Simply hiring more women will not solve the problem

The significant underrepresentation of women within the tech sector is impacting the functionality of businesses in Singapore and across the globe.

Despite positive moves to implement effective solutions that will bridge both gender diversity and skills gap, women are still struggling to break the glass ceiling and challenge for high-profile roles in this industry.

The representation of women in the boardroom

Introducing more female talent to the tech sector has seen significant industry-wide improvements.

A study from the Peterson Institute of International Economics found that organisations with greater gender diversity are actually more profitable.

This concludes that gender diversity enhances work-place performance and increases the rate of success.

However, in spite of this positive outlook, there is still a noticeable underrepresentation of women across the wider tech sector.

Globally, less than one in 10 women work as a developer. A startling figure that only further sparks the argument surrounding gender bias within IT.

Singapore has been identified as a global leader in the IT industry.

Quick to adopt the newest technological trends, the Lion City is a thriving base for startups looking to grow their profit and productivity.

19 per cent of these startups are founded by women — which you might think would translate to a high number of female CEOs running the show.

This, unfortunately, isn’t the case as only 12 per cent of C-suite roles across the South East Asia tech scene are held by women.

Start your battle against gender diversity

Finding the perfect solution to gender diversity is not something businesses have the capacity to come up with overnight.

You can’t simply hire more women to close the deficit as this will continue to increase the problem and only further dilute the sector.

Research indicates that worldwide, 41 per cent of women are twice as likely to quit their role within the tech sector compared to only 17 per cent of men, a number that only further depletes the handful of new developers choosing to stick out a career in IT.

For female developers who want to make it to the top of the career ladder, it can be very difficult in a male-dominated sector.

Every developer across the industry will have similar skills and expertise, but there is an unconscious bias against women; a well-known stigma that needs to be removed from the industry.

Also Read: To fix the gender divide, the crypto world needs more female heroes to look up to

Recent reports have identified that one of four science and tech professionals in Singapore are female, with the number of those working in the IT sector growing by only 10 per cent since 2011.

These figures further highlight the fact that the tech sector remains a ‘boys club,’ and for that categorisation to be removed, the entire industry needs to perform a massive U-turn to help fix this age-old problem.

Bridge the skills gap and you could solve both issues

For a conclusive solution that can solve both problems, the global IT industry needs to rethink its outlook.

Only after these discussions happen and businesses are equipped with the plans to face the gender gap problem, will they then be able to bridge the skills gap.

Sadly, businesses won’t be able to pick the best solution out of thin air.

Although hiring more women seems to be the simple answer to the predicament of both problems, it will only add to the mass exodus of women leaving the sector.

That is unless organizations can up come with a positive solution.

Also Read: Women in tech, and a competitive advantage

To overcome the gap of gender diversity, women working in the Singapore business sector have rallied around each other to launch women-focused workspaces and training opportunities in an attempt to remove the statistical anomaly of female professionals in IT.

The path to encourage women and young girls into IT needs to begin much earlier.

STEM subjects within Singapore have been placed at the top of the priorities list by educational establishments and the government as they help provide economic growth and technological development throughout the country.

But with Microsoft research identifying that post “16 STEM subjects suffer from a considerable gender imbalance”, it only provides a small window of opportunity between the ages of 11-16 for parents and teachers to influence the decision-making process.

There needs to be a more comprehensive offering of STEM subjects in school, as well as more inspirational talks and extra-curricular activities providing guidance on the route of a successful tech career and the benefits of working in the sector.

Businesses also need to set an example; they might already have women in high-powered roles, so they should promote their success and give them the recognition they deserve on visible platforms.

The more top-performing IT professionals young girls see, the more likely they are to aspire and apply for similar roles.

Working together, this industry has the chance to alter the trajectory of women entering the sector, promoting it as inclusive for everyone.

By solving this part of the problem first, we can effectively narrow the skills gap and shed a more favourable light on the sector from which all businesses can experience benefits.

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Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

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In this case, getting judged is a good thing

With TOP100 just around the corner, here’s an exclusive sneak peek behind the judges’ table.

Meet 15 of the many investors we have lined up for the TOP100 pitching qualifiers!

Leck Ting Yan

TRIVE
Partner

Ting Yan was a judge last year during the Singapore qualifiers. He spends most of his time working with TRIVE’s portfolio companies on their next steps, looking for partnerships as well as good teams to invest in.
His four personal areas of interests in tech are: off-grid renewable energy, water, food, and education.

Mohd Ridzwan (Reez) Nordin

Monk’s Hill Ventures
Venture Partner

Reez has led several initiatives to nurture and unearth entrepreneurial talents within corporates and the public at large through angel matching funding and pre-accelerator programs. Reez was previously the Vice President at Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s strategic investment fund. Over there, he helped to invest in startups in the enterprise software space, as well as fund investments across the world.

Zoë Ng

Raintree Development
Co-founder and Managing Director

Zoë started her entrepreneurial career as a founding team member at Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, leading business development and digital. She has since moved back to Southeast Asia to work on multiple ventures in Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia. Her latest project – Raintree, is Cambodia’s first creative office development that supports the tech, education and entrepreneurship sectors through programmes in the space.

Christopher Quek

TRIVE
Managing Partner

Christopher is Managing Partner at TRIVE, an early-stage VC based in Singapore that focuses on SEA. He is a 4th generation serial entrepreneur-turned-VC with 20 years of experience in various industries of eCommerce and deep technologies. With TRIVE, he has invested in over 13 startups. A prior experience running a pro-bono incubator saw him help 38 Singapore startups raise US$5.6 million in angel funding. He has also provided over 1000 one-to-one advisories to startup entrepreneurs. His current pay-it-forward program has helped 22 Singaporean startups obtain the Startup SG Founder Grant.

Joshua Agusta

MDI Ventures
Vice President of Investment (Chief Investment Officer)

Joshua is currently serving as the Vice President of Investments in MDI Ventures, leading all MDI Ventures’ investment, divestment, portfolio management and post-deal integration activities. Joshua is highly experienced in corporate innovation with a demonstrated history of leading multi-stage tech investments, starting from seed stage up to pre-IPO and M&A activities of Telkom Group. Besides investing activities, Joshua is also highly involved in industry and market research where he co-led MDI Ventures’ two whitepaper publications.

RJ Balmater

Monk’s Hill Ventures
Investments

RJ was previously a consultant at Balmater Consulting Company, where he led a small team to advise family-owned SME’s in Indonesia. Prior to that, he was a financial analyst at Fortman Cline Capital Markets in Manila focusing on local sell-side deals in the region. RJ holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from California State University of Fullerton (CSUF).

Khairu Rejal

Rekanext
Managing Partner

Khairu has more than 10 years of experience in the venture capital and startup incubation space, initially at the Nanyang Technopreneurship Center (NTC) and later at Majuven, a Singapore-based venture capital firm focused on early growth and high tech companies in Biotechnology, Healthcare, Clean-Sustainable Solutions and Dynamic Digital Convergences. In 2017, Khairu along with other like-minded angel investors came together to launch Rekanext Capital Partners.

Nadia Fonny

Gobi Partners
Investment Manager

Nadia was a judge during our TOP100 qualifiers last year where she judged in Manila, Thailand as well as at Echelon Asia Summit 2018. Nadia has four years of working experience in the chemical industry, and more recently as a Citibusiness Associate at Citibank, where she spearheaded the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) implementation with 100 per cent High Priority Completion in CitiBusiness Indonesia.

Low Zhen Hui

Captii Ventures
Associate Director

ZhenHui does quite a bit of research and analysis on markets and industry verticals, on top of participating in investment origination and processing at Captii Ventures. ZhenHui travels extensively to Indonesia and Singapore to meet with new start-ups.

Ruui Wong

Captii Ventures
Investment Manager

Ruui is active in engaging with startups and researching on various opportunities besides pursuing investments from origination to execution at Captii Ventures. Ruui travels extensively in this region to meet with new start-ups.

Katrina Chan

QBO
Director

As director of QBO, Katrina leads the team’s overall operations, strategy and partnerships. In addition to managing their stakeholders, growth and fund-raising, She also works with and advises start-ups directly.

June Chen

Monk’s Hill Ventures
Associate

June was a project manager, managing an engineering services company in Thailand where she led planning and executions of projects focusing on maximizing resource utilization and process efficiency. Earlier, June has worked in the investment banking industry primarily advising large corporate clients on IPOs, local and cross-border M&A transactions in Southeast Asia. June’s experience spans across multiple segments including consumer, real estate, telecommunication and energy sectors. June has an MBA from Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Thammasat University.

Khiem Tran

Expara
Vietnam Associate

Khiem joined Expara in early 2017. He holds both Bachelor of Corporate Finance and Master of Business Administration (Finance focused) degree with 100 per cent scholarship from Vietnam National University where he contributed research papers about Vietnam venture capital market to Southeast Asia (Singapore Management University) and local journals (Vietnam Trade and Industry Review). Before joining Expara, Khiem had experience in Vietnam ecosystem since 2014 as Investment Representative from ESP Ventures (formerly Alpha Vision Ventures) and Senior Investment/Innovation Officer at Asia Commercial Bank.

Albert Shyy

Burda Principal Investments
Principal

Albert joined Burda in 2017 and heads Burda Principal Investments’ Singapore office. Previously he was at GREE Ventures from 2014 to 2017, where he led the fund’s investment team in Southeast Asia and India as Principal while working closely with many of its portfolio companies including Kudo, Berrybenka, and Bukalapak. Prior to this, he served as a Director at Lazada Group, Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce retailer, helping build the company’s Marketplace business across the region. He completed his MBA at the University of California, Berkeley and studied at the University of Pennsylvania with dual degrees in economics and systems engineering. He currently sits on the board of Priceza, Zilingo, and Carsome.

Nat Wittayatanaseth

Beacon VC
Investment Manager

Nat is a VC Investor interested in utilizing fintech to improve financial inclusion in emerging markets and disrupt traditional banking models. My background is in central banking, capital market business, fintech and cryptocurrency having worked at the Bank of Thailand, KBank, Digital Ventures, Pantera Capital and 500 Startups.

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Keen on meeting the pool of investors? Sign up today for TOP100!

Stand a chance to be chosen as the ‘Judges Choice’ which will land you a spot in Echelon Asia Summit 2019 where you can pitch and exhibit your innovative idea. (free of charge!)

If you’re an investor interested in being a part of our pool of judges, here’s the link to sign up!

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It’s Echelon season and we’re taking the Echelon experience to you

Last Monday, we announced that Echelon Asia Summit 2019, which is happening on May 23rd and 24th in Singapore Expo, is now open for registration.

But before that, we can’t help but want to give you a preview of the Echelon experience, in a city nearest you.

We are heading your way with the Echelon Roadshow for an afternoon of sharing insights and making connections – yes, exactly like a mini-Echelon.

Our speakers are founders themselves, who will not only tell you their startup story, but dispense advice and tips to help you out in your own entrepreneurial journey.

Best practices? Things to avoid doing? Tools you can use? A lot of moral support and encouragement? Get all that and more in our Echelon Roadshow discussions.

We will also be announcing the TOP100 APAC 2019 Qualifier winners during the roadshows so you will get to find out who would be representing your country in the TOP100 Semi-finals during Echelon Asia Summit.

(If you would rather take a shot at being one of your country’s representative in the semi-finals,, you can still join TOP100.)

 

Announcing the first 8 cities of Echelon Roadshow 2019:

1. Singapore – 7 March 2019

Happening at WeWork Cross Street. Register here.

 

2. Ho Chi Minh – 12 March 2019

Happening at WeWork E. Town Central. Register here.

 

3. Phnom Penh, Cambodia – 14 March 2019

Venue to be announced soon. Register here.

 

4. Bangkok – 19 March 2019

Happening at WeWork Asia Centre. Register here.

 

5. Manila – 21 March 2019

Happening at WeWork Uptown Bonifacio. Register here.

 

6. Yangon – 2 April 2019

Venue to be announced. Register here.

 

7. Jakarta – 4 April 2019

Happening at WeWork Menara Astra. Register here.

 

8. Kuala Lumpur – 16 April 2019

Happening at WeWork Equatorial Plaza. Register here.

 

Watch out for announcements on more cities, speakers, and other updates soon. You can also see our updates (as well as share yours) on social media using #Echelon2019.

 

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Echelon Asia Summit 2019 happens on May 23-24 at the Singapore Expo. Don’t miss out on sharing insights and creating meaningful connections with 15,000 of APAC’s tech community. Get your tickets at US$10 each, limited to the first 1,000.

Register to #Echelon2019 today!

The post We are on the way to the first 8 cities of Echelon Roadshow 2019 appeared first on e27.

The company’s Singapore firm reportedly laid off nine or 10 of its employees over a phone conversation

The tumultuous bike-sharing startup Ofo reportedly has laid off nine or 10 people from its Singapore operations team right before the Chinese New Year holidays, as reported by TODAY.

The move comes right amidst stories of the piling debt owed to vendors. The numbers suggest it owes SG$700,000 (US$519,000) in logistic services.

Also Read: RHL Ventures invests in Malaysia’s interior design marketplace Atap.co

According to sources that have knowledge of the layoffs, some employees were contacted over the phone and told that January 31 would be their last working day. They were not given motivation or any of the one-month compensation offer as stated in their contract. They will only receive their last salary for January.

One of the employees being laid off spoke TODAY and shared that Jack Zhou, General Manager of Ofo called him and let him go with no specific details of what will happen to the company. No argument ensued.

Another laid off staff member also shared the same experience and said that it’s part of the risk working in startup, especially one that has been getting negative coverage like Ofo.

Two weeks ago, the LTA (Land Transport Authority) issued an ultimatum to Ofo, warning the firm to cut down its fleet to the maximum size of 10,000 and set up a QR-code parking system by Feb 13 as part of regulatory requirements, or its license could be suspended.

Also Read: Google, JD.com, Tencent confirm leads in GOJEK Series F fundraising

Ofo’s Managing Director Sebastian Lee has stated that a possible exit from Singapore could happen soon, although LTA confirmed it hasn’t received any filing of operation discontinuation.
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All this without a cup of coffee

I am Bjorn Lee and I am the founder and CEO of MindFi, a smart meditation app for busy humans.

I have always had a love-hate relationship with meditation.

I was forced into it when I had chest pains in India, and I loved doing it there. But, I hated it when I went back to work.

Then, I spent the past seven years hacking my routine to build a habit.

Before MindFi, I was a product manager at both Zopim and Zendesk—the latter of which acquired the former. Prior to that, I founded an edtech startup in Silicon Valley and was a VC for three months before deciding on a life in the trenches.

Here’s a day in my life now.

8 am: Wake up, meditate, and cycle

I always snooze through two alarms before waking up.

The Apple Watch’s Breathe app is essential for its haptic feedback and heart rate variability tracking that gently jolts my wrist and body into motion.

Being as lazy as a fish, I immediately sit on my meditation chair for the next 10 to 20 minutes before I change my mind.

I never set a countdown; I just use a timer and stop on my own to prevent jarring shocks.

I end my meditations by thanking a bunch of people and saying encouraging words to myself.

Occasionally, I would jot them down in my journaling app, Day One, using the Tim Ferriss method.

And, if I still don’t feel good, I will cycle on my elliptical for 15 minutes which is my substitute for a caffeinated wake-up.

9 to 10 am: Plan to-dos with the team or attend meetings

I do a virtual “standup” on Slack with my team and check in on our to-dos for the day. Since half my team of six is overseas, I strive to ensure that I have ample face time with them.

This means that I only do external meetings at the start or end of my day to preserve my midday for team discussions or personal deep work.

I do this also because external meetings kill my productivity due to the commute time and the switch in mental gears.

This was inspired by Paul Graham’s essay “Maker Schedule, Manager Schedule.”

11 am to 1 pm: Deep work

I write my to-dos in chronological order and ensure some simple tasks are at the front.

This builds up a head of steam, which I would then use to move on to more challenging tasks like analyzing metrics, thinking through used cases for designs, or grooming the product backlog.

I use the Pomodoro timer in my MindFi app (also called “Deep Work”) and crank it up to the maximum two hours.

Then, I blast my trusty EDM music on my earphones and don’t come up for air until lunch.

I usually end my two hours with a five-minute meditation, which automatically comes up on my app.

1 to 1:30 pm: Lunch

I don’t eat breakfast, so this is my first and largest meal of the day.

My lunches are very quick affairs because I don’t want to break my rhythm. I also avoid lunchtime meetings because I have this notion that good food clouds the brain.

I always pick the shortest queue but make it an effort to walk to my lunch to get some exercise.

1:30 to 6 pm: Team huddles, power naps, and deep work

I usually check in with my team after lunch, especially when there are exploratory tasks that require investigation.

Timeboxing such tasks into half-day periods can help prevent overthinking and quicker communications across my remote team.

I am also a big believer of power naps and would buy sleep pods for my team if I could afford the luxury.

Also Read: 15 truths that actually transformed me into a happier entrepreneur

My energy crashes around 3:30 pm, so I will take a 15-minute nap lying down. Even if I can’t fall asleep, I try to focus on my breathing during this time. If I can’t nap, I take a 10-minute walk around the block or to a nearby park.

After my nap, I get my second wind and feel like my mind has done a hard reset. This means more deep work, which brings me to the end of the day.

6 to 8 pm: End-of-day standup and meetings

My window for external meetings opens up again at this time.

I would also do a virtual standup to update my to-dos for the day and, if time permits, deal with any contingencies or blockers for the next day.

8 to 12 midnight: Personal downtime

I don’t work during this period.

Also Read: How to manage energy and improve your productivity

This is reserved for dinner, social outings, my aquaponics farming habit, and reading or movie time.

My aquaponics hobby has given me a much-needed and (literally) natural respite from my tech startup career.

I enjoy tracking the growth of my plants and fish, managing the ecology, and geeking out on ways to scale to a sustainable food production system.

12 midnight to 1 am: Calls with advisers

This time is reserved for my calls to advisers in the US.

I rarely use this slot, but I am a late sleeper and have gotten used to it over time.

Some other notes:

• Every year, I go for a two-week, off-grid vacation where I don’t buy a SIM card, go to a small town, and talk to locals.
• I have my phone’s do not disturb mode permanently turned on unless I am expecting a call.
• I never turn on notifications on my laptop. My phone is distracting enough.
• I save half a day on weekends to do extended deep work with a giant screen and whiteboard. This allows me to really let my brain spill out its crap and reorganize things. I call it my personal defrag time.

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The startup has also won a fully-funded tech trip to Singapore, and will get an opportunity to visit the likes of Facebook, Google and Microsoft

SomJot, a mobile parking app that helps vehicle owners find parking spaces in Cambodia, has been selected as the winner of SmartStart Young Innovator Program Cycle 2, organised by mobile telecom operator Smart Axiata, at Impact Hub Phnom Penh.

The startup has also won a fully-funded “tech trip” to Singapore, and will get an opportunity to visit the likes of Facebook, Google and Microsoft.

“Congratulations to SomJot for making substantial progress in the last six months, once again raising the bar for SmartStart in terms of output quality. Their pitch made us all proud of the tremendous efforts put into the program. Such an initiative proves that the Kingdom’s startup ecosystem is growing and being stimulated by great talent — it is a positive sign for our shared vision of Cambodia’s sustained digital economy,” said Thomas Hundt, CEO of Smart Axiata.

The four other teams in the finals were: Homex, a mobile app that connects users with household needs to reliable technicians; Haystome, an online platform that connects tourists with local artists for a truly authentic experience; Malis, a digital solution facilitating appointments at beauty salons; and Tos Rean, an online platform matching tutors and students.

Also Read: Startup of the Month, January: Vietnamese e-wallet service MoMo

All the five startups had received US$4,000 each and a six-month incubator programme with Impact Hub in June 2018.

Ny Chanpichmean from SomJot said: “My team and I have been working very hard to define our business model and develop our minimum viable product. Although we had to face many challenges in the last few months, we were grateful to have experienced mentors, Impact Hub and Smart, who guided us along the way. We look forward to build on this success as our digital product and service gains traction in Cambodia.”

Mélanie Mossard, Impact Hub Phnom Penh’s Director of Venture Support, said: “The quality and hard work on display in SmartStart Cycle 2 has been amazing. It has been great to see how these young university students have all responded to the advice and workshops during the incubation period. I really admire their commitment and desire to learn and get exposed to new networks and opportunities. We at Impact Hub can’t wait to see all the teams further develop their ideas and use our continuous support to guide them through their entrepreneurial journey.”

SmartStart is a 9-month programme by Smart and Impact Hub endorsed by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. The programme aims at enabling promising Cambodian university students to launch their digital business ideas. Shortlisted students undergo a hackathon, 5-day technopreneurship challenge, as well as intensive workshops to stand a chance to win US$4,000 cash and tailored support for six months with Impact Hub.

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Why be busy when you can be productive?

Work in an open office?

Too many meetings and events?

Can’t stop checking your phone?

Writing this article is ironic.

I know many people, including myself, who are guilty of spending more time reading about productivity than actually getting work done.

When we are unproductive, the chief culprit is our own mind: a hungry, voracious “toddler” that craves distraction.

While it’s hyper-productive in generating endless wants with limited stimuli, it’s unfortunately not productive in doing serious stuff. We may find ourselves with an entire hour to work, but if we see a cat video, our mind will get distracted and make us want to see more cats.

My main productivity rule is that it’s not about more time, but more attention⏤my preferred byword for discipline, willpower, focus, and concentration.

For our personal productivity system, I also believe that it’s less about the tools and more about the rules. First-world problems (e.g. our productivity) stem from abundance, not scarcity.

What matters is not access to more; rather, it’s how we filter the few.

Here are some ways we can prepare our brain to accept the tools that suit it best.

Social media is the new sugar

The first step?

Know thy enemy.

I can think of no finer founder than Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield to point out the problem of cognitive diabetes⏤that infinite loop of messages, emails, and notifications that impairs our mental abilities.
Let’s call a spade a spade: Social media is the new sugar.

It blocks our routines the way sugar clogs up our minds.

We need to start clearing this blockage; timebox your aimless browsing time.

Move social media apps inside a folder, then hide it a few screens away. Turn off push notifications for most apps, except important ones.

(At this point, I must stress that you do this, or any of my following rules, in gradual stages. Going cold turkey, like deleting your social media apps, won’t work. Ration it. Let your body and mind adjust.)

Routine = workflow + ‘lifeflow’

Mention “routine” and you might think “boring.”

But like it or not, humans are creatures of habit.

If you don’t have a fixed time, place, and sequence to work, the constant change in our physical and digital worlds will eat you up.

At my last job at Zendesk, we thought a lot about workflows of customer support teams.

When I did customer visits, what struck me wasn’t what they did inside our product, but what they did before, during, or after they use it.

The same applies to our work.

We need to think of the surrounding membrane of life activities, or “life-flow,” so productivity fits in naturally into our daily routine.

Think about the things you do before you actually start work⏤get coffee, play music, open laptop, then work.

Figure out this sequence so you fit into a seamless flow and, without much effort, comfortably land in work.

Shields up! Get into battle mode

Check in with my calendar and team to make sure no one needs me for the next hour or so.

Go to the restroom. Get water.

Wear earphones. Blast the same music.

Turn on Pomodoro timer app.

Turn on Do Not Disturb mode on phone (go Airplane Mode if you are hardcore). Put your phone face down so you won’t see it light up.

I swear this is literally my mini-routine when I really want to get stuff done; I call it my “deep work” mode, and it feels a lot like gearing up for war.

Sounds like a lot of work? Don’t be lazy.

That’s how you started reading this.

To-dos are baby food: shatter and downsize

Remember how I said our minds are like hungry, voracious toddlers that crave distractions?

This might be why to-do lists can be scary and our minds end up craving a sugary treat.

The trick is to imagine to-do lists as baby food: Break down a scary task into manageable bite-sized chunks. This lowers the fear factor and builds momentum.

Let’s say you are writing a monthly investor update and your metrics are shit.

Focus on the good news first. If that is still scary, come up with a micro-task such as creating a document and naming it “Monthly Investor Update.” Make this a task you write at the top of your to-do list.

Next, make the next micro-task “write two sentences.” Don’t care what they are and don’t edit them yet since you ain’t sending them.

Start your day feeling GREAT

Since young, many of us (especially males) are taught that emotions make us weak, but science has discovered that emotions play a significant role in our decision making.

This is why it is important to feel good at the start of your day.

Soften up your scary to-dos.

Prioritize a few micro-tasks at the top of your to-do list and bag a few quick wins. Even better, cross them off once done in the most satisfactory way possible, such as with a giant Sharpie marker or a big green tick.

Let the endorphins give your fuzzy mind a jolt of happiness!

Deadline yourself

If you hate happiness, go for its evil twin: fear.

We all know our worst enemy is ourselves. They all have the same name too: willpower (or rather, the lack of it).

My best work is done under a timeline.

Also Read: What I learned about procrastination while scaling my startup to 4.2M users

If you don’t have one, manufacture one. Promise a co-worker or your boss to deliver by a certain time. Make that person your accountability buddy.

Here, the scarier the better. Don’t get your good friend or partner who might just mollycoddle you. I use investors to scare myself into deep work.

Depending on your motivation style, pick the carrot or stick.

Train your mind: meditate

You must be sick of me comparing your brain to a baby by now, but that is why I meditate and built a meditation app, MindFi.

You may have heard of the “monkey mind,” or how much our conscious mind resembles an excitable child.

Fundamentally, meditation trains our minds’ attention muscle. It’s also why 80 per cent of successful leaders meditate (Tim Ferriss’ words, not mine).

For me, I meditate the moment after I wake up. No checking of overnight notifications, no social media, no bullshit.

Also Read: Startup of the Month, January: Vietnamese e-wallet service MoMo

I move from my bed to my chair (all about the routine!) and do my unguided meditation while tracking my EEG brainwaves with the Muse meditation headband.

While doing my routines throughout the day, I meditate or stay mindful with my eyes open.

No is the new Yes

In the age of FOMO, saying “no” is the new cool.

You’re only awake 16 to 18 hours per day; it would be a shame to spend most of them in aimless meetings.

Project updates, brainstorming, agenda-less meetings or just a plain “let’s grab coffee” are time wasters for you and the person you meet.

Restrict yourself to x amount of meetings per day. Ask politely for the agenda so you know how best to help them. Bunch meetings together by time. Locate them near each other to cut commute time.

The outcome?

Big chunks of uninterrupted time every day, for your own deep work or with your team. Every aimless meeting avoided is more time for your work.

I only take meetings at the very start or very end of my day. You will know if you are doing it right when you look at your calendar: a nice long uninterrupted streak of meetings within a condensed period of time (I love visual cues).

Paul Graham has an excellent article about this.

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There are thousands of products that you can use to help with productivity.

So what if you know the tools that Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos use daily for work and life?

The best tools are only as good as the hands (or mind) that wield them.

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

The post 8 productivity hacks to streamline your work-life appeared first on e27.

The funding for the Singapore-headquartered company is raised through convertible notes

Singapore-based Avanseus Holdings Pte Ltd, an Artificial Intelligence-based predictive maintenance software has raised US$1.3m bridging finance through convertible notes led by Singapore’s venture capital fund, TNB Aura. TNB Aura is joined by SEEDS Capital of Enterprise Singapore.

The convertible notes raised follows a successful seed funding round worth US$2.5 million.

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“The funds raised will support our ongoing global expansion, new customer delivery capabilities, and additional development of the company’s solution portfolio,” said Giuseppe Donagemma, Avanseus Chairman.

Avanseus first brought into the limelight when its solution AvanseusTM Cognitive Assistant manages to predict faults across telecommunications and other network types, with additional applications in manufacturing and IoT.

The company that specializes in building enterprise solutions driven by Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Computing was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Singapore with its research and development (R&D) and solution commercialization centre in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India. Its US entity was established in 2016.

The company’s current focus is Predictive Maintenance software, especially in the Telecom, Manufacturing, and IoT sectors. It has already been granted its first US Patent and three other patent applications pending.

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“Artificial Intelligence has been estimated to have a potential US$5.8 trillion annual impact and is a clear focus area for the TNB Aura Fund, so we are pleased with our investment in Avanseus,” said Vicknesh R Pillay, Co-founder and Managing Partner of TNB Aura.

Avanseus currently has customers in Europe, Asia, and South America with a number of trials in other markets already underway. Avanseus is now said to be preparing for a much larger Series A round.
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Taxumo is a business registration and tax computation filing and payment platform suited for self-employed professionals, sole proprietors and freelancers

At the end of every month, he saw his entrepreneur wife struggling and stressing about filing taxes for her startup, Manila Workshops. The filing process was so cumbersome and time-consuming that it took her attention away from her business, affecting its operations. Alas, in one instance, her previous accountant forgot to file her quarterly taxes in time and accomplish the bookkeeping requirements, which resulted in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) imposing hefty penalties on the company.

“My wife’s was not an isolated incident, but is a common problem across the Philippines,” EJ Arboleda told e27. “Many established and aspiring small business owners, as well as self-employed professionals are struggling with the company registration and tax filing formalities. In order to solve this problem, I built a simple online platform that automatically computed and filed her tax dues. To my delight, the solution worked.”

This is when Arboleda decided to convert the platform into a serious business venture.

Taxumo — established in December 2016 by the husband-wife duo of Arboleda (CEO) and Ginger Arboleda (CTO) — describes itself as an end-to-end online business registration and tax computation, filing and payment platform suited for self-employed professionals, sole proprietors and freelancers. One can easily register and renew her business and also compute, file and pay taxes with a few clicks. This, claims Arboleda, effectively reduces the time taken to file taxes from hours and even days to just a few minutes.

“With Taxumo in place, entrepreneurs can now focus on their core work; that is, building their careers and businesses, and stop worrying about the compliance side of their work,” he said.

In his on words, Taxumo’s advantage is that the founders understand the market well as they have gone through the same problems in the past. The platform basically caters to serve self-employed professionals, solo proprietors and freelancers (mixed income earners).

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As a startup, Taxumo faces many challenges, including catalysing and sustaining the momentum of growth. More than raising funds and hitting the profit targets, Taxumo wants to quickly address the needs of its intended market by offering more features that simplify the process for them.

“We also are big believers in investing in our people because we understand that their passion to serve the market will help in creating the best service for our subscribers. This means wisely allocating resources to achieve the goal, which frankly sounds easy for larger companies, but can be a challenge for a startup like us,” he shared.

Hiring is a major challenge for many startups. But for Taxumo, it was relatively easy since most of its team members were hired from the founders’ own networks. “The most important trait we want in a team member is her passionate belief in our purpose: to create inclusive economic growth by helping small businesses succeed and grow. This means we look for people who possess integrity. Our word is our bond. When we make a commitment, we do everything in our power to ensure that commitment is delivered,” he stated.

“We believe in people who possess healthy discontentment. We are not content with the status quo, and we constantly look for ways of working for ourselves and our customers that enable greater effectiveness and productivity,” shared Arboleda.

Asked about the Philippine startup community, Arboleda said it is on the right track, but there is still a huge room for improvement: “There’s still a huge room for improvement. While we see more innovative startups sprouting up, and we are glad to witness the success of Filipino startups getting substantial investments (like Coins.ph’s funding from Go-Jek), the Philippines still lags behind neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. Data from CB Insights revealed that the Philippines only received US$18 million worth of outsourced funding sometime in 2017, versus Indonesia’s US$2.9 billion.”

As he said funding is still a big challenge for Philippine startup. This is why Arboleda urges his fellow entrepreneurs to prepare themselves to dip into their own personal resources. “I suggest that people build their networks extensively before even deciding to found their startup; it gives you a necessary head-start that will determine the success of your company.”

He also feels that the startup community in the Philippines needs more support from the government, in order to compete with the likes of Singapore or Malaysia. He was, however, quick to add that the local startup community is lucky to have been given a tax break incentive through the Board of Investments’ Investment Priority Plan in 2017. “We hope more startups get to enjoy these, since the first few years are really the most difficult for any startup.”

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Explaining his vision for Taxumo, Arbeloda said that the venture aims to be the number one regulatory technology company in the Philippines: fuelling inclusive economic growth by helping small businesses succeed and grow.

“As of 2016, 63 per cent of the labour force in the Philippines are employed by MSMEs. By helping them focus on their core business and removing the pain and cost of compliance, we would be able to help them start and and thrive. In that way, Taxumo will become a key enabler to UNDP Goal No. 8: full and productive employment, and decent work, for all women and men by 2030,” he noted.

However, challenges to achieve this goal are galore. “We must keep constantly abreast with the changing needs of our intended market. Also, the government must continue supporting and encouraging the startup industry to thrive in the country, and make it easier for us to operate and reach our growth targets,” said the CEO.

What does the startup have in store for 2019? “Well, we have a lot of exciting new products and partnerships in the pipeline in 2019. Watch out for these,” Arboleda smiled, concluding the interview.

(Lyra Reyes significantly contributed to this story)

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Image Credit: Taxumo

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Also, Philippines releases new rules on acquiring cryptocurrency assets; LinkedIn says Sarawak and Kedah in Malaysia are where the tech talents hidden

 

LaLiga and GSIC launches global competition for soccer and sports solution startups [Press Release]

Spanish LaLiga with Global Sports Innovation Center (GSIC) presented by Microsoft has launched 2019 Startup Competition of The Original Inspiration Centre by LaLiga Supported by GSIC, starting on January 29, 2019. This initiative is a joint effort that aims to identify the best tech solution in sports and entertainment industry and champion digital talents for their innovative solutions in soccer, sports, and entertainment industry.

Since the agreement signed on September 2018, the competition is actively looking for solutions based on elements like media, fans involvement, smart venues, sports performance, and others like big data, artificial intelligence, even machine learning.

The registration is still open until March 30, 2019, and the competition will kickstart with the selection of 25 startups by judges from LaLiga, GSIC, dan Microsoft. The selected startups will present their proposals in May 2019 to qualify for top 10 finalists who will run pilot project alongside LaLiga.

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Benefits of joining include mentoring session, solution implementation, access to LaLiga’s on-development assets, joining orientation week in September, and cash to travel around Spain.

The Philippines releases new rules on acquiring cryptocurrency assets [Press Release]

The Philippines, through the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), has issued a comprehensive set of new rules on cryptocurrencies in a bid to effectively regulate and protect investors. It has approved the Digital Asset Token Offering (DATO) regulations that cover the acquisition of crypto assets, including utility and security tokens.

The Asia Blockchain and Crypto Association (ABACA) is designated as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) to help implement and enforce the new rules.

“It is our goal to provide a clear set of rules and guidelines that will foster innovation yet ensure proper compliance by actors in the ecosystem. It is our hope that these set of regulatory innovations will take the digital asset sector one step closer to adoption and acceptance by institutions and the traditional financial system,” said Sec. Raul Lambino, CEZA administrator and chief executive officer.

Under the rules, all DATOs must have proper offering documents with pertinent details on the issuer, project, and accompanying advice and certification of experts and DA Agents. Tokens must be listed on the licensed Offshore Virtual Currency Exchange (OVCE).

Furthermore, stakeholders must also have confirmed arrangements with accredited wallet providers and custodians.

The regulations cover three levels of DATO. Tier 1 involves assets and investments not exceeding US$5 million with payment made in digital tokens, followed by tier 2 that covers US$6 million to US$10 million in investments. Tier 3 covers investments exceeding US$10M.

Utility tokens, also known as app coins or user tokens, give holders future access to the products or services offered by a company. Security tokens, meanwhile, are backed by real assets such as equity, shares of a limited partnership company, or commodities, all are used to pay dividends, share profits, pay interest or invest in other tokens or assets to generate profits for the token holders.

Lambino said CEZA has built an ecosystem of OVCEs where tokens of issuers can be listed. CEZA and ABACA have also approved wallet providers and insured digital asset custodians to ensure proper storage and governance of investor proceeds.

ABACA, as a newly-appointed SRO, will help the government regulate cryptocurrency companies by effectively converting industry players into enforcers. The SRO is enforcing a code of conduct among the members and reports to CEZA any breach, violations, or any matters relating to OVCE rules and regulations.

Grab to host video streaming platform Hooq [Variety]

Grab plans to add one more option in its quest to become a super app: video streaming. Enter Hooq, the Asia-based video streaming platform, that’s reportedly locked a deal with Grab.

“Adding video was an obvious next step as we know that people want more services,” said Danny Koik, Grab’s head of regional partnerships.

The deal is a revenue-sharing agreement which operates on two levels in the four Southeast Asian territories: Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Hooq’s advertising-supported (AVoD) content will be available through a widget on the Grab app’s home page with three-month trial of Hooq’s premium VoD services and 17 pay-TV channels offers exclusive to Grab users.

LinkedIn says that Sarawak and Kedah are where the tech talents hidden [Business Insider]

LinkedIn just named Sarawak and Kedah, two Malaysian states as the place where most tech talents of the country reside. These states were identified by LinkedIn as the locations where the supply of tech talent actually exceeded demand, as stated in its 2019 Emerging Jobs in Malaysia Report.

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In its report, LinkedIn revealed top emerging jobs for the country, which are: data scientist, full stack engineer, drive test engineer, user experience designer, and content writer, all related to technology.

LinkedIn said the reason behind the surging demand for tech talent in Malaysia was primarily due to e-commerce, which Malaysia has been a “particularly early adopter” of – resulting in many organisations looking for tech talent to help take their businesses online.
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Photo by Jannes Glas on Unsplash

The post Today’s top tech news, January 31: Spanish LaLiga launches global startup competition looking for sports tech solution appeared first on e27.