus far and how operations can be improved is a simple measure that goes a long way.

As entrepreneurs, we have already learned the importance of being nimble and resourceful and today’s uncertainty will put what we have learnt to the test, challenging us to rethink our business decisions and innovate further. Besides, curiosity was the determining factor that launched businesses in hopes of improving services and resolving problems.

Minimising costs does not mean skimping on every penny

When it comes to minimising costs, most would choose to reduce expenditure by cutting production costs and possibly considering retrenchment. However, lowering costs does not have to always be at the expense of employee’s job security but could be at the betterment of the business through streamlining productivity and improving efficiency.

Also Read: Lessons from a student entrepreneur on building a successful startup

Additionally, keeping costs to a minimum can be done with the support of government stimulus packages which can give much needed monetary relief especially when the budget is tight. Currently, trillions will be pumped across various countries to bolster industries and sustain economies hit by the economic slowdown.

For a tiny nation, Singapore has already committed SG$59.9 billion to combat the pandemic and to curtail the economic impact on SMEs. With the recently launched Jobs Support Scheme, the Singapore government has also made it a point to ensure job security and refrain employees from going on no-pay leaves or face retrenchment.

Whereas Taiwan’s stimulus measures totals at over NT$1 trillion and Hong Kong’s initiative under the SME Financial Guarantee Scheme of HK$20 billion will support the operational burden for SMEs.

No doubt the developing pandemic is still marred with uncertainty and unknowns, however, adversities can build the strength and resilience of businesses, positively challenging entrepreneurs to broaden horizons and grow an innovative entrepreneurial spark with the resistance to weather through any storm.

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Register for our next webinar: How startup founders can become thought leaders

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

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The post Leadership through a pandemic: A heartfelt note from one entrepreneur to another appeared first on e27.

Netflix spent US$16 billion in 2019 on producing and acquiring new content. Amazon pursued its original journey with US$6 billion. Quiby, a yet-to-launch streaming service raised a billion dollars to create a catalogue for Millennials.

There is an incredible amount of spending from both the legacy media companies and streaming startups to attract the consumer to their streaming services.

This leads to the important question of why this extravagant spending and how does it make sense? The answer to this question is three-fold:

Servicing existing demand

Media companies are attention merchants. They compete to gain access to consumers’ leisure time. Leisure time ranges from an hour of evening couch time to days of free time during a long weekend.

Disney, for example, captures leisure time during a vacation through their theme parks while at the same time serves them daily through ABC, National Geographic, and now Disney Plus.

The name of the game for media companies is — to capture the free time of the consumers’ waking time. Before TV became a household phenomenon, the theatre was the main medium for video consumption. Consumers flocked to theatres to consume content. With TV, the possibility of delivering content straight to consumer’s homes came alive. This new possibility created a new set of media companies (ABC, NBC & CBS).

Also Read: 5 reasons why podcasts are good for your content strategy

Consumers already had the free time to watch midday soap operas, it’s just that TV was able to capture it. That is how servicing the existing demand looked like in the era of TV transformation. With ubiquitous internet-enabled devices, content makers got a new opportunity. They can service the leisure time that was available but was not serviceable through TV.

Leisure time that wasn’t possible to service through TV —

• Watch while travelling in an Uber or in the subway
• Watch while running on a treadmill
• Watch at the workplace, church or in a park

This ability to service more of consumers’ leisure time means, creation of more content to service to use cases.

Distribution elasticity of demand

Price Elasticity of demand is — when a particular product’s price reduces, its affordability brings in new customers who could afford and consume the product.

The price reduction increases the size of the market. The media consumer today can choose from a platter of streaming services based on his content and pricing needs. The emergence of the new distribution medium in the form of internet-enabled devices expanded the market size of media consumption both in terms of time and dollars.

Also Read: Updated: Music streaming wars heat up as Spotify launches in Singapore

A streaming media product over the internet has a new consumer base that a traditional TV channel couldn’t reach. The barrier of owning a TV and subscribing to a Channel Bundle is now removed because of a commodity called mobile device.

These new consumers including teenagers to college students who would have otherwise not owned their first TV. But they now own a different content consumption device as early as at the age of 13 years.

Subscription model

Every tectonic shift in media distribution creates a new generation of companies. For example, the emergence of TV as a platform created companies such as CBS, NBC & ABC. Streaming as a new distribution platform also created a new generation of companies such as Netflix and Hulu.

The advantage of being a legacy media company (Disney or Warner Media) is the product created in the past, can be repurposed to be delivered using the new medium.

The same happened when TV was created, the content which was created for the big screens was monetised on the small screen. By launching their streaming services, legacy media companies will repurpose their content in new ways.

Disney will give access to a 100-year-old catalogue through Disney Plus. Warner Media will attract Harry Potter fans to its yet to be launched HBO Max. While old media companies will instantaneously have a large and diverse catalogue in their streaming service, the new-age companies don’t have that advantage. To make up this difference between the size, quality & variety in content it is an unavoidable compulsion for new media companies such as Netflix to spend aggressively.

Also Read: Singapore’s allrites raises US$1.1M to grow its marketplace for TV, film and sports content rights

They have to create a legacy without the major ingredient for a legacy, time. This is why HBO is only spending a fraction of what Netflix is spending. It doesn’t have an entourage nor sopranos which will offer a sticky fan base.

Netflix has to fix this time and catalogue gap with more dollars. The only other way would be a studio acquisition. That is a discussion for another time.

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Register for our next webinar: How startup founders can become thought leaders

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

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The post Streaming wars: Why are streaming giants spending big bucks on acquiring content appeared first on e27.

Singapore-headquartered cross-border remittance company TranSwap is in talks to raise US$5-10 million in a fresh round of funding.

In a recent interview with e27, Co-founder and CEO Benjamin Wong said TranSwap is looking to close the round “quite soon”.

To date, the fintech company has secured US$2.5 million from investors, including Quest Ventures, and an unnamed family office and a few high net-worth individuals.

“We have raised about US$2.5 million to date, and we are going to close another bigger round soon,” he revealed to this publication. “We haven’t announced it yet but it will be quite soon. The amount is about US$5-10 million.”

Started in 2015, TranSwap allows businesses to manage and execute payments globally while reducing FX costs and complexity. It also serves importers and exporters seeking to make payments internationally.

The firm holds money remittance licenses in Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Last week, TranSwap announced a plan to launch in May a new offering, called Global Borderless Virtual Account (GBVA), in the US, European Union, the UK, and Indonesia. This new product will enable customers to open virtual bank accounts in these three locations. This will allow businesses to conveniently collect payments, convert foreign currencies, and send cross-border payments to over 180 countries worldwide.

The COVID-19 crisis

According to Wong, although many industries were taken a hit by the spread of COVID-19 globally, fintech is among the very few industries which haven’t seen much impact. The sector has, on the other hand, registered a decent growth during the period, owing to a rise in online purchases/e-commerce activities.

Also Read: Quest Ventures makes first close of fund II at US$50M led by Pavilion Capital, QazTech Ventures

He, however, admitted that if this situation lasts for over a year, every industry will come to a standstill, including fintech.

In view of the rapid spread of the epidemic, many businesses have shelved their plans to expand. TranSwap, however, plans to execute its geographic expansion plans.

As part of this, it has already hired one person in Malaysia, with plans to recruit more people in Indonesia and Singapore.

Outside of Asia, the fintech venture is also looking to hire in the UK and Europe.

“We are now accelerating our future plans. We have the resources and licenses to operate in Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia. This year, we are going to apply for licences in the UK, Europe, Australia and Malaysia,” he said. “Our vision is to have global licenses in at least 15-20 countries.”

A veteran entrepreneur, who has seen various global crises, including the economic recession of 2008-09, Wong felt that cash flow is always important for startups to tide over unexpected events in life like COVID-19.

“Startups is all about expanding and burning money, so liquidity is very important,” he said. “Venture capital is likely to be short in times of crisis like this. Startups that have already raised funding should go back to their VCs for more capital. They also need to go their customers and employees and support each other,” he warned.

He also warned that post-COVID, the world won’t be the same. “It will change a lot of things. Many startups will not make it because of cashflow. Those who survive the attack of the virus will come out much stronger,” he said.

“Fortunately, the governments of all major countries are trying to help businesses in every possible way. You just need to hang on. Maybe, you don’t have three meals a day but make sure you survive. When it is over and if you get over the crisis, you’ll be much stronger,” he commented.

According to Wong, Asia’s remittance market is highly competitive, with the presence of multiple operators, including TransferWise and InstaReM. However, for TranSwap, its premium products help it stand out from the rest.

“We will be offering many premium products to businesses, mainly SMEs. Besides sending money, these businesses also need e-invoicing if they have operations in overseas countries like the UK and the US, which require them to open a bank account. TranSwap can issue borderless multi-currency accounts to them to collect and pay money, even though they don’t have an entity in these foreign markets,” he explained.

“Businesses also need hedging facility if they deal with currency, receivables, and payments. They also need treasury management. These offerings differentiate us from our competitors,” he continued.

Also Read: TranSwap obtains license to provide cross-border payments services for SMEs in Indonesia

Sharing his perspective on the rush for the new digital banking licences in Singapore and Malaysia, he said the digital banks will help serve markets and sectors, where traditional banks cannot reach.

“I think we can learn from the experience of the UK, where digital banking is getting an uplift. Because of the challenges posed by new digital banks, traditional banks in the UK have become much more competitive and transparent, which is eventually benefitting the consumer.

Besides, challenger banks in the UK are much cheaper — only GBP5 million is needed to start a challenger bank. So, digital banks have a crucial role to play,” he concluded.

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Image Credit: TranSwap

The post Singapore’s cross-border remittance firm TranSwap in talks for US$5-10M investment appeared first on e27.