When you think of a manager, you consider an individual responsible for overseeing internal work processes, execution of projects, and consequent reporting on the outcomes whilst ensuring their team feels taken care of. 

Following instability, organisations worldwide have been forced to adapt to new ways of work, with demands for change extending to managers. The great resignation continues with four out of ten employees wanting to leave their present job despite the increments offered.

As their employees ask for autonomy via hybrid working, managers must eliminate three key barriers: social pressures, health concerns, and unequal access to tech. If they effectively address these concerns, the hybrid working model will begin to self-pilot.

Employee autonomy must be nurtured

Jabra’s latest hybrid working research showed that 66 per cent of workers with full autonomy to choose where and when they work chose a hybrid model as their ideal workweek. However, only 57 per cent were currently working on a hybrid model. 

Of that 9 per cent gap, two per cent work from the office more than they like and seven per cent work from home more than they wish.

This begs a few important questions: if these workers have full autonomy, why are they either working full-time at home or full-time in the office when they could be choosing otherwise?

Empower, don’t punish

One reason employees may be working full-time in the office more than they wish solid social pressure. Despite an organisation letting employees work wherever they would like, a culture that says, “you need to be visible in the office to progress,” whether explicitly or implicitly, undoes any degree of autonomy. 

Jabra’s new research also found that 55 per cent of employees were concerned their careers would suffer if they didn’t come into the office regularly.

Also Read: The 5-part agile leadership guide that will make you a better business leader

The solution? 

Leaders must make it clear that employees won’t be unduly punished for not working in the office. A good place to start is with output-based performance evaluation. Although long-discussed, it’s not taken hold enough to make employees feel comfortable working in a way that best suits them. 

Another key step is to train managers in location bias, or the unconscious bias that leads to preferential treatment of those with whom they have the most face time. Employees often reflect the behaviour of their leaders, so one of the best ways to show that it’s okay to work from home is for leaders and managers to lead by example and do it themselves.

Communicate, update, and reflect on the reality

One reason employees may be working full-time from home more than they would like because, even two years into the pandemic, the virus is still a major health concern. 

40 per cent of all employees globally are reluctant to return to the office because of COVID-19. Similarly, 55 per cent are unwilling to enter a small conference room due to constant anxiety surrounding the virus.

Workers understand that a return to the office means increased exposure to the virus, a risk many are unwilling to take.

How do managers resolve this? It’s difficult for employees to return to the office if they fear their health and well-being. To address this, leaders must continually update health guidelines reflecting local realities. 

Managers must also advocate for spaces where employees can choose to work alone with limited contact with others. This way, everyone wins; employees feel their concerns are acted upon, and managers reap the rewards of a more engaged and productive workforce.

Build an inclusive tech ecosystem

Over the past two years, workers have received help from their employers to thrive in virtual environments. 83 per cent of remote workers say their organisation provides them with the necessary technology for equal and inclusive collaboration no matter where they work.

For full-time office workers, this number drops to 57 per cent. In a world where work is increasingly trending towards virtual environments, access to technology will be crucial in ensuring satisfaction, inclusion, and success at work.

If leaders want to enable employees to work in their ideal, hybrid working arrangement, they need to optimise office spaces for employees working primarily in virtual environments. Similarly, they’ll need to provide employees with personal, flexible technology to access those virtual environments from anywhere.

Also Read: Why leaders matter for a strong organisational culture

This includes identifying collaboration technologies that will enable both in-office and remote employees to collaborate on an equal playing field, allowing employees to move between these places without feeling left out seamlessly. Only then will employees truly be able to work a flexible arrangement on their terms.

Autonomy does not lead to redundancy

Although social pressures, health concerns, and unequal access to technology all play a role in potentially unbalancing a workforce, there are ways managers can counteract this. 

Managers must lead by example, demonstrating that working from home will not hinder progression. They must also take safety seriously, putting guidelines into place to reflect local reality.

Finally, leaders should optimise technology ecosystems to make the most of physical workspaces, providing professional equipment to facilitate effective collaboration. These pillars are fundamental to being a successful manager in hybrid work.

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Ascend Vietnam Ventures announced today its early-stage fund, AVV Alpha, has exceeded the US$50 million target.

AVV Alpha is backed by development finance institutions, funds of funds, corporate VCs, and HNIs from leading local and regional companies across Asia, Europe, and the US.

The fund seeks to invest in capital-efficient startups primarily in areas such as fintech, edutech, blockchain, and the future of work. It invests up to US$2 million each in 25 early-stage startups by 2023. It will then follow on with cheques of up to US$5 million.

In the past nine months, the VC firm has invested in ten startups, including

• Kilo (SaaS and wholesale marketplace for over 30,000 MSME retailers across Vietnam),
• Virtual Internships (remote internship placement & management platform for companies in over 70 countries worldwide),
• T&C Logistics (e-commerce fulfilment platform),
• Mandu (social commerce platform focused on reseller enablement).

Ascent Vietnam is led by Binh Tran and Eddie Thai (former partners of 500 Vietnam). The duo have invested together in Vietnam since 2015 and backed home-grown international firms, such as Axie Infinity (NFT gaming unicorn), ELSA (AI-driven edutech firm later backed by Google’s AI-focused fund), and Trusting Social (financial inclusion fintech firm later backed by Sequoia). 

Also Read: 500 Startups’s top execs set up new seed-stage VC firm Ascend Vietnam Ventures

“The likes of Axie Infinity, ELSA, and Trusting Social are by no means isolated successes,” said Binh Tran. “Vietnam’s dynamism, accessibility, low cost of living, and abundant quality engineering talent attract many founders. On top of that, many tech solutions built here can address similar challenges and customer behaviours in other emerging markets worldwide. Vietnam will continue to be seen as one of the best places to build global or regional market-leading companies.”

“We believe in the ability of all entrepreneurs in Vietnam to do great things, regardless of their backgrounds, and in our ability, opportunity, and obligation to help them do so,” Eddie Thai added.

In early 2021, Ascend Vietnam launched SHINE women founder initiatives in partnership with the Australian Government’s Investing in Women initiative. Since its inception, SHINE has organised training, mentoring, and community-building programmes for over 60 women entrepreneurs and executives, helping them advance their growth, people & leadership, and capital strategies and expand their support network.

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“If trailblazing were easy, the road would be paved,” goes the saying. It rings true for many companies and communities in the cryptocurrency space or crypto natives for short.

While no crypto native would want to give up their position as early adopters of digital assets, being ahead of the curve also has its challenges, especially when you come up against the limits of existing infrastructure.

This article outlines the major challenges that crypto-native companies face today and how they can navigate these challenges through Fintonia’s infrastructure, expertise and network.

What challenges do crypto natives face?

Crypto natives, including crypto token communities, crypto foundations and other entities that hold large amounts of crypto, face many challenges. Unfortunately, these challenges have not been given due attention and are ill-understood by the public.

Through our years of experience and expertise in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, Fintonia has identified four key areas that crypto natives face:

• Balance sheet management: Blockchain protocols and crypto foundations typically have outsize holdings in their native tokens, which results in significant concentration risk. For example, if Solana holds only SOL, and its price falls by 50 per cent, then Solana’s balance sheet would also be down by half.

• Structuring and signalling trust: Crypto-native companies typically comprise founders and employees across the globe. With your team spread across myriad countries and tax jurisdictions, having a well-thought-out company structure is integral for success. Furthermore, although diversifying the treasury across non-native tokens is fiscally sound, any move to sell the native token can be interpreted negatively by the public; it can signal a loss of confidence in the protocol or even appear to be a “rug pull”!

• Fiat on/off ramps: Crypto native companies still operate in a world that has not entirely accepted cryptocurrencies. The bulk of everyday business transactions, such as employee payroll, operational costs, and advertising spending, still have to be paid in fiat. However, the crypto/fiat exchange process is clunky and inefficient, not to mention costly. On top of that, traditional banks often shut down accounts associated with crypto companies.

Also Read: Cryptocurrency: Hero or villain for the payment industry?

• Onboarding with counterparties: The chaos of the nascent cryptocurrency space makes it exciting. But, let’s admit, this fragmented ecosystem can be frustrating to operate a business in. Not only do crypto natives need to work with multiple counterparties, but counterparty onboarding can take as long as 12 months, resulting in major opportunity costs.

Why partner with a regulated fund manager?

As the crypto market gets bigger and infrastructural challenges increasingly apparent, more blockchain protocols and crypto firms seek out fund managers for their financial management services.

Fund managers can address the four key issues in the following ways:

• Balance sheet management: We understand it’s important to diversify the treasury across assets. However, this can be challenging to execute in-house if your talent pool skews heavily towards tech and product. A regulated fund manager provides financial management expertise and the appropriate custodian solutions for your needs.

• Structuring and signalling trust: How do you structure your company properly? How do you meet your treasury’s needs without triggering negative public perception? A regulated fund manager can help structure the treasury’s portfolio, and fund flows to protect your assets and hedge against risk while sending the appropriate signals to the community.

• Fiat on/off ramps: For better or worse, crypto natives still need fiat for day-to-day use. A regulated fund manager bridges the gap between traditional financial institutions and crypto firms, working with third parties to give clients access to banking solutions such as borrowing and lending.

• Onboarding with counterparties: A well-connected fund manager allows crypto natives to eliminate the friction around counterparty onboarding. Clients can immediately leverage an established network of crypto exchanges and market makers and benefit from economies of scale.

In short, a regulated fund manager like Fintonia has the infrastructure, expertise, and network to address crypto natives’ challenges, helping them easily navigate turbulent waters.

How can crypto natives benefit from Fintonia’s solutions?

While asset management firms are a dime a dozen, not all are suited to working with crypto firms. Crypto natives need fund managers that understand the crypto ecosystem’s caprices, which can bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets.

Also Read: Breaking the bro code: How women are taking over the Web3 world in Asia

Fintonia Group, a regulated fund manager, specialising in digital assets, fits the bill. With over 100 years of experience in financial services and tech, we’ve built a financial ecosystem encompassing crypto natives, traditional financial institutions, and regulators.

As a registered Fund Management Company regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), we offer institutional-grade investment products to professional investors and financial management solutions for corporates, including crypto-native firms.

Key services and benefits we provide include:

• Portfolio and asset management
• Bespoke yield generation strategies
• Cash flow planning
• Fiat liquidity management solutions
• Private key signatory
• Transparent monthly reporting on assets

We plan and execute tailored solutions to manage clients’ treasury assets via a Segregated Account. Benefit from our seasoned industry professionals’ expertise and tap on their trading experience and network within the crypto and traditional finance markets.

Interested? Here’s what to expect

The crypto space is as diverse as it is dynamic. So we take the time to listen and craft bespoke solutions for our crypto-native clients. Our approach is as follows:

• Understand business model, and fund flows: No two companies are the same. We start by deep-diving into the client’s company structure and business model. This includes organisational structure, financial drivers and forecasts, scenario planning and correlations, key business risks, financial and operational requirements, regulatory, tax, accounting and legal needs.

• Determine strategy and fund flow: Having identified the client’s operational requirements and risk/return appetite, we propose a bespoke financial management strategy and asset allocation.

• Strategy execution and adjustments: This is where the client leverages Fintonia’s solutions and network of institutional counterparties, including custodians, exchanges, market makers and selected DeFi solutions.

Our solutions may be tailored, but they’re far from set in stone. They are designed to evolve with the client’s needs, as befits a player in the fast-moving crypto space, so clients can also expect regular reporting, analysis, and quarterly strategy reviews and adjustments. More than just a service provider to handle treasury matters, we’re also a strong partner who can grow with your business.

As entrepreneurs and founders, Fintonia is uniquely placed to understand your needs and tailor solutions, helping you pave your way through crypto’s chaos.

Here is more information on Fintonia’s Treasury and Balance Sheet Management solutions.

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Mapan, a fintech startup helping lower-income Indonesians buy household goods at better rates, has closed US$15 million in a Series A round of funding, co-led by Patamar Capital and PT Astra Digital Internasional, a subsidiary of Astra.

The round also saw participation from BRI Ventures, SMDV, Blibli, Prasetia Dwidharma, Flourish Ventures and 500 Global.

With this investment, Mapan will look to grow its core “Arisan” service by expanding its product range and partnering with top suppliers. An aspect of Indonesian culture, Arisan is a form of informal social gathering where members take turns purchasing products for the group.

The firm will also introduce a wider variety of Arisan schemes and expand its reach, targeting to make its digitised Arisan product available to ten million households in Indonesia by 2026.

Mapan was founded in 2009 to help eliminate barriers to financial resources for low-income communities (it was later bought by Gojek) Through Mapan’s Arisan product, lower-income groups can increase their buying power to purchase household goods such as cookware, electronics, and furniture. It also provides other products and services, such as a bill payment app and consumer goods resale platform.

Also Read: Mapan reveals its current focus following new CEO appointment

Since 2015, Mapan has also focused on empowering women leaders of Arisan groups, which are traditional women-run rotating savings groups, by introducing the Arisan application. By recruiting women leaders and influencers as agents and creators of Arisan groups, Mapan has provided affordable goods financing to more than three million households to date.

Women influencers and leaders of Mapan’s Arisan groups can also count on receiving additional benefits, such as commission from product sales, incentives for recruiting and educating new agents, and other performance milestones, thereby bringing financial equality to women from low-income families in Indonesia.

“In line with Astra’s aim to prosper with the nation, Astra wishes to contribute to advancing the quality of life of the people of Indonesia, one of which is by contributing to the advancement of Indonesia’s digital economy. The collaboration with Mapan is one of our ways to enable people from all walks of society to meet their daily needs,” said Gidion Hasan, Director of Astra.

It aims to drive financial inclusion in the country, where 51 per cent of adults in Indonesia lack access to banks or other formal financial services. Mapan will also introduce additional products to enhance financial inclusion and improve access to financing sources for the masses.

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Entrepreneur First (EF), an investor supporting individuals building technology companies, has secured a US$158 million Series C funding round from a group of veteran technology founders.

The investors include John and Patrick Collison (Co-Founders of Stripe), Taavet Hinrikus  (Co-Founder of Wise), Reid Hoffman (Co-Founder of LinkedIn), Matt Mullenweg (Co-Founder of WordPress), Tom Blomfield (Co-Founder of Monzo and GoCardless), Nat Friedman (former CEO of Github), Sara Clemens (former COO of Twitch and Pandora), Matt Robinson (Co-Founder of Nested and GoCardless), Patrick O’Shaughnessy (Positive Sum), Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman (Co-Founders of Deepmind), Sten Tamkivi, Elad Gil and Lachy Groom.

The cash will allow Entrepreneur First to invest in new startups and experiment and innovate on how best to fund the next generation of entrepreneurs by launching new products to upend the typical venture capital model. It will target a direct investment of US$100 million over the next three years in hundreds of entrepreneurs and will continue building out its talent product suite.

Also Read: How accelerator programmes can help entrepreneurs bring their vision to life

EF Singapore will introduce new products at different stages across the founding journey and expand its reach to emerging and aspiring founders across Southeast Asia. In addition, it will offer an exclusive and accelerated path to global funding to leverage top international funds for exceptional local talent.

“Entrepreneur First has demonstrated that talent investing in Singapore is thriving. Over several years, we’ve backed hundreds of individuals to transform their vision into world-class companies. This fundraise enables us to scale our proven approach into new investment areas to serve Southeast Asia’s emerging generation of outlier founders,” said Bernadette Cho, Partner, EF Singapore.

Founded in 2011 by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck in London, EF now employs 120 worldwide. It operates as an early-stage investor, helping talented people find co-founders to partner with before launching startups.

“Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. The idea of taking strangers and helping them start robust and ambitious companies is no longer radical but essential to power the next stage of innovation,” said CEO Clifford.

Entrepreneur First is also announcing today that the aggregate value of companies created through its platform in Singapore now exceeds US$1 billion and globally US$10 billion. Notable alumni from Singapore include Shiok Meats, Peakflo, Hawksight, and Transcelestial.

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