Netflix missed earnings recently, but in my opinion, they missed something bigger. They missed building a moat.

Whenever you stumble upon a castle, you have to start building a moat around it.

Netflix’s castle was its early entrance to streaming. They recognised it, did interesting deals with media companies to get more content (pay for Friends, The Office, Seinfeld etc,) and get users to adopt the new way.

But as the adoption of streaming grew, it was also clear the technology behind streaming is easier to replicate. Thanks to Azure, AWS & GCP. Even Netflix is built on AWS. A combination of cloud technology adoption increased internet speeds, and companies like Roku & Hulu’s success were clear signals.

At this point in time, there were a couple of years when Netflix adopted its strategy is going to be about spending the highest to create original content. That was a good strategy and also a reflection of the fact that Netflix is now mainly a media company and not a tech company.

Even during these last five years when they essentially were spending gigantic sums on content, I never understood why they didn’t do other things.

Some of these other things include:

• Buying an old movie studio (like MGM by Amazon), my understanding was, yes you could spend US$20 billion to create original content, but you can save time to get a good catalogue for cheap by leveraging Netflix’s equity. And their equity was soaring. It’s just good capital allocation.
• Get into audio streaming.
• Get into merch (they did recently).
• Experiment with audio streaming products, and user-generated content products like YouTube. These might sound ridiculous but hear me out. When Google stumbled upon success with search they protected it with Maps, YouTube, Chrome and more. Most of their experiments failed but some succeeded and that’s what matters.

They do seem to do new things like gaming, which I think could be potentially huge for them. Especially when you consider their DNA in creating new code. But doing this on a high ride is usually easier and tougher when your equity gets crushed and your employees start leaving.

Also Read: How I used a platform strategy to help family entertainment centres survive a post-COVID-19 world

But again Netflix has been in such a situation before and came. In fact, their current situation is not nearly as bad as they had seen before. They still have the most important streaming product with great revenue.

But some things should change

• Netflix should not spend so much on new content, they should acquire large and cheap catalogues. It’s tough now that everyone has a streaming service. But worth a try. More money doesn’t mean more creativity. Look at HBO Max. Find great content curators, and take interesting bets.
• They should explore more experimental products/apps.
• Consider acquisitions to compete against YouTube, Spotify and AMC.
• Consider theatrical releases via own theatres (yes acquire them if possible) or just using the status quo. Hit series on Netflix could also premiere in theatres, honestly will avoid future churn.

There are many interesting ideas, but the bottom line is that “when you stumble upon a castle, build a moat around it”.

Finally, I will leave you with this picture of how Disney built a moat around its castle.

This post first appeared on the author’s blog.

–

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Canva Pro

The post What Netflix really missed? Not earnings appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based Dedoco today announced that it has raised a US$3 million in funding from True Global Ventures 4 Plus (TGV4 Plus), bringing its total capital raised to US$7.5 million.

This update followed a seed funding round led by Vertex Ventures SEA & India (VVSEAI) who later invested a US$2 million follow-on funding in the company.

In a press statement, Dedoco said that the funding will be used to support its global expansion plan. Having set a presence in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, the company is aiming to enter the US market this year.

Founded in 2020 by Daphne Ng and Dr Ernie Teo, Dedoco described itself as a DMaaS (Document Management as-a-Service) platform that is built on blockchain technology.

Also Read: Why is it time for climate and impact startups to consider blockchain?

It aims to tackle the challenges of lowering fraud risks, unauthorised signatures, and non-compliance. According to the company, the current solutions typically rely on centralised trust and take custody of digital documents, creating security concerns for organisations dealing with highly sensitive and confidential information.

Meanwhile, Dedoco’s decentralised approach allows users to continue managing their documents “on-premise”, thus supporting organisations in adhering to document security, data residency and sovereignty obligations, especially those in highly-regulated industries.

Its clients included organisations such as ERA Realty Network, GovTech Singapore, and Nexia TS.

TGV is an early investor of prominent projects such as blockchain unicorns Animoca Brands and The Sandbox, as well as the recently listed marketplace trading platform Forge Global in the US.

The fund is dedicated to blockchain companies, primarily in late-stage Series B and C across four verticals: Entertainment, infrastructure, financial services, data analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

—

Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

Image Credit: Dedoco

The post Dedoco raises US$3M from True Global Ventures to support global expansion plan appeared first on e27.

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Alessio Alionco, Founder and CEO of Pipefy, a work management platform that allows companies to streamline and automate business processes. Prior to that, Alionco was the Founder & CEO of Acessozero, a local commerce marketplace, and CEO of JR Consultoria.

In our conversation, Alionco talks about: the importance of thinking global from the beginning instead of just on the initial market, the importance of prioritizing people first and building a diverse team with unique perspectives, the role of agility when localising a business and much more.

This episode is sponsored by our partner ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets here.

Find our entire podcast episode library here and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth here.

Also Read: Yoco head of international expansion on building trust in a new market

Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here.

—

The article was first published by Global Class.

Image Credit: Global Class

The post Pipefy CEO on why founders should prepare for international expansion since Day One appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based crypto-focused VC fund NGC Ventures has closed its third blockchain fund with committed capital of US$100 million.

NGC Metaverse Ventures’s backers include notable industry investors, such as Babel Finance, Altonomy, Huobi Ventures, Nexo Ventures and GBIC.

The fund will back early-stage Web3 projects extending from the metaverse and its infrastructure to DeFi, GameFi and NFTs.

NGC Metaverse Venture has made early investments in Everyrealm, VR Jam, and EthSign.

Also Read: NGC Ventures launches US$20M fund, invests in decentralised exchange Dexlab

Roger Lim, NGC Venture’s General Partner, said: “Despite the systematic market slowdown globally, we continue to see the emergence of high-potential projects that are set to shape the next era of Web3. Our role is to identify such projects and work extensively with these talented teams to ensure they have all the necessary capabilities to turn their ideas into reality. The Metaverse Ventures Fund allows us to be at the heart of it all as we collaborate with the brightest minds to create a thriving digital realm with endless possibilities.”

The funding comes after the success of NGC Ventures’s previous funds, which made early strategic investments in projects such as Solana, Oasis, NYM, Babel Finance, Republic, Banxa and Algorand.

NGC will offer these projects access to various resources, including tokenomics advisory, influencer profiles, social platforms, launchpads, legal firms, market makers, exchanges, and ecosystems. It will also connect founders to NGC’s global investor network, built around its presence in Singapore, San Francisco, New York, London and Shanghai.

With a global team spanning Asia, the Americas, and Europe, NGC works closely with founders to solve their problems with tokenomics, go-to-market strategies, and distribution channels.

In May 2021, NGC Ventures, in partnership with Solana Foundation (a web-scale blockchain), announced the launch of a US$20 million strategic investment fund.

—

Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

Copyright: solanofg

The post NGC Ventures closes US$100M fund to invest in Web3 projects appeared first on e27.

At e27, our mission is to provide entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to build and grow their companies. And that includes publishing relevant news from the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem.

If you are a regular reader of our site, you might be familiar with the different types of content that we publish. In addition to publishing thought leadership pieces from our contributor community, our in-house writers also feature articles on trends, issues, and profiles of notable startups and investors in the region.

But funding news remains a fan favourite amongst our readers. Our editors score these stories from various sources, but sending press releases to our inbox remains the most popular way to get words out on this major milestone. Sadly, due to the number of incoming submissions, and the limitation of our lean content team, we often have to be extra selective in choosing the press releases to publish. We are aware that this process can be hurtful for startups and the PR agencies that represent them.

So we decided to transform the way we are publishing funding news by walking the (tech) talk and tapping into the power of digitalisation.

Presenting an easy-to-use online tool that allows anyone to submit their fundraising news releases in just a few steps. No more multiple emails to e27 journalists, chasing up for publishing schedules and confirmations, and all that exhausting rollercoaster ride.

In just three steps, you will be able to send us all and any information related to fundraising, investments, financing, etc. for your clients or startups.

How it works

To access the tool, you need to create a profile for yourself and login into the e27 site. Once you log in and put your cursor on your profile picture, you can see ‘Submit Funding News’ just above ‘log out’ at the end of the list (see the screenshot).

When you click on this, a page opens up (see the screenshot below), which greets you with the question ‘Does the company have a profile page on e27?

This is where you select the company that has received the funding and the investors, who participated in the round. Feel free to add any other organisation that is of relevance or may be mentioned in the press release.

If your company already has a profile, click ‘yes’, choose it from the dropdown menu (you can choose more than one), and add the headline and the main body.

If you don’t have a profile, create one with the help of this online guide. Come back to the tool, choose the company profile from the dropdown menu and then proceed.

You can add the following details: the name of the company that has raised the capital; name(s) of the co-founders and investor(s); the amount raised (USD), funding stage/round; whether equity, venture debt or strategic investment; the company’s plans with the capital; details of the previous rounds; and a brief description about the company and its products/services.

You may also add a relevant picture using the ‘insert/edit image icon under the ‘key information’ tab. Pictures of founders, or one with investors will be best. Avoid company logos or screenshots of the website/app.

The tool also allows you to add quotes from key people (founder, investor, etc.) or any other additional information.

Lastly, click ‘submit for review’. And you will see this:

This is where your job ends and ours begins. We will review the information and fact-check it thoroughly before publishing. Once published, you will also receive a notification (via email). You can also find it on e27.co/news (please note that the publication of posts is the sole discretion of e27).

If you have any questions or technical difficulties while submitting email us at writers@e27.co

—

Image Credit: dirkercken

The post Raised a funding round? Now you can submit your press release to e27 in 3 simple steps appeared first on e27.