Traditional agriculture practices consist of complex and inefficient value chains. Typically, a farmer’s produce goes through several intermediaries before it reaches the end consumer.

As each intermediary in this chain is entitled to its share of margin, so the farmer’s proportion of the dollar earned from the consumer is very small. This is where agri e-commerce can be very helpful.

Digitisation of the agriculture supply chain is more important

The digitised platform can drive efficiency within the current value chain, with the potential to benefit both farmers and consumers. While at one hand, e-commerce can enable farmers with increased access to new markets such as retailers, restaurants, and consumers; on the other hand, it benefits consumers by providing them with fresh and nutritious produce.

In developed countries, many studies have shown that a direct market place between farmers and consumers, help the farmers to retain between 40 to 75 per cent of a food dollar, as opposed to a mere 15.6 per cent in a corporate chain.

In developing countries, where agriculture contribution to GDP is in double digits, e-commerce will be of significant benefit to the lives of farmers.

Pivoting to agri e-business happened at a large scale in the current COVID-19 pandemic. In Malaysia, during MCO (Movement Control Order), established e-commerce player Lazada connected farmers from Cameroon Highland to consumers directly.

Also Read: Why agritech startups will call for the next e-commerce revolution

The company reached out to farmers immediately, who otherwise were going to throw away their produce due to logistic issues and helped them go online.

Agri e-commerce is finally here. However, it is still in infancy, especially in Southeast Asia. SMEs who want to tap into this space should keep some key business considerations in mind while engaging the farmers to adopt the online platform.

The level of engagement can vary from basic to advance stage, depending on the business model and services provided. However, businesses that are still in the nascent stage, or just beginning their operations in agri e-commerce space should keep the below-mentioned golden rules in the farmer engagement model in-view.

5 golden rules for an effective farmer engagement model

Acquiring the farmers:

The first step is to build a robust base of farmers who can serve customers. A commitment from the farmers to engage with technology, which is new and uncertain to them, will require businesses to invest time in building a relationship with their target pool of farmers.

One way is to employ field agents who can organise small communities in the rural areas to explain the business model and its benefits to the farmers. Another way is to partner with farmers’ societies, co-operatives, and government.

eKutir (India), a social enterprise group that offers sustainable technology solutions in agriculture, has established decentralised local kiosks for collaborating with farmers. Each of these kiosks is run by a trained local entrepreneur, who would then work closely with farmers on a project, thus leveraging ICT tools for agricultural services.

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: Intuit acquires TradeGecko; Synagie proposes US$45M sale of e-commerce arm; Ayoconnect, Wahyoo, Clik, Vesta secure investment

Startups can follow this model of collaboration with local entrepreneurs; or partner with social enterprises that can help them to utilise an already built network of farmers, and save cost.

Peer group dialogue and referral programme, where acquired farmers tell their digital journeys to others, is also an effective way to utilise word of mouth to drive farmer’s use of the platform.

Building trust between farmers and consumers:

During the startup stage of e-commerce service, where both demand and supply elements are uncertain, a legally secure off-take arrangement can play a pivotal role in building trust between both parties. To safeguard the interests of both sides, agribusiness should try to secure a minimum guaranteed off-take agreement between the farmers and the buyers (if the buyer is retail, restaurant, etc).

One on hand, this reduces the risk of servicing the requests raised by the consumers. And on the other hand, it ensures farmers about the guaranteed income from the e-commerce platform. An example of the implementation of this approach comes from the Kenyan Agri e-commerce business, Tulaa, where the farmers sign a short-term contract with Tulaa agents, enabling a legal guarantee with a minimum off-take.

Providing continuous education and training:

Ad hoc training by local field agents, where they teach the farmers about key tasks such as grading, packaging, entering the details of the products, and eventually using the e-platform, needs to be coupled with continuous learning and engagement channels.

Communication channels such as hotline number; WhatsApp, Facebook messenger groups, and the chatbot are needed to keep the conversation going between farmers and the agribusinesses’ employees. Another way to facilitate continuous learning is to educate and train local farm leaders on new insights so that they can drive local communities to discuss and exchange ideas.

Today, farmers want conversational technology, which answers their questions continuously. An agri e-commerce startup that meets this expectation will speed up the adoption of its platform. One such successful conversational technology company is 8villages (Indonesia).

Also Read: A comprehensive guide to Indonesia’s agritech ecosystem

They started their journey by launching educational and communication applications for agriculture matters. But now they also provide a platform to rural people, where the farmers can ask questions and seek information about agriculture matter from agriculture practitioners and experts.

Enabling pre-finance options:

The success of this business model depends on making farmers less dependent on the middlemen. Securing finance for farmers to enable them to start their e-commerce journey, would lower their dependency on the middlemen who otherwise charge high-interest rates.

Agri e-commerce businesses can partner with potential lenders to provide easy finance to farmers. Jai Kisan (India) is an agri-fintech company that provides low cost and timely financing options to farmers. Partnering with such fintech companies would allow agri e-commerce companies to support farmers without committing any significant resources.

Another agri e-commerce business, such as Indonesian startup Tani Group, provides both a platform and the necessary funds to the farmers. They make use of a crowdfunding platform, where individuals or enterprises can choose to invest in a project of their preference.

Agri startups can also use such models to provide funding options within their e-commerce platforms.

Integrating e-commerce platform with value-added services:

Truly growing the farmers’ community and speeding up the adoption of e-commerce platform, would require an integrated solution that not only connects the farmers to their customers but also helps them to manage the quality of their produce.

An e-commerce platform can offer various kinds of features to enable farmers to manage their crops. It can be frequent crop reminder notification, which informs the farmers about the right dosage and time of inputs, depending on their crop requirement. Or it can be about providing consultation on where to source various machinery and agriculture equipment at a lower price.

To give an example, DeHatt (India), an end to end tech-enabled platform, offers a distinctive feature in its app.  The app provides various services to the farmer community and has recently included a feature that offers customised advisory services through automation and voice calls in the local language. This feature is innovative in the sense that it makes the solutions available to farmers in an easily digestible manner.

Also Read: In brief: eBay launches e-commerce accelerator in Singapore; Circles.Life introduces eSIMs

With the supply chain disruption this year, it is a good time to pivot for agri e-commerce startups. But there will be stiff competition from already established e-commerce players and large companies planning to enter this sector.

However, startups can benefit from establishing a strong farmer engagement model, that develops a close network between the farmers and the consumers.

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Working from home (WFH) used to be a bit of a polarising subject. You either believe it works, or you do not. The past few months, however, have shown that we can be just as productive working from home, as we usually are from our office desk.

My colleagues and I are quite fortunate in this regard. From day one, remote working has been built into the company’s DNA, and we are encouraged by leadership to work wherever we are most effective, whether from home or in the office. So when the coronavirus started making its presence felt globally, it wasn’t a stretch to shift to a remote work arrangement for most of our workforce.

This current impetus to remote work was very much crisis-induced, and for many, a move to try and keep companies afloat and workers employed for the short to medium term. Businesses are reacting to the situation as it develops, and a great many do not have business continuity plans set up either.

As much as some workers have embraced the idea of remote work, there are also those with roles, responsibilities, and circumstances who struggle mightily with staying productive from home for long stretches of time.

Prior to COVID-19, just 3.6 per cent of the total employee workforce worked from home more than half the time. Previous research shows that 67 per cent of employees have jobs that require in-office collaboration, so the office is still critical to getting work done, especially when collaboration is needed.

However, Global Workplace Analytics estimates that 25-30 per cent of the total workforce will be working at home multiple days a week by the end of 2021.

Also Read: e27’s remote staffers sharing their work-from-home experience

We are more than halfway into 2020, and businesses are starting to open, with workers tricking back to the office. Things clearly will not be the same, what with the social distancing requirements in place in many countries. For me, this led to a realisation that work is something you do, and not a place.

Being productive, anywhere

Working from home is not going to be the silver bullet that rebuilds the world’s economies. Instead, a hybrid workforce that incorporates the ability to Work From Anywhere (WFA) is what will define this Next Normal. Whether in the Asia Pacific region or globally, I firmly believe that the act of being productive can come from anywhere, whether the office, at home or somewhere in between.

Business leaders will now need to consider how to organise office spaces to strike a balance between employee interaction and distancing requirements. This may mean the demise of the office pantry or the rightsizing of large meeting rooms in favour of smaller spaces for collaboration outfitted with video conferencing tools that feature a consistent experience with the same collaboration tools at the office as they do at home.

Working from anywhere also means empowering employees with the right tools to make flexible work possible, whether from home or from the office. As they split their time between the office and their home office, remote workers expect and need an enterprise-grade experience, all the way from equipment like their headsets and webcams to ensure that their collaboration experience is optimal, and more importantly, able to meet corporate security requirements.

At the same time, adequate tech support needs to be easily available to ensure that they stay connected, engaged, and productive without costly downtime.

Investing for the medium- and the long-term

Investments made in this time of crisis are likely to have a more lasting impact on future performance; this thinking is not lost on employers in APAC who are not averse to investing in technology during this time. For example, 57 per cent of APAC employers are looking to increase their technology investments, according to a GlobalData survey commissioned by Telstra.

This investment will lean towards cloud-based collaborative tools to help boost productivity and efficiency throughout these organisations going forward.

Also Read: Is your new work-from-home culture stressing your employees?

With a workforce in transition, I also firmly believe that this is a prime opportunity for business leaders, managers, and workers alike to better understand and navigate the intricacies of how employee experiences, corporate policies, and organisational culture come together. The experience of collaborating with team members is even more critical now so as to ensure that they feel part of the larger team, even when part of the team isn’t in the office.

On the macro level, smart building technologies may start seeing greater adoption as the demand for healthier workplaces grows. Perhaps it is time to consider investing in infrared cameras to help measure employee body temperatures to see if they have fevers, smart air purifiers that ensure ample amounts of fresh air, or even touchless systems to replace elevator buttons.

Looking beyond the next normal

For all its faults, I still see the office serving a purpose for collaboration deeply rooted in how humans interact on a social level. Throughout my career, I have found that certain shared experiences can only be found in the office, whether packing in all-nighters to wrap a critical project or proposal,  or commiserating around the office water cooler (or drinks after work) with colleagues after a long week, or suffering through the awkward silence of suddenly finding yourself alone in the lift with the company CEO. I’m sure many others will agree.

If anything, COVID-19 turned out to be the impetus that companies needed to prove that remote work can be viable for an increasingly agile and efficient workforce, complementing the roles and functions that work best from the office. We cannot say for sure when the pandemic will end, and what the next, next normal will be.

What is clear is that as organisations work towards empowering a transitional and scattered workforce, there is always a place and a need for a consistent, secure, easy-to-install and easy-to-manage communications and collaboration experience. We may not all be working together in the same office space going forward, but this sense of connection has never been more vital to our long-term survival.

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Today, TikTok requires no introduction. Together with parent company, ByteDance, the pair are among the hottest keywords on the web and in the papers. Following an executive order issued last week by President Trump banning transactions with ByteDance and its subsidiaries, namely TikTok, the video-sharing social media app has found itself in hot water once again.

Alleged by the US government to be capturing vast swaths of information from its users and potentially allowing Chinese government access to their personal information, TikTok has denied these claims. The main culprit behind this international fiasco the app has found itself in? Data privacy. And here the key takeaways for entrepreneurs.

Rise of data-driven decisions

Renowned data scientist W. Edwards Deming perfectly sums up the importance of data today by stating that, “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” Making data-driven decisions is the process of utilising data to inform your decision-making process and validate a course of action before committing to it.

Famed frameworks such as The Lean Startup methodology by Eric Ries are examples of data being infused in business decisions. A study by the Harvard Business School (HBS) has shown that making data-driven decisions bring about a host of benefits.

Ranging from cost savings due to increase in efficiency by using data to pinpoint loopholes to making more confident decisions based on concrete data, it is no surprise why a survey conducted by PwC showed that data-driven organisations are three times more likely to report significant improvements in decision-making compared to those who rely less on data.

Also Read: Why Tik Tok is not a real competitor to Instagram

TikTok, like the majority of other social media platforms, utilise user data to tailor content for its consumers. Crucial to TikTok’s re-engagement strategy to retain users was the enjoyment users had derived from its content. Therefore, data played an important role in deciding the right content to showcase.

Personal data collection involving an individual’s interests and interactions drove algorithms that curated personalised and engaging content for users and in turn, significantly increased the appeal of TikTok.

Research conducted in 2019 by McKinsey has shown that personalised content will be the prime driver of marketing success in the next five years. The acceleration in the adoption of digitalisation, driven by the pandemic, has certainly brought forward the timeline. The desire for curated content has never been greater.

Thus, entrepreneurs, particularly those in the B2C sector, need to effectively harness data to understand customers and improve the user experience.

Ultimately, given the consumer-centric business model many of these startups adopt, founders should aim to connect with their customers on a deeper level and customise their offerings to their unique pain-points. The enabler for that to happen? Data.

How much data is required?

Having discussed the important role data plays in businesses today, an ongoing dilemma facing firms is the quantity of it required. With the rise of data privacy, first brought to light by the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal in 2018, authorities are clamping down on errant firms that collect excessive user data. Therefore, it is no coincidence that TikTok was banned by the American government due to excessive data collection.

The app starts collecting data the minute you download it. According to the company’s privacy policies and terms of service, TikTok tracks website users are browsing and how they type, down to keystroke rhythms and patterns.

Also Read: I tried TikTok out and now I get why it is the future of digital marketing

Furthermore, for most users that unknowingly grant the app the full permissions required, TikTok has full access to photos, videos, and contact information of friends stored in the device’s address book. Even after users close the app, TikTok tracks their whereabouts using IP addresses and GPS coordinates, providing the app with precise location while users work, exercise, or travel.

The amount of personal data harvested by TikTok is bewildering and begs the question of why so much is required. For example, it is difficult to rationalise the collection for certain data, such as keystroke rhythms and patterns.

With the likelihood that consumers will feel betrayed because of the excessive “snooping” on them, trust is the name of the game when it comes to data collection. Therefore, entrepreneurs should be mindful of both the amount and type of data their startups seek to collect and only store meaningful data which improve product offerings and the experience for users.

Importance of data security

Although TikTok has denied claims that government agencies have access to personal data of its users, the crux of the issue here is the amount of data the firm stores in its data centres located in the US and Singapore. With over 800 million active monthly users and over two billion downloads worldwide, TikTok’s database stores personal information of over 10 per cent of the global population.

As seen from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, huge amounts of in-depth personal information make social media firms the prime target for data breaching. Locally, studies have shown that there was a two-fold increase in hacking attempts in 2019 with more than 137 million malicious attempts to access personal details of users on media sites.

Given the high value of data stored in its database, it would not be surprising to read about a data breach, possibly on a larger scale than Facebook, occurring at TikTok in the future. Even though research by IBM has shown that the average cost of a data breach globally was US$3.9 million in 2018, perhaps the biggest long-term consequence of a data breach is the loss of customer trust.

A good reputation is often a company’s most prized asset and a data breach has the potential to tarnish even the cleanest of reputations. Therefore, founders need to build a culture of data security within their companies and invest in the needed resources to safeguard user data and build the element of trust with their customers that would ultimately, drive bottom-line growth for their firm.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news: TikTok’s creator tests out Spotify-like apps, Bio startup Aprogen has become Korea’s newest unicorn

Pursuing sustainable growth

The late Jack Welch, the former Chairman, and CEO of General Electric, shared that good management encompasses balancing both short and long-term goals and this is where founders, particularly for late-stage startups, need to focus on.

TikTok was arguably a victim of its own success. From its launch in 2017 to surpass two billion app downloads in 2020, the viral growth of the platform brought along its fair share of controversies too. Indonesian authorities banned TikTok in July 2018 for containing content promoting pornography and blasphemy. While the ban was lifted a week later after the app pledged to monitor such content, it marked the beginning of allegations against TikTok for promoting discriminatory content.

Other shocking allegations include platform moderators being asked to suppress users with “abnormal body shape”, “ugly facial looks”, “too many wrinkles” or in “slums, rural fields” and “dilapidated housing”. While TikTok has denied these policies are no longer in place, it was appalling they had existed beforehand.

TikTok resorted to focusing on short-term growth by prioritising aesthetically-pleasing users and promoting materialism, catering to the unhealthy needs of millions of teenagers on the platform. Given the young demographic of users on the app, TikTok chose the easy way out and rode on unethical trends to grow its popularity and chose not to actively police their content.

Even though it paid off handsomely in the short-term, the growth was simply not sustainable in the long-term. There were warning signs as various national authorities, ranging from Netherlands to India, started to open investigations into TikTok and their policies. This spate of inquiries culminated in the executive order to ban TikTok in the US, its second-largest market after India.

Therefore, entrepreneurs must have the discipline to look past instant gratification and focus on achieving sustainable growth. Being a founder entails additional responsibilities and the relationship with your business goes deeper than a conventional employee.

When things go south, the buck stops with the founder. Given the inherently greedy nature of humans, especially in entrepreneurs fixated on and desiring for success, it is therefore vital for founders to take a step back occasionally and evaluate whether their businesses are indeed achieving ethical and sustainable growth.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news, July 5: UK investigates TikTok over children’s data privacy handling

Learn from their mistakes

Due credit should be given to TikTok and its founder Zhang Yiming, for building an empire that connected global youths and gave rise to a new era of content creators and influencers. TikTok succeeded in the short-form video sharing industry where others, including Vine with over 40 million active users at its peak, failed.

Even though there were countless right decisions made along the way which entrepreneurs can draw insights from, what ultimately led to TikTok’s downfall were its mistakes.

Though mistakes were few and far between compared to the right decisions, the impact and severity of the former significantly outweighed the latter.

Therefore, founders should draw insights from this debacle on the importance of data collection, management, and achieving sustainable growth to prevent their firms from making the same mistakes which TikTok had made.

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Remember the Avengers? A set of Earth’s mightiest heroes coming together to save the world. Ring a bell? Just like a startup, that is most usually a few talented, driven people coming together to do something about a problem they have perceived.

Although the Avengers franchise has a happy ending, the way they get there is questionable at best. Startup teams could learn a thing or two of what not to do from the Avengers. A set of highly talented people coming together to attain a mission could often end up failing if they don’t get a time-travel redo!

Superstar syndrome

While you are building your startup, you are on the search for the best talent out there. This includes rockstar programmers, innovators, disruptors, and marketing champions. Everybody loves superstars. But when you end up putting a bunch of them together, while just filling skill gaps, oftentimes, you will not get a good startup team. Why?

Avengers movies are an ode to the issues of having a collection of superstars as your team. Throughout the franchise, you can pick up a thread of all-knowing egos and a complete disregard for teamwork.

Are you thinking this happens only in the superhero world? If only that was true. According to a study, a group of all-stars tend to move away from coordination and cooperation, and towards competition and conflict. Talent does facilitate performance, but only up to a point, after which it becomes detrimental as intra-team coordination suffers.

A chemical mixture that makes chaos

Captain America to Stark: “Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” Stark answers, “Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you.”

Also Read: The ‘Avengers’ of Singapore’s game development scene just secured funding

Right before Iron Man jumps off a plane, Captain America says: “Stark! We need a plan of attack!” To that, Stark says: “I have a plan. Attack!”

Captain America to Stark: “We have orders. We should follow them.” That gets him a “Following’s not really my style.”

Are you sensing a theme?

A running theme throughout the franchise is the lack of collaboration between different superheroes. Constant squabbling over who does what better and the “put on your suit, let’s go a few rounds” to see who’s better.

Many times, we see Captain America and Iron Man both independently working on the same thing, not trusting each other’s processes. Both getting to the same place, but through different methods. Only if all that superhero power was used in a way that does not cancel each other out!

If you take a moment to reflect, it is more common than it should be in startup teams. As a startup, you are mostly working on unfamiliar terrain, solving problems as they come, and as is expected of talented people, each of them thinks they have the best way to solve the problem.

But as a team, when you are strapped for resources, you need every soul in the team pushing in a single direction which seldom happens without good leadership.

“That’s my secret, Captain. I’m always angry.”

Captain America to the Hulk: “Word is, you can find the cube”.

Hulk: “Is that the only word on me?”

Captain America: “Only word I care about.”

Good, because the other words were his volatile and destructive nature, anger issues, and delusions of grandiose. Startup founders tend to follow a similar approach while choosing their team. Most founders aim to collect “smart” people in the team while giving no or too little weight to their people skills.

Also Read: What I learned from the Avengers of Southeast Asia’s venture capital scene

While the singular objective given to Hulk was to “smash”, you may need each of your team members to do much more than that. Undermining the importance of soft skills in the team could lead to catastrophic results as is obvious from the Avengers as they run around trying to contain Hulk’s “personality” for the rest of the movie. Do you need all that drama while swimming upstream trying to build your business?

“Bridgeport?” said I. “Camelot.” Said he.

This infamous Mark Twain quote used as a metaphor for communication (or the lack thereof) between civilisations with very different backgrounds is squarely applicable in many parts of the Avengers franchise.

Two words: Ultron fiasco. Stark and Banner came together to build an advanced AI solution to defend the Earth. Great initiative. But they did not speak about the project to any of the other Avengers to avoid criticism and objections. No adequate review or safeguards were in place and viola, catastrophe.

This is common not only in the superhero world but in the startup world too. Lack of communication between team members leads to misunderstandings and breakdown of team dynamics. Thus, creating silos within teams leading to trust issues. It is also one of those things that becomes a catalyst to many other problems that leads to failure like lack of passion, losing focus, etc.

So you have a bunch of Avengers in your startup. It is a task to handle, but they do get things done. How can you make them work together and save the day?

Creative leadership

Most startup founders do not actively think about their role as a leader of the team. Being a leader is not the same as being the boss. You may not need hierarchy in your team, but you do need leadership. Leading the superstars is going to be harder than leading a regular well-balanced team.

Understand that your superstars might not instinctively know how to value each other’s emotions, remember birthdays, and to catch the signs when someone in the team needs help.

Also Read: This team of Avengers offers you cashback for online purchases

As a leader, you cannot afford to be passive. Actively identify areas for them to work together. Understand the strengths and weaknesses, and the management style required for each teammate. For an Ironman persona, it may be good to give them the flexibility to explore innovative ideas and concepts, but be prepared to reinforce the objective, so that they don’t get lost in fantasyland.

If you have a Hulk, keep them away from the stress and give them space to problem solve. When you have other priorities, Captain America can be the loyal leader who never loses sight of the big picture.

Instil a common purpose

Despite all their differences, Avengers banded together, in the end, to save the day for a bigger and sentimental purpose. You may think it does not come along in real life just as it does in reel life, but that is not true. Find the “why” behind your business and actively champion your team behind the cause.

Do not mistake purpose-driven for non-profit. Purpose holds your team together, helps guide your decisions objectively, and ensures the authenticity of your actions.

In addition to being a glue, the purpose will also guide you on day to day decision making as to what is beneficial for the business against vanity based distractions. As unstable as a startup journey can get, you need your team to be united behind a common vision, ready to support each other and not only be content- but revel in being a part of the team that saves the day.

Cultivate trust through team building

Most startups think ‘team-building’ activities are for corporates that have way too much time at hand and money to spend. Team building does not necessarily mean an expensive retreat to Mauritius. It can be solving an escape room together, paintball, or board games.

Dedicating a few hours every month towards these inexpensive activities will take down the walls within the team. This will pay you dividends later as stories and inside jokes of “remember that time when…” which are uniquely yours and will bring your team together at every retelling.

Also Read: One man’s trash is another’s gold: How Tridi Oasis plans to transform plastic waste management

Another way to bring human emotions into play is to take away the screens. In a tech startup, communication is mostly through instant messaging sites such as Slack or Discord. Although extremely convenient for day to day operations, it keeps you removed from the emotional closeness cultivated from face to face communication. Encourage in-person communication that builds camaraderie in the team.

Repurpose conflict

Captain America and Ironman are not expected to agree all the time. It would make for a less thrilling movie. Conflict breeds creativity. The point is not to have a bunch of extremely talented individuals agreeing with each other all the time. That will lead to a very in-the-box team who never challenge each other. The first feedback you get should not be from your customer or your investor. Your team is the first line of offence.

You can do this by embracing conflict as a part of startup culture. Understand that no one in the team (including you) has a monopoly on being right. Encourage everyone to actively question assumptions, ask questions, and call out objectivity. Be cautious of the criticism getting personal.

We need teams that are talented, well-adjusted, and disagree enough to better the value of the product. Ultimately, the goal is that when you go out there into the shark eats shark world, your product could not have been any better than it is.

Consider a wholesome profile while hiring

While functional profiling should still be an important metric in hiring, the personality of the potential hire, and how the person fits into your overall team framework is equally important. It is hard to resist when you come across someone with a skill that is exactly what you are looking for.

But do not make split decisions. Take ‘meet the team’ part of the hiring process seriously. It would even help to get a potential hire to come on one of your team building activities to see how they react and work together when there is no formal interview setting.

As a founder, it is for you to understand the big picture, whether hiring this person will add something or take something away from the team dynamics. Maybe it is better to go for a well-adjusted candidate who is 75 per cent there in terms of skill than a 100 per cent skill match who just may not fit. But sometimes, when you are strapped for resources, there may not be a choice.

Also Read: 10 tips that will help launch your startup fast

In those cases, weigh the pros and cons and make an informed decision. It is then up to you as a leader to put in the extra effort needed to manage and keep the team together.

Everybody loves superstars. But having a cohesive group of highly motivated, and diversely skilled people is what your startup needs to succeed. As a founder, you need to take your role as “first among equals” seriously and rally your team to save the day!

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This article is published in partnership with Brinc, a Hong Kong-based accelerator.

We at Brinc are about to complete our global Spring 2020 accelerator programmes. This cohort was different from the rest. Due to the many COVID-19 limitations, all of our programmes had to be shifted entirely online.

A big move

With our headquarters in Hong Kong, the pandemic was increasingly causing fear as early as February of this year. Together with the global number of cases rising, we had to make a quick decision.

On one side, postpone the programme and wait for the lingering uncertainty of the virus to disappear, or, take action and pivot completely to a remote and online programme. We decided to host our latest accelerator programmes online to ensure that we could continue to support global startups especially during a time when they needed it most.

“The decision to move the programme online was the only choice to ensure we could continue to support our founders. Postponing was not an option. A full online accelerator made sense for us, as historically, we had years of experience running our programs half online and off on-site.

Moving fully online was a natural transition – we had the infrastructure, a tried-and-tested framework for delivering content and mentorship in place. This also meant our teams could spend more time focused on their business instead of dealing with logistics during these uncertain times,” said Manav Gupta, Founder and CEO of Brinc.

Also Read: This is the era of virtual accelerators. Are you ready? 

Thankfully, this wasn’t going to be a completely new approach for Brinc. In 2017, we made a careful decision to find a balance between running a programme both online and offline. We recognised that it was a stretch to expect the best founders and startups to move their operations around the world for extended periods of time.

Instead, we optimised the process by requiring startups to be onsite at the programme’s location for just one month of the three-month programme. This allowed them to receive in-person support from our team, attend in-person mentorship sessions, and most importantly, share and learn from fellow founders. The remaining two months are usually hosted online to allow the startups to participate within the comforts of their company’s headquarters.

Online curriculum

To support the shift to a fully online programme, we decided to revamp our existing online platform along with a new and improved customised curriculum to enhance our support to founders.

New content was created, and our global network of mentors, experts, and investors  were onboarded to further support the founders in their entrepreneurial journeys.

How startups can benefit

Founders from the current cohort have been receptive to the new online programme.

Jing Gao and Jin Xiaoxuan, Co-founders of Aurora Foods who make sweet indulgences healthier and more diabetic-friendly with their patented glycemic lowering technology, said, “the three-month accelerator programme helped us get prepared in almost every area from product manufacturing and fundraising, to business communication.”

With a series of online tools (Zoom, Slack, and Brinc’s Learning Management System), we are able to access course materials anytime. The remote mode makes the whole program more flexible, efficient, and condensed, as there is no limit to geography or timing.

At the same time, the interaction is not lost, as weekly meetups with mentors and managers are scheduled, and we are well linked to experienced entrepreneurs, government agencies, and professional service providers for any form of engagement we need.”

Also Read: Why startup founders should look for sharks as mentors

Other founders have also highlighted how we’ve been extra supportive to their needs while operating in this new normal. However, as expected, most founders agreed that the online programme does lack some of the more intimate moments that are usually present when meeting in-person.

To try and enhance the experience, we added extra check-ins with the startups and hosted sessions dedicated to meeting the other founders. In addition, we are grateful to have mentors that have been very accommodating during this process and have offered to host multiple sessions for different time zones.

We hope to give these founders the same experience of joining one of our accelerators by inviting them to the next in-person programme. In addition, we will also be leveraging the strengths of our global operations to further expand the access to mentors, partners, investors, and other stakeholders all critical for long term startup success.

“The fully online programmes have really been an eye-opener. Overcommunication is key. Although I miss meeting all the founders face to face, we’ve done our best to get to know them even more during the online programme, especially with the help of the many communication tools that are available,” said Edwin Lee, Hardware and IoT Program Manager at Brinc.

In order to create the same level of serendipity with an online accelerator, we’ve relied on tools that help us navigate timezones and deliver good content such as our ever-present Slack channels; the Brinc Learning Management System for content; Zoom for all our mentor and expert sessions, our proprietary calendar system, Google calendar integration, and many more. Being flexible to time zones and at the same time, keeping a strong structure to the program, has been key in our ability to support the startups.

Going forward, we at Brinc are carefully monitoring the daily challenges that COVID-19 is creating within every city that we operate in. But our goal remains to provide the highest quality support to our startups and partners while keeping everyone safe and adhering to global and local health authorities’ standards. We hope to eventually bring back the physical attendance to our programmes as we believe this adds significant value for the development of our founders and their businesses.

For now, our upcoming programmes will remain online for the foreseeable future.

Brinc is currently accepting applications for its next programmes starting this Fall. Applications will be open until August 15 with the final selections being announced by October. If you’re interested in learning more about our accelerator programmes, visit this link.
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Anchanto, a Singapore-based B2B software provider that enables enterprises to manage end-to-end e-commerce operations, has secured S$16.6 million (US$12.1 million) in its Series C investment round.

Investors in the round are Asendia AG (a European cross-border e-commerce shipping and mail services company) and existing investor MDI Ventures (the corporate VC arm of Telkom Indonesia).

Also Read: A peek into SelluSeller: an automated multichannel selling management system by Anchanto

Anchanto said in a media release that it will use the funds to strengthen its R&D portfolio to launch two new products, build data platform and expand to three new markets. It will also invest in hiring.

Additionally, Anchanto also announced that it has achieved profitability.

“Achieving profitability in these times is an excellent performance, and I feel this is a more significant achievement than raising US$12 million in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. We are a capital-efficient company. Hundred per cent our revenue comes from a SaaS subscription with a high gross margin; we do not buy inventory or run services shops or warehouses,” said Vaibhav Dabhade, CEO and Founder of Anchanto.

“It took strong resilience, deep understanding of product design, engineering, marketing, sales, account management, and solid teamwork across seven countries to reach here,” he added.

Incorporated in 2011, Anchanto is a SaaS firm that helps brands, e-distributors, e-commerce enablers, retailers, third-party logistics providers, SMEs, warehouses and postal associations streamline and manage end-to-end e-commerce operations.

Its offerings include SelluSeller (online multi-channel e-commerce management software as well as a mobile app) and Wareo (full-suite warehouse management system that helps businesses manage B2B and B2C operations through a single system).

As of last year, Anchanto served more than 12,000 business and sellers consisting of over 300 global enterprises.

The company further said its customers manage over 67 million-plus stock keeping units (SKUs) and 115 million-plus listings, and have processed a combined Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of nearly US$2.71 billion via their platforms. Sellers process over four million orders per week on its systems.

The company also recently expanded into South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. It will now be looking to explore other markets within the greater Asia Pacific region and Europe in the future.

Ascendia  — a joint venture between the French National Post La Poste and state-run Swiss Post — is the fourth customer to turn into Anchanto’s shareholder after MDI, Transcosmos Japan and Luxasia.

Also Read: Pos Malaysia inks deal with Anchanto for its warehouse management technology

“Asendia Singapore cross-border e-commerce operations have been running on Anchanto Wareo and SelluSeller platform for over two years now. Asendia wholly owns wnDirect, which happens to be our customer for over six years. We see investment from Asendia as our gateway to European markets. Over 70 per cent of investment in Anchanto has been from our customers, which is a great testimony of how powerful and stable our platforms are and the trust global companies have in us,” Dabhade added.

As part of the investment, Marc Pontet, CEO of Asendia, and Donald Wihardja, CEO of MDI Ventures, will be joining Anchanto’s board.

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Image Credit: Anchanto

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Muhamad Fajrin Rasyid joins MDI Ventures as Chairman of Board of Commissioners

The story: Muhamad Fajrin Rasyid, co-founder of Indonesia’s e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak, has joined MDI Ventures as Chairman of its Board of Commissioners, according to a press statement.

His role: He will advise and oversee the firm and aim to increase its revenue.

The reason behind the move: According to Telkom Group, parent of MDI Ventures, Fajrin’s appointment is the part of the company’s push towards corporate digital transformation.

Malaysia’s Everpeaks raises crowdfunding via pitchIN

The story: Malaysia-based startup Everpeaks has raised US$340,000 via equity crowdfunding platform pitchIN, according to a statement.

Plans with funding: The startup will use 30 per cent of the funding to improve its technology solution and 20 per cent towards hiring.

It will also be making Malaysia its regional distribution hub to help European and American brands penetrate in the Southeast Asian market.

What does Everspeaks do?: It is a multi-channel e-commerce solutions provider that helps brands showcase their products to the global marketplace. It currently has partnerships with global brands like eBay and Amazon.

FundedHere joins ANGIN as a strategic shareholder

The story: MAS-licensed equity and debt crowdfunding platform FundedHere has joined Angel Investment Network of Indonesia (ANGIN) as a strategic shareholder.

What is ANGIN: ANGIN is an early-stage investment platform, which services investors, venture capital firms, foundations and corporates that desire to invest in Indonesian entrepreneurship.

Some of its clients include Amazon Web Services (AWS), UNDP, World Bank and many more.

Also Read: How Vietnam’s e-commerce firm Tiki manages to keep employee churn rate healthy

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Image Credit: MDI Ventures

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Startup founders focus on their product but often forget that building a business around it requires many stages.

Unfortunately, these two are rarely closely coupled, and navigating all the stages of building a business is typically the more challenging task. But I’m not one to rain on your parade.

Thus one of my first objectives as an adviser is to assess an entrepreneur’s current ability to navigate the stages of a new business, and then give them guidance and direct assistance on what to anticipate and how to prepare for it.

I found real confirmation of my approach and much practical guidance in a recent book, Entrepreneurial Leap, by a friend and cohort Gino Wickman.

In the spirit of helping you avoid some of our own learning experiences with startups, I will paraphrase here the nine key stages that he and I both see most businesses going through in their evolution from a startup to a successful and stable entity:

1. You can’t sustain a business without a positive cash flow

Even though profit may not be your driving motivation, you can’t sustain any business without generating cash. In most businesses, this means selling something, and proving that your product or service has value. Don’t delegate this cash management stage to anyone else in the business.

Also Read: TruTrip looks to cash in on the massive business travel market as the world emerges out of the crisis

2. Make sure someone is managing people and operations

Entrepreneurs are typically focused on the big picture–creating a vision, a purpose, and a long-term strategy. Building a business requires a stage of focus on execution and managing people accountably. Very few entrepreneurs can play both roles, so find a partner or hire an integrator to help.

3. Build a business culture to match your core values

For the business to prosper, every employee, and your customers, must know and relate to your core values, such as product excellence, care for the environment, and personal integrity. These are the timeless principles that must guide all hiring, marketing, and execution decisions.

4. Implement the key business metrics you will live by

This is the stage where you move from managing by your gut to managing by numbers. Identify the three most important metrics your business must hit every week to achieve growth goals. These will almost always be related to sales and marketing since they must tie back to cash flow.

5. Stay connected and engaged with your employees

A common entrepreneurial mistake is hiding in your office and assuming that everyone knows what is going on. People need to see and hear from you in a formal sense at least weekly. Furthermore, you should practice “management by walking around.” Give constant feedback, and say thank you often.

6. Build pivot plans early to recover from oversights

Every startup I know has had to pivot one or more times, no matter how certain they were of initial plan perfection. Thus you must constantly prepare for this stage by listening to customers, measuring customer value, and watching outside forces. Build change agility into all your processes.

Also Read: Fostering a dynamic business culture through digital change

Every founder has a story about the pivot that made their business, such as Starbucks’ switching to selling coffee from espresso makers, and Flickr’s from an online game to photo sharing. There are also many more stories of companies that pivoted too late.

7. Don’t try to do it all. Capitalise on your strengths

Stay in your personal sweet spot. Your challenge is to hire help just before you reach capacity so you don’t stop growth.

Each time, fill where you have the least interest and strength so that over time you enter the stage of doing only the things you love while using your talents to the fullest.

8. Don’t let your business grow beyond your comfort zone

Too many entrepreneurs get so caught up in the challenges of growing their business that they can’t stop, and the business gets away from them. This stage may eat all your profits, and your schedule makes you miserable. The answer is to learn to say no when you’ve had enough action.

9. Increase your focus on coaching, training, and mentoring

Every one of you entrepreneurs should recognise the stage in your business where your greatest satisfaction can come not from more growth. From the opportunity to share what you have learned with those who follow, and may carry your legacy forward.

Bill Gates is an example of someone who is in this stage and is now focused on using his insights and resources for the greater good through philanthropy.

Building a business should be and can be as exciting a journey as inventing and building your product.

I think you will find that both are hard with each stage challenging, rewarding and scary.

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The article first appeared on nfinitiv.

Image Credit: Christin Hume on Unsplash

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Incomlend raises US$20M Series A led by Sequoia to expand its invoice exchange platform in Asia, Europe; To date, Incomlend claims to have facilitated over US$330M in financing and covered invoice finance trades across 50 countries; It has earlier raised funding from GTR Ventures. e27

SoGal Ventures closes debut US$15M fund, eyes second vehicle in 2021; The VC firm invests in early-stage, female-founded companies that focus on improving the quality of life, women and under-represented groups; The VC firm is associated with SoGal Foundation. DealStreetAsia 

ByteDance reportedly in talks with India’s Reliance for investment in TikTok; TikTok’s business in India, where it had amassed over 200M users before it was banned in late June, is being valued at more than US$3B; An investment in TikTok could help the oil-to-retails giant Reliance, the most valuable firm in India, make deeper connections with consumers. TechCrunch

Go-Ventures, Northstar Group, Wavemaker invest in eFishery’s Series B round; The agritech startup plans to open 100 ‘one-stop physical hubs’ for farmer across Indonesia by end-2020; The firm recently ran pilot in Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam; eFishery previously raised US$4M Series A in 2018. e27

‘APAC is rich in innovation’: Airbus Ventures Partner Lewis Pinault; The VC firm made its debut in Singapore with an investment in Transcelestial; It will soon announce its second investment in new and deep space capabilities; The VC firm had raised US$150M in 2016 for its first fund; It’s now in the midst of raising a new and larger fund. e27

Why digital lending services for MSMEs are the next big thing in SEA; MSMEs account for over 95% of all firms, contribute to 50–70% of employment, constitute 30–60% of various countries’ GDP; The MSME loan to GDP ratio remains low in most ASEAN nations and the situation is particularly severe in Philippines Indonesia. e27

Indonesia’s fishery products marketplace Aruna raises US$5.5M from East Ventures, AC Ventures, SMDV; The startup plans to scale ops into new domestic and export B2B markets; It claims it recorded an 86x revenue growth in H1 2020 v/s H1 2019; It recently ventured into home delivery service. e27

How Singapore nurtured foreign trio to build tech biggie Sea; It is the city-state’s biggest company by market value; Two of its co-founders David Chen and Gang Ye arrived in Singapore as teenagers under a government effort to recruit foreign talent through scholarship programs that began in the 1990s. DealStreetAsia

The golden age: SEA’s future as a leading digital gold hub; Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam together account for over 80% of the region’s gold market; The combination of rapid digital adoption, enduring cultural traditions, and progressive government regulations will further develop the potential for digital gold and other innovations to come. e27

How to build a strong farmer engagement model for your agri e-commerce startup; In developed countries, many studies have shown that a direct marketplace between farmers and consumers help the farmers to retain 40-75% of a food dollar V/S a mere 15.6% in a corporate chain; In developing countries, where agriculture contribution to GDP is in double digits, e-commerce will be of significant benefit to the lives of farmers. e27

The future is hybrid: What will events look like post-COVID-19?; Physical events may be impossible for now, but they will still be a part of the post-pandemic world; From live streaming events to remote viewers outside conference venues, to chat rooms that facilitate interaction between online viewers and participants on-site, digital elements will see greater implementation in physical events as they prove their worth. e27

What entrepreneurs can learn from the TikTok debacle; Personal data collection involving an individual’s interests and interactions drove algorithms that curated personalised and engaging content for users and in turn, significantly increased the appeal of TikTok; Entrepreneurs, particularly those in the B2C sector, need to effectively harness data to understand customers and improve the user experience. e27

VCs get behind disaster-tech (D-Tech) in search for innovative life-saving technologies; To help D-Tech startups grow, VCs can play a significant role by acting as connective bridges with the government and established institutions. Furthermore, the backing of a reputable VC can provide much-needed credibility to early-stage startups. e27

Temasek, Bayer form new company ‘Unfold’ to develop vegetable seed varieties for vertical farming; Unfold has already raised US$30M from the two firms; Unfold will utilise seed genetics from vegetable crops and develop new seed varieties that are tailored for the unique indoor environment of vertical farms. Channel News Asia

Using video humanises the online experience; In today’s always-on virtual world, cutting through the clutter is becoming paramount, and video technology is empowering retail brands to showcase their offerings in interactive and more meaningful ways. Internet Retailing 

The booming e-commerce in the Philippines: What it means for investors; The country’s huge retail corporations are now transitioning more and more to focus on online sales, and hundreds of startups and SMEs are geared to progress the industry forward by creating new solutions for consumers to purchase goods and services from their mobile phones. GovTech

Lazada joins government, MDEC’s campaigns to support Malaysian SMEs; Lazada has over 320K SMEs nationwide on its marketplace with more than 200% increase in new local sellers on-boarded in H1, 2020; The partnership with Lazada last year brought ‘Buy Malaysia’ onto a leading e-commerce marketplace and resulted in an uplift of 3,800% in contribution from local sellers on the platform to the domestic economy. Bernama

Asia is emerging as a paytech powerhouse; One emerging trend that’s worth following closely is AI-powered payments using voice command; IoT payments too are set to be becoming more commonplace in the near future; Investors’ infatuation with Asia’s paytech industry has led to the emergence of a burgeoning sector. Fintech News

Philippines central bank BSP joins digital currency race; BSP’s interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) comes at a time when digital payments are on the rise in the nation; In Asia, Thailand, Japan and China have been experimenting with CBDCs. Fintech News

Singapore smart nation: Establishing a digital community through hub networks; To accelerate the Smart Nation Initiative launched in 2014, IMDA is setting up around 50 SG Digital community hubs to get everyone on board in the digitalisation process; Digital ambassadors will assist every private individual, worker and company as they move through the process of using technology to enhance their lives and businesses. Tech Collective

SingPost partners logistics startup Shippit to widen SMEs’ access to courier services; Through this partnership, Shippit’s SME customers can access a larger range of delivery options, including packages delivered directly to Pick Own Parcel Stations, or POPStations, and letterboxes. SGSME

MDEC, Huawei sign MoU to spearhead Malaysia as ASEAN digital hub; It aims to develop a robust digital economy including ICT infra, 5G, AI, Big Data, IoT and digital tech talent; The partnership will see the sharing of best practices and knowledge-sharing between both parties. Digital News Asia

New Accenture study reveals emerging trends in digital health; The trends relate to digital patient experience, AI, smart devices, robots and innovation; The future of AI is already in the works, with 69% of healthcare organisations saying they are piloting or adopting it. MobiHealthNews

Exploring the role of AI and automation in education; By providing a platform that merges content with evaluation, the instructor can easily, through the use of AI, monitor and track the students’ progress. The massive advances in AI over the past seven years have allowed machine learning to use algorithms to analyse a substantial amount of data. Tech Collective

JobForesight, the first Singapore startup from Oxford incubator, launches Careershe; The career advice app helps students aged between 15 and 25 learn more about the world of work, providing them with guidance in the available pathways towards their desired careers. Techcoffeehouse.com

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The legal field is one where the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be valuable — and is long-awaited for, considering the challenges faced by both industry players and clients today.

“Nearly half the world has no access to legal systems. Then in most countries where there is access, there is a huge backlog,” Dr Anton Ravindran explains to e27.

“Thirdly, for most of us, litigation is both expensive and time-consuming,” he continues.

Dr Ravindran is the founder of SmartLaw, a Singapore-based legal tech startup that utilises its team’s expertise in data science, AI, and machine learning to develop solutions for both lawyers and individuals. In their work, the startup aims to digitalise the legal process to make it more affordable and accessible.

During our call, Dr Ravindran expresses how some lawyers were a bit reluctant when they were first introduced to the concept. “What if I am being replaced by AI?” was a common response.

But Ravindran points out that it will not be the case. “AI and machine learning, amongst other technologies, can mitigate these challenges and move the traditional legal system to online. It is very conceivable that in the near future, lawyers and machine will work side by side and the courtroom becomes man and machine intertwined.”

Also Read: Legal tech platform INTELLLEX raises US$2.1M funding round led by Quest Ventures

Making legal decisions easier

So how exactly does the SmartLaw platform work? The startup helps law firms or lawyers, as well as the public or the clients, to make a better legal decision by using AI and machine learning.

So far, it has developed two key features –Predictor and eDiscovery– for two areas of law: Criminal and divorce matters.

The Predictor modules predict sentencing outcomes, Dr Ravindran explains. It extracts past precedents and verdicts which are relevant for lawyers to mount their defence.

The eDiscovery module extracts past precedents and verdicts which are relevant for lawyers to mount their defence. All of this process happens in just “split seconds,” according to the startup.

It also has ancillary services that provide online access to features such as uncontested divorce, probate, Lasting Power of Attorney, and Deputyship Complex Wills for clients. In the status quo, to have these services done, clients will need to go to a law firm. But the platform enables clients to receive the legal assistance they need at home.

“For clients, when they are faced with a legal issue, they can leverage from legal tech solutions such as ours to decide whether they should pursue a lawsuit or not to resolve the dispute. They can even approach a machine in the first instance for confidentiality reasons, if charged with a criminal offence, by way of example,” Dr Ravindran elaborates.

“This is because they can now predict the sentencing or expected outcome of a dispute resolution at the onset of the matter. Secondly, they can leverage from technology to resolve disputes without having to engage lawyers and/or going to court,” he continues.

Also Read: Indonesian legal tech startup Legalku raises seed funding from UMG Idealab

With this, the technology is expected to help lower the cost of legal options and reduce the lead time to resolve disputes.

At the moment, the startup is in the process of developing its third module, which will likely be in medical negligence or construction and real estate.

The past and the future

The idea for the SmartLaw platform came up when Dr Ravindran had a discussion with family and friends –who happen to be lawyers– about the potential of AI and machine learning in addressing the challenges faced by them. These challenges include the lengthy process of reviewing documents and extracting relevant precedents.

“Natural Language Processing (NLP) and semantic analysis can be used to address these issues hence allowing lawyers to spend their valuable time and expertise to focus on the real legal issues and in preparing their defence,” he points out.

As a startup founder working in the intersection between tech and the law, Dr Ravindran believes that founders should work hand-in-hand with the experts.

“There are inherent complexities in the field of law and to develop solutions we must appreciate the nuances of the law, so that we can make the machine understand these nuances,” he explains.

At the moment, SmartLaw is self-funding its operations for the past nine months and Dr Ravindran intends for it to “skip the first few steps” startups typically take to raise funds.

“We intend to develop the product, acquire clients before we look for the valuation of the company, and its future funding needs. Our focus is on product development and we will then be open to various strategic options, including a strategic alliance with law firms and/or VCs for further growth,” he elaborates.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news, February 13: First legal tech startup accelerator to launch in Singapore

The company’s next big plan is to explore other disciplines with the legal system as well as to regionalise its offerings by including the law from a jurisdiction other than Singapore.

“The pandemic, on one hand, has caused some delays in the progress as we wanted to regionalise our offerings and adopt other jurisdictions. But on the other hand, legal tech has probably got a shot in the arm because of COVID-19, as courts have moved to Zoom or online in that sense,” Dr Ravindran says.

“Technology is probably the only winner in this pandemic. If not for technology, many functions of society would have been paralysed,” he closes.

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Image Credit: SmartLaw

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