Monthly Archives: July 2018

The Jay Kim Show with GoGet CEO Francesca Chia



GoGet is a service in Malaysia that helps individuals and businesses get things done. Think of it like a Fiverr, only it’s in the realm of real-life, physical tasks. Francesca’s vetted team of GoGetters are available for tasks ranging from pick-ups and deliveries to data entry to overflow help around holidays and busy events.

Francesca was part of the Alibaba eFounders Program and shares what inspired her most from the event.

Also Read: Tickled Media Founder Roshni Mahtani explains how she built a blossoming media empire

In today’s episode you’ll learn:

  • About Francesca’s educational and career background prior to GoGet
  • What is GoGet and who uses it
  • About the GoGet business model
  • About Francesca’s experience with the Alibaba eFounders Program
  • Francesca’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

Tickled Media Founder Roshni Mahtani explains how she built a blossoming media empire



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Welcome to Episode 10 of The Story of You. On the latest installment, we speak to the founder of Tickled Media, Roshni Mahtani.

Tickled Media is a Singapore head-quartered company behind media sites theAsianparent.com and AsianMoneyGuide.com​. They also just raised around of  US$6.7 million in funding.

Roshni talks to us about her journey of building and growing her business and community into the powerhouse it is today.

Tickled Media is also working to expand into five more media properties by the end of the year and they just launched Her Style Asia,  which covers millennial punk-rock-style and fashion.

How do you generate momentum for a media site?

The first three years were experimental, and I also didn’t take a salary for the first two years. If you look at my personality or temperament, I am one who won’t give up because I want to win. I like winning. I will not sleep or eat until I win. So, [partners] were investing in my personality vs. the business.

What advice would you give to founders who are fundraising?

The first meeting I always recommend that founders do it by themselves. Test out and see if you have chemistry with the person. People are always forgiving and more personable if you are one-on-one.

Also Read: The Story of You with Homage Co-founder and CEO Gillian Tee

When you have a crew of your people speaking against a crew of their people, it immediately feels like a negotiation dance from the start. When it’s one-on-one, it’s very non-threatening.

How have you grown this community without advertising?

Overall in the last five years, we have spent between 10-15,000 USD , so not a lot of money., We have grown the community organically. Once you have a target audience that works, you treat the first 1000 people right. I would meet up with them, go for coffee and users invited me for their shower parties and I went so I could get to know my customers intimately.

Now that you have grown, can you still be considered a startup?

We are a media tech company. When we talk about ourselves, we don’t refer to ourselves as a startup. We always say we are a media tech company in the media space where we have a content and community site for women. Our culture is quite startup like. It’s nimble, agile and tries to grow 10x.

Also Read: theAsianparent.com’s owner Tickled Media raises US$6.7M to expand to Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam

The moment you know what your business model is, I don’t think you are not a startup anymore. We have a regular business model. We know exactly how we are making money. We have a playbook, we know how to launch a new portal or in a new country very easily. Everything is very prescriptive.

Why did you move to Indonesian even though your company is headquartered in Singapore?

It was primarily a business decision. I knew I would move either to Indonesian or India. I decided on Indonesia because it was close to headquarters and I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. As a true Singaporean, I became very complacent and I needed to get out of this perfect bubble to realize how good my life was in Singapore and take advantage of the opportunities the developing world has to offer.

What is the secret to success in the tech media industry?

Know your customers and avatars. The avatars must be big enough. We look at it not just as hyperlocal content, but we look at it as community. The way to succeed for any media organization to succeed is to create communities and tribes. We’ve created the mummy tribe; now, we have created women in finance. And within that we have segmented them into different tribes.

What is the big vision of Tickled Media?

I care a lot about the media industry and about women. I would like to marry the two. The media seems to be hostage to other platforms right now such as Facebook and Google.

Also Read: Autonomous vehicles are coming but you won’t own one

The industry is under siege and media revenues are dropping, we are struggling. I want to prove that Asia can have good and profitable businesses that are purely media, which are not owned by government or influenced by billionaire families. One that is able to be the voice of the people.


The Jay Kim Show discusses Women in Tech



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Anna O’Hare and Gillian Tans are rarities, though they shouldn’t be — successful females in leadership positions in the technology sector. In today’s episode, Anna and Gillian share about their respective companies, and they explore ways to close to gender gap within the technology space.

In today’s episode you’ll learn:

  • About Women in Tech at the RISE event in Hong Kong
  • The backstory of Web Summit
  • About RISE’s and Booking.com’s Women in Tech initiatives
  • Anna’s and Gillian’s thoughts regarding ways to close the gender gap in the technology sector
  • About Booking.com and their expansion plans for 2018
  • Anna’s and Gillian’s advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs

Listen to this episode on iTunes .

Also Read: The Story of You with The New Savvy CEO Anna Vanessa Haotanto

What was your biggest insight from this week’s episode? Let Jay know in the comments or on Twitter: @jaykimmer.

Links from today’s episode

Detailed show notes

  • (2:50) Anna’s introduction of herself and the RISE conference
  • (4:23) Anna tells the backstory of Web Summit, the company behind RISE
  • (5:22) Gillian’s self-introduction and background
  • (7:44) Anna explains Web Summit’s Women in Tech initiative
  • (10:08) Initiatives RISE has put in place to increase female participation
  • (12:07) Gillian addresses how the presence/involvement of women in technology has evolved over the years
  • (14:30) Gillian describes Booking’s initiatives — internally and externally — for encouraging women in technology sectors
  • (18:07) Anna shares her thoughts on where improvements can be made in closing the gender gap
  • (20:28) Gillian’s thoughts on where improvements can be made in closing the gender gap
  • (22:37) Anna speaks to women at the upcoming RISE event
  • (23:58) Anna gives more details on the Women in Tech portion of the RISE event in Hong Kong
  • (25:10) Gillian share her 2018 plans for Booking
  • (28:10) Gillian’s advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs
  • (29:32) Anna’s advice for aspiring female entrepreneur

Asia VC Cast with Simon Wu from Cathay Innovation



This week’s special guest is Simon Wu from Cathay Innovation. Simon is a Principal at Cathay Innovation, based in San Francisco. He is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and executing potential investments, as well as post-investment monitoring.

Prior to joining Cathay Innovation, Simon spent over three and a half years at VMware in the Strategy & Corporate Development team and was also at UBS in the investment banking division as part of the technology, media, and telecommunications group.

Together, we discuss how the fundraising landscape in Silicon Valley has changed over the years, especially with the influx of capital that caused the stage shift throughout the funding cycle.

Also Read: Infographic: When will cryptocurrency shed its dark side?

Simon also shares his insights on how founders should approach the fundraising process and how he views the importance of valuation in his investment decision making process.