Paktor and 17LIVE Co-Founder Joseph Phua
Joseph Phua needs no introduction.
An active entrepreneur-turned-investor, Phua has built Southeast Asia’s leading dating platform Paktor and live-streaming entertainment unicorn 17LIVE Inc. before assuming the Chairman of his single-family office Turn Capital. Over these years, he raised over US$200 million for his ventures from 50-plus investors. He also invested in and processed various M&As throughout his years in the industry.
Phua believes that investors, including VC and venture debt, play a crucial role in keeping the startup ecosystem. By investing in a company, they create value for all the stakeholders — startups, founders, and even employees, besides themselves. Their advice and involvement give confidence and courage to the founders to experiment and scale greater heights.
Phua was the guest in the second episode of e27‘s LinkedIn #AskMeAnything series. He answered LinkedIn users’ questions about investors’ role in creating value for the ecosystem.
Also Read: ‘Companies shut down not because of crises but only when founders give up’: Joseph Phua of M17
Darl Chung, BD Director at JDI: While operating Paktor and 17LIVE, what was your biggest challenge in expanding beyond domestic shores into new markets, and how did you overcome the challenge?
Phua: Product market fit was the biggest challenge. A product that works in one market won’t necessarily work in another. Hire a local team to work with headquarters, try, try and try. Hiring an excellent local team is another challenge in itself.
Darl Chung: Paktor and 17Live are mainly B2C businesses. What is your view on B2B opportunities in emerging Southeast Asia, and will Turn Capital invest in companies operating in this space?
Joseph Phua: We’re primarily focused on B2C consumer tech but have a few B2B businesses in our portfolio, most with a consumer angle (e.g. Zuvio education SaaS). So, we will invest in B2B opportunities as well.
Enricko Lukman, COO at ContentGrow: How often did you ping your investors for help back in those days? Can you mention one of the biggest supports you got from investors besides funding?
Joseph Phua: I ping my investors like Kee Lock Chua, Joo Hock Chua and Akio T. frequently for guidance, even today, to bounce ideas and thoughts and get their advice in areas where they’re much more experienced than I am.
My relationships with them over the last ten years have been crucial in overcoming obstacles in my journey. It is hard to pinpoint one specific instance since there are many.
Sidhant Gupta, Founder, Clearbot: Are good old-school incumbent businesses in Asia open to M&A opportunities with startups? How mature are the corporate VCs in opening up market opportunities/supporting startups?
Joseph Phua: I have seen the treatment of startups by incumbents in the region evolve in the last decade. In addition, corporate investment strategies have become more aggressive and mature over time, which also speaks to the maturing of the whole ecosystem.
‘Ain Omar Aid, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, AINAID: What is your perspective on the organic growth strategies in startups and the role of marketing and communications in them?
As startups evolve and scale, it is critical to ensure their marketing and comms strategies adapt and grow with them. Based on your experience, how have you evolved those strategies to maintain organic growth? Budget constraints are also a common struggle for startups, especially when it comes to marketing in the early stages. Do you have any advice for startups on maximising their marketing budget for sustained organic growth?
Joseph Phua: Organic growth strategies for different products would look very different. E.g. organic growth strategies for consumer apps would be different from a core tech B2B solution. At the crux of it, though, is communication. Unfortunately, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution.
You can’t go wrong if the focus is relentless communication with the high-value target audience.
Anisa Menur, Editor, e27: There’s an opinion that M&As are a much preferred/recommended exit in Southeast Asia compared to IPOs. What are your thoughts about this?
Joseph Phua: It depends; this is all relative. If the M&A offer is fair value, it should be equally attractive compared to a listing. The question then really is what is fair, which becomes a question of who is the receiver of the offer.
Some of our portfolio firms received M&A offers in the past—some we rejected and have been glad about it, while others we regretted later. One thing is for sure, always speak to as many people as possible, gather as much information as possible, then make a call and don’t look back.
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