As Bangladesh’s economy opens up, the talent that has left to work overseas are returning. And they are bringing in training, education and different business models that they are exposed to

Investors looking for the next rising star in Asia can look to Bangladesh, a market that isn’t quite on the venture capital radar as of yet, often overshadowed by its more established peers such as India.

On closer inspection, Bangladesh holds great potential to become the next tech frontier, with a small but vibrant startup community working hard to make life easier for the everyday Bangladeshi.

Why Bangladesh?

Bangladesh has had incredible economic growth, with gross domestic product reaching 8 percent last year. Its wealth to-date has been built on two main industries – garment production and overseas remittance.

It is the 8th largest country in the world by population – with a total population of 170 million, living in a country which is only the size of the state of New York. It is not just one of the densest countries in the world, but Dhaka, with 20 million people, is one of the densest cities in the world.

The mobile penetration continues to rise, and mobile internet penetration with it – slating to reach 41 per cent of the population by 2025.

Urbanisation is happening rapidly, and Dhaka’s infrastructure is bursting at the seams. With traffic moving at 7 kilometres an hour and only 3,000 buses plying the roads, the city is in dire need of transportation that is efficient, safe and cheap.

While commuters in Southeast Asia are already familiar with Grab and Gojek, the concept of ride-sharing was completely foreign to Bangladeshis back in 2016.

The idea that someone will pick you up at your doorstep and drop you off at your destination was completely unheard of. The cultural issue of sitting on a stranger’s bike, in a moderate Muslim country, was also pronounced – especially for women.

2015 saw the emergence of ride-hailing solutions in Bangladesh. What this also led to was a cultural and mindset change on how people were ready to commute. It also led to more jobs and hunger to tech talent in the country. Other industries like ecommerce, food delivery, fintech were soon to follow.

Bangladesh has around 90.501 million internet users, as of August 2018. So, ecommerce has huge opportunity to grow here.

With the improvement of living standard and fast-pace of bust urban life shopping behaviour of the consumers have shifted greatly.

One of the growing opportunities is secured payment technologies. It is most crucial for creating a positive mindset amongst the people towards e-commerce.

The most popular mode of payment for customers is still cash on delivery (COD) for ecommerce transactions, as customers are usually uncomfortable completing their transactions by using Digital Payment methods.

Currently in Bangladesh, the volume of e-commerce transactions is about Taka 1700 Crore per year (US$260 million). Still, around 90 per cent of e-commerce transactions are done on COD basis. To get the most out of e-commerce, the amount of online payment needs to be increased.

The startup environment in Bangladesh is nascent but very active, with 200 startups slated to launch every year, most of which are in e-commerce and software development, in a country of 170 million people.

With government-led initiatives like Startup Bangladesh which was launched in 2018, it is encouraging to see more support for entrepreneurship as a viable career choice and in promoting Bangladesh as a global hub for tech entrepreneurship.

Also Read: Manny Pacquiao endorses celebrity-curated licensing marketplace

Bangladesh is on its journey to become a Digital Nation. The “Vision 2021” of the present government aims to develop Bangladesh into a resourceful and modern economy through efficient use of information and communication technology.

Along with rapid internet adoption, tech savvy young generation, the commitment from the leaders is the most positive sign to build up a successful startup economy.

Key opportunity areas

Some startups have already made significant strides within Bangladesh. ShopUp, for instance, assists Facebook shop owners by providing services such as deliveries, shop management and loans. It secured an additional US$1.5 million^[5] in funding this year from Sequoia.

Deligram provides ecommerce service to rural consumers have recently secured 3 million in funding.

PraavaHealth, a telemedicine startup aiming to raise healthcare standards in Bangladesh, opened its first family health centre in Dhaka in 2017.

E-commerce is another pillar that is growing steadily in Bangladesh. Players like ajkerdeal.com or deligram.com, have in their own played a key role in growing the online experience, which again was nascent in this part of the world till a few years ago.

But as a fairly new entrant in Asia’s startup scene, some challenges remain. Bangladesh is an undercapitalised market – while there is abundant funding for seed stage and early-stage startups, later stage funding is hard to come from local investors.

Like for any growing industry, talent always remains an issue. Tech professionals always prefer their stable, high-paying jobs over joining startups, so good talent is hard to come by. Convincing them to make the switch is an uphill task.

Our startups are also very new to the nature of their work, figuring things out as they go along. That said, the startup community is closely-knit and are constantly sharing ideas. There isn’t a lot of competition as each startup is solving problem sets that are not only unique but are extensive.

And as Bangladesh’s economy opens up, the talent that has left to work overseas are returning. And they are bringing in training, education and different business models that they are exposed to.

Also Read: 36 crucial lessons I learned as a first-time manager

There isn’t a formal startup body that supports local founders as yet. But Bangladesh’s startup community frequently engages the local government in conversations about funding and investing in a local ecosystem.

A few local accelerators have also sprung up training first-time founders. The government is adamant in providing an environment for startups to thrive: it has built two high-tech parks, with three more coming on by 2020.

South Asia is increasingly becoming a hotspot for high growth, with growing interest from Chinese, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asian investors like Alibaba, Tencent, Openspace Ventures and more, who have been actively looking at South Asian startups, especially Bangladesh in recent years.

It only goes to show that it is a matter of time before Bangladesh achieves the success Southeast Asia is experiencing right now.

—

The author of the above is Hussain Elius, CEO & Co-Founder, Pathao.

Photo by rabby ahmed on Unsplash

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There was a significant drop off in visits between the first two platforms and Zalora

Three companies have consistently dominated the Philippine e-commerce market for the last two years since iPrice Group tracked e-commerce platforms’ monthly web visits and social media following in 2017: Lazada, Shopee, and Zalora.

Lazada scored a total average visit (desktop and mobile web) of 25,652,100 during the first quarter of the year, followed by Shopee with 15,373,900 and Zalora with 1,669,400. Argomall and eBay rounded up the top five list with 1,290,500 and 896,900 desktop and mobile web visits, respectively.

Lazada, Shopee and Zalora also emerged on top in a research done by iPrice Group in partnership with app analytics firm App Annie Intelligence on the most visited mobile applications in Q1 2019.

The question is why? And, perhaps, more importantly, how?

Lazada reigns supreme

While it is no surprise that Lazada’s hefty backing from giant Chinese company, Alibaba, has put it at an advantage in terms of having a solid war chest to support business strategies, the key to the company’s success lies in its ability to innovate and quickly adapt to its clients’ needs.

Lazada’s performance and its recent initiatives suggest that it understands its consumers: a fun, youthful generation adept in technology, constantly connected via social media, and always on the go.

To reach this market in the Philippines, the e-commerce company launched LazMall, in a bid to draw more attention to its mobile app with attractive shopping and entertaining content.

Launched in August 2018, we believe this additional feature played a pivotal role in helping it achieve the top spot in the country both in terms of total visits on desktop (and mobile web) and with the highest monthly active users on its app.

Harnessing the power of digital technology and pop culture appeal, Lazada created in-app games, i.e. Fruit Slash, Birthday Blast and Popping Balloons to keep users entertained for its week-long 7th birthday celebrations last March.

Winners were given redeemable vouchers as rewards. Also, the company staged a Super Party in Jakarta, Indonesia last March 27 featuring international popstar Dua Lipa and Ms. Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach.

It live streamed the concert to allow more customers from all over Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, to be part of the celebrations.

Lazada reported that by the time it wrapped up its week-long celebration, it had garnered over 318 million visits to its platform. The Super Party drew 12 million views both in-app and on television, while a total of 2.5 million people played the games.

Also Read: Why Bangladesh is the next frontier for tech investment

No wonder App Annie registered the highest monthly active users via mobile apps for Lazada in the Philippines in Q1 2019. Its e-commerce platform also ranked highest in terms of total average visits on desktop and mobile web during the first quarter.

Shopee catches up

Meanwhile, Shopee consistently plays second fiddle to its key competitor with roughly 15.4 million visits to its e-commerce platform in Q1 2019. App Annie also ranks it second in mobile app visits.

Despite being among the youngest platforms in the Philippines, Shopee has become one of the fastest growing e-commerce company in the country and in the Southeast Asian region.

It continues to expand its online catalogue of products from the current three million listings, according to Shopee’s regional marketing head, and does well in increasing its brand recall and maintaining its edge over other international and local players.

Shopee placed second in the most number of social media followers (14.4 million on Facebook, 294,400 on Instagram and 17,500 on Twitter) based on iPrice Group’s data.

This e-commerce player can be expected to catch up fast on innovations to increase its market share, as funder Sea is raising up to $1.5 billion to support its businesses.

Techcrunch reported last March that “Sea would use the capital for ‘business expansion and other general corporate purposes.”

Given that Sea’s main focus recently is Shopee, majority of the funds will likely be allocated to the e-commerce company.

Local faces for Zalora

Landing third place in the list is Zalora, as it tailors its marketing strategies to suit the Filipino fashion style and win more loyal followers.

More than just offering designs from global brands, it has partnered with Philippines’ fashion and social media icons Georgina Wilson-Burnand, Isabelle Daza-Semblat, Liz Uy, and Solenn Heussaff-Bolzico for an exclusive collection under the label, the__edit.

Interestingly, it grabbed second place in the most number of Twitter followers (29,000) and ranked third for Facebook (7,719,000) and Instagram (181,800).

Adopting a local face is a boost to the brand, allowing it to appeal to the novel Filipino aesthetics and fashion sense.

Popular US, Chinese apps 

Finally, securing the fourth and fifth spot as most visited mobile apps based on App Annie’s data are Amazon and AliExpress.

E-commerce empire, Amazon, has penetrated markets around the world. In the Philippines, customers turn to this company for products not available locally.

Similarly, Chinese e-commerce companies such as AliExpress are becoming prominent in the Asian region considering its proximity and its readiness to offer products not available in the Philippine market.

Its strong performance can also be attributed to the increasing popularity of Chinese sale events such as 11.11 or the Singles’ Day in November.

The Philippines has a total population of 107 million and 71% of which has access to the internet and social media based on Hootsuite and We Are Social’s 2019 digital report.

Also Read: Manny Pacquiao endorses celebrity-curated licensing marketplace

As the country further develops its technology infrastructure—increasing internet speed and connectivity—it promises exponential growth for e-commerce businesses to flourish in the coming years.

——

Please click on one of the links below to view the data in detail for each country. More findings in the overall Map of E-commerce Report for Q1 2019.  

We are always happy to share our insights with our clients, the press, academia and more. Should you decide to utilise our data or visuals, please attribute us by including this sentence “From the Map of E-commerce, iPrice Group, April 2019” with a hyperlink to one of these URLs: 

Indonesia: https://iprice.co.id/insights/mapofecommerce/en/  

Vietnam: https://iprice.vn/insights/mapofecommerce/en/ 

Thailand: https://ipricethailand.com/insights/mapofecommerce/en/ 

Philippines: https://iprice.ph/insights/mapofecommerce/en/ 

Malaysia: https://iprice.my/insights/mapofecommerce/ 

Singapore: https://iprice.sg/insights/mapofecommerce/ 

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The new US$100M fund aims to invest in 60 new companies with an initial check size of about US$500K

Wavemaker Partners, Southeast Asia’s leading early-stage VC firm focussed on enterprise and deep-tech startups, today announced the first close of its third fund at US$60 million.

The firm targets to make the final close at US$100 million.

Blue chip institutions such as Pavilion Capital, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Temasek invested in the fund together with the family offices of the Co-founders of Microsoft (Vulcan) and Facebook (EE Capital). Other investors include Singapore’s Keppel Corporation, multi-family office Aglaia Family Office, and Lance Gokongwei, CEO of top Philippine conglomerate JG Summit Holdings.

The new fund aims to invest in 60 new companies with an initial check size of about US$500,000.

Also Read: Why Bangladesh is the next frontier for tech investment

Paul Santos, Managing Partner for Wavemaker Partners Southeast Asia, said in a blog post titled ​Conviction & Momentum​. “Most VCs in Southeast Asia invest in consumer tech, and we’re grateful to have had our share of consumer success with Luxola (acquired by LVMH) and Coins.ph (acquired by Gojek).”

“However, 88 out the 109 investments we’ve made since 2012 have been in enterprise and deep tech startups (about 81 per cent). This is where we’ve built our experience, expertise, and network. This is where our conviction and momentum have grown. With this new fund, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to work with many of the best enterprise and deep tech founders in the region,” he added.

Wavemaker has built a wide-ranging portfolio across industry verticals (e.g. financial services, healthcare, food/agriculture), horizontal processes (e.g. HR, sales & marketing, cybersecurity), and technologies (AI, IoT, additive manufacturing). Companies that have received funding from the VC firm include Zilingo​, ThinCI​, Moka,​ and ​CashShield​. Other companies showing promising traction include L​ynk​, Wavecell,​ Red Dot Payment,​ ​Structo,​ ​Growsari,​ ​Igloohome​, and Silent Eight.​

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One trick? Don’t make them supply their own office supplies

To survive and thrive in the 21st century, many businesses are finding it necessary to pivot to a remote work model where their employees are free to achieve from the comfort of their living rooms.

Despite the increased reliance on remote workers we’ve witnessed across the market recently, some entrepreneurs and established corporate professionals don’t know where to begin when it comes to adapting the company structure for remote workers.

Attracting and retaining the best remote workers, in particular, is proving nearly impossible for some business owners.

Here’s how to make your business irresistible to remote workers, and what you’ll need to do to keep them around in the long run.

Give remote workers what they need to succeed

It should go without saying that you need to give your remote workers the tech they need to succeed, yet many businesses are still expecting remote workers to supply themselves with office equipment.

While this may seem like a nifty way of cutting down on the costs of doing business, you’re really harming yourself in the long run by restraining your remote workers’ ability to get their hands on the tech they need to stay in constant contact with you.

If communication isn’t regularly maintained, remote work schemes quickly break down, so it’s imperative that you invest thoroughly in the tech you’ll be giving to your employees.

You should take some time to read up on the best tech tools that are changing the world of remote work if you want to avoid wasting your money on a shoddy investment that produces lackluster results.

Sometimes, you’ll need to look at what others in the marketplace are doing to make the right call yourself and figuring out how other companies are outfitting their remote workers is a great way to get your own remote work program rolling if you’ve been having a rough start.

Besides giving employees the tech they’ll need to stay in touch with their managers and collaborate with one another effectively, you also need to focus on training them in necessary areas while fostering a positive company culture.

Learning how to train remote workers

You’ll quickly discover that training remote workers is fundamentally different than training traditional employees. Besides the fact that remote workers demand digital training procedures thanks to their distant nature, they’ll also need special guidance from managers when it comes to steering them towards profitability.

Learning how to train remote workers begins with modifying your existing training regime to accommodate a remote workforce and developing specific training regimes from there.

Also Read: Malaysia’s PolicyStreet gets central bank approval for financial advisory

All the money you spend training your workers will be wasted if you don’t have a positive company culture which values their efforts and makes it clear that their contributions to the team are highly valued, however.

This is why it’s imperative you don’t get too caught up in running constant training exercises and instead focus on instilling a culture of continuous learning where workers should never feel ashamed to ask for help or begin nurturing an underdeveloped skill.

You need to help them with the loneliness

If you really want your business to be irresistible to remote workers, you need to work hard to help them with the loneliness that’s a natural part of the equation when it comes to remote work.

Staying away from others and working from the comfort of your bedroom has serious perks, and not just their ability to avoid work injury.

Employees who are remote workers are often much more efficient than their traditional counterparts and must necessarily be self-starters who can manage themselves to some extent.

Nonetheless, remote work can be lonely and result in worker burnout much faster than traditional employment schemes, so companies that don’t work hard to destress their workers and make them feel appreciated will soon suffer the consequences.

If you’re committed to avoiding burnout culture and helping your remote workers succeed, you should take some time to learn about how you can help them avoid burnouts and retain robust social lives despite their remote employment status.

Also Read: Why Bangladesh is the next frontier for tech investment

Often, constant communication is the key to success, as managers who leave remote workers to wallow by themselves are effectively setting them up for failure. Making sure that your team leaders are still constantly engaging with your workers is one of the most important elements of making your business irresistible to remote workers, who will come to value the compassion your company demonstrates.

Finally, don’t think you can stiff remote workers just because they’re not in the office. Many entrepreneurs view remote workers as a means to trim down their workforce and save money, but the idea that you shouldn’t fairly compensate someone because they’re not working on your office but instead are at home is absurd.

Companies which stiff remote workers will soon have more than a strike on their hands – they’ll have a tarnished reputation. Keep your pay rates attractive and competitive, and you’ll soon find the doors of your business being flooded by remote workers seeking employment.

—

Photo by Anton Shuvalov on Unsplash

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With resounding success and huge demands in Taiwan, TAIRA 2019 is designed to bring in global AI startups to grow and explore business opportunities with corporations in Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP)

TAIRA 2019 is officially launched.

A programme dedicated to establishing STSP to become an international innovation ecosystem by partnering with global startups

TAIRA, which stands for Taiwan AI x Robotics Accelerator, is a joint programme co-curated by Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) and StarFab Accelerator. It is the most well-established corporate innovation accelerator in Taiwan, and it officially kickstarted at the TAIRA 2019 launch press conference in InnoVEX, the startup arm of Asia’s Iconic B2B exhibition, COMPUTEX TAIPEI.

Several ecosystem key players have been invited to partake in this grandeur launch and co-work together to provide more international resources to accelerate the growth of STSP startup ecosystem – representing Taiwanese corporations, technology platforms, and investors, The Allied Association for Science Park Industries, Cloud Computing & IoT Association in Taiwan, Taiwan ITRI New Venture Association, and other international startup builders like TNB Aura, FocusTech Ventures, Bangkok Bank InnoHub, ParticleX, Infinity Ventures (IVP), Sphere 5200.

What is TAIRA (Taiwan AI x Robotics Accelerator)?

The founding story behind TAIRA can be traced back to 2017, when STSP and StarFab started supporting and enabling corporation-startup matchmaking, helping startups to secure over US$110 million in funding and close to US$20 million deal tractions along the way.

Since then, STSP and StarFab saw the great potential and unfulfilled gap between corporations and startups, leading to the decision to pilot the TAIRA programme in 2018. The TAIRA programme intends to facilitate collaborations by partnering with corporations to combine domain expertise with new and innovative technologies.

With that said, in 2019, STSP and StarFab have committed to putting in more resources to connect international accelerators and venture capital with the southern Taiwan startup ecosystem. This includes test beds for corporate collaborations, technical platforms, and funds to further equip AI startups with business and fundraising opportunities to expand in the Taiwan market, increasing market shares and acquiring more clients.

Why TAIRA 2019 and how to apply

In the press conference, Amanda Liu, StarFab CEO, mentioned that building on the foundations of existing industries in southern Taiwan, TAIRA 2019 has invited numerous corporations from smart manufacturing, smart healthcare, smart banking, and smart agriculture sectors to come onboard.

The key role that TAIRA 2019 plays is to partner with corporations to come up with current corporate problem statements and provide a test bed, where they can work with startups to validate different innovative ideas and technologies. This will pave the way for STSP and StarFab to reach out and bring in overseas startups with relevant and qualified technology capabilities to co-work and transform the current industry.

This year, TAIRA 2019 programme will be inviting global startups with applied AI technologies/products to work with several world-class southern Taiwan tech corporations, including United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), Castec International, AllRing-Tech (ART), Chi Mei Hospital, Taiwan Stipendiary and King’s Town Bank.

The top shortlisted startups will have the chance to receive up to US$64,000 research & development grants and product/technology development support from IBM, AWS, GCP, NVIDIA, Advantech, Epistar, Himax, Chunghwa Telecom, and Mighty Net.

TAIRA 2019 calling for global startups NOW

“TAIRA 2018 acts as a stepping stone for us to fine-tune the accelerator programme, and make TAIRA 2019 more comprehensive,” highlighted Director-General Wei-Chen Lin of the Southern Taiwan Science Park in the press conference.

TAIRA is not just an accelerator programme, but a holistic online-to-offline innovation platform designed to support local Taiwan corporations to work hand-in-hand with global AI startups. The platform will enable participants to co-create and explore business opportunities based on corporate internal growing demands, to further advance the current industries.

If you are an AI startup, keen to work with Taiwan tech corporations and expand to Taiwan market, then you are the right fit! TAIRA 2019 will be accepting startup applications until June 30. For more information, please check out the TAIRA website here: http://www.tairax.com.tw/index.aspx.

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Joining Chiang Mai Smart Mobility Alliance Network, the initiative signed by Grab seeks to bring cleaner mobility solutions for Thais

Grab announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with partners from both government and private sector organisations to establish the Chiang Mai Smart Mobility Alliance Network. By doing so, Grab marked the launch of GrabTukTuk Electric, which the company claimed to be the first in Southeast Asia.

With GrabTukTuk, Grab will work to integrate electric vehicles into the Tuk Tuk network. The goal is to reduce pollution from private vehicles by 35 per cent, which is the part of the public-private partnership.

Users in Chiang Mai can start booking their GrabTukTuk Electric ride from the Grab app.

“Over the past year, we have improved the infrastructure in the Nimmanhaemin area under the ‘Smart Nimman’ project where the development of transportation has been our top priority so as to increase the efficiency of public transportation, reduce air pollution, elevate the quality of life for the people and move towards Smart Mobility.”

“The Chiang Mai Smart Mobility Alliance Network will thus be key to unlocking the full potential of both the public and private sectors to drive Chiang Mai forward and become one of the first smart cities in Thailand,” said Wirun Panthewee, Deputy Governor of Chiang Mai.

Based on statistics from the Energy Conservation Laboratory (EnConLab), KMUTT, one electric TukTuk is estimated to reduce the emission of greenhouse gas by up to 4.18 tons per year.

Also Read: How Solve Education wants to help a billion people

GrabTukTuk Electric also allows locals and tourists to easily book this transport through the Grab app. The new service is also expected to create better income-earning opportunities for GrabTukTuk Electric driver-partners as it allows them to save 80 per cent in fuel costs (costs only THB1,400 to charge an electric TukTuk compared to THB6,000 monthly fuel expenses).

GrabTukTuk Electric service is part of Grab’s long-term push into environmentally friendly transportation options such as electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles across Southeast Asia for a more sustainable mobility network. Grab claimed that it operates the largest network of eco-friendly vehicles in Southeast Asia and welcomes partnerships with city governments and industry partners to drive greater adoption of electric vehicles across the region.

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STP claims its platform allows for the transparent tokenisation of any asset, which will improve the way digital assets behave and how individuals interact with them

Standard Tokenization Protocol (STP), an open-source standard and decentralised network for the tokenisation and issuance of any asset, has announced that it in May closed a US$7M financing round with investors, including Singapore-based NEO Global Capital, Beijing-based fund BlockVC, and crypto-asset investment company Alphabit Fund.

Additionally, the Singapore-based company has announced it will be conducting its initial exchange offering (IEO) on Bittrex International, a digital assets trading platform. Interested and qualified users can participate in the STP IEO via Bittrex, starting at 10pm SGT on Tuesday, June 11th. The token sale will end at 10pm SGT on Tuesday, June 12th, or once the total supply is sold if earlier.

Also Read: Grab launches GrabTukTuk Electric in Chiang Mai for greener transportation

Mike Chen, Founder and CEO of STP, said: “We decided to go with Bittrex because their community, like ours, is global, and the platform allows users to purchase more tokens in comparison to other IEO platforms. With the help of Bittrex, we will be able to unlock trillions of dollars of value using the STP-Standard.”

STP was co-founded by Sinhae Lee and Richard Lee.

STP claims its platform allows for the compliant and transparent tokenisation of any asset, which will improve the way digital assets behave and how individuals interact with them. Tokenised assets in the STP ecosystem are enabled with new asset features that eliminate the hassle of manual and labour-intensive back-end processes.

STP helps lower the barrier to entry for accessing digitally native assets by allowing for fractional ownership, thereby removing illiquidity discounts and creating flexibility for the assets.

Use cases

Issuers can use STP to execute the tokenisation of their assets. STP’s on-chain Compliance Validator ensures global compliance at all times, giving issuers various financing options: the liquidity of an IPO, the speed and efficiency of an ICO, and the compliance assurances of a regulated offering.

Retail investors will be able to access new STP-Standard token offerings through the mobile app as well as wealth management tools for managing their STP-Standard token holdings. This single platform for all STP offerings will help individuals find and invest in the right projects for them, while helping projects reach the right audience and grow their communities.

The STP token also enables new financial tools such as onchain crowdfunding, where investors access new offerings by sending STP tokens directly to a smart contract which automatically returns the new STP-Standard token to the investor.

Photo by Storm on Unsplash

 

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Ever wonder how to get an MVP off the ground? This is a nice first-person account of the process

Hi, I’m Nicholas Lim, the Co-Founder of Outside — a community tasking app that makes it easier for people to help each other with their daily inconveniences.

The Outside team is made out of students and fresh graduates who are passionate about tech and the sharing economy. We have previously attempted several business ideas together and ultimately got back together to build Outside.

The Beginning

I met my co-founder and friend, Dion, back at a social entrepreneurship program in secondary school. After graduation, we decided to try starting up businesses together. Within a few years, we attempted 6 different ideas, ranging from tech enabled crowdsourcing, sustainability, gaming, to even contract jobs and events.

After testing out multiple concepts, we finally arrived at the idea of creating a platform that would make it easier for people to help each other. Thus, Outside was born.

Like most people who lack the ability to build an app themselves, we resorted to outsourcing. However, the experience was not the best. The constant check-ins with the outsourced developers were very time consuming and the development process took 3 months longer than what was planned.

Worst of all, the app did not perform as expected. The 6 months of designing and gathering feedback led to more functions, and building more functions led to a much bigger price tag.

The constant unexpected delays and changes were slowly diminishing our savings. Soon, we realised that we had to raise more money or drop the app.

As 20 year-olds, this was the toughest decision that we had to make. We considered borrowing money and even tried to apply for bank loans (the banks obviously rejected). Ultimately, with rising tensions and tighter finances, we had no choice but to let go of the app.

Leveling up

However, soon after, Dion and I felt that it was possible to pick up programming by ourselves to save the app.

After numerous research, as well as four-to-five months of tumbling around and attempting two different frameworks (Dartlang+Flutter and React Native), we finally created a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) that performed the basic function of tasking and task management.

The journey was not at all smooth. While building the app, we hit roadblocks such as learning the wrong language and had difficulty seeking help. We failed to hit our targets and the release for private beta was pushed back for nearly 3 months.

While rushing for the private beta release, we were constantly in the office up till the last available bus home. This routine of pushing ourselves only resulted in burning out and increased tensions within the team.

After realising the detrimental effects of our working style, we agreed on building a proper work schedule and system to better manage our work process ( You can learn more about it here ). With everything in place, we managed to launch our private beta in December 2018.

Also Read: Grab launches GrabTukTuk Electric in Chiang Mai for greener transportation

While we also initially intended for our public beta to launch in December, we received several crucial feedback and noted problems from our private beta testers. This led to us making the decision of doing a controlled scale test instead. Doing so allowed us to focus on understanding our current testers and helped us in better adding value to the app.

After fixing up issues and restructuring the app we successfully (and proudly) launched the public beta of Outside in February 2019.

Side note: we were very lucky and thankful that we were given the opportunity to both open our first booth and pitch for the finals at Unicon Arena 2019. We came in as runner up within 48 hours of our launch too yay!

Whats Next

Although we have already launched our public beta, we are still very much at The Start of our journey. We recently onboarded new members and are currently preparing for our demo day in mid April!

We are currently getting more beta testers so that we can collect more feedback to improve on the product. There are also several pretty interesting functions coming down the pipeline that we are very excited to share!

Also Read: Asset tokenisation platform STP Network raises US$7M; to launch IEO on Bittrex

We can’t wait to see how you guys react to them. In the meantime, keep an eye OUT for us!

—

Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash

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In a world of heightened stress and anxiety, make sure you’re creating a healthy work environment where everyone can thrive

The state of the world has been extremely turbulent, with people experiencing fires, war, earthquakes and other tragedies, in addition to an increasingly competitive working environment. Lately, people have been experiencing more stress and anxiety in their lives than ever before. Some people reach for meditation apps, go to yoga sessions or take breaks to travel internationally. Humanity appears to be constantly seeking peace in its heart.

Through my experience as a startup founder, I’ve realised that mental health issues are especially prominent among founders and people who play major roles in entrepreneurial endeavors. After addressing my own mental health and witnessing many of my close founder friends sink into depression, I have taken steps to ensure my company sustains a healthy work environment in order for everyone to thrive.

Let go of negative influences

I founded Humm.ly six months ago with several others. I trusted one particular team member wholeheartedly, overlooking some questionable behaviours because I thought his skills and talent would be valuable to the team. They delivered impeccable work whenever needed. I let him lead an entire project because I trusted his high standard of work. However, trying to get a startup going can be perilous. They were highly critical of other employees in circumstances that called for patience. Gradually, this person’s temper discouraged almost everyone in the company. I was afraid to start frank conversations with him because of unreasonable criticisms and arguments. It was a difficult realisation for me. I had to convince myself that having him as a leader in the company would significantly slow down work performance and impact others’ job satisfaction. After a lot of consideration and consultation with more experienced startup founders, I made the difficult decision to let them go. Even though I had sympathy for him, his departure ultimately prevented negativity from spreading to other team members.

Encourage physical wellness

Years of research shows that physical activity can reduce anxiety and depression for healthy adults. Yet, exercising regularly can be difficult, especially when starting a new company and experiencing high levels of stress. During the beginning of my startup life, I experienced tremendous weight gain, living on spicy ramen and late-night delivery options. One of my founding members ate Big Macs for a month straight! This was not the image we wanted to present, especially with a mission to promote healthy lifestyles for our users. I encouraged the team to sign up for boxing and yoga classes with me. I reminded them to eat healthfully and sleep well every day.

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We have been able to maintain medium- to high-intensity exercise routines ever since then. If you are worried about how to keep your team motivated to accomplish fitness goals, lead by example. You can initiate a great sense of well-being within your company by creating opportunities for regular exercise and fitness partnerships within your team. I’ve seen that with a proper routine, memory recall and creativity can increase and team members can feel more relaxed and positive about themselves and their lives, potentially increasing their performance and attitude at work.

Develop meaningful one-to-one communication

The most challenging thing in my startup experience so far has been managing the emotional highs and lows over the past several months. Although the ups and downs are a natural part of building a new company, it’s crucial to keep track of all team members’ well being, especially during the initial development of the business. I have found that regular one-to-one meetings are valuable for building rapport between you and the individuals you work with every day. Get coffee, go for lunch, hike and even take spontaneous trips with the team member you want to check in with. One-to-one communication can develop trust, increase productivity, and support the team’s alignment and development of a shared mental model.

Foster a supportive and positive culture

Creating a supportive and positive culture became the most important priority for my company after stress and burnout caused internal discord and issues with team members. Although startups are always pushing to meet crucial deadlines, it is ultimately more important to reinforce your team and support them in going the extra mile. You want to help your team feel welcome, secure in their position and valued within the company. Lead by example and set a positive tone through supportive behaviours. As you build relationships with team members and grow your company’s culture, over time you will create a supportive and positive place that people love working at.

Competition in the startup world can be brutal. If founding team members are constantly overwhelmed and not receiving support for mental or physical wellness, the company could crumble. Every founder should consider working on their own skills, including mindfulness, listening, clear communication and empathy. The team and the company will benefit from their founder leading by example, resulting in longevity, prosperity and happiness for all involved.

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Joanna Yu
Founder and CEO of Humm.ly

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

Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash

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Never lose sight of your vision, always stay true to your DNA

The public relations (PR) firm I work at, Asia PR Werkz, is 23 years old, making it one of the oldest in Singapore. Contrary to deriving our own ethos, the way we think and act has been shaped by working with so many founders.

Our firm works across several PR verticals such as government, property, education, consumer and most recently, startups. But, unlike other firms, we aren’t as ‘traditionally-tuned’.

How did this happen?

Along the years, I started to see our firm’s startup accounts team (myself included) thinking more like a startup and less like a PR firm. Was it the founders working closely with us that made us think this way? Or was it the startup media? We didn’t know.

When we started working with some of these startups, they were young, nimble, small teams with a single country presence. Their story was different, and so was their stage of growth.

They compelled us to think non-traditionally, just like how they broke barriers when they first got off the ground.

Over the years as they grew, so did we. When they expanded regionally, we realised it was imperative for us to then study and understand the media landscape in the region. We needed to be as nimble and agile as them. Being adaptable became one of our key strengths.

What makes a startup grow exponentially?

Just over a year ago, this startup was half its current size and was only in one market outside Singapore. So, did they get lucky? Did they do something right? Was it because of the industry they were in? Was it their team dynamic? Did their DNA play a role in their growth?

I would say all of the above.

Without a doubt, the founder always plays the key role of sitting in the driver’s seat. They set the pace and define the ‘DNA’ of their firms. We often meet founders who are extremely passionate and in a big rush to build their brand.

For startups, PRs can be an important tool during growth to build up credibility.

Establishing a brand is easier said than done today. In the earlier days, when I was a young PR practitioner, all it took to build a brand were a few press releases, key editor meetings and top line advertising.

Fast-forward 20 years and today, building brands require help from PR firms, digital marketing, top line advertising, events, trade shows, below the lines and what not. This can truly be an overwhelming feat for founders who have never done brand building before or startups that have just begun to scale.

Building up the brand’s origin story on the home ground becomes key as this leads to pure brand and image building.

Some questions founders often ask when we meet for the first time include: “When should I start doing Public Relations? How will it affect my growth? Will it help me attract talent? Will my investors be influenced?”, and “how long will this all take?”

Also Read: Learning from early failures: Inside our startup Outside

Unfortunately, these questions will only continue getting more complex as the startups begin to scale. The startup needs to be taken across multiple markets while still keeping true to the story and, the biggest challenge would be to hold the narrative close to the DNA of the firm and never be in a rush to get it done.

We believe that our DNA comes from how the founders think, where they want to get to (sadly this is often more short term than long term), how their story can be best portrayed with the brand, how we can ensure consistency, who we are impacting and how effective we are in building the brand.

We often tell the founders that large corporations have the luxury of time and money to build a brand. Unfortunately for startups, that journey is short and has to be done right. Most campaigns need to focus on business challenges with clear goals and impacts.

Sometimes, the tactical short-term campaigns can have deep influences on the long-term growth of the firm, as long as the strategy is clear and effective.

For example, about a year ago during a casual catch up with one of our founders, he discussed some of the challenges he faced at a business level in another market where the firm was scaling. He revealed that he now saw how social impact had been a key player for their growth and their potential to grow even bigger.

Hearing this first-hand got our minds ticking. After all, there was a problem the startup was striving to solve and identifying it and quantifying the impact was the answer.

The same issue could have come to us in a page-long brief but we doubt we would have understood it as clearly then. The founders play a key role in helping us stay close to that DNA.

The campaign development went on for a year across multiple cities and played a crucial role in accelerating the pace and growth for that firm in a market. It’s just a small example of how the non-traditional approach works for startups and how just one campaign can have such a deep impact on the business.

A founder’s key role is never to lose sight of the idea that got them this far. Focusing on short-term business goals is important but linking it back to the overall business goal is more critical.

From launching a product to on-boarding a key partnership, all these factors are slowly bringing the firm closer to its core identity; its DNA — the reason why it even took shape.

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To bring out the overall message and give context to the problems you are trying to solve is truly the role of public relations. And, to build up a brand from scratch is that of the startup’s.

A startup is usually borne out of a wild idea, over a coffee in a café or beer in a bar. If that idea got you this far, make sure you never lose sight of it as it is the core purpose of your startup’s existence.

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Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

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