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Top contributions this week: StackTrek founder’s conversations with Trivago co-founder on managing cashflows and more…

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Hello community

This week was full of exciting conversations in our contributor community. While DHL Express MD reminded startups on the upcoming logistics challenges as holiday season approaches, an academic from the University of Michigan shares his psychology secrets for a remote work life.

From the emerging economies world, the CEO of a Burmese fintech startup opened our minds to the massive potential in Myanmar’s digital payment scene and marketing guru at iPrice highlighted Vietnam’s rising mobile commerce.

Raking in the moolah

Why Trivago co-founder thinks having lots of money as a startup is a challenge by StackTrek founder Billy Yuen:

“For Trivago, we only did two small financing ground at the beginning. We never did that again but it has helped us grow the company out of the cash flow. This helped us maintain our culture and sustain our internal organisation.”

How understanding culture can drive digitalisation of payments in Myanmar by CEO of fintech startup NearMe, Lynn Htaik Aung

“Nonetheless, the time seems ripe for Myanmar to take the leap. Infrastructure is in place and expanding – Myanmar’s mobile phone connectivity is over 95 per cent and almost three-quarters of Myanmar’s working population owns a mobile phone.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also compelled the Myanmar government to show strong support for digital payments as it reduces physical contact between people.”

Shop till you drop

How e-tailers should prepare for Singles’ Day amidst COVID-19 by Yasmin Khan, Commercial Head of Asia Pacific and the MD of 10 Emerging Markets in DHL Express

“We have also observed how traditional businesses without a digital presence have taken the opportunity to venture into e-commerce, and how retailers are doubling down on e-commerce to recoup losses from the COVID-19 fallout. Meanwhile, e-commerce marketplaces and sellers are running on all cylinders to fight for a slice of the online market.

The peak is still to come as we anticipate a 40 per cent surge in daily volume passing through our network during Singles’ Day and the year-end holiday season, even before considering the effects of COVID-19 on e-commerce.”

The cheapest e-commerce platform in Singapore –and what it means for competition landscape by Duckju (DJ) Kang, CEO of ValueChampion:

“While brick-and-mortar stores have their benefits, online shopping comes with its own perks of cheaper prices due to lower operational costs and overhead. However, do all e-commerce sites provide the same great deals to their customers?

To find out, we explored how four of Singapore’s largest e-commerce platforms compare on price across 73 everyday products.”

Vietnam’s mobile commerce is set to open up avenues for startups by Đặng Đăng Trường from iPrice Group:

“The sudden arrival of COVID-19 in early 2020 became of definitive turning point for Vietnam’s e-commerce to accelerate the process. With more people staying at home, and with the increasing demand for online entertainment, Q2 became the ideal condition for e-commerce startups to apply the features they have been testing.”

The post COVID-19 life

Are your influence skills ready for remote work? by Maxim Sytch from B-school professor at University of Michigan:

“By some accounts, 61 per cent of the global workforce is now remote. And, while it is unclear whether and by how much this number may change in the next few years, it is clear that remote work is here to stay in a significant capacity.

What does this mean for you and your influence skills? Modern organisations feature flatter hierarchies, matrix structures, and cross-functional workflows, with great degrees of involvement from external stakeholders, such as alliance partners, suppliers, investors, and even rivals.”

What this digital shift means for people with disabilities in SEA by fintech enthusiast and our regular contributor, Kay Banzon:

“SEA is home to 10 unicorns including ride-hailing platform Grab, online marketplace Lazada, and digital content and entertainment company VNG.

However, one crucial aspect that must not be overlooked in all this growth is digital accessibility. The rapid digital adoption in the region is steadily prompting people to shift their daily activities online.

Elsewhere in the world, accessibility has become quite the hot topic. Laws such as the US’ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the European Accessibility Act provide for equal access to people with disabilities.”

How edutech startups can accelerate active learning by our regular contributor Ong Kai Kiat

“The key challenge of digital education would be to engage and gain the attention of the students. Even during Zoom education, the students can be passively looking past the Zoom screen to a Netflix film on the television screen behind them as they put themselves on mute.”

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