Insights from a man who’s managed 11 APAC markets for startups

Previously, I interviewed Japanese startups Wantedly and Peatix about their expansions into Asian markets. This week, I spoke with Ng Aik-Phong (aka AP) who was the vice president of business development at KFIT and is now the managing director of Fave Singapore.

Fave is a local discovery app where customers can buy deals or vouchers to use at brick-and-mortar stores. The free app allows customers to locate deals close to them through geotagging. It currently operates in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia with 290 employees in total.

Fave Singapore managing director Ng Aik-Phong.

Tell us about your professional journey

“I joined Groupon Singapore in 2010 as business development director and was appointed to a regional business development role for Southeast Asia in 2012. Later, I was tasked to scale up [the company’s] international team as head of national accounts, Asia Pacific (APAC). So in total, I was with Groupon for more than four years.

“In 2015, I was an early investor in KFIT and also took on the role of vice president of business development across APAC. In early 2017, I decided to travel less and focus on managing Fave Singapore.”

How does the leadership team decide what markets to enter?

“I think there are three main things you can look out for:

“First, identify the inherent strengths in your team. Not just the founders, but your investors as well. Determine what contacts and network you have with people who know the market well. Your investors might have a strong locational base.

“Second would be the market size. How big can the market grow?

“Last but not least, mission is very important in achieving product-market fit. Is your mission relevant in the market?”

What would prevent you from entering a market?

“Actually, it is more a question of strategic fit. If we think it is important to our overall and long-term success, we will do whatever it takes to enter and win a market. Conversely, if a market isn’t key to our longer-term goals, then that would be the primary reason that prevents us from entering a market.”

How long will you persist in a market if you are struggling to find a fit?

“We can look at this issue from a few angles. First, you have to diagnose if the challenge is within or without the company’s control. Is it a market challenge, a planning issue, or an execution problem? Then, look at the business metrics: your usual customer acquisition cost (CAC), long-term customer value (LTV), etc.

“Sometimes it could be a talent fit issue. When we replaced an individual, business started picking up pretty much immediately. So, had we given up on the market before finding the right person, it would have been premature. Sometimes it was a market challenge where we overestimated a city’s purchasing behavior and power.

“Internally, we isolate the challenges and tweak our strategy to work on them one or two at a time. There’s no fixed formula to it, but if more than half of any macro set of challenges are red flags despite us working at them diligently, comparing our cash burn vs opportunity cost, then maybe it’s time for us to stop pushing.”

How did you hire your country manager in each country?

“Hiring a country manager is not easy because you want to hire quality talent. It takes us about three to six months to find the right person. In the meantime, a key leadership person in the company can take on the role of the country manager to get the sales team going and bootstrap while you identify people to take over.

How do you manage the allocation of responsibilities and communication between country teams?

What advice do you have for someone in a regional development role?