Honestbee co-founder has been called “weak”. I disagree.

Dear Readers,

We recently published an excerpt from the latest episode of our Startup Snapshot podcast, which featured Honestbee co-founder Jonathan Low. Naturally, there were reactions to what he shared. On Reddit, for instance, this commenter said that Low “just sounds like he’s a weak leader.”

People can form their own opinion, but my take on it is different. I don’t think he is weak at all. Someone who is weak wouldn’t reflect, admit, and speak up about their mistakes so openly. Actually, Low didn’t seem too comfortable when we requested him to be on our podcast, but that’s understandable. His time at Honestbee is obviously a very sensitive topic, but he obliged when we said that his sharing will help future founders avoid potential pitfalls.

Listening to Low talk and also observing Honestbee’s rise and fall at the sidelines, I think that Joel Sng, the company’s former CEO, is pretty good at storytelling and building the right perception. In a televised speech in 2016, Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime minister, cited Honestbee as one of the local companies that’s transforming traditional retail. And check out this UBS print advert that put the spotlight on Sng – it looks great, doesn’t it?

Image credit: @andregoiano on Twitter

Trust is important among partners, so I’d say it was only natural that Low and fellow co-founder Isaac Tay trusted Sng to handle the company’s finances. He probably did OK in the first couple of years, as Honestbee was successful in securing funding.

Being part of a team is all about everyone playing to their strengths to make the company work. If someone is having a hard time or isn’t coping well, the right thing to do is to communicate openly as soon as possible and not let things drag on. But it seems like this wasn’t the case at Honestbee.

But hey, founders fuck up a lot. We make plenty of mistakes. Of course, not all mistakes are acceptable or equal. For example, if you’re using company money for your own personal pleasure or gain, that’s definitely not right.

And hey, just to be clear, I’m not pointing to anyone in particular. But if reading this somehow makes you feel guilty, please do the right thing. 🙏

Here’s our exclusive coverage on Honestbee:

• Honestbee: The inside story of what went wrong and what’s next
• The irresponsible demise of Honestbee
• Honestbee investigating transactions under ex-CEO Joel Sng

Stay tuned for more.

You can find last week’s commentary – “Big bad wolf, go home!” 🐺 – here. If you’re a TIA subscriber, you can read all our commentaries here.

See ya next week!