The Echelon Asia Summit 2023, the region’s flagship event for the startup and VC ecosystem, once again drew hundreds of participants to the Singapore Expo. Once again, PRecious Communications was the official PR partner for the summit.

In a nutshell, while a sluggish global economy and high-interest rates somewhat cooled the overexcitement of the past years, the industry is looking at new trends that could shape the coming years. Participants from new markets such as Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines left an impact at the conference. Founders in areas like AI and deep tech can still raise decent capital.

The Philippines Take Centre Stage

With a skilled, young and mobile-savvy population well north of 110 million, the Philippines brought a strong delegation to Singapore. Some internet infrastructure woes of years past have eased more recently, making experts optimistic that the country is ready to take off. PRecious’ partner Glenn Estrella from 917Ventures told the audience that financial inclusion is still high on his agenda, with education and healthcare being other promising areas.

Sustainable Growth in Focus

Investors are working closely with founders. They want to know more about the product and how customers use it. A great customer experience is paramount. Today, a smaller amount of capital is chasing after ideas that have a harder time proving themselves.

PRecious Communications moderated a panel discussion on what startups and investors need to remember to be able to crack the code of sustainable growth in difficult times like these. The discussion included key metrics to measure success, how investors are working closely with founders, adapting to changing times & new technologies and the power of storytelling, among other topics.

Here are the actionable takeaways from our discussion.

• Companies that win are those that combine efficiency with empathy. Satisfactory is no longer enough. Exceptional is what customers are looking for. – Jenny Choo, Regional Vice President, APAC SMB, Zendesk.
• The founders who build with customer-centricity at their core, care about the experience of who they are serving, and build scalable products to address that experience will win. – Weisheng Neo, General Partner, Qualgro Partners.
• Control your growth to where you can properly manage and service your customers, at least meeting or beating their expectations. – Harprem Doowa, Founder, Eazy Digital.
• Go slow to go fast. Only step on the gas pedal once you correct your product market fit and unit economics. – Yuying Deng, CEO, Esevel.
  
• The 80-20 rule also applies to your time spent, especially while running a business in growth mode.  Focus on doing fewer things, but ruthlessly prioritise your time and efforts around them. Obsess over what plays to your strengths and unlocks the most value for your organisation. Above all, building a business doesn’t have to be target after target. Take breaks, recharge, stay sane – and dare I say, have fun. – Prayaank Gupta, VP for Growth and Innovation, PRecious Communications.

The Sparks practice at PRecious Communications has worked with hundreds of startups and VCs in the sector. Contact us to help you crack the code of sustainable growth.