I learned a few lessons while being a CTO at Loship, Vietnam’s one-hour delivery e-commerce startup founded in 2017. Some of them learned the hard way, by making mistakes. The leap from an Android developer to a CTO is as nerve-wracking as ambitious in terms of responsibilities.
For a long time, I’ve been thinking about sharing my ideas, and in this article, I’ll lay out some of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way.
Lesson #1: A CTO is a leadership role, not a management role
Management is the basis of the skillset required to become a CTO. However, a CTO is more than just that. You have to manage your team, but not micro-manage them; spend your time and efforts to inspire them to get behind your vision and do their jobs.
Look at ways to help your team grow both with their code and professionally.
You can also establish a culture of mentorship by partnering up senior and entry-level engineers for pair programming. At Loship, pair programming is our culture and something we’ve been consistent about since day one.
It allows better skills transfer as junior developers can learn and pick up techniques from more experienced team members.
Also, establishing a trusting relationship with your team members is important. Make your work relationship more than just work, in which we can freely share our thoughts, personal feelings, and even life problems we face.
Tell employees your name, not your title. Let your people know that you are a person first and a manager second.
In the startup world, speed is probably the most important asset. I believe that when we’re small, we’re forced to work twice as hard and do it twice as fast, to go a distance twice as long. All else being equal, the fastest player in the market will win.
At Loship, we adopt Agile methodology in product development, with the mentality of “move fast and break things”. Most of the time, our scrum sprints are one-week long as our developers are used to fast-paced work and agile environments. One-week sprints open the door to learning more in less time.
This way, the work is reviewed promptly, and teams receive frequent feedback to improve their task results. Teams can prioritise more efficiently as the work is broken down into the smallest chunks possible.
I’m deeply driven by the belief that fast, good enough solutions are far better than slow-perfect ones and radically better than no solutions at all. Done is better than perfect. The best is the enemy of the good.
Lesson #3: It is acceptable for a CTO to code
I am likely in the minority, but I think any CTO should have the ability to code. I still code and programme daily, and I enjoy doing this aspect of work. But I force myself to code differently, much faster and more efficient than before.
And I take a broader perspective when writing each line of code as it will directly affect an entire business, not just a few small features. There’s a saying that I like: ‘Every line you code as a CTO is a line of code your team doesn’t understand.’ — M. Blankenship.
It is undoubtedly true that the CTO has a broader range of responsibilities; however, I think competent CTOs should continue to code as long as they continue to keep pace with their other responsibilities.
Languages and tools are constantly changing, and being hands-on in code from time to time is a must-have to keep up with the latest and greatest.
Being hands-on also puts a CTO in developers’ shoes to see first-hand what works and what doesn’t and lead them accordingly.
Lesson #4: Don’t make tech flashy
Early in my career, I realised that technology serves human life. Developers live to solve real-life problems and create values that contribute to the betterment of society.
Innovation doesn’t need to be flashy to make a significant impact. If your flashy innovation efforts aren’t quickly turning into customer-pleasing, problem-solving products, your innovation isn’t operating correctly.
So, stay on the ground, reduce the glamour and put technology in the most natural position possible. That’s not to say flashy never works, nor that people and companies shouldn’t dream big. We need that, too. But sometimes, it is the uncool and boring stuff that can make a profound difference in our lives.
Lesson #5: Learning is an endless journey
Knowledge is power, and knowledge is what got you to where you are now —-and where you’ll be in the future. In the tech world, all your knowledge is old news within two to four years, so make sure you stay on top of new trends and technologies.
I always encourage all my team members to keep updated with technology news every day to grasp how the tech world out there is moving. This is how we can develop a growth mindset.
Sign up for newsletters, read blogs, follow influencers, attend conferences, etc. It’s necessary to stay open and absorb as much information as possible to stay ahead of the curve.
Many other lessons have been learned, but these are the biggest ones I’ve grasped over the years, all part of being the CTO in a startup.
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Singapore-based Sesto Robotics has raised US$5.7 million in funding from early-stage VC firm TRIVE, Germany-based World Trading Inovation WTI GmbH, and SEEDS Capital.
The autonomous mobile robots (AMR) provider will utilise the funds to enhance its capability to support overseas partners and invest in digital marketing.
In addition, Sesto Robotics will continue to invest in developing its AMR capabilities and extend the line-up of AMR applications.
“Having WTI as a strategic investor at this stage of our company’s development helps us to expand into the important European and German market that is the home of Industry 4.0. Sesto benefits from the industry knowledge and network of Josef Wildgruber of WTI and BBS Automation,” said Chor Chen Ang, CEO of Sesto Robotics.
Sesto Robotics engineers and delivers robotics solutions to global clients. Its autonomous mobile robots and automated guided vehicles have been employed by companies in manufacturing and healthcare.
In Europe, Sesto Robotics aims to tap into the growth of autonomous mobile robots, projected to expand at a CAGR of 11.8 per cent over the next four years from US$4.40B currently.
Josef Wildgruber, the owner of WTI GmbH and CEO of BBS Automation, added: “In Sesto Robotics, we see a company that has developed AMR solutions that can scale overseas and have been designed and built according to safety requirements in Europe. We have performed our due diligence and believe SESTO has a bright future ahead”.
The startup previously secured funding from Heliconia Capital, Singtel Innov8 and Koh Boon Hwee.
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In September 2021, an NFT collection was sold for US$5.38 million in less than an hour. This impressive sale has created a further buzz in the NFT art space, putting generative NFTs on the radar. While NFTs have been around for a while now, many people are still unaware that this particular type exists.
What exactly are generative NFTs? Simply put, it’s an NFT art that’s produced using algorithms to generate new ideas, shapes, forms, colours, or patterns. First, artists create rules that provide distinct rules for the creation process. Then, a computer follows these rules to produce NFTs that are finally secured with blockchain technology.
Compared to traditional artists who may spend days, months, or even years exploring an idea, generative code artists use computer algorithms to create thousands of digital art, all within milliseconds. Generative art pieces introduce randomness as part of the creative process, leading to a roulette game where neither the artist nor the collector knows the final result.
One platform that is pushing this new breed of art is Art Blocks. This NFT platform is rewriting how digital art is captured and shared across global communities.
What is Art Blocks?
Art Block is a one-of-a-kind platform focused on genuinely programmed on-demand generative artwork with contents stored immutably on the Ethereum blockchain. This platform allows artists to pick a style that appeals to them, and the algorithm works to create a randomly generated version of the content sent to an Ethereum wallet. The resulting piece varies and can be a static image, 3D model, or interactive piece. Each output is unique with room for endless possibilities.
Traditional NFT platforms allow users to mint existing artworks and sell them in their marketplace, along with other existing NFTs. On the other hand, Art Blocks is solely focused on generative art, which is created and programmed by the artist.
But Art Blocks isn’t just a platform that showcases and sells generative art; it also hosts the artist’s generative script itself, allowing collectors to interact with the script so they can receive a unique output. The output is the artwork itself containing fully randomised variables that are distinct from other outputs produced by the same script.
In addition, collectors can mint NFTs from Art Blocks using an artist’s programme, thus providing new and unique outputs based on the artist’s chosen variables like colour, geometry and rarity features. So you don’t just buy an existing NFT, you can make one that’s uniquely yours.
A platform for innovative artists
Who are the artists on Art Blocks? Despite having vastly different styles, they all have one thing in common: unmatched creativity to express their work through generative NFTs. Here are examples:
Owen Moore -This generative artist released a collection focused on the current situation during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic called Quarantine. This collection has currently minted 128 NFTs, with its most high-valued piece currently valued at US$1,093.
Bard Ionson – He used symbols of sexuality, gender and luck in his generative NFT. He is also the NFT artist inspired by Nam June Paik’s “Internet Dweller”. His collection of Color Magic Planets and eight generative codes has minted 80 NFTs, with one piece sold at US$1,873.
Tyler Hobbs – He is one of the most successful artists on Art Blocks. He created the Fidenza collection that has 999 pieces, with each piece unique from one another. His collection has earned him more than US$177 million in sales, including a purchase by Snoop Dogg.
How do you determine the value of generative NFTs?
The value of generative NFT art is based on many factors, such as its embedded attributes, the degrees of programmatic rarity, and how these elements come together in a visually pleasing way to the collector. While the programmatic characteristics add quantifiable metrics that can transmute ideas into NFT, almost all generative art pieces are valued from subjectivity.
No matter which art piece it is, each one can be verified in terms of its original artwork thanks to its underlying blockchain technology. One of the core values of NFTs stems from the ability to trace the real (or pseudonymous) owner, preserving the history of how value is created and transferred over time.
Unleashing new dimensions of digital creativity
The increased adoption and minting of generative NFTs point to further adoption among the artist community. In the future, other new forms of NFTs, in addition to generative art, may well continue to be introduced. With no limit to creativity, anyone can leverage NFTs as a way to make their ideas come alive. Better yet, it can be shared more freely across the digital realm, challenging the past limitations of the art world.
In the early 2000s, the evolution of digital technology alongside the development of computers and the internet have put forward challenges for traditional credit institutions.
COVID-19 pandemic has forced a rapid shift of customer transactions and interactions to digital. In 2021 H1, 134.8 million banking customers in APAC were willing to switch to neo-banks or new digital challengers, jumping by 113.2 per cent from the previous year.
APAC banks rushed to meet an average of at least 50 per cent growth in digital transactions. Specifically, 44 per cent of the top 250 banks across APAC will complete their “connected core” transformation— working on platform-based and componentised modernisation, and API enablement.
58 per cent banking executives predict the disappearance of the traditional banking models in five to 10 years according to a report by FT Focus of more than 500 global banking executives
The report also indicates the Asia Pacific region had the slowest pace of digital transformation compared to other parts of the world. Notwithstanding, banks in this region are gradually catching up with the world, with an increasing number of investment projects in big data, machine learning, and blockchain.
Personal Financial Services Survey in 2021 revealed that while the adoption of digital banking in developed markets such as Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore has stabilised at around 90 per cent since 2017, emerging markets, namely mainland China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, have seen a rising penetration over the past few years, with an increase from just 55 per cent in 2017 to 88 per cent in 2021.
Also, in the Asia Pacific PFS Survey from McKinsey, more than 80 per cent of the respondents claimed that they would continue to use or will use more online banking services.
In the emerging region including the Vietnam market, only 17 per cent of participants will switch to using services from digital banks to traditional banks.
Of 249 digital banks worldwide, APAC is home to about 50 digital banks (approximately 20 per cent of the total digital banks in the world), of which more than 70 per cent were established during the years from 2016 to 2020.
ASEAN: The potential market
Southeast Asia and India are now emerging as these leaders’ next expansion markets in APAC. Southeast Asia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand are showing encouraging signs for digital banks, including positive market liberalisation and attractive market demographics.
However, most digital banks in Southeast Asia have only recently started or are about to commence operations (Fitch Ratings, 2021). The reason is that Southeast Asian users are still mostly concerned about trust and privacy issues when adopting digital services, hindering the digital transformation process in Southeast Asia banks.
However, the adoption rate of digital services has recently increased remarkably. As 40 million new internet users came online in 2021, ASEAN now has a total of 440 million users, increasing by 10 per cent in 2020, bringing the internet penetration rate in ASEAN to 75 per cent.
Smartphone penetration has also been central to digital growth, with more than 90 per cent of the region’s 400+ million internet users connecting via mobile phones.
Besides, expanding 4G penetration, alongside emerging 5G opportunities, unlocks further potential for connected digital banking customers.
With the advantage of a digitally-savvy population, and despite high banking penetration, there is still room for significant growth in Malaysia’s digital banking, particularly in the area of underserved individuals and SMEs.
Moreover, Malaysia recently opened up applications for digital banking licenses. Additionally, being Southeast Asia’s most populous nation where half the population is aged 30 or younger, Indonesia offers a huge market opportunity.
With a growing appetite for digital financial services solutions, as well as supporting regulations for digital-only banks being under revision, this country ranks the second-highest e-payment penetration in Southeast Asia, next to Singapore.
Similarly, the Philippines has encouraging demographics around the potential for digital banking adoption, including a young and digitally-engaged population. So far, the central bank has awarded three digital banking licenses to Tonik Digital Bank, UNObank, and state-backed Overseas Filipino Bank.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing economies and a rapidly expanding banking sector. More than 40 per cent of the population is now banked and bank cards are seeing accelerating penetration as well. Although many banks are digitalising, no clear dominant winner in the digital banking space has emerged yet.
On the other hand, Thailand offers a steady and more mature economy, with relatively high banking penetration. It’s also one of Southeast Asia’s most receptive markets to digital challenger banks.
Digital banking in Vietnam
Theoretically, digital banking can be divided into four stages:
Stage 1: Focuses on multi-channel banks providing various services such as internet banking or mobile banking
Stage 2: The multiplexing period, integrating all services into one application, which creates convenience for the users
Stage 3: is when customers can use all financial services without the existence of a physical bank
Stage 4: emphasises banks improve user experience and personalisation
Currently, the process of digital transformation in Vietnamese banks is in the early stages with the most active field in electronic payment and e-wallet. This appealing piece has seduced commercial banks as well as big technology companies to gradually penetrate the market.
Up to now, a number of banks have developed electronic payment systems. Typically, Bank Plus e-wallet with a collaboration between Viettel and MBBank, VPBank with Timo (later sold to Vietcapital Bank), and Maritime Bank with MEED, LienVietPostbank with Vi Viet. In December 2018, Sacombank launched Sacombank Pay which is fully integrated with modern banking features and utilities.
According to the survey results of the State Bank (SBV), as of the first quarter of 2021, about 95 per cent of banks have been developing strategies and implementing digital transformation. Of this 88 per cent plans to digitalise all products and services from customer communication channels to internal business administration.
Most banks have applied new technical solutions and technologies in operation and service provision, of which 9 out of 19 operations have been completely digitized by some banks.
Furthermore, Vietnamese users are considered to have the highest acceptance rate of digital banking and digital payments in the region, reaching 82 per cent in 2021, two times higher than in 2017 (McKinsey). This increase is largely due to GenZ and Millennials – a potential customer segment for digital banks and challengers.
The SBV forecast Vietnam digital banks will have at least a 10 per cent revenue growth, and 58.1 per cent of credit institutions are expected to attract more than 60 per cent of customers in digital transaction channels with an expectation of customer growth rate to reach over 50 per cent in the next three to five years.
Additionally, Vietnam ranks second in the world with 69 per cent of people not having access to financial services and no bank accounts (Merchant Machine, 2021). According to Viettonkin’s assessment, with a combination of supporting policies with the improvement of the recent legal framework and the construction of digital infrastructure by the government, the potential of the digital banking market in Vietnam is still very large.
Policies for developing digital banking in Veitnam
With the implementation and development of mobile money through Decision 316/QD-TTg in 2021, users in rural, remote, and isolated areas will have access to financial services, hence promoting cashless payments.
On the other hand, banks, fintech companies, and mobile network operators can collaborate to offer services, and exploit the networks of VNPT, MobiFone, Viettel as well as a customer base of 130 million mobile accounts.
In November 2021, the Prime Minister issued Decision 1911/QD-TTg 2021 on connection and sharing between the National Population Database (NPD) and other national databases as well as specialised databases. This will build a unified national database system on personal identification towards open sharing and connection with service industries such as banking, telecommunications, insurance to help verify customers’ information and identity with ease and certainty.
As a result, it will reduce the effort and costs for all subjects in society, promote digital transformation in the economy, and allow fast, safe, convenient, and low-cost digital service to a large number of people and businesses.
The policy creates a legal framework for credit institutions to accelerate digital transformation, and establish a comprehensive digital banking ecosystem with the goal of developing digital banking models and increasing utility and customer experience
In addition, the State Bank also allows the opening of personal payment accounts in electronic methods (e-KYC), thus encouraging users to change their habits from physical transactions to online transactions in order to lead a cashless society.
Under the viewpoints of the banks, e-KYC application is also economical in investment in facilities and human resources compared to traditional paperwork, promoting the digital transformation of the banking industry.
Policies for legal framework improvement
Although there is a document on the national database, so far there are no specific regulations on the methods of the exploitation of the national database for credit institutions. It is suggested that the Government should have documents of permissions for organisations namely banks, insurance.
Even though eKYC is implemented and banks can now use identification measures such as taking a photo of an ID card on both sides, recording a person’s face online, in Vietnam, there remains ID card counterfeiting. Viettonkin recommended that a mechanism should be developed to allow banks to identify customers based on the verified information of third parties with equivalent standards, or the national database, and organisational databases.
Besides, Vietnam lacks legal testing mechanisms (sandboxes) to support the implementation of new technologies and new business models. Simultaneously, allowing banks in the digital transformation process to have certain exceptions in meeting safety and efficiency criteria as prescribed by the State Bank will help banks boldly research and test new things. As a result, the Vietnamese government should issue a draft decree on Sandbox Regulatory for Fintech in the banking sector.
The impediment of digital transformation in banking is security infrastructure as data security is weak. The Vietnamese government should build regulations on user data protection, digital identity, and an e-KYC alliance, along with completing regulations on transaction security, information security, and detailed regulations on electronic signatures, electronic certificates, and electronic transactions in accordance with international practices.
Likewise, there is no unification in the definition of digital assets, and the definition of evidence in electronic contracts in the field of digital assets, or the definition of electronic transactions, digital transactions, and what is the integrity and originality of digital evidence. Therefore, there should be a document to expand the understanding of Property which includes digital assets in the Civil Code.
When it comes to Intellectual Property Law, the concept of business secrets is still very general and abstract. The process of reviewing and amending it should include the recognition and protection of intellectual property in the digital economy. The Government should also
Amend the Law on Electronic Transactions in the direction of adding new contents of the digital economy in line with the development requirements of the field;
Formulate the Government’s Decree on the management of the platform economy and business on the Internet;
Finalise and promulgate the Decree on electronic identification and authentication;
Finalise and submit for approval the Decree on personal data protection;
Promulgate legal documents on codes of conduct in the digital environment as well as regulations to create trust and assess credit in cyberspace.
Policies on the construction of digital infrastructure
The Strategy for Development of Vietnam’s Banking Industry to 2025, Orientation to 2030, and the Strategy for IT Development of Vietnam’s Banking Industry have identified technology as the leading solution for the development of the banking system, in which the objectives are to focus on developing banking products and services based on modern information technology; IT infrastructure development, safety, and security.
In addition, the 2030 project will promote the application of the cloud computing model; prioritise the use of digital infrastructure solutions developed by domestic units. In order to develop infrastructure to serve important systems, it is necessary to assign large prestigious state-owned enterprises with experience and human resources to implement.
Moreover, this project boasts the telecommunications infrastructure, and information technology in terms of speed, to meet the requirements of developing the IoT in digital transformation.
The pandemic and the high demand for online banking services, as well as the high level of mobile usage among the Vietnamese population, has promoted the number of online transactions, hence accelerating the process of digital transformation in the banking sector.
This is, therefore, the turning point for Vietnamese banks as there are tremendous opportunities for banks to develop and catch up with the digital trends.
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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
Preparing to raise funds is not only a pivotal moment for any startup on their entrepreneurial journey, but it is also one of the most significant challenges they face.
The venture capital financing landscape is constantly evolving; therefore, new businesses must know how to successfully approach the right investors to secure funding for their company’s growth and development.
Finding the right match
The first stop on the road to securing funding is finding the right investor. Whilst it might feel like a difficult task, several online platforms available, such as Crunchbase, will help with the research and narrow down the pool of potential venture capitalists or angel investors.
Whether or not an investor is suitable will largely depend on the space they are operating in, their knowledge of that space, and how invested they are in it. At the end of the day, any new business wants someone who will be able to look beyond the monetary gains and rather be a catalyst to the company’s growth and future possibilities.
Without the shared passion, the investors will not put in the time required to help the start-up out with customer connections, hiring in different geographies, or fundraising in the future. Therefore, finding the right one is vital to the company’s growth.
In a sense, a startup is practically marrying its investors, so the founders should perform their due diligence before committing to a long-term relationship. Investors will act as partners, advisors, mentors, and board members; hence reference checks need to be done to help make an informed decision. It is also best to ask the investor directly if they would introduce any of the founders they have worked with in the past; the transparency will help get the relationship off on the right foot.
Different types of funding rounds require slightly different approaches. However, there is one common and very important element to all of them– storytelling. Startups need to focus on telling a compelling story that will ‘sell’ their idea. The first eight to ten minutes of any pitch are the most critical as that’s how long it usually takes an investor to decide if they want to fund the company.
It might not seem like a long time, but start-ups can grab investors’ attention and get them excited about the project idea with the right preparation. Hiring a pitch deck-making agency as well as involving a content expert are two ideas worth exploring. Together they will help the start-up put the best slides and ensure the best narrative and story flow.
Crunching the numbers
As well as great storytelling, numbers matter a lot as they have the power to support the claims and ideas. For example, during a series B fundraising round, investors will expect to see signs of business growth. Therefore, the pitch deck has to include metrics, such as revenue, customer numbers and acquisition costs, lifetime value, the cost of goods sold, to name a few.
The deck also has to set out realistic targets and projections as well as include the amount of financial investment that is being sought. The latter number will differ in each round, but it should help the business for the next 18 months as a rule of thumb.
Knowing the numbers and showcasing the most relevant metrics will not only underpin the pitching narrative but also compel investors to believe in the company, resulting in them funding it.
Setting deadlines
The truth is, if a start-up does not set a pitching deadline for potential investors, they will always be in a fundraising mode. That could be detrimental for the business as less time will be spent on actually building the company. Additionally, if no deadline is set, investors might not take the business seriously.
Determining the deadline is an individual matter, and there is no perfect answer for defining one; different timelines work for different companies. However, start-ups should remember to give the investors enough time to do their work and outline their conditions in a term sheet.
Founders and CEOs should consider fundraising as an obligation to their company. Raising capital is the most important and time-consuming job of any CEO, which requires a lot of preparation and research. While pitching rounds offer the obvious benefit of money; they are also an opportunity to expand the market knowledge and receive guidance moving forward.
Therefore, startups should approach fundraising pitches with the aim to learn first and foremost. Pitches start conversations. Making them fruitful and engaging, and showing passion, will increase new businesses’ chances of fundraising success.
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KoinWorks secures US$108M Series C led by MDI Ventures to hire 400 new employees
Other backers include Quona Capital, Triodos Investment, Saison Capital, AC Ventures, and East Ventures; The KoinWorks platform features a marketplace of integrated apps, such as accounting software, POS, e-commerce, HRMS for SME, and a budgeting app.
Sygnum raises US$90M to expand Web 3.0 offerings into new global markets
Investors include Sun Hung Kai & Co, Meta Investments, Animoca Brands, Wemade, SBI Holdings and SCB 10X; Sygnum provides a suite of integrated digital asset financial products and services, including bank-grade digital asset custody and fiat rails, spot and options trading.
Gojek-funded wealth tech startup Pluang adds US$55M more to Series B round
Investors include Accel Partners, BRI Ventures, Square Peg, Go-Ventures, UOB Venture Management, and Openspace Ventures; Pluang, which claims to have 4M+ registered users, plans to expand its services to other Southeast Asian countries in the recent future.
Validus, TTC Group, Do Ventures form JV to boost credit access to SMEs
The group creates multiple synergies — one of which is TTC’s large ecosystem of SMEs across the energy, real estate, cane sugar, and hospitality industries; The JV also leverages Do Ventures’s deep expertise in the emerging fintech landscape in Vietnam.
Japan’s JCB injects US$5M into Malaysian fintech firm Soft Space
JCB owns and operates one of the largest payment schemes in Japan, supporting about 37M merchants and 140M cardmembers worldwide; JCB will expand the brand globally by leveraging its strength in Asia, especially in Southeast Asia.
1982 Ventures backs Indonesian agri commodity marketplace PasarMikro
PasarMikro provides various services to farmers and merchants for their daily transactions involving bookkeeping, lending, and marketplace; PasarMikro has formed a partnership with BRI and Rabo Foundation.
Carb0n.fi raises US$600K seed funding to provide carbon offset NFTs in ASEAN
Investors include Owl Ventures, Blockseed Ventures, Lancer Capita, Antler Singapore, and CryptoFOMO; Carb0n.fi’s platform allows users to put their crypto to work and be rewarded with carbon offsets and the project’s governance token $ZRO.
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Chris Sirise says Southeast Asia is one of the best markets for Web3 to take off
Although Web3 is gaining momentum and drawing significant attention in many parts of the world as it promotes decentralisation, well-known entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey dismiss the concept.
“You don’t own “web3.” The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralised entity with a different label”, tweeted Dorsey in December.
Is Web3 a fad and too idealistic? Or is it the future?
We posed these questions to Chris Sirise (Partner at Singapore-based VC firm Saison Capital), who has been dabbling his hands in Web3 for the past few months.
Below are the edited excerpts from the interview:
Web3 is gaining popularity globally, including in Southeast Asia. How does Web3’s future look like in this region? What changes can it bring to the region’s startup ecosystem?
Southeast Asia is one of the best markets for Web3 to take off; consumers and businesses, used to higher traditional finance infrastructure challenges, can be more open to fintech innovation.
In our region, tokens have made it possible for companies to build strong and authentic communities around their products and brands. It won’t be surprising to increasingly see founders utilising these communities as a resource for growing their companies and brands.
The implications could mean significant changes in the dynamics built into the tech ecosystem as we know it. It will no longer just include founders, VCs and operators but also anyone involved in one of these communities through token ownership and is active in the community engagement. Founders will have more resources at their hands, and it will be increasingly easier to build a product to solve a problem.
What are the applications of Web3 and metaverse technologies in real life? Can you share some examples?
Adidas recently launched an NFT sale where holders of their NFTs will receive access to the limited edition Adidas merchandise. The holders of those NFTs have also become a community of Adidas’s most fervent fans.
FlamingoDAO is a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) that makes investments into NFTs and other assets through collective decision making among token holders.
Is Web3 a fad as it is still in its early stages of development and remains abstract and speculative? Why is the concept drawing widespread attention?
Web3 is definitely in its nascent stage, but the growing traction and real use cases have made it undeniable that Web3 as an industry will grow quickly and become enormous. Decentralisation and authenticity may seem like terms that have been overused in the context of blockchain’s history. However, with Web3, we see the theory of these terms turn into real shifts in culture.
While its proponents describe Web3 as the next framework for the next digital era, many like Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk have dismissed the concept as too idealistic, suggesting its promise of broad ownership is too good to be true. How do you view these comments?
Absolute decentralisation is unlikely to be the panacea for everything. In some cases, centralisation can be helpful to ensure there is a way for appropriate intervention when prejudices or nefarious activities occur.
However, Web3 should have more distributed ownership because tokens have introduced new ways to build communities around any company or product with aligned incentives.
A UK-based engineer and blogger, Stephen Diehl, says web3 is a vapid marketing campaign that attempts to reframe the public’s negative associations of crypto assets into a false narrative about the disruption of legacy tech company hegemony. Is there some truth to it?
The layman in the digital age is smarter than most people expect. Most recognise that the ideological benefits or disadvantages of both crypto assets and Web3 are very much the same. We see potential contrasts in the application, and in reality, that is what individual users will take away the most. Any piece of technology used in different hands will result in different outcomes.
Facebook recently expressed its intention to become a metaverse company and re-branded it as Meta. Don’t you think metaverse in the hands of one corporation will be detrimental to the entire Web 3.0 decentralisation movement?
Yes, it would be. However, it is too early to tell if that will happen. A safer assumption would be that Facebook will have many capable competitors with the same objective, and the end state will not be Web3 in the hands of one corporation.
Some say Facebook’s monopoly over metaverse will encourage competitors to come up with their own versions, leading to several ‘closed’ metaverses, which would be the Web 2.0 system all over again. Your comments…
Web2 ended up with closed ecosystems mainly because no other model was available. Now both businesses and consumers have options and choices. Blockchain as technology also has the fundamental advantage of being interoperable. Those two factors coupled will ensure the metaverse will unlikely be a monopoly.
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Japanese soccer star Keisuke Honda has launched a new global platform to connect startups, angel investors, VC firms and influencers from Japan, Asia and worldwide.
PROTOCOL, touted as “AngelList of Asia”, will leverage technology to ease burdens on founders and investors while boosting the ecosystem.
In addition, the platform will be available for people seeking jobs in startups, planning to start a business or investing.
According to a press statement, since its alpha version was released six months ago, PROTOCOL has attracted more than 2,000 users from over 50 countries, including some well-known Japanese companies and venture capital firms such as SoftBank Vision Fund.
As executive chairman of PROTOCOL, Honda will utilise his global influence and connections as a soccer player to create a bridge between Japanese, Asian and the global startup ecosystems. Honda himself interviewed several founders he met on the platform and invested in 10 companies.
Honda is touted as a top-scoring Asian soccer player in the history of the World Cup and the only player to register a goal and an assist in each of the last three tournaments. He was catapulted to stardom in Europe as the first Japanese player to be in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and scoring in the knock-out stages for CSKA Moscow.
Before PROTOCOL, Honda established KSK Angel Fund in 2016 to invest in new startups. By November 2021, KSK Angel Fund backed more than 90 Japanese and international firms.
“I’m now thinking of investing in about ten companies. Not limited to this prize amount, I plan to continue angel investing using KSK Angel as much as I can to create at least a slightly more peaceful and bright future for next generations,” Honda said in an interview.
Two years later, he joined hands with Hollywood actor Will Smith a VC firm Dreamers Fund. The fund was backed by Japanese institutions such as Nomura, Dentsu, and Shiseido, targeting Silicon Valley startups. Its principal goal and value are to act as a bridge to connect Japanese firms to knowledge, personal contacts, and commercial prospects in the global startup market.
So far, Honda has managed a portfolio of over 180 firms via the two funds.
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Do Ventures General Partners Vy Le (left) and Dzung Nguyen
SME growth financing platform Validus Vietnam, early-stage VC firm Do Ventures, and multi-industry conglomerate TTC Group announced today a joint venture to help local SMEs get credit access.
TTC Group has participated in the JV through its group company DHA Corporation, an investor in real estate, health, and sports.
The JV aims to drive financial inclusion and empower the growth of underserved SMEs in Vietnam. It will leverage TTC’s large ecosystem of SMEs across Vietnam’s energy, real estate, cane sugar, and hospitality industries. At the same time, Do Ventures’s expertise in fintech will support Validus’s growth ambitions, and the JV will benefit from potential synergies with portfolio companies under Do Ventures in future.
SMEs play a pivotal role in Vietnam’s economy. However, access to credit remains a pressing issue for SME development in the country. The SME financing gap stands at 12 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
According to a World Bank Survey, during the COVID-19 crisis, the lack of access to finance has been exacerbated as liquidity remains a challenge under a continuous demand reduction. About 50 per cent of firms have under three months of cash flow, and over 60 per cent of firms have reported some difficulties with access to finance.
Vy Le, General Partner of Do Ventures, said, “The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of SMEs in Vietnam, and there is a big opportunity for fintech firms to create meaningful and lasting impact through partnerships and technology. We look forward to harnessing synergies to strengthen SME resilience, drive growth for SMEs, and in turn, the economy.”
Since its launch in 2015, Validus has disbursed over US$1 billion in SME loans across Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. The company is backed by highly reputed VCs, including FMO, Vertex Growth, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, AddVentures by SCG, K3 Ventures, Openspace Ventures and VinaCapital Ventures.
Do Ventures is a US$50-million early-stage VC fund. It seeks investment opportunities in technology startups that can develop meaningful products and services to improve consumers’ lives in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
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Paywatch co-founders Alex Kim (left) Richard Kim (right)
Paywatch, an earned wage access (EWA) service provider operating in South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong, has raised US$5.25 in a seed funding round.
US-based VC firm Third Prime and unnamed family offices in Singapore and Hong Kong led the round. SparkLabs, Won & Partners, and CTK Investments also participated.
The capital injection will enable Paywatch to scale in its existing markets and expand into new Southeast Asian countries, such as the Philippines and Indonesia.
“On-demand pay has seen meaningful traction in the US as a modern way for individuals to exercise greater control over their financial health,” said Michael Kim, Partner at Third Prime. “We see an enormous opportunity for Paywatch to use this model to democratise access to capital throughout Asia.”
Paywatch was founded in 2018 by Korean brothers Alex Kim and Richard Kim, the former Country Manager of MasterCard Prepaid and former Sr. VP of HSBC in South Korea.
The startup works with employers and banks to provide instant workers access to their earned wages before payday. This helps workers avoid high-interest payday lending practices to cope with unexpected financial strain. In addition, Paywatch also serves as a bridge that provides its underbanked users with direct financial access to banks.
The startup claims to have integrated with five financial institutions across Asia, including Hong Leong Bank in Malaysia and Hana Bank in South Korea.
Bain & Company estimates that around 55 per cent of Malaysia’s adult population is still underbanked and unbanked.
This percentage is even higher in other markets. Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia are among the top 10 most unbanked nations in the world, according to data compiled by British research platform Merchant Machine in 2021.
Paywatch joins other regional firms such as Indonesia’s wagely, GajiGesa and Vietnam’s GIMO to double down on improving financial stability for workers through EWA.
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![Paywatch_funding_news_ Alex Kim [Left] Richard Kim [Right]](https://i0.wp.com/e27.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Paywatch_funding_news_-Alex-Kim-Left-Richard-Kim-Right.jpeg?resize=690%2C390&ssl=1)