It’s not about how fast you go – it’s the distance that matters

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In the NBA, it seems like no one ever slowly and organically builds their teams anymore. It’s all super team this and super team that (I’m looking at you, Brooklyn Nets). Maybe that’s why many neutrals enjoyed the Milwaukee Bucks’ championship run last season – it was built around a homegrown star and a humble supporting cast and was a breath of fresh air.

Today’s premium article is about a company that took the slow and steady path to success. TDCX was launched in 1995 and made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange this September – and it did it with almost no outside funding. Check out the rest of the company’s story below.

Today, we look at:

• The steady rise of Singapore’s TDCX
• The US$4.5 million pre-series A round of an Indonesian wealthtech startup
• Other newsy highlights such as the new role of an ex-Lazada CCO and a multitude of funding news

Premium summary

Slow and steady wins the race

Image credit: Timmy Loen

In this fast-paced world, it’s always cool to see companies that take a slow and steady, organic path to success. Usually, this also means that what they have built is sustainable and battle-tested, which just makes it all the more worth celebrating.

Today, we look at Singapore-based business process outsourcing firm TDCX and its old-fashioned journey to the top.

• Old school: TDCX was launched in 1995 as a telemarketing firm called Teledirect. While it focused on servicing companies within Singapore in its early years, it later went regional when the telecommunications revolution of the 2000s drastically reduced the cost of making phone calls.

• Look ma, no investors! Up to the point of its initial public offering, TDCX founder and CEO Laurent Junique was the sole shareholder in the firm. (While WPP Singapore was an early investor, Junique reacquired those shares in full in 2018.) Few tech companies of this size can lay claim to this feat.

• And they don’t stop coming: Between 2018 and 2020, TDCX’s revenue grew by 140% to US$323 million. Last year, it recorded a profit of US$64 million.

Read more: Fully founder-owned and now worth $4b: How Singapore’s TDCX did it

Wealthtech gets wealthy