My taste is not important, what counts is understanding the preference of the consumer. This was a lesson I learnt in my first job when I was a sommelier in France years ago. To this day, this fundamental has followed me — even after I leapt into the brand new world of mobile marketing analytics — and is just one of the many principles that have guided me throughout my career.
Reflecting on my recent promotion to the position of Associate Vice President (AVP) of Customer Success in just seven short years, I wanted to share the three key takeaways I have distilled from my journey. Hopefully, there is something for all of us to learn.
Gender doesn’t define your career potential
The first important lesson I learnt during my professional career: be confident and look at the bigger picture. From personal experience, as women, we tend to doubt ourselves. Thoughts like “Am I good enough?” or “How will others feel about my opinions?” — these hold us back!
Living in Israel has shown me that females can be confident in sharing ideas and voicing opinions, which is something I believe we should encourage more of our Asia Pacific female community.
“Diversity drives innovation,” says AppsFlyer Chief People Officer Lisa Zaythik. “Gender diversity supports our core business objectives and has a long-lasting positive impact on people, communities, and society as a whole,” and I couldn’t agree more!
As a company, I’m glad that almost 60 per cent of AppsFlyer’s APAC workforce comprises females, and one in four managerial roles are held by women. Whether in leadership roles or not, women should always think big and have a growth mindset. It is very important that we all realise we can lift each other up and come together to achieve more.
As Facebook (now Meta) executive Sheryl Sandberg – and my personal inspiration – writes, “… in the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”
Her advice in Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, has been my north star throughout my career journey and has undoubtedly been the mantra behind my growth from Account Manager to AVP.
Diversity and collaboration are critical to team health
The APAC team I manage hails from 12 different countries across five different offices and communicates in seven different languages. I’ve had an incredibly valuable experience learning to work and interact with colleagues from such diverse backgrounds and geographic locations.
While there have been some initial barriers to our communication, I’ve found that abiding by some basic principles has helped us achieve our goals effectively and nurture the growth of our talent. For instance, it is crucial to be very transparent in all communication, especially when everyone is decentralised and physically segregated from each other due to the pandemic. This is doubly important if you are a team leader relying on the trust of your team.
As a leader, it is also necessary to consider and act on your team’s suggestions to show them that their inputs are valuable. Proving to your team that you are invested in what they have to say will motivate the team to see themselves as a collective and function cohesively, as well as to encourage further input on potential areas of improvement.
Keeping an eye out for your team member’s personal growth and career paths also goes a long way in building a competent and harmonious team. Meanwhile, placing too much importance on titles and hierarchies may have detrimental consequences to a team’s structure. Delegation is critical; you want to empower your leaders in each region and build bridges between the headquarters and local offices.
Partnership is truly a great thing when you learn to harness its power for greater things. It feels amazing to work with talented people, execute plans together, and move towards goals together. Partners also need to rely on each other’s opinions and ideas. Things can only move forward when people are able to work together and contribute their ideas.
While we work to address unconscious and historical biases and stereotypes in senior positions, employee development initiatives are also essential to both employee and company growth.
This could be anything like the AppsHire programme we’ve implemented, which encourages internal mobility and its global exchange programme allowing staff to work from 19 global offices, or offering employees free subscriptions for the meditation app Calm which helps our staff alleviate possible mental health problems while working remotely during the pandemic.
Such efforts are also extended to management and leadership roles, for which we provide opportunities for development through initiatives such as Lumina – a programme that analyzes your strengths and weaknesses and how you behave in different situations. This has helped me realise important insights: when I’m in my comfort zone I tend to be soft, while in extreme situations I can become too tough. This guides me in recalibrating and improving my approach to working with others more effectively.
While these are the biggest takeaways from my career journey, it is also important to remember that there are so many routes to success and what success looks like can be different from person to person – what fits or works for one person might not work in all situations.
All in all, as Sandberg so eloquently puts it, “Fortune does favour the bold, and you’ll never know what you’re capable of if you don’t try.” And if there is just one thing you remember, it should be that we should always keep trying, pushing, learning, and growing.
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(L-R) Carsome co-founders Eric Cheng and Jiun Ee Teoh
Malaysia’s car e-commerce unicorn Carsome has secured US$290 million in a Series E financing round, bringing its valuation to approximately US$1.7 billion.
The round was co-led by Qatar Investment Authority (a sovereign wealth fund of Qatar), 65 Equity Partners (owned by Temasek), Seatown Private Capital Master Fund (a closed-end PE fund managed by SeaTown Holdings).
Mediatek, Sunway, Gokongwei Group, YTL Group, and Taiwan Mobil also co-invested.
With the newly raised funds, Carsome intends to accelerate investment in people, product, technology, data capabilities, infrastructure, and regional development of its retail brand, Carsome Certified, in major markets spanning Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Founded in 2015 by CEO Eric Cheng and Teoh Jiun Ee, Carsome aims to digitise Southeast Asia’s used car industry by reshaping the car buying and selling experience through end-to-end solutions — from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing.
Since its inception, it has made inroads into Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.
The company claims it works with over 8,000 dealers, transacts around 100,000 cars annually and has more than 1,700 employees across all its offices.
In a bid to expand from the consumer-to-business (C2B) to B2C model in 2021, Carsome has opened at least seven B2C retail centres, known as Carsome Experience Centers, across Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
One of its significant developments is Carsome Certified, launched in August 2020. The retail brand provides quality used cars that have passed a certain point inspection to ensure it is free of major accidents, frame, fire or flood damage. Customers can view the car’s interior and exterior, access a list of the current imperfections and a professional reconditioning report, as well as book a test drive on the website.
Carsome has also rolled out numerous auto-financing offerings for car buyers and used car dealers, especially for graduates who typically face challenges obtaining loan approvals from conventional banks.
Carsome became a unicorn following its acquisition of iCar Asia in July 2021. In September, it announced to bagUS$200 million more in a Series D2 round complemented by credit facilities.
Recently, it partnered with Grab to launch the “Own Your Ride” campaign, which is slated to benefit over 100,000 Grab drivers and delivery partners across Malaysia when purchasing Carsome Certified cars. The campaign will last until April 2022.
The car marketplace “is set to achieve operational profitability” per a press statement”. Reutershinted that Carsome’s profitability on an operational level is set to be realised in 2022.
Last July, Carsome also acquired an all-equity stake in Universal Collection, a Jakarta-based car and motorcycle auction service.
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Live streams were already huge in Asia before the pandemic, but last year’s success in this space has been phenomenal. For instance, Shopee saw a 99% growth in live selling in 2020 globally, whilst on Twitch, people watched 1.65 billion hours of content in only two months of lockdown. Furthermore, in January 2020, Taobao Live, Alibaba’s live streaming platform, recorded a 110% increase in its sellers’ live sessions on its platform, in comparison with the same period the previous year. These trends demonstrate how live streaming is increasingly becoming mainstream with big and small companies jumping the bandwagon to reach out to new consumers and engage existing audiences.
Given the popularity of live streaming, there is an obvious demand for platforms that enable it.
“Many aspiring and beginner live streamers have common challenges with growing their audience and sales. We use conversational AI to provide such live streamers with an AI sidekick, a virtual mentor who can help guide them through the successful streaming session. It’s kind of a wingman for streamers,” says Maxim Makatchev, the CEO of Osaka-based susuROBO, Inc.
susuROBO provides users with a no-code conversational AI platform, which is helpful for beginner live streamers and has a wide range of use cases across various industries. Founded by Maxim Makatchev, Ryo Chikada, and Amir Harati, susuROBO is now looking to expand and establish a presence in Southeast Asia through the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO).
“Our focus is on achieving engaging, empathetic conversation with users through the use of dialects and expression of personality through both verbal and non-verbal behaviours. We believe that such customer experiences will be especially important for the communities of Southeast Asia that include a great variety of cultures and demographics,” shares Maxim Makatchev, CEO of susuROBO who has a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.
susuROBO’s conversational AI no-code development platform is used in a wide range of applications, such as AI live streamers, outpatient care avatars, and voice-enabled devices for the elderly.
A keen focus on Southeast Asia
Live streaming and elderly care may seem to have little in common, but according to susuROBO, they have one underlying core issue: conversation.
“Whether we sell a product to thousands of viewers via livestream, or ask an elderly person about their day via a smart speaker, we are making a conversation. A good conversational AI platform can serve both of these diverse domains.”
“Southeast Asia has a booming live streaming market and Singapore is one of the most crypto-friendly areas in the world. In addition to that, many countries in the region have large elderly populations. This creates unique opportunities for businesses like ours, that work on products that are at the intersection of these growing markets,” shares Maxim.
How about a sidekick with artificial intelligence?
Further tapping into these trends in the region, susuROBO recently introduced a new voice and gaze-controlled AI sidekick for beginner live streamers and an NFT-enabled early access program for its no-code AI live streamer development platform.
“For live streamers who are just getting started or streaming solo, it can be tough to create engaging banter with their audience. So we’re introducing an AI live streaming sidekick that’s ready to jump into the conversation,” shares Maxim.
The sidekick decides the most appropriate timing and phrasing based on the conversational context and the host’s voice and gaze. To encourage wider community participation, we’ve invited participants to a limited public beta program since last December,” he explains.
The startup’s new collection of NFTs, where each token will be corresponding to the AI live streamer’s appearance and personality, NFT holders will get early access to the beta version of the developer tools.
They will be able to develop and train custom English and Japanese language and dialogue models. This will help them create a unique customised avatar personality, deploy and test their unique AI live streamer, and have a direct line of communication with susuROBO’s founders via Discord.
Collaborations and partnerships for a better tomorrow
Many reports have advocated that collaborations and partnerships will be key to success, especially in the post-pandemic future. In line with this, susuROBO is actively working in fostering great partnerships across the region.
“We are working to establish partnerships across a range of industries. We are already partnering with Monash University in Kuala Lumpur to develop a heart disease outpatient care support app with a nurse avatar. Next, we are looking to partner with elderly care facilities and live streaming agencies and technology companies,” says Maxim.
Winners of a 5G technology subsidy from the City of Osaka for its project on voice-enabled elderly care devices, susuROBO has established a brand name and presence in Japan. Further strengthening their position in the country, recently, they graduated from Kobe 500 Founder Academy program, and have participated in a Plug and Play program that matches startups with enterprises. The startup is also a winner of the excellence award of the 2021 Osaka Health Industry Promising Plan contest.
After garnering due credibility and success in Japan, this startup is all set to enter Southeast Asia and hopefully lead the region in conversational AI and its applications. Learn more about susuROBO at http://susurobo.jp.
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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by JETRO
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Over the last quarter of a century, the way people access, spend and transfer money has gone through significant change with the appearance of various fintech innovations. The recent proliferation of e-wallets and payment platforms has driven increased online purchases, and money is now flowing around the globe at unprecedented levels. By 2027, the value of cross-border payments is expected to reach US$250 trillion.
For users and entities such as small and medium businesses (SMBs), this has been transformative. The move away from physical money, combined with the ability to purchase online and internationally, has seen a boom in cross-border purchases. But problems remain due to the legacy infrastructure still required to make transactions.
Fintech is providing solutions, but underlying problems remain
With the increasing ubiquity of smartphones, fintech has provided multiple solutions for making cashless transactions. Digital wallets, for example, can be connected to payment platforms or banks and are soaring in popularity. For instance, in Australia, e-wallet use rose 90 per cent between March 2020 and March 2021, becoming more popular than contactless payments.
Due to the vast and rising amounts of international trade – global payments revenue is predicted to grow from US$1.9 trillion to US$2.5 trillion in 2025 – the G20 has made cross-border payments a priority. They identified four primary issues – cost, speed, transparency, and access.
These are complex issues and result from legacy infrastructure. The latter, transparency, is particularly problematic for SMBs. Large businesses have solutions for international payments, and fintech has several options for P2P transactions. But small businesses have been left behind. SMBs who fall under the required thresholds for trading volume are stuck with slow, expensive, and non-transparent payments.
However, fintech is coming up with new solutions and innovative platforms to help SMBs expand abroad.
Discarding traditional infrastructure solves a lot of issues for Southeast Asian Companies
A great example of a fintech company taking a new approach is XanPool and its platform XanPay. XanPool CEO and founder is cryptocurrency entrepreneur Jeffery Liu. He wanted to design a way to solve the problems created by relying on legacy platforms and structures, such as Visa, SWIFT, and banking networks.
Liu explains how XanPool and XanPay solve traditional problems. “We created XanPool to make onboarding and offboarding from fiat currency to cryptocurrency a lot easier. Because legacy infrastructure was created before the internet, it is no longer fit for purpose and was causing a lot of pain. It can sometimes take a week or more to make a transfer, there are foreign exchange charges and a standard merchant fee of three per cent, and there’s no transparency.”
With a background and in-depth knowledge of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, Liu built a platform that operates outside the limitations inherent with traditional structures. XanPool has created automated market-making software that allows buyers and sellers – liquidity providers – to buy and sell crypto using bank accounts or e-wallets. The liquidity providers are essentially a fiat gateway, and they make up the XanPool network.
G20 solutions are too slow
“The G20 has finally realised how important cross-border transactions are,” Liu says. “They have correctly identified the four main issues of cost, speed, transparency, and access. But their solutions are largely based on the traditional ways of routing money. For example, one of their targets is for 75 per cent of retail payments to occur in under an hour and within a day for the rest of the market. That is still too slow. There’s also the fact that most of the proposed solutions are for the end of 2027.”
XanPool’s processes solved all these issues and led to the establishment of XanPay. “By using crypto and a peer-to-peer network made up of individuals and businesses, transactions are instant and cheaper. That solves the problems of speed and cost, and the third – transparency – is also no longer an issue. The final problem of access led to us creating the XanPay platform.”
Liu says, “There are existing solutions for most transactions with the exception of SMBs wanting to make cross-border payments. They face all four problems and a host of other issues such as chargebacks, credit card fraud, and rejection from main platforms if deemed too risky. Using XanPool’s existing cryptocurrency and network of local currency providers solves all these concerns. So, we created XanPay, which is a platform that works with local e-wallets and payment platforms.”
XanPay was created for small businesses to operate internationally. “The platform operates outside legacy payment frameworks and is designed for SMBs. Many small businesses are embracing e-commerce and want to expand, but they were being hampered by the old ways international payment structures route money. We are helping to change that.”
Although primarily based in Hong Kong, the company and platform were operating in four Southeast Asian countries from launch and have grown from there. “We’re available in over 20 APAC countries so far,” says Liu. “We have also integrated with 25 payment solutions and connected to over 500 banks. This has all happened in just the last couple of years and is only the start. We recently raised US$27 million in Series A funding, and that extra capital will help us to expand to new countries and markets.”
It remains to be seen if improvements built on top of traditional payment structures, such as those proposed by the G20, will be enough to benefit smaller merchants operating internationally. If not, there are a number of innovative entrepreneurs and fintech companies ready to fill the gap.
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Brankas, an open finance technology company based in Indonesia but operates regionally, has secured US$20 million in the Series B financing round led by Insignia Ventures Partners.
The co-investors are Visa, fintech VC fund AFG Partners, and Treasury International (backed by veteran fintech founders Jeff Cruttenden of Acorns and Eli Broverman of Betterment).
Existing investors BEENEXT and Integra Partners also participated.
With the fresh investment, the firm intends to extend its product portfolio in payments, data, and banking-as-a-service API products and strengthen its capacity by doubling its team of more than 100 staff in 17 countries.
Brankas will also scale its network of more than 40 financial institutions and more than 100 technological firms, which utilise its embedded finance APIs to design, roll out, and manage digital experiences across a variety of use cases, including digital banking, online credit scoring, e-commerce, and gig economy payment.
Brankas was launched in 2016 by CEO Todd D Schweitzer and CTO Kenneth Shaw. Graduating from Plug And Play’s first incubator in Southeast Asia, the startup offers API-based solutions, data, and payment solutions for financial service providers (banks, lenders, and e-wallets) and online enterprises.
The fintech firm works with banks to design and maintain their open finance infrastructure, including APIs for real-time payments, identification and data, account opening, remittances, and other services. This allows financial institutions to foster their digital capabilities, expand their customer reach, and unlock new revenue streams.
For online businesses, fintech firms, and digital banks, Brankas serves as a bridge to critical data needs for verification or scoring processes, reaching previously untapped customer segments.
Brankas said that it will announce agreements with prominent digital banks and fintech leaders in Vietnam and Bangladesh early this year.
Beyond financial services, Brankas’s APIs can also be used in e-commerce to validate and secure payments on their platforms.
So far, the firm claims to have served clients in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.
Brankas also boasts of being the first firm to launch banking-as-a-service APIs for account opening and credit card issuance in the region.
Last April, the firm became one of five participants of Visa’s 2021 Accelerator Programme. It then collaborated with Visa to develop a digital credit card issuing proposition that used Visa’s data capabilities.
“Embracing Open Finance in Southeast Asia” report, which Brankas and Integras Partners conducted in July 2021, noted that open finance has sparked interest in the SEA region’s central banks. However, the adoption strategies differ from nation to nation, with some favouring a market-led approach and others opting for a regulatory-driven one.
As stated by Bain & Company in 2019, over 70 per cent of Southeast Asian consumers lack access to financial services, and millions of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) face significant financial shortfalls.
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FoodMap, an agritech e-commerce platform connecting farmers and food producers directly to B2C and B2B customers, has raised an oversubscribed pre-Series A round of US$3 million, co-led by Vulpes Ventures and Beenext.
Ascend Vietnam Ventures and existing investor Wavemaker Partners joined the round.
Despite recent giant growth leaps in the manufacturing and technology spaces, Vietnam largely remains an agricultural country, with about 20 per cent of the population working in agriculture and related areas. However, there exist some critical pain points — multiple middle-men layers leading to 6-7x mark-up prices for end-users and lack of quality control in food production leading to low exporting prices and lack of consumers’ trust.
FoodMap addresses these pain points using technology.
Launched in 2020 by Pham Ngoc Anh Tung, FoodMap aims to solve the gap between demand and supply across the invisible supply chain with a back-end management system for farmers and suppliers.
“FoodMap wants to help both sides of the equation by optimising the production process, raising the value of Vietnamese food products, and increasing visibility across the supply chain to strengthen customers’ trust. We currently focus on fresh products, seafood, selected meats, ready-to-cook and non-perishable products”, Tung shared.
Currently, FoodMap supplies products from over 300 farmers and producers to Vietnam. It enables customers to access FoodMap’s product via an e-commerce platform and mobile app. All products listed on FoodMap come with a QR code.
For farmers, FoodMap increases their income by roughly 10-20 per cent for their raw products while reducing inefficient mark-ups across multiple layers of intermediaries. In addition, it provides them with insights and analytics for future harvest planning.
As for suppliers, it brings their brand and story to the online audience and starts digitising sales. For example, for some long-standing brands, FoodMap has started generating up to 50 per cent of their total sales volume. On the other hand, it offers quality control and product discovery for customers.
“One thing that sets FoodMap apart from other foodtech players is our deep understanding of consumers’ taste and building products accordingly for their private label offerings. This helps generate high margin, brand loyalty, and exclusivity as competitive advantages,” added Tung.
FoodMap currently has five private label products — tea & coffee, fruits, ready-to-cook, chocolate, and seafood, which generate the bulk of Foodmap’s topline and margin.
The firm currently operates from its two warehouses in Ho Chi Minh city with cold storage. For deliveries, most products are delivered within 24 hours to ensure customer satisfaction.
FoodMap plans to increase its B2B presence with growing demand from both modern trade and general trade outlets.
On the B2C side, FoodMap recently launched a group buying affiliate program to enable social selling among its customers.
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I developed the habit of reading books at an early age. While both my mom and dad read occasionally, they were not avid readers by any standard. Yet, somehow I found myself spending more time reading than exercising any other hobby of mine.
As a kid, I attended a humble elementary school located on the outskirts of Sofia. The school offered a tiny library. In fact, it did not look much like a library, just a room that used to store old furniture, converted into book storage. Yet, despite the poor appearance, I loved spending time there.
My elementary school after it got renovated
The librarian had one notebook to keep track of all visitors. Each student was assigned one page to keep a record of their activity. Most students would read just a few books in the course of their studies, so a page per person was plenty. At that age, pretty much everyone preferred to do sports or act cool rather than read. As far as I remember, I was the only student during my time who needed more than a page to keep track of all the books I borrowed. This leads me to think that my passion for reading must have developed quite early. I was obsessed with reading fantasy and science fiction. Books such as I, Robot (Isaac Asimov), Harry Potter series (J. K. Rowling), and The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan) left lasting impressions. Overall, two things pulled me towards fantasy and science fiction. One, it helped me escape the day-to-day reality that at times was not pleasant. Two, such books broadened my perspective. It pushed the limits of what I thought was possible.
As I got older, my book diet became more balanced. I started adding a lot more non-fiction. While fantasy and science fiction held sentimental value for me, learning about the real world felt important too. Over time, my reading started guiding important decisions in my life. The authors of those books felt like mentors I had never met.
“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest men of past centuries.” – Rene Descartes
Eleven years ago, my consistent reading led to leaving my home country for studies abroad. Going to uni was not a typical choice in my circle of friends. Most of my high school classmates preferred to get regular jobs or just have fun. Given my circumstances, moving countries for studies was unthinkable. My parents could not support me financially, and I did not have a lot of savings myself. Yet, it always felt right. While it was not easy, I somehow managed to make it work. Thinking back, I give credit for that choice to the literature I read. Where else would I get that idea from?
Studying abroad was not the only contrarian choice that worked out for me. Reflecting on my career, I started working early, with my first job taking place when I was 14 years old. Becoming independent at such an age allowed me to build a pretty decent career in hospitality, even before completing my bachelor’s degree. Then, at the age of 22, I received an offer to lead an F&B outlet, part of a five-star resort. That was more than what anyone in my family had achieved (career-wise) so far. But I decided to turn down the offer, continue studying and pivot my career to tech. As a result, leaving all hospitality-related experience and knowledge behind.
“A classic problem in computer science is hill climbing. Imagine you are dropped at a random spot on a hilly terrain, where you can only see a few feet in each direction (assume it’s foggy or something). The goal is to get to the highest hill.
Consider the simplest algorithm. At any given moment, take a step in the direction that takes you higher. The risk with this method is if you happen to start near the lower hill, you’ll end up at the top of that lower hill, not the top of the tallest hill.” – Chris Dixon, Partner at a16z
In hindsight, that was one of the best decisions I ever took. I was clearly climbing what seemed to be the proper mountain but ultimately ended up being the lower hill. Looking back, it’s easy to make such conclusions, but at the time, I did not know anyone in tech. I did not have a single conversation with friends or family that encouraged me to make the leap. Nevertheless, I made the leap despite what my friends and family thought. Once again, my inspiration must have come from somewhere. I think reading the right books helped.
As I slowly explored the tech sector and started learning what I am good at, I took another unconventional choice. In 2016, I moved to Asia.
Everyone around me was, WTF? Why would you leave family, friends, and in general your comfort? After all, moving from Bulgaria to Denmark 11 years ago was hard enough. Later, changing industries added another layer of complexity. Yet, here I go again, moving 15,000 km away from family and friends to start from the bottom.
Five years later, I look back and think how that choice proved to be another great one. Relocating to an ecosystem experiencing high growth while facing talent shortage is a recipe for a rocketship career trajectory. Asia has the exact same dynamic. Massive market, plenty of capital, and lack of people who understand startups. Words cannot describe the importance of being in a good ecosystem. Especially when you are ambitious and have a lot of energy. Lately, I did the math and figured that my salary in the past five years experienced 420 per cent growth! Add all the learnings from operating several startups in emerging markets. Now, you can see why I stand behind that call five years later.
Looking back, I did not have many friends who left Europe for Asia. Under normal circumstances, most people would have a family member or friend who took on a similar path to guide them. But, unfortunately, I cannot think of anyone in my case.
Meaning, I never had a mentor or a family member who encouraged me to make such risky choices. But I must have received the inspiration from somewhere. The more I reflect on it, the more I think my love for reading must be responsible.
Having said that, I did meet some great people who inspired me as I was making those choices. You always do. Yet, I still feel that my reading diet guided me a lot better than any person I met. As a result, I do my best to nurture my love for books daily. For example, annually, I set resolutions on how much I want to read. I write essays like this one to encourage self-reflection. And I do my best to have a balanced diet of fiction and non-fiction books. As Naval once said, it’s important to read whatever interests you early on to build the habit. Once the habit is formed, you can read anything.
“Read what you love until you love to read.” – Naval
Additionally, I am very picky about the books I read. Over time, I built a process of making decisions on the next book I will be reading. The process is simple and consists of triangulation between the following methods:
Recommendations from people I respect
Ratings on GoodReads or Amazon
Qualitative reviews
While the method sounds simple, I end up picking worthy books in 9 out of 10 cases. It works because I religiously follow each step to ensure the book is good enough. Anyway, enough about me. In 2021, I read many great books, but these were some of my favourites.
This year, my reading list includes two sci-fi, four fantasy, three biographies, and everything else can be parked under self-improvement.
“Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman | source
“You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It’s their mistake, not my failing.” ― Richard Feynman, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!
At first glance, the book is written in a very casual and fun way, which makes it easy to read. I devoured it over a week. But do not be fooled by the playful character of Richard Feynman. He is a winner of the Noble Prize in Physics (1965), holds the Einstein Award (1954), Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award in Nuclear Physics (1962), and has been awarded the Oersted Medal (1972). On top of that, he taught himself how to open uncrackable safes. He learned how to draw portraits of people and even performed his own exhibition. All that while joining a Brazilian Bongo group. Additionally, he traveled around North America, Brazil, and Japan. Not to mention the entertaining stories from casinos and strip bars.
I can usually tell when I will love a book: I cannot shut up about it. Richard Feynman’s biography is definitely one of those books. He is a personal hero of mine. A genuinely funny character who nurtured his curiosity and became one of the best at various disciplines. Disciplines entirely unrelated to each other (e.g., playing in a bongo group and cracking safes). He understood the importance of following your curiosity by immersing in a new field. Not only to give it a try but to become one of the world’s best experts at each hobby of his. His intelligence, positive attitude, and great sense of humour result in an incredible read.
“We all step in shit from time to time. We hit roadblocks, we fuck up, we get fucked, we get sick, we don’t get what we want, we cross thousands of “could have done better”s and “wish that wouldn’t have happened”s in life. Stepping in shit is inevitable, so let’s either see it as good luck, or figure out how to do it less often.” ― Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights
Yes, another memoir. Perhaps, the gloomy mood around COVID-19 made me appreciate books and people who are overwhelmingly positive and funny. It’s a suitable read for all times, but somehow it does make more sense during these uncertain and strange times. I listened to the audiobook while travelling across Bali, Indonesia, and loved every minute of it. Before reading Matthew’s memoir, I did not know much about him. Of course, I did watch many of his movies but did not know anything about his actual character. In turn, the experience felt like I was sitting with him over a beer while listening to stories of his life. He is witty, poetic, funny, and unpredictable. I laughed out many times or stopped to reflect on a profound truth that resonated with me.
I strongly recommend you to get the audiobook. His voice is great, and the narration is fun and poetic. I was frequently smiling while listening. But consider that the book can feel a tad narcissistic at times; after all, it’s a memoir. Perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved it.
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb | source
“Further, my characterisation of a loser is someone who, after making a mistake, doesn’t introspect, doesn’t exploit it, feels embarrassed and defensive rather than enriched with a new piece of information, and tries to explain why he made the mistake rather than moving on. These types often consider themselves the ‘victims’ of some large plot, a bad boss, or bad weather. Finally, a thought. He who has never sinned is less reliable than he who has only sinned once. And someone who has made plenty of errors—though never the same error more than once—is more reliable than someone who has never made any.” ― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder
When I read my first book by Nassim Taleb, “Skin in the Game,” I was shocked by his attitude. It’s so rare to find an author who does not try to be politically correct at all times. Taleb is brutally honest and does not sugarcoat his opinions. In turn, his attitude triggers many people to dislike him. He seems to be angry, contrarian, and dismissive all the time. Yet, you will learn a ton by giving him a chance and pushing through his harshness. He is intelligent, observant, and knows how to break down complex concepts in a way so anyone can understand.
The whole book’s premises can be broken down to the following quote: “Difficulty is what wakes up the genius.” Antifragility is a fascinating concept. Many people think of resilience or robustness as the definition of antifragile. But it’s a lot more. Resilience and robustness resist shocks and remain the same. Antifragile people use shocks, chaos, disorder, volatility, and uncertainty to get stronger.
In my humble opinion, to be successful in today’s ever-changing world, you have to become antifragile. I find myself pitching the book to friends and family during dinner conversations. A clear sign that it left a lasting impact on me. This is one of the most important books I have ever read, and I hope you will appreciate it as much as I did.
Reading List 2022
My reading list for the next year is not completed yet, and that’s intentional. While I have a few books on my shelf, I leave a lot of room for serendipity as my interests evolve. At the moment, I have purchased the following books and cannot wait to start them:
“The Cold Start Problem” by Andrew Chen – as a founder and operator in tech, the content of Andrew Chen has been very influential for me over the years. Moreover, I leveraged his research when writing on network effects and marketplaces. In turn, I cannot wait to read his newest book. After all, the author could be considered as one of the top experts in network effects globally.
“Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir – Bill Gates recommended Project Hail Mary earlier this week, which piqued my interest. Looking at the great reviews and since I am a big fan of The Martian, I bought the book quickly.
“Will” by Will Smith and Mark Manson – since I loved Matthew McConaughey’s memoir and am a fan of Will Smith (both music and acting), it felt appropriate. So I am super excited about reading this one.
I hope you enjoyed my recommendations. I am looking forward to a more normal 2022 where we can go back to travelling and socialising
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Bukalapak and local conglomerate Salim Group are planning to invest 4.8 trillion rupiahs (US$335.55 million) in the Indonesian digital lender Allo Bank.
As per a statement, the investment will be made through a proposed purchase of Allo Bank’s pre-emptive rights. Upon the rights issue (to be launched from Jan 13-19), existing stakeholder Mega Corpora will transfer US$83.56 million of its pre-emptive rights to Bukalapak. With this deal, the e-commerce major will become Allo Bank’s second-largest stockholder.
Local conglomerate CT Corp, Grab, Singapore’s automotive marketplace Carro, and Growtheum Capital will also participate in the rights issue.
Allo Bank will utilise the proceeds to increase credit access to Indonesia’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Founded 30 years ago and controlled by local tycoon Chairul Tanjung, Allo Bank offers services, including personal and business banking, with features such as Pay later, Instacash, e-wallet, and remittance.
Last year, it obtained a digital banking licence from the Financial Services Authority (OJK), joining the heated competition with the digital units of Bank Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia.
The digital bank license covers time deposit, transfer, top-up, bill payment, payment, account statement, e-wallet, pay later, instant cash, and Merchant Presented Mode (MPM) QRIS.
With US$417 million raised in venture capital, Allo Bank claims to be the most well-funded digital bank in the archipelago.
According to financial comparison platform Finder’s “Virtual Banking Adoption 2021″ report, Indonesia ranks second in the share of adults with a digital bank account (24.9 per cent) among 30 countries and territories surveyed. The firm estimates that 28 per cent of people worldwide will have a digital bank account in 2026, up from 17 per cent in 2021.
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When it comes to live commerce, I believe Asia is arguably leading the world when it comes to real-time video commerce. Thousands of internet users across the region spend more time online than the global average of six hours 54 minutes per day, with users from the Philippines topping the charts at almost 11 hours a day online. In Indonesia, more than 87 per cent of internet users surveyed by the Global Web Index (GWI) stated that they bought something online in the past month.
Meanwhile, the live commerce market in China alone is now worth more than US$60 billion a year. In fact, live stream shopping is so popular there that one single influencer, Viya, sold over US$4.5 billion worth of goods through her Taobao live stream channel in 2020, almost equivalent to what hypermarket chain Carrefour sold across all its stores in China in the same period.
With Asia accounting for more than half of today’s global internet user base, there are vast opportunities abound for sellers who have yet to leverage the power of live-stream shopping.
With great challenges come great opportunities
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of live e-commerce. During the lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19, many have turned to sell things through live video streaming, particularly on Facebook and Instagram. Lately, we have also seen a rise in brands developing their own live-streaming capabilities on their website and app to ensure they have visibility on the data and behaviour of consumers during the live stream.
But why are brands turning to live selling? Does it really help generate more sales? Is it more effective than simply putting up ads that include photos or videos of the products, descriptions, price and order details? Are there significant advantages that make it worthwhile to go online to showcase products and interact with customers on live video? Most importantly, is live streaming just a fad or is it here for the long haul?
I believe that live commerce will swiftly become the future of online shopping and that it’s set to stay post-pandemic. There are many features that live-shopping streaming platforms can offer, including merchant visibility, meta-voicing and guided buying, each of which can contribute greatly to a more immersive and authentic experience and a higher purchase intention by the viewers.
The benefits of live selling
The key differentiator of live commerce from traditional e-commerce is that it allows brands to engage in more authentic interactions and build trust with their customers.
For those who don’t already shop online, a whopping 49 per cent cite a lack of trust in online retailers as the top reason. Seventeen per cent of e-commerce cart abandonment happens due to a lack of trust in the site, and yet another 17 per cent are due to unclear total costs — something a live shopping host can address within a live stream either by answering customer enquiries directly during the live session, or by pinning notices or comments and setting on-screen text within a live stream.
Live selling simulates the experience of going to a physical store where sales associates provide assistance to prospective buyers. They address customers’ concerns, introduce different varieties of the items being sold, and sometimes do product demonstrations. Furthermore, live streaming effectively helps sellers present product sizes in particular and other physical attributes that could be difficult to exhibit through product descriptions and images alone.
In addition, live selling creates a sense of urgency. Did you know that 18 per cent of abandoned carts happen because of a long checkout process, which can be alleviated by opting for custom live shopping solutions with in-stream checkout functions? Because of the real-time engagement during live shopping streams, buyers are compelled to make a purchase decision on the spot. Coupled with time-limited discounts and offers made available only during each live stream session, buyers are more likely to follow through with their purchases rather than putting off the decision to another day.
Live shopping has become more than just fun and entertainment
As someone who has founded a live-streaming platform, live-streaming has evolved rapidly over the years, from being seen as a portal for entertainment to growing into one that enables thought-out purchases. Such technology can allow viewers to make purchases through live streams using their devices such as laptops, tablets or mobile phones.
Live shopping solutions are swiftly becoming an important part of businesses’ sales and marketing strategies. It is my view that not only do they educate and excite, but they also provide a sense of connection with the wider world.
Live commerce enables real conversations effortlessly
Streamed commerce solutions are highly impactful in that they offer businesses the opportunity to open dialogue with customers and provide advice and inspiration, which in turn strengthens the customer relationship.
Businesses cannot underestimate the power of live streaming solutions. Through innovative services, anyone can start live streaming and engage in live chat without the hassles of complex configurations or the need for technical expertise. Advanced interactivity features are now accessible even to non-techie users. Live shopping engagement can happen through online video streams, real-time comments, shareable live links for social channels, customisable interface, audience monetization, analytics, and other features that allow anyone to harness the benefits of live streaming in promotions and sales.
The growing popularity of live selling
Live selling shows no signs of slowing down, in fact, in Southeast Asia, prominent e-commerce platforms have also embraced the live selling trend. Alibaba-affiliated Lazada features LazLive, a live selling tool that merchants can utilize for live commerce. It is designed to provide a “see now, buy now” experience, allowing sellers to promote their vouchers, highlight their bestsellers, interact with customers, and gain more followers. Another major Southeast Asian e-commerce platform, Shopee, also provides a live selling feature, similar to what Lazada offers.
A regional survey by iKala recently revealed live selling’s increasing popularity across Southeast Asia, something they attribute to the closure of malls and physical stores. I believe the transition to live shopping online is something that’s here to stay, as consumer behaviour advances steadily.
In India and other parts of Asia, live selling is also gaining traction. Many Indian entrepreneurs are already using it to engage customers as they sell their products online. Baskar Agneeswaran, CEO of Shopify app developer Vajro recently said she expects live selling to generate up to US$184 billion in revenues by 2027, which in my opinion could prove accurate.
Live shopping is a trend, not a fad or hype
It is a fact that brands across all industries are reaping the benefits of live selling, from fishmongers to luxury goods. In December 2021, Singaporean singer-actor Wang Lei accomplished a spectacular feat of generating over US$1 million in sales for Gucci through a two-hour live selling stream conducted in Paris. At its peak, 32,000 viewers tuned in during the live session, as Wang Lei engaged the audience with his flamboyance and humour.
Endowed with a plethora of choices, consumers these days are becoming more demanding and discerning with what they look for in an online shopping experience. Armed with good content and high-quality live video streams, retailers can tap on the growth in consumer interest towards “retailtainment” experiences.
Live streaming is no longer seen as a hype but a necessity for businesses. Many businesses are interweaving live streaming as part of their business strategy regardless of how the pandemic situation pans out. To future-proof their business, brands need to evolve along with where consumers are heading — online — while keeping the human touch with authentic and trustworthy interactions.
Small vendors are already using social media and other live streaming platforms to conduct live selling. E-commerce platforms like Amazon and Taobao, too, provide sellers with the ability to hold live selling sessions. On the other hand, more established brands are incorporating live video into their own digital platforms as a driver of sales and engagement. Those that do not have the in-house resources and expertise to do it can turn to end-to-end live streaming solutions, similar to what we would specialise in.
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Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have made global headlines in 2021 with a series of high-priced auctions. Still, for most people, the mechanics behind these crypto-collectibles remain somewhat befuddling. While a few of the more avant-garde concepts making up all things blockchain create real hurdles for global participation, a number of brave pioneers have learned to embrace NFTs as a modern investment vehicle.
Nowhere on Earth have NFTs gained so much traction as they have in Southeast Asia. From the Philippines to Vietnam, the region leads the world when it comes to the adoption of this exciting technology. And thanks to new insights uncovered by Finder’s Global NFT Adoption Report, the trends behind this locality’s demographics have become much clearer.
So, what are NFTs anyway? And how are artists helping expand awareness in the region? This guide to NFT adoption sheds light on the growth of this unique phenomenon and the future ambitions of Southeast Asian artist communities.
What are NFTs?
In simplest terms, NFTs are unique, cryptographically produced virtual assets. They are often represented by artworks, music or digital collectibles.
Where most cryptocurrencies are made of interchangeable tokens, no two NFTs are exactly alike. In fact, their individual characteristics are what give NFTs their “non-fungible” moniker. As each NFT has a separate value from the next, they aren’t likely to be utilised as a traditional means of exchange. Still, like most collectibles, their tradable nature adds to their global appeal.
It’s important to note that it is not necessarily the visible portion of the NFT that you’re actually buying. After all, anyone with a computer can copy and paste a jpeg from that digital artwork you’re interested in. Instead, the important part of your purchase is contained in the metadata, recorded on the token’s associated blockchain and denoting its originality – along with your ownership. With this data conferred upon the blockchain, only a verified owner can sell their newly acquired NFT.
However you choose to think of them, there is no denying the real-world value NFTs have created. And as awareness of the technology expands, the growth of this nascent market has absolutely skyrocketed.
Market growth
To fully grasp the significance of NFTs, you only need to consider the magnitude of sales that have occurred. The following statistics really put this market in perspective:
In terms of overall transactions, the NFT market grew nearly tenfold between 2018 and 2020 – a conservative estimate by any standard. Beginning the first week of September 2020, over US$1 million of NFTs have been traded in every seven-day period since. After May 2021, that weekly total has jumped between US$10 million and US$20 million per week.
These figures become even more dramatic when we expand the timescale. Did you know that NFT sales surpassed US$10 billion in the third quarter of 2021? That figure is nearly eight times higher than the previous quarter and roughly 18,000 per cent higher than the first quarter of 2020.
But don’t let these numbers make you feel like you’ve missed out on the trend – you really haven’t. While individual NFTs have made numerous headlines with their multi-million-dollar sales, it’s interesting to note that the majority of these assets still sell for less than US$200. This relatively low entry price has helped NFTs become a suitable investment for a large number of people in Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia NFT adoption
Southeast Asia isn’t new to NFTs. Back in 2020, Statista ranked the adoption rates of Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand as second, third and fifth, respectively, out of 55 surveyed countries.
In 2021, the region has further solidified its standing. Four of the top five countries adopting NFTs are now in Southeast Asia, according to a recent Finder study.
With 32 per cent of people owning NFTs, adoption rates in the Philippines now rank as the highest in the world. Thailand and Malaysia rank second and third, while Vietnam takes the fifth spot. When combined, the adoption rates of these four countries average 25 per cent of survey respondents. This rate is more than twice the global average of 10.2 per cent.
Interestingly, the study also measured the awareness of its respondents. Not surprisingly, three of the top five countries exhibiting the highest awareness of NFTs were also in Southeast Asia. Averaging nearly 50 per cent of all participants, the awareness of NFTs as an investment vehicle in the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia correlates strongly with the growing adoption rates seen in these countries.
Finally, the forecasted NFT adoption rates of Southeast Asian countries show the potential for continued growth in the region. Between participants already owning NFTs and those planning on purchasing them in the future, the forecasted growth of NFT adoption in Southeast Asia tops the global average by more than 10 per cent.
Year after year, surveys find Southeast Asian traders to be increasingly important players in the NFT space. But despite increased adoption of the technology, hurdles still exist for potential investors in the region.
Without onboarding information made available in local languages, for example, a significant barrier to awareness has already been established. To help with this and other pain points related to future adoption, digital artists are now building communities, like MetaRupa, to foster education related to NFTs.
Play-to-earn games such as Axie Infinity are also influencing increased participation. And with a series of crypto art events, such as Art Moments Jakarta, Art Fair Philippines and CryptoArt Week Asia spreading awareness throughout the region, the future for increased adoption looks bright.
Only time will tell if forecasted ownership here pans out as predicted. Nevertheless, when considering past growth as an indicator for future potential, the trend lies front and centre before a global audience. By and large, Southeast Asia is set to become a future hub for NFT marketplaces.
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