A framework to finding SEA’s next big idea

What are your favorite business ideas or startups? Mine have got to be ShopBack, Fave, and Grab. I liked Google Pay, too, until they became less generous with their rewards (or am I just unlucky?). If you haven’t noticed a pattern, these companies are all payments-related, and that’s because I love good deals and cashback. Pro-tip: Link GrabPay to your Fave wallet. You’ll get double rewards – cashback and points! You’re welcome 🙂

While using these brilliant apps, I’ve often wondered how they were conceived. Was it through serendipity? Was it thoroughly planned out – idea, research, validation? How did they know this idea would work in a market like Southeast Asia? Did its founders envision the business to be where it is today?

While there’s an unspoken knowledge that Southeast Asia is a land of opportunities, my unadventurous spirit would have no doubt deterred me from pursuing a business idea. But perhaps the thought would be a little less intimidating if there was a framework to validate it.

Granted, there are resources online that tell you how to build a startup, but they aren’t focused on building one in Southeast Asia and are hardly a guided approach. If you’re an aspiring (or even experienced) founder looking for the next breakthrough idea, we have a workshop on the horizon that is just for you.

Join us on May 17 to identify startup ideas in Southeast Asia, plus a framework for evaluating that multimillion-dollar business idea.

During the workshop, you’ll learn:

• The playbook on identifying the challenges/opportunities/gaps facing the SEA market
• How to leverage global ideas and adaptable technology to create a hyperlocal strategy in SEA
• How to overcome the barriers that startups face when dealing with the SEA market
• Resources you can leverage to evaluate your startup idea for the region

About the speaker

Hsu Ken Ooi is a General Partner at Iterative, a Y Combinator-style accelerator focused exclusively on Southeast Asia. He was previously the chief product officer of Workmate, an on-demand blue collar staffing platform in Southeast Asia. In 2014, he was vice president of product at Weave (YCS14). In 2009, he started Decide.com, an early machine learning company that predicted the future price of consumer goods. It was acquired by eBay in 2013. Hsu Ken has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics from the University of Washington.

Event details

Date: Monday, May 17, 2021
Time: 4pm to 5pm SGT
Venue: Virtual

Ok, I’m in! How do I sign up?

This Live workshop is complimentary for our lovely Tech in Asia Core and Live subscribers. RSVP here if you are one of us.

Not yet a subscriber? You can purchase a single ticket at US$18.90. However, the more value-for-money option is to subscribe to Tech in Asia Live at just US$59/year. We have a lot of similar events in the pipeline, specially designed to help founders like you navigate the complicated world of building a startup. By subscribing, you’ll also unlock video playbacks all of our past workshops, meetups, pitch nights, and annual signature conferences.

Sign Up Now!