I want to break down how I’d hack the VC accelerator experience if needed for those that may not make it. Though before I get to that some statements I’ve heard across working with three different accelerators, incubators over 6 cohorts, +60 companies and +2,000 applicants… yet still a student of life;
Read MoreWhy can’t my startup close startup funding?From all startups we’ve worked with in our flagship program, that’s quite a few, we’ve identified some common reasons why your startup can’t close funding.
Read MoreWe have already seen the first wave of unicorns built by founders returning home. These founders were able to effectively self-fund and more importantly communicate and build relationships with stakeholders outside their domestic ecosystems. Establishing a shared etiquette and communication with your investors is one of the easiest multiplier to unlock and attract the best stakeholders, for the next wave of rockstar founders.
Read MoreThe majority of venture money still goes to startups that have no women on their founding team. According to PitchBook’s 2019 report, in the US, only 2.8 percent of venture capital investment was directed to female-only founding teams with just 11.5 percent invested into male and female founding teams. At Accelerating Asia, so far we’re bucking the trend with 40 percent female
Read MoreWe’ve all experienced staying in hotels at some point. Exactly 5 years ago in 2015, Mariah Summers from Buzzfeed: How many times have you entered your room at a large chain hotel, thrown your luggage down to relax, and noticed the antiquated stereo system with an iPod dock from three models ago perched on the bedside table? Sounds familiar? Unsurprisingly, hotel experience today does not differ that much from 5 years or even a decade ago…
Read MoreArtificial intelligence (AI) is a new era for educational solutions as the incorporation of AI further improves the value propositions for its users. Joni.AI Co-Founder Hazel Wei talk edtech and data science.
Read MoreThere’s a fundamental shift happening globally across all industries. Social impact is not just a ‘nice to have’ anymore, it’s expected. As a venture fund and startup accelerator, we’ve experienced a shift in the conversations that we’re having with our partners and investors. Impact is no longer considered only a philanthropic endeavour but something that adds real value to the commercial deals and partnerships that we are part of and that we facilitate with our startups.
Read MoreEarlier this week, Y Combinator Founder Sam Altman lost a US$100k bet about the 2015 bubble. He might have lost on some things but he was right about 2/3 - the growth of mid-stage companies and the YC batch. Entrepreneur in Residence, Nesh Sooriyan explores what this means in the SEA context & how investors can gain from investing in early-stage companies.
Read MoreLet’s get the facts straight, Bangladesh is a hot topic right now, primarily because of these core figures: A population of 170M crammed within a geographical area of 147,570 km², 274B USD generated from GDP and an economy that is growing at 8% per year.
Read MoreWith such growth and upskilling over the coming years, we will see adept employees of these firms venturing out on their own to propagate future tech giants. Much like the multiples generated by the PayPal founding team diaspora. The aforementioned is creating a shortage in the available domestic supply of skills which is being supplemented by remote workers and immigration without sufficient avail. This naturally creates opportunities for savvy minds to innovate on the delivery of recruitment, human resource management, and for this post, education…
Read MoreIt seems like every week a new accelerator program is opening, yet if you ask around just as many seem to be closing their doors. Considering all of this and contemplating our career moves after muru-D, Amra Naidoo (who ran Operations and Marketing for muru-D) and I realized that there is a “third way” to operate a startup accelerator, and together we decided that we’re going to run with it…
Read MoreIt is common for a startup to atrophy based on slow or improper decision making. To understand why they atrophy you need only look at why incumbent businesses fail to disrupt. Slower more conservative decisions. Incumbents often have smart and proficient minds like startups, yet they're constrained to the self-inflicted pace of progress in the cube farm…
Read MoreA year ago, in the aftermath of one of the top startup accelerator programs in the region closing down, I published an article about the need to reinvent the startup accelerator model in Southeast Asia. It seemed to hit a nerve. The article was republished across various media, and parts were later used in a Singapore Business Review piece about the ‘death’ of these programs in Singapore…
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