Dear Readers,
As our chief operating officer Maria Li recently put it, Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem is full of heart. And as the world continues to reel from the continued spread of Covid-19, there are efforts springing up within the community to make things a little better.
Positive vibes
One of them is the #SupportStartup initiative by Openspace, 500 Startups, and Cocoon Capital. It brings together all the startup promotions in one page so you can support businesses via your wallet. Do check it out.
There’s also an ongoing crowdfunding campaign led by East Ventures. The goal is to develop test kits and genetic testings to fight the pandemic in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Saison Capital, FutureLabs, Convergence, and more are helping individuals who were let go to quickly find new opportunities. If you’re reading this and have been affected by layoffs, you can also use our jobs platform.
Last but not least, TNB Aura just announced that they’re inviting startups disrupted by Covid-19 (that’s mostly everyone, right?) to apply for funding under their Special Situations Fund.
We’re all suffering and it’s OK
Covid-19 has upended our community and the whole world.
And you know what? It’s really OK.
For the vast majority of companies that aren’t Zoom, it’s perfectly normal to see revenue and user growth tank. As founders, the last thing you want to do is to put up a false front – internally or externally – and pretend that your startup isn’t affected.
In recent times, I’ve received notes from people questioning the intention of our reports, from trend pieces such as Covid-19’s impact on businesses to breaking news about job cuts. We were told not to be “heartless.” We were told not to throw the community under the bus. We were told to only be cheerleaders, not detractors.
These criticisms aren’t new, and we’re doing what we’ve always done: reporting what’s happening on the ground. Covid-19 will not change that fact. You read Tech in Asia to get the breadth and depth of what’s really happening in the region’s tech community. And we’re doing our best to deliver exactly that.
However, we do understand that it is only normal that no one wants to look bad in the media. The newsroom has no intention to make anyone look bad – or good, for that matter. Simply put, we are just truth tellers. As we poke sources and dig up facts, we constantly remind our reporters to stay empathetic during the process. We aim to be tough but fair.
For instance, one of our reporters once went to a startup to get line-by-line comments on leaked financial information we received. The founder was annoyed by the whole process (understandably so) and we published the story, anyway. While it wasn’t his favorite experience, he eventually realized that we were fair to him. We even got a scoop from him after that experience.
By sharing this, I hope you understand our work a little bit better. As a business publication, we don’t see the point of printing only positive news and good vibes. Our stories should reflect the real situation we are all facing.
It’s not looking very rosy now, but this too shall pass. And remember: Every crisis presents opportunities.
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