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Simon Huang · · 6 min read3 CEOs in 2 months: leadership crisis at live commerce enabler Upmesh
Upmesh, the livestreaming enabler backed by Monk’s Hill Ventures, is embroiled in a leadership crisis, with two co-founders stepping back from the CEO role in the last few months. This follows a round of layoffs implemented by the startup in December 2022.
In April, Wong Zi Yang announced in a call with Upmesh employees that he was stepping down as CEO and would be replaced by fellow co-founder Shawn Teow.
But in a surprise move just a month after Wong’s call, Teow announced that he too was taking “a step back” from the CEO role. He cited the need to take care of his family and his own health, which he said had worsened since Wong left.
For now, Tan Kim Hock, senior investment associate at Monk’s Hill, is taking over as Upmesh’s interim CEO.
This leadership turmoil comes as the company’s new product, Fill-up, seems to be gaining traction.
Fill-up is a B2B marketplace that provides live commerce sellers with foreign goods to sell in their local markets without having to worry about issues around cross-border shipping.
A too-rapid expansion
Things looked very different for Upmesh a year ago.
Fresh off its US$7.5 million pre-series A fundraising, the startup was looking at expanding its Southeast Asian presence and launching its first Instagram live-selling app and back-end automation features.
However, the company was too ambitious and failed to account for the change in macroeconomic conditions.
Team Upmesh / Photo credit: Upmesh
“We were expanding into the Philippines and Thailand despite the fact that these are very different markets. And even in our core markets of Singapore and Malaysia, we had yet to develop product-market fit,” acknowledged Wong during his April call.
The ex-CEO also admitted that he had prioritized growth over monetization. “The layoffs in December are a result of my failures,” he said.
These job cuts affected country teams in the Philippines and Thailand as well as the company’s development team.
According to a source who spoke to Tech in Asia but didn’t wish to be identified, a couple of former Upmesh staff had open Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) cases against the company. TADM offers advisory and mediation services for salary-related and wrongful dismissal cases.
“A more suitable CEO”
A staff rebellion
More allegations
The “bulldozer” leaves the building
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Unhappy with aspects of co-founder Shawn Teow’s behavior, a number of Upmesh employees conveyed their concerns to investor Monk’s Hill.
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