Monk’s Hill Ventures head of talent’s guide to startup jobs search in Singapore by Cheryl Liew, head of talent at MHV
I have specialised in leadership and technical recruiting for VC-backed startups and founders (Uber, Houzz, Github, Instacart, Strava, Clever, Groupon, etc.) over the last ten years. Relocating from San Francisco to Singapore in 2019 meant researching and interviewing for jobs remotely, and landing at regional super-app Grab to step back into Southeast Asia.
I break down the main categories of tech companies into:
1) Early-stage startups
2) Homegrown Asian unicorns, and
3) Well-known tech brands beyond the FAANG group
The list is meant as a starting point, and by no means comprehensive or exhaustive. I will update it over time and hope it can serve as a useful guide to anyone interested in tech roles in the little red dot.
How we increased our investor engagement by 10x with one small change by Zelia Leong, co-founder of RewardNation
As a startup founder, you should not only focus on new fundraising but also taking care of your existing investors, keeping them engaged and updated on your company, amongst the hundreds of others in their portfolio. Yet building connections and relationships, which are key elements of investor engagement, are tough when physical meetings are restricted.
It was especially challenging for me when we pivoted from the travel space to working on remote productivity during the pandemic. There were many fast, moving parts that everyone got lost while reading the monthly updates while we build RewardNation from scratch.
Why brands are seeking micro influencers and where this trend is going by Rachel Lau, Managing Partner at RHL Ventures
After more than a year of ongoing lockdowns, the pandemic has intensified the impact influencers have on purchasing behaviours due to restrictions limiting shopping in stores.
The power of influencers can be seen through the success of China’s social media influencer Austin Lee (also known as “King of Lipstick”). He managed to generate over US$145 million in sales during his live streaming session on Taobao on 11.11 (also known as Single’s Day) in 2019.
The growing importance of digital influence has garnered interest from brands and organisations as customers tend to trust product recommendations from their favourite influencers. Increasingly, traditional methods such as banners and pop-up advertisements are lesser employed as customers see them as intrusive.
New world order
Rise of neo telcos in Australia and what it means for us by Maik Retzlaff, Australia country head at Circles.life
Australia has one of the most competitive and mature telecommunications markets in the world, and recent research reveals MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), an operator that does not have its own network – have seen significant growth over the last 12 months.
In many ways, this progress is similar to the one banks have gone through.
Telcos in Australia can learn from the digital transformation success stories from other industries, such as digital banking and financial services. In Europe, digital-only banks such as N26, Monzo and Revolut are growing rapidly and taking market share from traditional banks.
Completely digital offerings with no branches, these neo banks provide a range of banking services through their smartphone apps. Customers are made to feel like a part of building the future of banking, with public roadmaps and extensive beta-testing and feedback loops.
While neo banks are still in their infancy in Australia, the success of ME Bank, 86 400, and Up show that these challengers are starting to make their mark.
Are CBDCs better than Bitcoins? Here’s why Asia should bank on them by Julian Low Junliang, SEA Biz Dev Director, TZ APAC Pte Ltd
By January 2020, the Bank of International Settlements discovered, over 80 per cent of central banks had begun looking into CBDCs. In the Asia Pacific region, progress has been especially swift.
South Korea’s central bank has initiated a pilot programme that will run through the end of 2021, while this month the Monetary Authority of Singapore tested the international settlement capabilities of its digital currency.
Four major Chinese cities are participating in a CBDC pilot programme. As the breadth of interest in this new technology shows, CBDCs are a very big deal.
While CBDCs do not necessarily need to exist on a blockchain, there are countless advantages in doing so. For example, the decentralised nature of blockchain increases the security of the network, making CBDCs less susceptible to cyber attacks.
How Asia’s entertainment industry can adapt to changing dynamics amid a global calamity by Abhayanand Singh, Group CEO and co-founder of Vistas Media
The total weekly minutes spent online video streaming on mobile devices increased 60 per cent across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, according to an industry report.
News consumption also increased, as people tuned in to news outlets to follow the latest updates on the pandemic.
To cater to changing consumer habits, content creators are increasingly utilising new age multimedia, preferring bite-sized formats for news reporting and relying on video streaming on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok.
Even traditionally offline entertainment, such as museums and theatres, have turned to organising virtual museum tours, virtual cultural neighbourhood tours, and online plays on Zoom.
As new technologies and trends drive innovation and unravel new opportunities in the media and entertainment industry, the coming times look propitious.
A new approach to hybrid working: Let the employees decide when, how and where to work by Craig Brown, Everest Engineering
We know now that hybrid working, involving both remote working and office working, is here to stay. But not all employees are interested in returning to the office– many workplaces have witnessed increasing pushback from staff as they confirm they would prefer to not incorporate daily commutes and white-box dividers in their day-to-day roles.
Apple, for example, recently declared staff at their Cupertino office will be required to return to the office for at least three days a week.
Despite not being a full five-day return to the workplace, the company received an uproar from staff in the form of a collaborative letter from employees that highlighted increasing concern about Apple’s return-to-work policy, which forced some colleagues to quit.
Lessons worth taking
The ultimate cheatsheet to successful international expansion amidst the pandemic by Will Leong, Programme Manager, The FinLab
We already know that SMEs that digitalised in 2020 earned more and have a better outlook for the future. According to the UOB SME Outlook 2021 Study, two in five SMEs that implemented digitalisation initiatives in 2020 had stronger revenue growth than non-adopters, with those that digitalised their entire business or multiple areas outperforming those who digitalised only one.
Tapping on digital technologies and tools is important for businesses seeking to expand into new markets during this time. The borderless nature of technology enables these SMEs to grow their brand and reach new customers without the need for a physical presence.
With consumer behaviour shifting online, SMEs can leverage this increased digital footprint by moving online without the hassle of having…
Makan For Hope: Lessons on launching into new markets with Shopback co-founder Henry Chan by Cheng Zishuang Operator, Venture Scout and Writer
I want to share some of my thoughts after multiple discussions with executives who have led different market launches and of course, after the virtual session at the Makan for Hope festival with Henry Chan, Co-Founder and CEO at Shopback and other participants of the roundtable discussion.
Chan led his team, expanding throughout most of Asia Pacific and is definitely one of the most impressive entrepreneurs in the region, having led the company to expand to nine countries in years. In our conversation and sharing during the roundtable, I have learnt a lot about how Shopback thinks about market expansion. I hope in sharing some of the learnings, you will as well.
6 leadership lessons I learned after we raised our seed round by Earl Martin Valencia, co-founder of Plentina, ex- VC
Leadership as a startup founder means a roller coaster ride with weekly highs and lows and many “near-death” experiences as a company. One week, it might be amazing since you close a critical partnership, and the next week, rejected by 10 venture capitalist investors. It is hard, and even when I always have supportive co-founders, there is no substitute in learning about startups other than actually being a founder.
Two weeks before we closed Plentina’s US$2.2 million seed round, I found out that Plentina got accepted to the Nasdaq Milestone Makers programme, a prestigious programme that selects 12 global startups between seed and Series A that have the potential to impact inclusive growth. We were the only one that focused on Southeast Asia.
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