Work culture that has made Appinventiv grow

“A lot can happen over coffee”, this line often brings the image of CCD (Cafe’s Coffee Day) in front of our eyes. But, for me, this 6-words represents the success story of Appinventiv – my startup.

It’s not a story from a long time back ago. Three of my friends and I decided to launch our own mobile app startup fours years ago while sitting in a corner in a CCD cafe. And one single factor that triggered us to take this step was quality.

During days, entrepreneurs and established brands were struggling to find the finest version of their mobility solution at an affordable price.

They were either provided with an ineffective mobile app model or were being asked for a hefty amount in return of quality. 

Because of this, the gap between those demanding for top-notch and business-centric mobile application development services and those delivering them the same was increasing.

Also Read: The millennial force: changing the workplace and its culture

This is where we jumped into the market. We decided to bridge this gap by serving businesses with a highly innovative and useful mobile application at the best possible market price.

Besides, we also concluded that we will focus upon customising mobility solutions as per business needs and integrate cutting-edge technologies into the process rather than delivering a template-mobile app.

And this is how our journey started. 

However, it was not as easy as we thought. Right from the day we stepped into the market, we faced various challenges in establishing our presence in the market – with two prime ones as follows:-

• We found it tough to bring projects at our door. Businesses were sceptical about hiring a newbie to build their presence in the mobile market. 

• We decided to integrate cutting-edge technologies into our development process, but there was hardly any firm working with the same perspective. Meaning, we had no one to consider as a role model or seek any guidance.

But, it seems like luck was on our side. 

We overcame the former challenge by providing services beyond developing an application.

That implies, researching the market, performing competitive analysis, and brainstorming on business needs to bring out an innovative idea that delivers valuable results both in the present and future.

And when talking about the second prime challenge, we motivated and prepared each other to become the first company to enter these domains.

We learnt all the technicalities and looked into finding various ways to introduce these technologies and methodologies in the traditional app development process. And it turned into a right decision.

For example, we stepped into the Blockchain, PWA, and eScooter economy at first. We not solely invested our efforts into learning about these technologies and business domain, but also shared our knowledge with our clientele and others.

And gradually, we became the first choice of startups and established brands who wish to up their business game with these technologies.

After that, this became every day’s story. We got more projects, and with every project, we step closer to our aim of changing the landscape of the app industry.

We welcomed every challenge as an opportunity for innovation, experimented with different ideologies, dug deeper into every niche market to get useful insights, and invested heavily into our skill development. We kept an eagle’s eye on every popular app feature and technology in the marketplace and worked our fingers to the bone to make technology digestible and profitable to all.

A ripple effect of which is that we received accolades from marker researchers, users, competitors, and others related to the mobile industry. We became the leading choice for every business who were looking for on-time delivery, and good service which made us deliver 900+ apps for brands like Sony, IKEA, Dominos, Gully Boy, and nexGTV.

However, this was not our only limit.

While, on one side, we received more accolades and projects, we worked upon expanding our team. We realised that having a team of proficient and experienced mobile app designers and developers is the key to success in the market.

With this into consideration, we went on hiring more experts. Because of this we, within four years, grew our Appinventiv family of 4 to 400.

However, we also feared the biggest challenge of startups and other companies, i.e., employee retention.

We realised that losing even a single one of us would be a significant loss for you. So, we come up with some unique, engaging, and employee-centric strategies and policies. A few of which are:-

Also Read: A look at workweek hours and differences in work cultures around the world

No hierarchy, Please

We, at Appinventiv, provided the younger generation with something they always craved for – equality.

We said no to the traditional method of hierarchy and introduced the practice of calling each other their names with no suffix, “Ma’am/Sir”. 

We also made it clear that we are approachable to all and invested the best of the efforts in weaving emotions in everything.

Thus, building a web of trust among Appinventiv family – a family that works together enjoys together and faces challenges together.

Transparent as glass doors

We not only removed barriers in terms of approachability but also added transparency to every process. 

We put this into practice to keep our employees in the loop while making any decision.

Even if it is something major like shifting to a new office space or something minor like a change in the working calendar. 

This attitude helped us in gaining the trust of our employees and encourage them to contribute their best in the success of the company.

Work innovatively

Being a mobile tech startup, we efficiently utilised the power of technologies to deliver seamless interaction experience.

From Skype to Google Drive, Gmail, Trello, and Wunderlist, we encouraged employees to use a varied range of mobile apps and digital platforms and perform their tasks and share documents with each other seamlessly and quickly.

Appoint the right managers

Handling a team of 400+ has never been a simple task.

We feared that despite our policies focusing on transparency and interactivity, we might fail to remain in touch with all of them and deliver the right work culture.

So, to overcome this situation, we picked the right people from our team and appointed them as managers.

We focused on selecting ones who encourage a line of interaction and who became a window for their team; thus, helping us to be updated on what’s happening.

Think for your team, and they will reciprocate

Another step that has made Appinventiv an army of 400 (and still growing) is that it gains unbelievable recognition from our employee-centric approach.

Rather than just focusing on finishing projects, we take interest in sharpening the skills of every individual.

From monthly workshops to seasonal pieces of training, we put forth everything that keeps our employees updated with what’s trending in the market.

Besides, we also offer numerous perks like free breakfast to show concern for our employee’s health. 

These strategies have brought considerable attention to the newcomers on our website as well as made existing employees stick to the firm – rather than be job hoppers.

Make an unbiased decision

Every other day when someone comes up with a concern or complaint against the other, we listen to both sides of the story patiently.

We put efforts into understanding the whole situation and then come up with an unbiased decision. In this way, we ensure that we do not end up losing a gem because of a conspiracy.

We have also made a point that work culture matters more than technical skills. Therefore, if there is a situation when we must big goodbye to a highly talented professional due to concerns, we take a fair decision.

Also Read: A day in the life of StashAways CEO and co-founder

We won’t compromise with peace and happiness within the workplace because of money and skills.

Work hard, party harder

Appinventiv has also established itself as a pool of talent by sensing the basic need of the present generation which is – Work hard, party harder.

On a broader scale, we have added various activities into our daily timetable that allows our employees to love being at work. Our management team introduced the practice of celebrating festivals, playing games, blowing candles on birthdays, going on team lunches, and more. 

With such efforts, we have provided employees with an opportunity to shake their leg and show the other side of their personality – rather than being behind the computer screens all day.

Appreciation as an energy booster

 

Lastly, Appinventiv has made its record of 400 employees by focusing on the fundamental psychological matter, i.e., appreciation. 

Our management team made it sure to show gratitude to our employees for their efforts, passion, and innovative ideas.

We have not confined this ‘affair of appreciation’ for one single day in a year, but have been congratulating our team members regularly via different means. This has made our workforce feel like an indispensable element of the company.

With such policies and strategies, we succeeded in bringing more favourable outcomes at our end and live a remarkable journey. We succeeded at creating our own success story and motivating others to focus upon being a partner, rather than a boss to enjoy success – regardless of their niche industry.

I hope you have found it useful. If you wish to share your feedback or have been following some cool policy that we can add to our list, do let us know by leaving a comment in the comment section below.

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Centralized exchanges go against the very ethos of blockchain

 

Blockchain has disrupted existing industries and created new ones altogether, notably in the fin-tech space.

As a means of raising capital, cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets enable faster transactions at a minimal cost.

The market forces driving the value of cryptocurrencies have also spawned new investment instruments and derivatives – exchanges and futures, for instance. 

One example of the recent innovations introduced in this space involves Bitcoin futures – which are, in gist, either buy or sell contracts for Bitcoin at a pre-agreed price at a defined date in the future.

This opens the opportunity to trade not on the speculative aspect of Bitcoin itself, but also as a derivative instrument, meaning investors can earn from both a rise or a fall in Bitcoin prices – a good way to hedge one’s portfolio.

Decentralized tech in a centralized environment

Amid all these innovations, a central point of interest would revolve around cryptocurrency exchanges, where traders exchange cryptocurrencies, tokens, and even fiat money.

Exchanges enable users to make trades within a generally fast and secure environment with minimal cost.

While exchanges are an essential part of the crypto ecosystem, there is one glaring concern brought about by how such exchanges have been set up.

According to a study published by TokenInsight, decentralized exchanges account for only 19 per cent of the global crypto exchange ecosystem.

An even more interesting number is that only 1 per cent of transactions goes through decentralized exchanges. 

If the main goal of blockchain and crypto were to decentralize things, then such centralized exchanges would go against the very ethos of blockchain. 

Who stands to gain from decentralization? 

Also Read: A quick guide to digital marketing a blockchain project

Looking at things more closely, the bias towards centralized exchanges stems from the perceived notion that these platforms and transactions need oversight – a concept that has trickled down from traditional financial systems.

However, apart from reliance on a centralized authority, such exchanges are prone to single points of failure, too, in terms of security.

Take the case of various centralized exchanges that have fallen victim to hacking attacks due to the centralized nature of their infrastructure and control.

In the financial setting, crypto and blockchain benefit both investors and entrepreneurs in various ways, and here are five fundamental ways that a decentralized exchange would ideally provide such support. 

1. Smart contracts should be able to solve regulatory hurdles and obstacles across jurisdictions

Each jurisdiction has its own set of regulations and frameworks put in place for financial transactions and investment instruments.

Due to the fiduciary nature of investments and financial transactions, one can only expect strict and stringent regulatory regimes.

However, when it comes to fin-tech, many countries are still struggling to come up with an effective framework, especially given the rapid pace of development in terms of new technologies and products.

A fully-decentralized mechanism involving smart contracts should ideally resolve the challenge of cross-border transactions, especially if the smart contract can take into consideration the regulatory framework of each country or jurisdiction that will be affected.

For instance, users exchanging crypto assets on a decentralized exchange can incorporate geolocation features, and the smart contract will be the one to enforce any necessary rules.

Also Read: What does cryptocurrency mean for your small business?

Aaron Tsai, Founder and Chief Capitalist at MAS Capital Universal Exchange, Inc. (MASEx), highlights how centralized systems – for instance, those that stem from U.S. regulatory oversight – are on their way to obsolescence.

“The US system is under heavy fire by the rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies and security tokens. This is a seismic shift that disrupts the existing oligopolies of financial institutions in banking, securities and fund management sectors.”

2.Enhanced trade transparency and security

Record-keeping will become increasingly difficult for centralized exchanges, especially with an increasing volume of transactions.

This results in vulnerabilities, which can affect trader confidence. A decentralized exchange ensures better transparency and accountability, which will mean better compliance with financial regulations. 

The main purpose of most regulatory frameworks is to ensure transparency and security in transactions – something that is especially appropriate in trading public securities.

However, this is almost technically impossible to do in a centralized setting, especially when there is a potential single point of failure.

A decentralized exchange ensures better uptime, while a distributed consensus mechanism ensures that malicious players cannot game or cheat the system.

3. Faster trade settlements

In an ideal environment, trades of assets (such as shares of stocks) take an instant to complete. In the real world, millions of stock trades happen in mere milliseconds, facilitated by algorithms and systems.

However, the databases that these algorithms have to interface and coordinate with are currently fragmented and messy.

Also Read: Is Cardano the best cryptocurrency to invest in?

In addition, having centralized clearinghouses for transactions can result in bottlenecks in transactions. 

At major financial centres, it takes two full days to finish settlements, for example. A decentralized approach done through blockchain will provide faster settlement of transactions.

In some cases, a side-chain or off-chain approach can ensure even faster transaction speeds without burdening the main blockchain. 

4. Lower costs, lower barriers to entry

 Traditional securities exchanges – such as stock markets – often have high barriers to entry, in terms of transaction fees, largely brought about by high fees charged by centralized exchanges or clearinghouses.

With a decentralized approach, it will be the market that will dictate transaction costs (which are very minimal). A tokenized approach to securities will also mean that investments can be made at a fraction of the cost of other traditional securities. 

“Smart contracts enable you to create synthetic assets on-chain based on real live ones that can be accessed without friction and from all over the world,” shares Abishek Punia, Investor at Draper Associates. “New applications can be built on top of this globally connected asset database.” 

5. Increased liquidity for private equities markets

Related to the previous point, higher barriers to entry with centralized and traditional securities markets makes it difficult for startups and businesses to raise capital. Add to this the often strict regulatory regimes when it comes to participating in capital markets.

Decentralization brought about by blockchain enables firms to tokenize company equities and digitize assets, which can also streamline the process of capital raise for fund managers and investors.

This encourages better liquidity and higher participation from investors. Matters of equity can be directly incorporated into smart contracts, which makes capitalization tables simpler to manage.

Amar Shah, Director at Namana Investments (HK) Ltd and former Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, shares his opinion on this matter:

“As investors seek higher yields, there will be more funds entering the market. The race to seek these yields will divert some of the funds away from more traditional investments. Furthermore, like education and understanding of these products increases, there is likely to be more liquidity for blockchain startups.”

The future of decentralization

“As the industry matures there are likely to be developments based on market forces taking advantage arbitrage opportunities which will bring about some harmonization,” shares Shah.

Offering his personal views on decentralization, he says that “regulators are increasingly consulting with each other and, as a result, there is likely to be some common regulation.”

Tsai, meanwhile, cautions that the current state of things is far from ideal, but he is confident that we are getting there.

“The decentralized technologies need refinement, but it will not take long before we are there.

When that happens current exchanges will be obsolete, regulators will have no choice but to adapt and the financial giants will tumble. It is always difficult for the status quo to lead a revolution, especially one in which their established roles may no longer be needed.”

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Personal performance is good, but the process of how to bear the failure is much more important

Why do people imply staff performance related to mindset?

When I assign the same task to two of my new energetic staff, they perform in two different ways, which embody two different types of mindsets. Vincent’s mindset is about guarantee. He sometimes has no idea dealing with failure and also be afraid to change when receiving feedback from others to improve his performance. He takes it personally and sometimes she is displeased. Vincent requires his benefits before doing something.

On the other hand, Jules expects to receive feedback from the senior when making mistakes. To cope with a failure, she dares to change and improve her ability to accomplish well later on. She perceives challenges as ideal opportunities to fail and to learn. If she encounters something that is quite troublesome, she will endeavor to overcome somehow. After all, you can know that who has the fixed mindset and who possesses the growth mindset in this story.

What is Mindset?

If you refer to someone’s mindset, that means their thoughts and beliefs drive them into habits and the way they commonly think about issues. The mindset orients our disposition or attitudes to handle situations. The mindset has much influence on what people think, how they feel, what they perceive and what should they react. In other explanation, the mindset shapes your belief and your belief shapes your attitudes. People have various mindsets of the same thing due to perceiving in different ways.

The book called Mindset: The new psychology of success written by Carol Dweck, who is a psychology professor at Stanford, is one of the most prominent psychology and individual development books nowadays. The book reminds me vividly of my personal experience.

The Fixed Mindset

People with the fixed mindset believe basic qualities like talents are fixed traits. They view failure as permanent. They are more likely to give up when facing an obstacle. When they feel criticism as a personal attack, they seem to quickly give excuse and explain.

Their behaviors are shaped by innate ability and their priority always is validation and achievement. The insight of people having the fixed mindset is that better performances. They are less likely to take creative risks. They choose easier tasks and put in minimal effort.

The fixed-mindset people don’t allow others be better compared to themselves. If their colleagues try new things and succeed, fixed-mindset people feel threatened. They are afraid that success will put pressure on themselves to do more. Safety is their choice.

Also Read: The entrepreneur mindset can be the game-changer that makes the difference between success and failure

The Growth Mindset

People with the growth mindset believe new abilities can be developed by practice. They consider challenge which is just an issue need to be faced, resolved, and learned from. It is possible to say that growth-mindset people can all adapt, progress and experience without any fear of being painful.

Most people are not perfect, and they should suffer from losses and hardships to be stronger and more at peace than ever before. The growth mindset doesn’t mind to show their imperfections as they think that weaknesses are not the problem. The problem is just only the person who cannot accept these weaknesses belonging to them. The imperfections should be recovered since that helps people to improve their adequate development.

Personal performance is good, but the process of how to bear the failure is much more important. The growth-mindset people assume that it takes time for development and achievement. They aren’t convinced of being talented. They strongly believe in the determination of learning from time to time, arduous working and toil to get an accomplishment.

How do you know that you are a fixed-mindset person or a growth-mindset person?

Let’s emphasise straightforwardly in this case. What do people react when receiving a course of work? With the fixed mindset, it will be: “People will finish it with no mistakes. People should avoid being a failure. People simply lose interest or temperature when facing challenges. People think about the inputs for themselves rather than the outputs for others.”

In contrast, with the growth mindset, it will be: “People make mistakes, and it’s not a problem. People need to have feedbacks, even constructive criticism. People get ready to undergo current trouble. People are excited to try to do something beyond what they’ve mastered. People make an effort to figure out the measures of solving issues better than they did.”

5 Significant Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset

1. Acknowledge and embrace imperfections

Even if you demonstrate your best traits of a great person, but you hide from your deficiencies, you will never be excellent in most cases. You are unable to overcome the fear of weaknesses. Of course, fear can hold you back. Have you ever thought that fear is an obstacle distract you from building your strengths? Grasp an opportunity to discover yourself, uncover imperfections hidden and deeply understand yourself. This will be a premise to change the weaknesses towards your strengths.

2. View challenges as opportunities

The growth-mindset people consider each challenge is an opportunities to grow stronger. We continuously determine who we are and what we are able to achieve after enduring troublesome issues. In fact, people might not control events that occur to them, but these unanticipated events serve as a big deal to test truly your characteristics. Thus, it is grateful for welcoming opportunities to learn and to improve.

3. Replace “to fail” with “to learn”

Have you ever heard a quote of Samuel Beckett? “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

It’s not a shame to share your failures with each other. When you make a mistake for your goal, you haven’t failed, you are learning. You learn from the bad experience for yourself instead. You shouldn’t think you’re a loser, think that you’re a learner and then an achiever.

4. Redefine “genius”

A genius is a person who suffered from a whole host of challenges, hardships, losses, and toils. You should redefine that the genius is shaped by hard-working, not only natural ability. The fixed-mindset people believe in talent or intelligence. However, the growth-mindset people only recognise improvement and development throughout the experience. You will be a genius if you mobilise your resource and stretch on your way.

Also read: Why failing your startup does not mean you are a failure

5. Learn from others’ mistakes

It is better to combine our mistakes and the mistakes of others to learn. That will be valuable information for you to tackle the problems that push you up. People sometimes share the same weaknesses, which is a chance to empathise and adapt it to your case. It’s not always wise to compare yourself to others. Learn from others’ missteps and travel down on the bumpy road that helps you be more better.

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The article was first published on e27, on August 31, 2018.

Reference Source: Gary Klein Ph.D, 2016. Mindsets. What they are and why they master on Psychology Today

e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

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The deal includes two Vietnam-based online platforms centred around parenting Marrybaby.vn and weddings Marry.vn

Singapore-based Hello Health Group, which runs various health content information sites in Asia, has announced the acquisition of Marry Network from global media company Ringier Vietnam.

The deal includes two Vietnam-based online platforms centred around parenting (Marrybaby.vn) and weddings (Marry.vn).

“Our company’s mission to democratise access to healthcare by taking the world’s healthcare information and making it universally accessible and useful matches perfectly with the Marry Network ́s approach. We are happy to include the Marry Network into our Hello Health Group platforms that inform, educate and engage over 32 million unique users each month. With our digital expertise, we will help the Marry Network to reach their target audience in the best possible way,” said James Miles-Lambert, CEO of Hello Health Group.

Founded in 2015, Hello Health Group is focusing on the development of healthcare platforms across emerging countries in Asia. The group helps healthcare brands connect to the audience via its eight different platforms — Hello Bacsi (Vietnam), Hello Sehat (Indonesia), Hello Sayarwon (Myanmar), Hello Doktor (Malaysia), Hello Khunmor (Thailand), Hello Krupet (Cambodia), Hello Yishi (Taiwan), and Hello Swasthya (India).

Also Read: ‘We aim to transform car ownership through our 360-degree approach’: Carro Founder Aaron Tan

With over 32 million monthly users in the region, including over 7.5 million in Vietnam, the group is also now investing beyond the media sector to develop new health tech ventures. This includes the recently-launched medical travel platform Go.care, as well as plans to enter digital insurance.

Founded in 1833, Ringier is a diversified media company with about 7,300 employees across 19 countries. Ringier manages many brands in print, TV, radio, online and mobile media. Ringier is a Swiss family-owned business with head offices in Zurich.

Ringier Vietnam is headquartered in HCMC and has office in Hanoi. Ringier Vietnam has developed a diversified multi-media operation, publishing brands such as Elle, Elle Man, Elle Decoration and Muabannhadat.vn, an online marketplace for buying and selling property.

 

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CAC Capital, Accord Ventures, and Actcelerate International Group Ltd (AIG) co-invest in the round arranged by Cradle Fund

WOBB, a job search portal targeting Generation Y and Z job seekers in Malaysia, announced that it has received US$1.3 million pre-Series A investment from CAC Capital, Accord Ventures, and Actcelerate International Group Ltd (AIG) in a funding round arranged by Cradle Fund.

Derek Toh, the company’s founder and CEO, shared that the company’s vision is to be the largest youth platform in Asia.

The funding will be used to focus on its growth in a mission to dominate Generation Y hiring in Asia.

Founded in 2014, WOBB uses algorithms and AI chatbots for screening, which is aimed to make it faster for job seekers and employers to find each other, as told in DealStreetAsia.

WOBB partners with LinkedIn in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia to enhance its job-seeking platform.

Also Read: Vietnamese VC firm VinaCapital Ventures officially debuts with US$100M

In 2017, WOBB raised US$140,000 from an equity crowdfunding campaign.

It is also a recipient of Cradle Fund’s CIP150, CIP500 grants as well as a DEQ equity funding.

The startup said that it will start its Series A fundraising next year.

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Arcor Capital will work with Helicap Investments to raise US$180 million in capital from accredited investors

Singapore-based fintech platform that specialises in alternative lending in Southeast Asia, Helicap, today announced its acquisition of securities firm Arcor Capital for an undisclosed sum.

As a newly acquired company, Arcor Capital will work together with sister company Helicap Investments (under the Helicap Group) to raise S$250 million (US$180 million) in capital from accredited investors.

Helicap Investments itself has obtained Registered Fund Management Company status in April. It aims to connect underserved consumer and corporate credit market in Southeast Asia by using its proprietary, data-driven analytics platform.

Having invested in eight Asian alternative lending platforms, Helicap Investments will launch its first fund with a target AUM of S$200 million (US$144 million).

Following the acquisition, Arcor Capital co-founders and managing partners Patrick Hong and Rahul Khemka will remain in their senior management roles.

Also Read: The case for alternative lending

Arcor Capital co-founder Simon Ong will also remain in his role as Senior Advisor to the company.

In a press statement, Helicap Co-Founder and CEO David Z. Wang named the acquisition as a “landmark moment” for the 18-month startup.

“The acquisition, together with Helicap Investments successfully obtaining registered fund management company status, enhances the Group’s leading position in the alternative lending market and enables us to immediately ramp up our engagement with sophisticated investors via debt securities fundraising and credit fund management,” he said.

“We are delighted to welcome stellar finance professionals – Patrick and Rahul – to the Helicap family and
leverage their decades of experience to further add to Helicap’s reputation of backing sound and reputable companies,” he continued.

Arcor Capital specialises in private debt securities and growth capital for early stage and mid-market enterprises in Asia.

It holds a Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence for dealing in securities from the Monetary Authority
of Singapore (MAS).

Also Read: Helicap raises US$1.5M seed funding round led by Singapore’s ex-minister of state Teo Ser Luck

As for Helicap, the company facilitates loans to business owners and individuals who are unable to access loans provided by traditional financial institutions such as banks.

Founded in 2017, it raised a US$5 million Pre-Series A funding round led by East Ventures and real estate conglomerate Soilbuild Group Holdings in September 2018.

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Image Credit: Helicap

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Burnout is a silent startup killer

Don’t let the ping-pong table fool you, startup life is a full-time, often over-time job. Founders typically go 24/7, team members wear many hats, and even the intern needs an intern to help him out.

Many startup journeys are fuelled by purpose and passion. It’s good to love your job, just don’t marry it.

Team players, for all their admirable selflessness, may justify the early symptoms of burnout with a delusional brand of self-motivation.

Losing your motivation? Wake up, honeymoon’s over.

Taking your work home again? Now that’s dedication.

Always tired and stressed? What you need is a coffee.

Slipping performance at work? Work harder.

A growing dependency on alcohol, smoking or junk food? Hey, whatever’s your fuel.

Now your relationships are falling apart? They don’t understand your work.

Always feeling frustrated, negative and depressed? What you need is a coffee!

Acknowledging the toll your job is inflicting on your mental and emotional well-being is the key to averting burnout

This may be harder for those who pride themselves as team players. They can take on stress with the flawed resolve of a heavyweight boxer who doesn’t know when to throw the towel, even when he’s taking a complete beatdown.

To these team-first individuals, admitting to burning out not only shows they’re weak, it shows they are the weak link.

Timely intervention is critical to divert a collision course with burnout. The team-player in you may resist the idea of slowing down or taking a timeout, but burning out doesn’t have to mean copping out. Here are seven guilt-free strategies to manage burnout.

Also read: 6 ways to identify burnout before it seriously impacts your business

1. Tune out

The “always-on” startup mindset can prevent you from resting and recharging. Start by unplugging from the ecosystem during rest time. Remove yourself electronically from emails and instant messages. Detach yourself mentally from thoughts of deadlines.

If it’s unrealistic to disconnect for the evening or over the weekend, allocate specific check-in times that allow you to respond to emails and messages. This allows you to be fully present in your non-work life while being available on your terms.

You could let other team members know your tune-out times, and encourage them to set up theirs too. Everyone will appreciate this.

2. Block out

When we’re disorganised, we’re not only less productive, we’re also more stressed by the chaos around us. We worry more about our uncompleted tasks and feel the anxiety of not being in control of our situation.

Distractions like social media and personal instant messages steal our precious focus at work. Block out distractions while at work, or schedule specific times to check in on them. You’ll be more focused and productive, and your team will appreciate the difference.

3. Sieve out

We feel overwhelmed when we try to do too much with too little. Filter out the unnecessary and give your time and energy to the truly important.

Do you need to reply to every group chat just to “be heard”? Should you be at every meeting, including the one to select the wackiest photos from the Christmas party? Instead of trying to be omnipresent, choose to be fully present and engaged on the things that truly add value to your team and organisation.

Also read: How to embrace mental wellness in startup culture

4. Chill out

This one sounds simple: Work on having a life outside of work.

Get back to spending time on your favourite hobbies. They take your mind off work stress while refreshing and energising it. Your passions remind you of who you are and can help restore balance.

Invite your colleagues to a weekend barbecue. Set up Wednesday yoga classes or Friday night bowling. These are some great ways to calm frayed nerves and connect as a team outside the office.

5. Step out

The office is the physical epicentre of work stress. Whenever possible, step outside without compromising your productivity.

Forget the takeaway sandwich at the desk. Make lunch time a designated timeout by exploring new places to grab a bite with co-workers. Have the less formal meetings at a nearby café. Take your laptop to the open breakout area.

Arrange to work from home on certain days. Be there for your team without being there.

6. Cut out and Work out

Like your mind, your body takes a beating from burnout. Listen to what it’s trying to tell you, from headaches to numbing sensations. Loading up on junk food and caffeine puts more stress on your beleaguered body and can only exacerbate the burnout.

Exercise can do wonders to help the brain manage stress. Hit a nearby gym during lunchtime. Organise evening team runs with your co-workers. Get your body moving and your mind moves better, too!

7. Speak out

Before you’re completely burnt out, talk to someone — don’t suffer in silence.

Speak with your partners or other stakeholders about your unsustainable work situation. This is not a sign of weakness but a show of accountability. Clearly express what you need in terms of resources and ask for the necessary support to achieve your targets.

This is also the time to count on your support network of family and friends. Talk to them and lean on them. If you need professional help, it’s always better to seek out an executive coach or mentor before a meltdown.

The takeaway

Burnout is a silent startup-killer. Losing your motivation, self-confidence  or personal well-being— all important assets  in your startup journey— can deal a severe blow to team success. True team players understand this and take responsible steps to fight burnout before it hits.

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This article was first published on e27, on September 13, 2018.

e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Photo by Stefano Zocca on Unsplash

The post 7 strategies for beating startup burnout appeared first on e27.

Circles.Life and its plans on dominating the telco market

 

In this day and age, where the world is connected through digital services with millennials being constantly glued to their phones, it can be a disaster to suffer from bad reception or slow customer service.

It seems that Singapore-based telco company Circles.Life has figured out just how to take telecommunications to the next level by introducing a handful of new features, along with an OS (operating system) for telcos.

This has not just allowed consumers to gain flexibility and control but has also managed to cut operational costs by a whopping amount of 95 per cent. 

“The actual problems of standing in queues or your bill being wrong, those real problems cannot be solved just by cutting the price,” says Gupta.

In this interview with e27, Gupta discusses the local telecom industry, competition, price wars, Circle.Life’s diversification plans and expansion strategies.

Circles Life is growing so fast. But as a co-founder, what is the one thing that drives you and gets you going?

A.G: I would say that the biggest thing is the global potential of what we are trying to do.

What we have done in Singapore is to give power back to consumers, which manifests itself when you look at the net promoter scores towards customer satisfaction between us and the rest of the telcos.

We are trying to solve a global problem that needs to be addressed in not just Singapore, but around the world. 

People always say that we have millions of subscribers, but I reply saying that the path from there is to get to a billion subscribers one day. 

There’s a long way ahead, but that is what gets us most excited. 

Circles.Life has not just been growing, but also expanding at a substantial rate. Besides Taiwan and Australia, what are some other expansion plans for the company in the Asia Pacific -or even beyond?

A.G: If you look in the next two-to-three-year horizon, we are looking to expand to pretty much every country that you can think of in Asia. 

So that will be every country … in Asia because we believe that customers in the immediate vicinity of Singapore should all get these digital services. 

What we have planned outside of Taiwan and Australia is to hit up Indonesia, which is a market where we would be launching this year. Most probably in the last quarter of this year. 

We have a few conversations going around, and at the right stage, we will be very happy to share.

Speaking of which, what are some strategies that you will be using to gain success in these new markets that you have been entering so rapidly?

A.G: While we are expanding, we are not expanding fast, if I may be frank. The reason is that we believe expanding indiscriminately is not the answer. 

It has to be very strategic and has to be thought through because it is an essential service. It is like banking.

You know telcos are an essential service.

You really cannot get that flow wrong, and you do not want to trouble customers because we are all about giving power back to the customers. 

So in that sense, I do not think two countries are too much if you’re looking at startups who are looking at fifteen countries in six months.

We are not those types.

In terms of strategy, the biggest thing that helps us is that we built the world’s first operating system for telcos. 

This is an essential point because just as we have an operating system for computers like Windows and operating system for phones like Android and iOS. 

There has never been an operating system for telcos, and that is just what we have created. 

Just having that operating system that allows us to go from country A to B to C without having to flex our technological muscles every time, to do things that have been done before. 

We can launch in a much shorter time. We can use the same power that we have provided to customers here to customers elsewhere very, very quickly. That I would say is the core of our strategy. 

I notice that there have been added features in your app, such as booking movies and checking showtimes. Is it safe to say that Circles.Life is aiming to become a super app, similar to Grab?

A.G: I would say being a super app … is not the centre point of our strategy. 

The most important thing is innovation. That may –or may not– mean that we are trying to be a super app.

We are launching many services, but those services are trying to address the same kind of pain points that customers had for telcos. 

For example, in the case of booking a movie, the process is painful. For a user to see the booking platform, the movie playing, how many tickets are there etc is painful, it’s a different issue that a lot of people don’t watch movies in theatres these days. 

So we want to change that and make it easy for people to go through the whole process.

You could say that we are going off to many services and that they are essentially divided between two or three major angles. 

One of them would be financial services, another one is around entertainment and its discovery, and the third one would be around travel. 

So there are specific things that you want to expand on.

A.G: That’s right, and there are things that people just like about us. 

There is a polling game where people gets to decide which question goes to everybody. For example, is there anything tastier than Hainanese chicken rice?

It’s a fun thing, you know. 

One of the things that intrigue me about Circles.Life is its bold marketing campaigns, which includes the vandalism of SG mobile and S$20 unlimited data. That was very bold.  In your earlier years, have there been experiences where you did something bold and unexpected? 

A.G:  I think I have been adventurous in my life. I have tried different things. 

When I came to Singapore with the choice between joining an English school and a Chinese choice, I picked the Chinese one despite being from a Non-Chinese background. So I went to Hwa Chong, a Chinese Junior College. 

Most people told me that I had gone crazy and that I was not going to survive. But I think I had a blast and a really good time.

Apart from that, I have also tried learning eight different languages and failed five times.

Failing five times sounds like the life of an entrepreneur. Apart from that, there has always been growing tension in Singapore markets with the entry of numerous telco operators. While Circles.Life has remained undeterred, managing to secure five per cent of the market share. However, do you see price drops as a threat to the telco industry?

A.G: Firstly, we are of the view that customers like a better experience. The segment that we are after is solidly behind services that priorities better quality over just price cuts. 

And we believe, in the long run, that it is the answer. 

The actual problem for standing in long queues or your bill being charged wrongly … those real problems cannot be solved by just cutting the price. 

Companies can keep cutting prices for telco services but only to a certain limit because beyond that they will not be comfortable. It will not have any return on the capital. 

So we expect this to end at some point. 

And up until now, we are unfazed by this because customers come to us despite the fact that our pricing is not the cheapest.

We pride ourselves in great services, and that is what we will continue to do.

What about countries such as Singapore, where things are moving relatively fast, and customer service is not a major factor in the success of a service?

A.G: I would say it is big enough that while we have not been the cheapest for the longest time, we continue to be the fastest-growing. 

We are not for every segment. Like, young students who are trying to save every dollar that they can. We might not even be for retirees. 

However, we are great for people who are working or are digitally savvy, who want to solve a telco-related issue with a click of a button, instead of “click 1 for this and click 2 for that.

People love the ease of the process, therefore we have not faced that challenge yet.

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Image Credit: Circles.Life

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Solutions to data privacy are not going to be easy since how flawed current anonymisation practices are.

A paper published last month raises deep concerns about the way that user data is currently anonymised, and suggests that no complex dataset can be successfully anonymised using standard techniques.

The research has some pretty terrifying consequences.

It suggests that the data held by hospitals, credit agencies, and tech firms can never be protected sufficiently.

Even new technologies like AI and Blockchain rely on effective anonymisation in order to be secure, and this supposed anonymity is one of the factors driving Blockchain adoption in Asia.

Also Read: Implications and solutions for Big Data in insurance

Anonymity and identification

Anonymised datasets are supposed to allow researchers to work with data without being able to uniquely identify individuals.

A hospital, for instance, might remove names and dates of birth from patient data, and then release this to health researchers. 

The problem is that if this data contains enough data points, it can be reverse-engineered in order to identify individuals.

A number of high-profile examples of this have occurred in the past few years. 

In 2008, for instance, a publicly available Netflix dataset of film ratings was de-anonymized by comparing the ratings with public scores on the IMDb film website in 2014.

The home addresses of New York taxi drivers were revealed in a similar way, and in Australia, even health records were identified by comparing basic facts about patients. 

The recent research was carried out by Belgium’s Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) and Imperial College London and aims to work out how many data sets like this can be re-identified.

Their conclusions are striking: a dataset that contains 15 demographic attributes, for instance, “would render 99.98 per cent of people in Massachusetts unique”. 

The problem gets even worse when the set of data is smaller. 

If town-level location data is included, for instance, “it would not take much to reidentify people living in Harwich Port, Massachusetts, a city of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants”.

Also Read: What you need to know about data privacy in China

The scale of the problem

These might seem like abstract concerns, but they are not.

The problem is that plenty of companies release ‘anonymous’ data sets as a core part of their business.

In many cases, in fact, selling this data provides the core income for these companies, and the larger the amount of data on each individual, the more the data sells for.

This gives companies an incentive to release huge, detailed data sets that can easily be de-anonymised.

The researchers of the recent report highlight a few examples of this.

They draw particular attention, for instance, to one set of data sold to the computer software firm Alteryx, which contained 248 attributes per household for 120 million Americans.

The concerns raised by this research will affect companies and consumers differently.

Many companies work with a ‘anonymise, release, and forget’ attitude. The research suggests that this practice might have to change because it proves that supposedly secure data sets are anything but.

It also raises a question about whether anonymisation is enough for companies to comply with relevant legislation like the GDPR. 

For consumers, this research merely confirms a long-term concern about how private data is used by companies.

In many cases, users have given their permission for their data to be released by accident, because the relevant clause is hidden so deep in terms of use policy that it is not read by the average user. 

Even where users do not give explicit permission, plenty of companies release supposedly anonymous data by accident.

Gary Stevens, CISO at the community research group, HostingCanada, org, is one of a growing number of voices that have repeatedly raised concerns about the logging policies of supposedly secure VPN and email providers.

Stevens points out that even VPNs can leak data – and they often do – meaning that privacy applications which are supposed to protect us actually do the opposite. 

The solutions

Novel solutions to the problems raised by the research are in development, and several large companies have already taken measures to reduce the risk of re-identification.

Differential privacy is one such approach and is used by companies such as Apple and Uber.

Both of these companies release data sets from time to time, and these sets contain huge numbers of data points for each (anonymous) individual.

To avoid the risk of re-identification, though, differential privacy deliberately makes each data point ‘fuzzy’: each point is expressed as a range rather than a definite number.

These ranges are calculated in such a way that they average out over the whole data set, defeating attempts to uniquely identify each user.

Another approach is homomorphic encryption, which allows data to remain encrypted but still is manipulated by researchers. In the near future, it is also likely that AIs will provide a more exotic solution to the problem.

AI’s can be trained to work with large data sets, and then produce anonymous data that is statistically identical but contains different values. 

Protect yourself

Users, however, are unlikely to wait for these technologies to be implemented.

In fact, data from recent years suggests that users are more concerned than ever about their online privacy, and are increasingly turning to privacy tools to protect themselves against data leaks.

Whilst these tools might provide an extra level of defence against accidental releases of information, they do not protect consumers against the kind of releases covered in recent research.

Also Read: What role does big data play in the insurance industry?

In these cases, users had (knowingly or not) given consent for ‘anonymous’ data to be released. They – and the companies who released this information – were simply unaware that it could be re-identified.

Solutions to this issue are not going to be easy but rely on increased consciousness, both among users and tech companies themselves, about just how flawed current anonymisation practices are. 

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Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

Image Credit: Guillermo Latorre

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In today’s fast-paced world, do corporations have sufficient time to make a digital transformation?

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