This article was first published on January 6, 2015.

When you’re starting a business as a young entrepreneur, it seems like there are an infinite number of tasks to juggle. That’s why it’s so important to stay on top of the details, no matter how tiny or tedious. Small changes, like reducing the amount of time you spend each day managing email or your remote team, can quickly add up, meaning you can spend your time growing your business instead of your to-do list.

Managing time wasters
One of the most insidious time sucks in the modern workplace is at your fingertips every day, and worse, it’s legitimately work-related. Ask almost anyone what they spend the most time on while at work, and the answer is bound to be email. Email is the basis of communication in the 21st century workforce. Why not make sure you’re being as efficient as possible when you’re doing something so important?

Also Read: Taipei’s Jessyfrup is boosting customer retention rates for local businesses

Professional email etiquette is just as crucial as efficiency, and it’s more than just good manners; it’s good management. For instance, knowing how to start and end a professional email takes a lot of the guesswork out of communicating with co-workers, clients and customers. A professional greeting lets the recipient know that the topic is business, and a cordial and appropriate sign-off can eliminate the need for unnecessary responses as well as the need to go back and read them.

Knowing when to CC or BCC someone can also go a long way in saving time on email distribution. Create folders to keep all emails of a certain type together, and regularly archive emails that you have handled but that still contain information you may need to refer to later. Email search will also save you tons of time when tracking down old emails, so make regular use of this feature even if your inbox is completely organised.

Checking your email the right way can also help keep you on task. A good way to do this is to set aside certain points of the day to check your email, and check it at only those times — if that’s realistic for your situation. Try setting your email program to only check for messages at your decided times if self-control isn’t enough to keep you from clicking that envelope.

Developing good habits
Structuring your day and managing your workflow are the two pillars of any successful productivity strategy. Tasks should be outlined at the beginning of every day or at the end of the previous day, and nobody in the office should ever be unsure of what they are supposed to be doing. Setting productivity goals at the start of each day gives both you and your employees concrete objectives to work toward instead of an endless procession of menial tasks.

Also Read: Real-time interactivity is changing consumer engagement with businesses

Good physical habits are often an underrated part of an entrepreneur’s success. As clichéd as it may sound, a good diet, moderate exercise and the appropriate amount of sleep will actually help you feel better and miss work less often, maximising your potential as a leader and decision-maker. Work habits are important as well, and business owners in particular must evaluate their methods on a regular basis to ensure they’re still best for the business. A clean physical and digital workspace minimises distractions and promotes clarity of mind, allowing you to focus on the task at hand.

Putting your business in the best position for success means managing your resources wisely, and time is the most valuable and irreplaceable asset a business has. Time truly is money, and making sure not to waste either in the early stages of growth can make a difference for your company.

Jeff Fernandez is the Co-founder and CEO of Grovo, a learning platform which is closing the growing digital skills gap with highly engaging, 60-second videos. Grovo’s microlearning method is the best and fastest way to learn the digital skills you need to perform better at work.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organisation comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship programme that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

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The history of humans is a history of innovation, starting from fire and wheel to mobility and artificial intelligence.

In modern times, the world has journeyed through four distinctive phases of innovation, starting from the industrial revolution of the 1800s, followed by electricity and assembly lines in the early 1900s. The third phase started in the 1970s with electronics and computers, and now we are in phase four, industry 4.0, driven by digital technologies, artificial intelligence and robotics.

There is no doubt that the fifth phase will also commence within a few decades. Technology advancement has now become an undeniable truth, and the pace of advancement is only accelerating.

The VC landscape: There is no looking back

The innovations and afterwards the adoption and commercialisation of innovations have always required capital. Prior to the first world war, it was the domain of governments and wealthy families. The innovation of automobiles and aviation started venture capitalism which expanded significantly after the second world war.

In 1926, Daniel Guggenheim created a US$2.5 million fund to promote “the whole art and science of aeronautics and aviation”. Laurance S. Rockefeller did multiple VC-like investments during the great depression in aviation, including military aviation, which became immensely profitable during the years of the second world war.

The second world war resulted in an accelerated advance in technology, and by its end in 1945, the investor’s interest in technology-led opportunities was at an all-time high. This gave birth to the modern venture capital industry eventually, when the electronics revolution arrived, the VC industry was all set to bankroll it.

Between 1968 and 1975, VC firms invested US$747 million, which increased to US$1 billion in a single year in 1980 and US$3.9 billion in a single year in 1987. In 2021, the global VC investment reached US$681 billion.

Although it declined in 2022, it was still at US$445 billion. The electronics and computer-led innovations were built through VC funding, and the digital and robotics revolution of current times is also being built through VC funding.

It is critical to understand this history before looking at the yearly landscape of VC funding. Venture capital and innovation are highly correlated and may also be called synonymous. The VC investment numbers in one particular year may go up or down, but structurally the pace of innovations has never been so fast in human history and therefore venture capital investments are also set to continue soaring.

Given the unhindered march of technology innovation, the current challenges driven by high inflation, increasing interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty may cause a short-term investment deacceleration, but in no way can it result in the reversal of a trend that is extremely structural and ingrained in the civilisational level.

As far as 2022 goes, it was a year of stabilisation after the trailblazer year of 2021. The global VC funding remained in the range of US$300, US$320 billion between 2018 and 2022, and then it soared to US$ 681 billion in 2021.

The US$445 billion global VC investment size of 2022 was still significantly higher than any of the years prior to 2021, confirming that the investment trendline remains in a significant upward trajectory. The VC industry is also sitting at a record-high dry powder of US$580 billion and continues to raise new capital of more than US$150 billion. Just to put this in context, this dry powder is like what VCs had at the beginning of 2021.

Singapore continues to remain extremely resilient, even in the wake of the global decline in 2022. Singapore has been ranked seventh in Global Innovation Index, and this has improved in the recent ranking. It is a major innovation hub, and it is consistently increasing its share of VC investments.

The total VC funding in Singapore in 2021 increased to US$11.3 billion from just US$4.1 billion in 2020, and in 2022, the VC funding again clocked a value of US$11 billion, almost like in 2021. Singapore’s focus on creating the best-in-class ecosystem for startups, especially in deep tech, will continue to result in relatively higher growth in comparison to the world.

AI and the future

In the recent past, the top technologies which have attracted the highest amount of VC funding include fintech, mobility tech, e-commerce, health tech, cloud infrastructure and clean tech. The fintech revolution across the world is still being catapulted by VC investments along with mobility and e-commerce, and these top three areas have accounted for more than 70 per cent of total VC investments in the recent past.

But now, the attention is shifting to newer areas as well, especially the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and blockchains across industries. In terms of industries, healthcare and green energy are likely to increase their relative share vis – a – vis fintech mobility and e-commerce. The new investments in 2023 are likely to catapult health tech and green energy into the top three.

Today, the technology advancement has brought us to a stage where we have a credible chance to solve our biggest challenges, such as food availability, universal access to healthcare, climate change and disaster relief. The venture capital investments are likely to also mirror the efforts to solve these long-standing problems and increasing investments in health tech and green energy is a testimony of that.

Developing technologies to reduce carbon emissions across industries is another frontier that is likely to be scaled through VC funding. There is also likely to be higher capital allocation to solve agricultural production and supply chain challenges which are termed agritech and supply tech. So overall, this portfolio shift is likely to start in 2023 and accelerate in the coming years.

Final thoughts

The venture capital industry is at an exciting state right now with huge dry powder, high levels of entrepreneurship and accelerating technology innovations. We expect 2023 and this decade to be the most impactful in terms of innovations, and venture capital will play an extremely critical role in not only enabling the innovations but also ensuring the adoption of such innovations, solving problems, and increasing our standards of living.

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Soft Space, a fintech-as-a-service company in Malaysia, has completed its Series B extension round at US$31.5 million led by Southern Capital Group.

Returning investor transcosmos, strategic investor JCB, and Hibiscus Fund (jointly managed by RHL Ventures and South Korea’s KB Investment) also participated.

“Building on our strong momentum, the new funds will help expand our global footprint and widen our customer base by accelerating the innovation of our full-stack payments platform while expanding into next-generation technological solutions,” said Soft Space CEO Joel Tay.

“Our company is in a unique position in the global fintech industry, serving global giants from Malaysia and expanding our services into new markets by still basing ourselves in SEA. We are already in many markets for example in Australia, Europe, the Americas and Japan. As we are strategically invested by our Japanese investors, we would like to partner with them in countries where they find value,” said Chris Leong, Chief Strategy Officer of Soft Space.

Also Read: Japan’s JCB injects US$5M into Malaysian fintech firm Soft Space

Founded in 2012, Soft Space simplifies the complexity of financial infrastructure and creates value-added features for businesses to expand their business growth. The startup claims over 70 financial institutions and partners across 23 global markets are adopting its payment solutions, including in Japan, Europe, Oceania, and Americas.

The Kuala Lumpur-headquartered firm claims its revenue almost doubled in the last two years.

It is also supported by MDEC’s Global Acceleration and Innovative Network (GAIN) programme and received financial support through MIDA’s Domestic Investment Strategic Fund in 2022.

In January last year, the fintech company announced a strategic partnership with Japan’s international payment brand JCB Co. As part of that deal, JCB injected US$5 million into Soft Space.

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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 brings together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups can pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like connecting with investors, visibility through the platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

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This article was originally published on January 9, 2015.

TSG Consumer Partners’ Senior Managing Director Hadley Mullin shared his magic steps to effectively raise funding for your startup and foster its expansion onward. He averred that the best time to start fundraising is when you have yet to find the necessity of doing so.

When money is the last thing founders look to think about, they tend to make much wiser and more rational calls. In contrast, those who are desperately in need of money tend to make rushy decisions, which result in a less engaging proposal for investors.

Here are Mullin’s strategies:

Don’t underestimate the power of networking
It’s just normal to see founders focusing too much on their own business and putting networking activity as the least priority on their list. This is what Mullin damned. He encouraged entrepreneurs to regard networking as one of the most important agendas, as experienced businessmen are fond of establishing the next generations.

Also Read: Time to quit spreadsheets for tracking biz leads? ClinchPad says yes

“They tend to give efficient directions. You need information and perspectives, and experts are the perfect sources,” he mentioned.

Start investing in talents from the very beginning
In Mullin’s opinion, a common mistake found among the founders is being reluctant to spend big on talents from the very beginning. They tend to hire less skilled employees to save more and spend less.

Whereas, he claimed that it is fundamental to have a solid team right from the start, thus hiring skilled employees and experts. Yes, it is expensive, but it will smoothen the startup’s pitching activities in the future. “When we evaluate your startup, we will have a view of your team. If you have reputable experts among the team, we’ll be more likely to invest.”

Always have a list of potential ideal partners
Running a business requires loads of flowing capital. Don’t hesitate, as Mullin ensured that there are countless money and selection of investors out there today.

Mullin suggested that finding investors is not enough. It’s much better to include them in the team as board members to create a solid bond, making them willing to share their time, skills, and knowledge. Thus, he is of the belief that it’s wiser to approach investors who have certain expertise.

Also Read: Not a pipeline problem: Pocket Sun of SoGal Ventures warns against ‘purple-washing’ startup investment

According to him, managing the funding is much more challenging than obtaining it. Hence, he suggested that finding investors who share the same vision as you and are willing to get involved in the startup’s operational activities would be really priceless.

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Singapore-based early-stage VC firm Saison Capital has launched a token fund to accelerate Web3 investments in Southeast Asia and India.

Saison Crypto is backed by its parent Credit Saison’s nearly US$30 billion assets under management (AUM). The fund is a permanent capital entity that does not have a typical General Partner/Limited Partner structure.

“As such, the new fund has the ability to draw down on capital from Credit Saison quite flexibly. Saison Capital and Saison Crypto collectively can deploy US$150 million, with additional support readily available from Credit Saison’s US$30 billion AUM,” said Qin En Looi, Principal at Saison Capital.

Also Read: Saison Capital, Mixpanel team up to launch a product manager peer-support community

The average ticket size is between US$200,000 and US$500,000 with follow-on support throughout the portfolio company’s journey.

Saison Crypto’s first token-only investment is in the pipeline. “This builds on top of our 30 existing investments which are primarily a combination of equity and tokens,” Looi added.

Saison’s Web3 investments include BVNK, Flint, Wind, Open Eden, Binocs, and Evertas. More than 65 per cent of its Web3 deals were made in H2, 2022.

According to Chris Sirise, Founding Partner at Saison Capital, there are significant gaps in the infrastructure we need for Web3 services to mature and close the distance to mainstream adoption. Asia is poised to be a growth engine, both for local and global companies building these foundations, which is why companies are making it a priority to find the right partners who can help them successfully navigate the region.

Also Read: ‘Absolute decentralisation is unlikely to be the panacea for everything’: Chris Sirise of Saison Capital

“Saison Capital is accelerating these pathways by partnering with experienced founders and operators who take a long-term view on innovations that can happen in the space regardless of market conditions,” Sirise added.

Saison Capital is an early-stage fund (pre-seed to Series B) with a focus on emerging markets. It backs founders solving big problems, including embedded finance (non-fintech companies expanding into fintech, Web3, and e-commerce).

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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 brings together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups can pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like connecting with investors, visibility through the platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

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