Why Tech in Asia’s community is important

TIA Community first meet-up!

Since 2011, Tech in Asia’s mission has always been about building and serving Asia’s startup ecosystem. We craft stories, organize conferences, and build a database full of resources just for this one big mission.

We used to think it was possible to cover all of Asia’s tech ecosystem by ourselves. We’ve come to realize how naive we were. We can’t do it, because Asia is way too big, and we can’t possibly be the definitive expert for every Asian city and tech vertical. That is why every single one of you in our community is crucial to fulfilling this mission:

To build and serve Asia’s startup ecosystem

The TIA community manual

This humble repository called the TIA Community Manual is written in collaboration with our key community members to explain the mission, the benefits, and the whys and hows of our community.

Shout out to Christopher Quek, Stuart Lansdale, Alexander Leung, Jovan Tan for making this possible!

Why you should join the TIA community

Being a part of the TIA community requires constant time and effort, and we are well aware that all TIA community members are looking to exchange their hard work for things that they value. We truly appreciate everyone’s contributions (articles and/or comments) and we believe in creating a win-win relationship together. In the spirit of being 100% transparent. We’ve explicitly written down the perks you can potentially receive below.

1) Sharing knowledge, sharpening your thoughts

Writing and commenting on TIA helps you to sharpen your thought process. We love the way this article – “The Psychological Benefits of Writing” – explains the benefits of writing. We encourage everyone to read it.

Writing isn’t just for journalists – world renowned leaders write too.

That said, we understand that not everyone can write (or is interested to write) well-articulated long form pieces because it requires a lot of time and practice. And that’s okay! Commenting helps you to get started. Comments have the power to inspire great discussions built on top of an article. We believe discussions will help sharpen the collective ecosystem’s thinking.

2) Friendships, networks, and recognition

The TIA community is also about building new connections. While working together towards our goal of building Asia’s startup ecosystem, we want to have fun and build new friendships. We facilitate bonding through the following channels:

Community meetups: Monthly face-to-face meetups where we get together and share problems and solutions. It could be issues about the community, your startup, or the recent investment you made.

Facebook group: The Facebook group similar to the community meetups, but allows for faster and more real-time conversations online.

Tech in Asia: Writing and commenting sharpens your thoughts and help to attract like-minded people or people who disagree with you. Either way, it’s a good thing since the whole idea is to share and discuss.

“I’ve connected with maybe 80 plus people by now in LinkedIn, with people writing personal notes to say they saw my article and wish to connect. They are all from different places in the world. TIA article writing has gained me reputation and clarity of where I stand. I send these articles to ministers, government, community partners, investors, etc and they understand me from my writing. We had many more inquiries on AGA by potential entrepreneurs. I believe since July, we have funded two to three successful startups for iJAM incubation and more are on the way.”

– Christopher Quek, Managing Partner at Tri5 Ventures, director at AGA, and TIA community member.

Respect and trust are earned. The best way to earn it is through sharing and helping with no hidden agenda. If there’s an agenda, be transparent about it (just like how we made this community manual transparent).

3) Part of a big mission

We have served the startup ecosystem since day one and we believe the power of the community is key to help us build the startup ecosystem in Asia. Below are two key guiding points that have helped built Tech in Asia what it is today:

Helping out. Tech in Asia has witnessed the boom of the Asian startup ecosystem. There’s one thing that has been consistent: People help one another in this industry and that is undoubtedly one of the key drivers for the industry’s growth. Our mission is to build and serve the startup ecosystem in Asia. We believe Tech in Asia has earned respect and trust by staying true to its mission. We believe you can do it too.

Share. Well-articulated articles and comments inspire people. People may disagree with you. You could even be wrong. But it doesn’t really matter as long as we spur a healthy discussion that keeps the Asian tech ecosystem thinking and talking. Tech in Asia has been writing and sharing since day one. We didn’t just bridge the information gap and help demystify the Asian tech scene. Along the way we have also helped startups receive investments, connect people within the industry, and discussed important issues pertinent to growth of our ecosystem.

One of our community members, Stuart said it rightly:

“I think the startup community is often based on those with experience not taking a stuck up ‘fuck you I’ve made it and now I am gonna sit in a dark room and count my money.’ The ones who do make it tend to give back, which is awesome. I feel that I am by no means where I want to be along that timeline but I have something to offer others. It was really fucking cool at the TIA meetup when a) people knew who I was due to my articles and b) hearing that so many people loved my writing, if this wasn’t motivation I don’t know what is. TLDR – Startup communities are built on giving back so I am trying to do my bit, b) feedback gives me motivation. And I guess a third thing, I can write articles on what I am feeling / culture / what I want to do, and see through the comments if it makes sense or not.”

– Stuart Lansdale, founder at Roomfilla and TIA community member.

Interested to join us? Sign up here! Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at community@techinasia.com if you have any doubts. We’ll be happy to assist and welcome you! 🙂

Written with love together with Daniel and Willis.