6 Key Takeaways from Startup Asia 2013

I visited the Startup Asia 2013 event (organised by TechInAsia) recently in Singapore, which ran from the evening of 3 April (pre-event) to the night of 5 April (after-event dinner). Chock-full of market data from the neighbouring markets, marketplace of big ideas from startups, valuable lessons and advice from successful entrepreneurs, luminary quips (albeit at times with wry humour), it was a jam-packed startup event spread over 3 storeys of panel discussions, interviews, demo booths, startup pitches and countless networking opportunities. Bringing together VCs, incubators, social media marketeers, entrepreneurs, startups and more from all over the region in Southeast Asia and beyond, while everyone recognised that Southeast Asia is evolving to be a hotbed for mobile internet innovation, this wave is not coming without its hosts of challenges like payment, logistics, ecosystem support.

Here are the 6 key takeaways I put together from my experiences in the Startup Asia event 2013.

1. Develop Vertical Communities to build Commerce opportunities

• Lots of Buttons from Hong Kong, won the $10,000 first prize during the startup pitch competition at the Startup Asia event - "Lots of Butttons is a Hong Kong ecommerce that sells craft materials at 50% of retail price. #startupAsia via @xescx"
• Puddding which through its relevant social discovery platform for ladies looking to buy jeans online through recommendations from other similar sized ladies, offers sizing insurance.
• Windphony is a global self-publishing platform which allows composers, of varying professional levels to submit and market their own music (scores) works.
• The trend in the growing number of vertical communities into commerce has been highlighted during the SparxUp Indonesia 2012 event.

2. Enriching Your Communication Experience

• It is little wonder that with social being an essential layer to bring about engagement, community and commerce, the Social Messaging market is hotting up globally and especially now in Southeast Asia.
• In the business to business (B2B) space, Chatwork seeks to simplify business communications amongst employees.
• In the business to consumer (B2C) space - Hoozin tries to bring the real-world experience in face to face group chat conversations into its "round-table user interface".
• Watch out for the evolution of the Social Messaging market in 2013. 

3. Consolidating and Sharing Media Quickly

• Caught in today's hyper-connected mobile world, consumers are constantly being inundated with an avalanche of media, information and tasks to be completed. Startups are constantly sprouting up with solutions to address these perennial pains.
• In the Business to Business or B2B space, mmixr looks to offer professionals a cloud-based solution to better manage, edit and share their rich media presentation materials.
• In the Business to Consumer or B2C space, yet another photo app, Seconds comes forth with a pitch on their 1-2-3 quick to shoot and share to private albums, whilst PixBento is differentiating with their offer to bridge photo sharing amongst buddies by allowing photos to be pooled and shared across the smartphones and PCs of specific buddies.

4. B2B and B2C Loyalty is trending

• From 2012 and into 2013, an increasing number of business to consumer (B2C) loyalty program players who cater to retailer consumer loyalty benefits, and business to employee (B2E) loyalty program players who cater to corporate staff benefits are entering and developing these markets in Southeast Asia.
• Retailers and enterprises alike have been or will be looking into the trend of loyalty programs for their customers (business to consumer, B2C) or for their employees (business to employee or B2E).
• Some examples of B2C loyalty program players include Malaysia based Pofers.com and Gimmie.
• Examples of B2E loyalty program players include Singapore-based Pyrks.com and Malaysia-based PerkPool. And by the way, there is another player in Singapore, Patontheback.org which was not at the event.

5. Utility tools over Cloud as a service to drive SME productivity

• In view of the service labour crunch in Singapore, Kwix is looking to help restaurants relieve their labour shortage in waiting staff by allowing customers to order from their smartphones at their tables, instead of having to wait for the restaurant staff to attend to them.
• Ticktok looks at alleviating the frustrations of consumers who are waiting in line for their table by getting real-time notifications to them when their tables are ready. Restaurant owners are able to better manage their yield in seat allocation and not lose frustrated customers.

6. "Keep the fire in your belly"

• With every new business that one ventures into, there will never be any certainty in the product development, take up and performance. The important thing is that entrepreneurs need to stay bright-eyed in their outlook.
• Chua Kee Lock, Group President and CEO of Vertex Venture Holdings, offered the following golden gems:
• "Are you trying to win, or not to lose?"
• "An entrepreneur needs to be arrogant, but also willing to listen."
• Last but not least, Loo Cheng Chuan from Local L!fe, SingTel Digital Life Group rounded up his presentation about the 9 shocking truths about Silicon Valley with the following quip "Keep the fire in your belly".

Whilst the Startup Asia 2013 event in Singapore was a great platform and meeting of minds for the startup community in the region and beyond, it would only serve as a precursor for more exciting things to come for the business ideas and performances of many of the bright minds I have had seen and had conversations with.

In closing, to all startups and entrepreneurs out there, Keep on going ... Don't lost hope. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

Reading references:

1. Tech and cultural trends from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia
2. Innovation from the East: takeaways from Startup Asia 2013
3. #startupasia Twitter conversations (chockful of information here! 
4. Startup Management: Tips for Prioritizing and Scaling (with Chua Kee Lock)
5. 9 shocking truths about Silicon Valley - Lessons from 100 Startup Founders
6. Newly added, Startup Asia 2013 as an infographic

Why the Nokia Communicator was loved in Southeast Asia

In my last post, as I wrote about the doorway to the Internet opening very quickly in Southeast Asia markets, I also remembered how the Nokia Communicator came to the market. 

Why?  Because the Nokia Communicator was one of the very first converged smartphones in the market - a wide screen, comfortably spaced QWERTY keyboard, sms, fax, connectivity to the internet, black and white to color in a solid clamshell build ... from the Nokia 9000 in 1996 to the Nokia E90 in 2007, a new Communicator arrived every 3 years.  And the Nokia Communicator certainly caught the hearts of a number of loyal fans and communities in Southeast Asia.

I remember fondly of being part of the launch of the Nokia 9500 Communicator in Southeast Asia (a touch of nostalgia for fans of the Communicator with the attached Nokia 9500 product video), and particularly the Indonesia go-to-market experience.

During the 2004 launch of the Nokia 9500 Communicator in Indonesia, consumers were lining up since 4am in the morning.  Here is a photo of crowd I took on the day of launch.  A steady flow of people streamed in continuously in long lines, some with babies in hand and a thick wad of cash in the other for the converted smartphone!

3 things which drew the Southeast Asia fans to the Nokia Communicator:
(1) Status
One of the very first converged smartphones in the market, the Nokia Communicator belonged to a league of its own class.  Those who owned a Communicator felt that they had achieved a key milestone in life.  Both the men and the ladies - businessmen, celebrities, I spoke to in Indonesia (and other markets) would attest to that.  Status is a very key driving factor for Southeast Asia (and the larger Asia) consumers.  And the Nokia Communicator grew a strong and loyal following in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

(2) Communication Options
The Nokia Communicator had sms, fax, internet connectivity and email as part of its rich communication options and further complemented by a wide screen and a well-spaced QWERTY keyboard.  Businessmen used the Communicator to keep in touch with their personal and business networks with the flexible communication options.

(3) Productivity
Asian consumers have a very large number of contacts.  I remember talking to many businessmen and government officials in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, who literally owned a filofax of thousands of contacts in their Nokia Communicators!  Just look at the photo I captured below of a consumer (notice the intense look) who was transferring the contacts, sms messages from his previous Nokia Communcator to his new Nokia 9500 Communicator.

Key productivity use cases of the Nokia Communicator:

• Festive sms greetings could be prescheduled to their networks.
• Business agreements conducted and captured over long sms threads.
• Purchase orders could be conveyed over fax.

It's been a rather fascinating journey back in time as I reminisced the birth and passing of one Nokia Communicator to the next.  With great interest and anticipation, I look forward to the arrival of the Nokia E7 smartphone, which just may herald the coming of the next line of modern Communicators into the market after the previous Nokia E90 Communicator in 2007 (of which I was also proud to be part of the go-to-market).

Any thoughts from you on your experiences with the Nokia Communicator?

Til later, more thoughts
Nelson Wee
@nelsonwee

3 Ways to Get Things Done Effectively in Today's Social Info-Crowded World

Today, you are faced with a mad flurry of messages flying at you - memos in mails, urgent requests pinging you via sms or IM chats, SOS phone calls, people coming round your desks and not to mention the numerous meetings - internal, external facing which you need to attend.  And then with looming deadlines to meet, there is that the age-old cry for help - where is that extra hour in the day?!!

Sound familiar?

I am all for the quality in time and trying to get on that balance of work and life.  Here are 3 ways I use to focus and align my activities to ensure I get maximum impact in what I do.

1. Move the BIG ROCKS

I look to prioritize my daily activities in the following pegging order:

• The Big Rocks: Key Deliverables which deliver huge benefits near term of mid term
• The Stones: Medium term deliverables, medium term impact.
• The Small Pebbles: The never-ending requests trying to grab your attention, which could be folded into Stones or Big Rocks (re-delegated or even ignored)

Early morning reminder for me: "What are the 3 Big Rocks I need to move today?"
This sets the course for my day.

2. Engage (Face to Face or Call) to Get Things Done

Context tend to get lost in the words of your emails, your smses. I find getting into a call or even better a face to face quick meet up, actually works better - especially in the face of critical issues, the BIG ROCKS.  Do not get me wrong - emails are great communication tools ... to augment your message with the details.


3. Create Your White Space to Do Your Work

With many meetings, numerous teleconferences, webinars clogging up your calendars, it is growingly importantly to put aside your own white space - your own time when you could take a step back, think through and do your work.

The above are what I use currently to make things work out for me. Are these helpful to you? I would really love to hear from you on how you work out your days, and what are your best practices and tools you use to make you successful in achieving what you set out to do in today's social info-crowded world.


See you soon,
Nelson Wee
@nelsonwee
credits: really nice photos from freephoto.com