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.

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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.

Also Read: Singapore Medical Group backs the launch of telehealth platform HiDoc

“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.

Also Read: Lufthansa Innovation Hub opens Singapore office, aims to boost Asia’s travel & mobility tech

“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).

Also Read: 5 things startups should know about Corporate Venture Capital

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.”

Also Read: The culture of Echelon is the biggest draw for both speakers and participants alike

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.

Also Read: Lufthansa Innovation Hub opens Singapore office, aims to boost Asia’s travel & mobility tech

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.

Also Read: Singapore Medical Group backs the launch of telehealth platform HiDoc

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

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The Indonesian startup raises the funding syndicated by East Ventures, SMDV, Pavilion Capital, Agaeti Venture Capital, Insignia Ventures Partners, and some angel investors

Fore Coffee, an on-demand specialty coffee startup based in Indonesia, has announced a fresh funding raised from East Ventures. Joining East Ventures’ investment are SMDV, Pavilion Capital, Agaeti Venture Capital, Insignia Ventures Partners, and some angel investors.

The company said that it will use the fresh fund to accelerate more innovation to provide high-quality and seamless online-to-offline customer experience – which include good, easy to find, fast service, and friendly prices coffee.

Also Read: Singapore Medical Group backs the launch of telehealth platform HiDoc

Furthermore, Fore Coffee said it will also invest in high technology machine to develop new products.

As of today, Indonesia is in fact the second largest land plantation for coffee in the world right after Brazil. However, its productivity index is only able to produce 520 kg/HA lower compared to Vietnam with 2,445 kg/HA, making Indonesia sits at number 4 coffee exporter among “The Bean Belt” countries.

Fore Coffee was born with the belief that Indonesia can do better. Fore Coffee, founded by Robin Boe, Jhoni Kusno, and Elisa Suteja, aims to revitalise Indonesia specialty coffee, especially Arabica beans.

“We decided to use only Arabica beans, which translate to higher income for the local farmer, with a certified organic farm and certified fair trade. We roast the bean locally to keep its freshness, brewed by trained barista, and deliver it as and when the consumer wants it. We use the mix of technology, our self-built mobile app and existing built technology to track and monitor payment, loyalty platform, and distribution platform,” said Robin Boe, CEO of Fore Coffee.

“Fore Coffee is a new kind of SME that won’t be able to exist in Indonesia a couple years ago. But today, the mature digital ecosystem in Indonesia has allowed it to answer the question: ‘how could we improve the Indonesian coffee industry’s value chain in today digital economy context?’,” said Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner East Ventures.

Also Read: Lufthansa Innovation Hub opens Singapore office, aims to boost Asia’s travel & mobility tech

Fore Coffee online to offline strategy integrates technology such as mobile application and the presence of their retail stores. One Fore Coffee outlet serves orders for 24 hours and is said to be the first coffee chain that has drive-through facilities.

Fore Coffee currently has 16 outlets located in major malls across Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Startup of the Month aims to highlight the achievements of the Southeast Asian startup that has reached new milestone that month

The results are in –and e27 Community has voted Vietnamese e-wallet service MoMo as Startup of the Month!

The initiative was meant to highlight the achievements of a particular Southeast Asian startup that has reached new milestone that month. The results are based on a poll conducted in the e27 Telegram Group every end of the month.

MoMo stole our attention when it raised an undisclosed Series C funding round led by global private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Though the figures were undisclosed, and has been reported to be at around US$100 million, the company has become one of the first Vietnamese startups to raise a late-stage funding round. Proving the great potential and promise for the market.

MoMo plans to use the new funding to expand within the Vietnam market, so we can expect to hear more from them this year.

Also Read: Uber strikes its first m-payments partnership in Southeast Asia with a deal with Vietnam’s MoMo

In addition to MoMo, we would also like to announce Indonesia-based new retail startup Warung Pintar as the runner-up for the Startup of the Month title.

The startup has recently announced a partnership with Southeast Asian ride-hailing and fintech giant Grab, following a US$27.5 million Series B funding round that it announced less than a week before.

Perhaps Warung Pintar will have the chance to win the top position of Startup of the Month in the coming months?

To participate the vote, and other exciting activities, feel free to join our Telegram Group!

Congratulations to MoMo and runner-up Warung Pintar!

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Employee engagement is crucial for a company’s success

Companies that have a high percentage of highly engaged employees consistently outperform their competitors.

Engaged employees are highly involved, enthusiastic about their work and personally invested in the success of the company. They take ownership of their work and are the driving force for innovation and performance in most organisations.

Employees are a primary source of competitive advantage for your company.

However, Human Resource (HR) managers are under pressure to prove that they can make a difference – their contribution is more difficult to quantify than other departments.

More often than not, when businesses perform poorly, HR gets the first budget cut.

This is despite the strong positive relationship between employee engagement and performance.

Therefore, to prove how HR managers can greatly affect the bottom line, managers should show how engagement is linked to performance.

Here are some examples that HR managers can cite when explaining the importance of investing in their employees.

Increased Productivity and Innovation

These days, it is getting easier to copy other people’s products and more difficult to maintain a technological advantage.

However, employees remain one of the key factors in an organisation’s arsenal that cannot be replicated.

Read Also: How NOT following my dreams enabled me to build a startup with 3.2 million users

Employee engagement is the driving force behind the value of an organisation and its competitive advantage.

A highly engaged workforce is more productive, more innovative and more likely to succeed in today’s competitive business environment.

Studies have shown that an increase in employee engagement by a mere 10 per cent can increase profits by US$2,400 per employee per year due to their above-average productivity.

Turnover Costs

A highly engaged workforce also reduces turnover costs, where they are 87 per cent less likely to leave an organisation.

According to the US Department of Labour, it costs about a third of a new recruit’s salary to replace an employee who left their job.

For example, it could cost up to US$20,000 in training expenses and lost productivity to replace an experienced employee earning an annual salary of US$60,000.

For highly-skilled jobs such as managers or directors, costs could even scale up to 150 per cent of the position’s annual salary.

Turnover costs does not stop at training and lost in productivity – 57 per cent of Singapore companies believe that employee turnover has a serious negative effect on organisational performance.

High turnover rates dampen the overall morale amongst employees as they are burdened with additional work until the new recruit is fully on board.

Read Also: What I learned about management from scaling one of Southeast’s Asia fastest growing Series B startups

To wrap up, employee engagement can no longer be ignored by organisations and is one of the key drivers behind the success of a business.

Without the proper direction and care from the company’s leadership, this competitive advantage over your competitors can be easily lost and hard to recover.

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

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As per this strategic partnership, Central Group will help Grab to expand its business in Thailand

Thailand’s largest shopping mall and department store operator, Central Group, is planning to invest US$200 million in ride-hailing giant Grab, says a Bloomberg report, citing people aware of the development. The investment will go into the Grab’s company’s Thai unit.

As per this strategic partnership, Central Group will help Grab to expand its business in Thailand.

Headquartered in Singapore, Grab is the largest O2O mobile platform in Southeast Asia, providing everyday services, including food and package delivery, mobile payments and financial services, in addition to taxi hailing. Currently, it operates in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Also Read: The culture of Echelon is the biggest draw for both speakers and participants alike

Since launch, Grab has secured US$7.1 billion across 21 investment rounds, from the likes of Hyundai Motor company, Yamaha Motor Company, and Microsoft. The latest funding came from Japanese financial services company Tokyo Century Corporation early this month. The money would be going into Grab’s car rental arm, Grab Rentals.

Central Group consists of a variety of diverse investments in various corporations, including the retail, property development, brand management, hospitality, and food and beverage industries. A few hours ago, Central Group teamed up with JD.com to start a digital wallet platform to promote cashless payments in Thailand.

Called Dolfin Wallet, this wallet will go live in two to three months. The platform, which settles payments by reading QR codes on smartphones and other devices, will be run by Central JD Money, a subsidiary of Central Group and the JD.com joint venture Central JD Fintech Holding.

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Starting with over 21 franchised and leased hotels, OYO’s current footprint includes presence in Metro Manila, Tagaytay and Cebu

OYO to invest US$50M for Philippines expansion [press release]

Southeast Asia’s budget hotels aggregator OYO Hotels and Homes has announced its launch in the Philippines.

Starting with over 21 franchised and leased hotels, OYO’s current footprint includes presence in Metro Manila, Tagaytay and Cebu as it plans to grow to 10 cities by 2020.

OYO Hotels would be franchising and leasing assets while transforming them into quality living spaces.

The company has also committed an investment of over US$50 million over the next few years in the country, and aims to generate over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Smart spending-tracker gini secures US$1.6M

gini, a Hong Kong based smart spending-tracker, has completed its seed round with a US$1.6 million investment from both international institutions and Hong Kong-based Vectr Ventures, the early stage fintech venture capital firm.

The funding will support a global roll-out plan, with gini aiming to be compatible with over 3,000 overseas banks in 60 countries by the second half of 2019 — starting with over 60 banks across Hong Kong, France, Switzerland and the UK currently available.

“We are Hong Kong-based, but the plan was never to launch an app only for the Hong Kong market,” said Co-founder CEO Raymond Wyand. “We live in a globalised world. Ultimately, our goal is to build a truly worldwide financial marketplace, to service not just a user’s home market but make managing money across markets accessible and easy for anyone to do. This new seed round allows us to start making that vision a reality.”

Kinestral raises over US$100M led by SK Holdings [press release]

Kinestral Technologies, the developer and manufacturer of Halio, a smart-tinting glass product for buildings and homes, today announced that it has closed Series D funding of over US$100 million led by SK Holdings, one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea.

Current investors 5AM Ventures, Alexandria Real Estate, Capricorn Investment Group and Versant Ventures also participated in the round. This investment will allow Kinestral to expand manufacturing, sales, and installation of Halio smart-tinting glass to meet rapidly growing global demand.

Halio looks like natural glass in its clear state and tints automatically or on demand to neutral gray shades to stop the unwanted intrusion of both glare and solar heat, while giving users privacy. Halio responds in seconds to changing light conditions. It tints uniformly to a virtually limitless number of tint level options. It can also be integrated with building management and home automation systems as well as cloud-based devices.

AI startup Clootrack raises US$500K funding [press release]

Bangalore-based AI startup Clootrack Software has raised US$500,000 in seed funding round led by Indian Angel Network. The round also saw participation from IAN Fund, Unicorn India Ventures (existing investor), SEA Fund and Malabar Angel Network.

Anthony Thomas, Global CIO, Nissan Motors and Salliel Gupta have led the round on behalf of IAN with Anthony joining the company board. IAN investor group also includes Kris Gopalakrishnan (Co-founder, Infosys).

Founded in April 2017, Clootrack is an AI-driven data analytics platform that discovers and measures brand perceptions in real time. It does this based on analysis of customer conversations in various online media and customer care tickets. Clootrack discovers brand perception elements in an unsupervised manner from text conversations.

The company runs on proprietary deep learning algorithms based on proven mathematical models and has two pending patents.

PH venture capital, private equity players form investment industry association [press release]

Leading venture capital and private equity players in the Philippines have come together to create an investment industry association that will act as a unified voice representing professional and institutional investors in the Philippines.

Called the Venture Capital and Private Equity Association of the Philippines (VCAP), this non-stock, non-profit corporation was the brainchild of ICCP SBI Venture Partners, Navegar, Endeavor Philippines, and Kickstart Ventures, Inc. with support from Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura, Sayoc & de los Angeles Law.

“VCAP is the first of its kind in the Philippines. It is a forum to promote a greater understanding of the roles VC and PE play in economic growth, to foster the growth of entrepreneurship and innovation, to encourage foreign investments into the VC and PE sectors in the Philippines, as well as to facilitate interaction and collaboration amongst its members,” said William Valtos Jr., VCAP Chairman and President and ICCP SBI Venture Partners Senior Managing Director.

VCAP’s mandate includes building linkages with similar associations in other countries, raising the profile of the VC and PE asset classes, serving as a platform for potential dialogue on regulatory and policy issues affecting venture and private equity investments in the country, and promoting professional development of the member firms and employees.

The formation of VCAP will give local and foreign investors an accessible forum for sharing market information as well as discussing policies and practices which are of concern to VC and PE institutions and professionals, according to Honorio Poblador IV, VCAP treasurer and Navegar managing partner.

 

The post Today’s top tech news, Jan 30: OYO to expand to Philippines; gini raises US$1.6M appeared first on e27.

Whether it is keeping family close, or learning how to say ‘no’, this advice will help tremendously during the entrepreneurship journey

It is coming close to 3 years since I quit my consulting job and decided to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. No one really prepares you for what is going to take when you’re running a startup, trying to create a business from ground up, and taking on a mammoth task like building a social network of your own.

All of your insecurities have a way of surfacing in your most vulnerable moments, and the many, many times that things go wrong, you can’t help questioning yourself. What was I thinking? Am I qualified to be a ‘founder’? What if this fails?

Six months of ideating, nine months of building, one year of testing and improving and we’re now close to finally launching.

Last week I thought to myself, what?! Has it been three whole years and I haven’t even launched yet? But when I sat down to write our milestones over this period, I felt much better — and quite proud of our journey.

We’ve worked with 9 interns, 11 full time employees, nine different agencies, and two freelancers, all of whom have helped us build Dysco. We’ve hosted over 12 events, facilitated over 30 lakhs of business, engaged with over 10,000 people online and offline, posted over features, acquired more than 2000 users and advertised 50-plus opportunities. We have an average of three minutes spent on our website and over 7000 views on our most read post.

Anyone who has been on a similar journey will know the highest highs and the lowest lows come so frequently that no rollercoaster can prepare you for those adrenalin rushes or gut punches.

But for those of you who are considering embarking on such an adventure, here are 15 lessons I’ve learned and would like to share; some truths that have made me a substantially less stress-prone and much, much happier entrepreneur.

1. Everything takes time

And much more time than you originally planned. If you don’t spend time on it, you’re probably not thinking about it thoroughly enough. In India, things take at least twice as long as you probably expect. The younger, more naïve version of myself thought we’d launch in 1 year and be profitable in 3. It’s now been 3 years and we’ve still not formally launched… and only recently mapped out a monetisation strategy. Just saying.

2. Get familiar with the P word

An obvious and often heard one. You will pivot and pivot again and pivot again. Some pivots fail and some help bring you to more pivots. Our pivots with Dysco kind of seemed like a natural path — like tree branching out into an array of little branchlets.

Also Read: What I learned about management from scaling one of Southeast’s Asia fastest growing Series B startups

But not all pivots have that result. Can I say pivot any more times?

3. Don’t try to know everything about everything

Some things you should educate yourself about or learn how to do yourself. Others you should leave to the experts or specialists in their fields.

Figure out which of the two categories things fall in. It doesn’t mean you’re not trying hard enough, it means you’re being efficient. I’m not a techie and don’t think I can learn to be one — I familiarised myself with key concepts but turned to experts to make informed tech decisions.

4.First impressions count

First experiences count more. This may not apply to everyone but investing in strong branding and good design can take you a long way. Especially if what you’re building isn’t revolutionary and unheard of, but combines elements of products and services that people are already familiar with.

No one would spend their valuable time creating profiles on one more social network if it looked boring and felt unprofessional.

5.Your friends, family and acquaintances will be your biggest strength

They’ll be your advocates, your first users, the links to your first clients and your biggest critics.

Although very often strangers will support you much more than people you know. Don’t take it to heart, just take it in your stride.

Random people who were interested in communities, platforms, culture and creativity offered me so much support and useful advice — stuff that people in my personal network probably didn’t know or care too much about. This is coming from an extra-introvert.

6.Be open and honest about your journey and struggles.

Sounding human is much better than sounding perfect. People are more willing to test your product, wait patiently while you fix bugs, and be a part of your focus groups if they know you’re in the process of figuring things out.

Anyone successful appreciates humility, honesty and knowing that you’re facing the same struggles that they faced. They’ll happily guide you in whatever way they can (write to me if this post tugs on your heart & pocket strings!)

7.Offline engagement is better than online engagement

No one really knows what’s going on behind screens. Meeting your potential audience, customers and users face to face is better — always. Especially at the start of your journey.

10 people offline is worth more than 100 likes online. Real people convert to real business much faster and for longer than online interactions which are probably bots anyway. People I met even at small and intimate events have been the most loyal supporters of Dysco, and have gone on to work on collaborations, events and campaigns with us.

8.Don’t wait till it is perfect.

You can keep aspiring for perfection, but put out all your work in progress anyway. It shows your growth, your journey, gets you feedback and helps build your next stronger/better/improved version of your product.

Everyone’s afraid of where and how to begin — but you can keep improving your logo, your web design, your social media presence and it’s bound to evolve over time. Don’t keep waiting to put yourself out there.

9.Maintain all relationships, don’t spoil them when things get rough

When you’re working closely with someone, whether it’s a collaborator or a client, you’ve invested time in building a meaningful relationship.

Sometimes things get heated and don’t go down well. It’s okay to stop working together, but try to make sure you don’t let things get ugly. A few months later it probably won’t matter that much if working relations ended respectfully.

You could both use each other at some point down the line. Be polite, be nice and don’t do/say things you might regret later.

10.Worrying about copycats is a waste of time

The biggest companies and brands copy each other — it is just the way the world works. People can and will steal ideas. They will take inspiration. They will try and do what you do, if it seems like it has potential.

You will find dozens of similar products and services in the market the longer you’re working on something. Just focus on making yours the best version it can be, and execute it fast. Keep inventing and innovating and others will always be a step behind.

Also, know the difference between ‘inspiration’ and plagiarism. Don’t be a copycat yourself — there’s no point in doing something that’s already being done very well and by plenty of others. Unless you’re offering something radically different, substantially better, or appealing to a new demographic, it is unlikely that you will take over a highly competitive or saturated market.

Differentiate yourself from the get go.

11.Focus on your niche, your market and your specific audience

Growth will come in its time and you will eventually scale into new global markets when you’ve captured the former. Planning for global domination is daunting, often unnecessary and frankly impossible from day one.

Your time, efforts and resources are much better spent on winning and delighting a smaller audience that keeps coming back. Not that we’ve reached global domination or even close, but I often panicked about achieving the impossible.

Taking things step by step helps you plan both better and smarter. Now I’m breathing better and sleeping deeper.

12.Don’t say yes to every tempting offer or catchy opportunity that comes your way

Think about whether it really fits within your core mission and offerings, and if it’s dragging you off your primary path?

Quick money or big money is attractive, but time spent there might not add any value to your main product, and could reduce returns in the longer run. I still struggle with this one, and my eyes light up when a popular brand reaches out for a partnership. But I’m learning to say no if opportunities don’t align with my objectives at the moment.

13.Be open minded

About ideas and feedback especially. You’re not building a business where you are your own only customer. You need other people’s opinions and perspectives to help design something that others will want and be willing to pay for — so don’t be offended if they challenge your preconceptions.

Also Read: How NOT following my dreams enabled me to build a startup with 3.2 million users

Hear it and mull it over — and implement it if you see relevance. If you’re a founder or entrepreneur, your baby feels very close to heart. That doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement or modifications; but trust your gut instinct at the end of the day.

14.You don’t have to know how to monetise from the very beginning.

But don’t wait for too long before sitting down to think about it either. You can burn through cash, energy and resources at an exponential speed once you’re in the deep end and fully invested in making your dream a reality.

Make sure to step back, even stop and evaluate your business strategy and goals before powering on and on. After a year of testing, we just took a few months to plan our future — it didn’t make sense (and was quite demotivating) to keep spending money unless we figured out how to make it back, with returns.

15.Find the right people to work with, even if it takes time, trial and error

I can’t stress enough how much time we’ve lost settling for people who weren’t right for a role, or not picking the right partners to help us build our product and services. Compromising in the short term is not worth it in the long run.

In our case, we definitely couldn’t build Dysco all on our own. We needed the help of many others with the skills and knowledge to transform our ideas into reality. Finding really strong partners and team members can make or break the success of your business.

And here’s a bonus number 16 — if your startup doesn’t work out as planned, don’t think of it as a failure but a genuine, rewarding and incredible investment in your future, your growth and in your learning

There is nothing like real life experience, and that can compete with an MBA from a top-tier institution (as others have told me).

This list is far from comprehensive, and I have plenty of anecdotes, horror stories and semi-inspirational quotes to share if you’d like to know more. I’ve learned the most from other people, irrespective of their field or industry — so if you have any thoughts or comments, do comment or message me.

I’d love to hear from you! Write to me at khrisha@dyscoapp.com or follow me on Medium, where this article was originally published.

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Photo by Artem Bali on Unsplash

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