專訪 Blocto 李玄、顏維佐，關於共同創辦人的格局、分工、溝通與成就彼此這一堂課
Antony Lee
December 14, 2021
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Antony Lee, Communications Master (李欣岳 / 媒體公關總監)

負責媒體與社群溝通相關輔導。加入 AppWorks 前有 18 年媒體經驗，是台灣第一批主跑網路產業的記者，先後任職《數位時代》副總編輯、《Cheers 快樂工作人》資深主編、SmartM 網站總編輯。畢業於交大管科系，長期關注媒體產業變化，熱愛閱讀商業與科技趨勢、企業與人物故事，樂於與人交流分享，期許自己當個「Internet 傳教士」。

2019 年成立的 Blocto，是台灣這一波區塊鏈創業風潮中，最具代表性的新創之一。以智能合約錢包作為創業起點，致力打造成為人們「進入區塊鏈世界的入口」，Blocto 除了是明星公鏈 Flow 上最多用戶使用的錢包，超過 80% Flow 鏈上的用戶，都使用 Blocto 進行 FLOW Token 質押外，在跨鏈應用上，也已支援包括 Ethereum、BSC、Solana、Avalanche (c-chain)、Polygon 等其他一線公鏈，以持續優化用戶體驗為目標，期待能提供用戶在跨鏈資產轉移、交易時，有更趨一致的體驗，得以更順暢地在不同鏈上切換。

隨著在加密貨幣錢包上累積的基礎，Blocto 也將產品觸角延伸至 DEX (去中心化交易所) 以及 NFT Marketplace 等應用，並在今年發行生態系的功能和治理通證代幣  Blocto token ($BLT)，在位居全球前三大的加密貨幣現貨交易所 FTX 上架。優異的技術實力以及商業佈局，更在近期獲得 NBA 達拉斯獨行俠隊老闆 Mark Cuban 的青睞，成為策略投資人。

Blocto 是 AppWorks Accelerator #19 的校友，也在找到 Product-Market Fit、進入加速成長期的 2021 年，進一步獲得 AppWorks 的注資。Blocto 創業兩年能快速展現戰果，兩位共同創辦人：擔任 CEO 的 Hsuan 李玄 (圖左)、擔任 COO 的 Edwin 顏維佐 (圖右) 是關鍵人物。兩人從前區塊鏈新創 COBINHOOD 的同事，到成為攜手創業的夥伴，這一路上，他們是如何分工、商討發展方向、擬定策略，以及在變化快速的區塊鏈產業中，彼此互相成就、互相扶持，進而殺出一條成長之路，在創業維艱、合夥不易，總是有人默唱「可惜不是你，陪我到最後」的新創世界中，都很值得創業者參考。AppWorks 特別訪問到兩位，並且幫大家整理出重點：

Q: 區塊鏈這個領域，最吸引你們投入其中創業的原因是什麼？ 

Hsuan: 當我們決定創業時，很明確就是要做區塊鏈的題目。這其中，有很大的原因是我們創業前就已經是同事了，當初會加入的原因，就是因為這個產業很吸引我們。

我是 Computer Science 的背景，在區塊鏈領域，另外要將 Computer Science 結合密碼學、分散式系統等技術，整合出一整套有實際用途的系統，可以具體去解決金融、商業、娛樂面向上，或是某些應用過度中心化這些問題，對我來說，將各種理論整合進入實際的商品化、產業化，這個過程非常迷人，我也非常堅信區塊鏈是可以改變世界的，再過幾年，就可以更大幅度走入人們的日常生活，這當中還有很多關鍵問題需要解決，但也因此會有很多新創的機會。

Edwin: Blocto 已經是我個人第三次創業了。前兩次都是比較傳統的做生意、貿易這類，我也待過 Fortune 500 這種規模的大企業。相較過去的經驗，區塊鏈最大的特色，就是整個產業技術、應用疊代的速度非常快，可能幾個月、甚至幾週就發生一次，我過去比較少有這種感覺，這非常激勵人心。

優化使用者體驗，是區塊鏈創業最大的機會之一

Q: 為什麼 Blocto 一開始就選擇切入錢包？創業前有討論過其他選項嗎？

Hsuan: 在 2019 年準備創業的那個時間點，我們放眼望去，覺得這個產業若要對更多人產生影響力，使用者體驗是最大的問題，也是最大的機會之一，而錢包是所有人進入區塊鏈、使用加密貨幣的主要入口。

區塊鏈應用的使用者體驗一直是產業的一大痛點。從下載錢包、創建錢包、私鑰管理，到理解應用並成功與其互動，用戶需要花費大量的時間與成本去完成，這也是目前區塊鏈應用還無法被大規模採用的原因之一。

事實上，我們還有更大方向的討論，就是我們要選擇 To B (面對企業用戶的服務) 或 To C (面對個人用戶的服務) 的商業模式。我們覺得 To B 的模式比較不容易 Scale up，一次做一個案子，也許可以賺到一些錢，初期現金流可能比較穩，但如果要做兩倍大的案子，可能團隊規模也需要等比放大到兩倍。另一方面，To B 要配合客戶的需求，對我們來說，也比較不自由、不那麼有趣。

若是走 To C 的模式，如果我們可以做出一個夠好、我們自己也喜歡的產品或服務，用戶數的成長空間將非常寬闊，真的可以看到因此為人們帶來更大的影響力。當時，已經有不少高效能的公鏈出來，各種交易所更是比比皆是，反而比較大的問題在使用者體驗，因此選擇 To C 模式、切入錢包這個題目，這倒是有很高的共識。

Q: 實際做 To C 以及錢包後，有嚐到什麼苦頭嗎？

Hsuan: 一開始確實比較辛苦，不過應該說這是在預期內。2019 年相對是區塊鏈的寒冬 (編按：比特幣從 2018 年每顆約 2 萬美元，一路跌到 4,000 美元以下)，幣圈內想賺錢、想炒幣的人那時比較失去興趣，遊戲或是其他應用，當時也都還很陽春，其實並不好玩、不容易吸引人，都還是比較小眾的市場，在當時要做錢包，吸引一般大眾來使用，推廣上的確比較辛苦。

Edwin: 從另外一個面向來說，To B 比較像是企業客戶出考題，跟對方聊完，就會知道他要與不要什麼，我們需要解決哪些問題。To C 則完全相反，就是要從市場反應中快速調整，逐漸做出現在的樣子，我們在過程中也做過一些市場調查，但做出來的成果，就是會有一些人喜歡、一些人不喜歡，比較像是我們自己要去發掘問題，出考題給自己去解決。

但也正因為這樣，我自己覺得做 To C 有一種比較浪漫的感覺，尤其是在區塊鏈產業。就有一種眾志成城的感覺，看著用戶數量慢慢累積起來的過程，很有趣也很有成就感。

Q: 現在整個區塊鏈產業的氛圍，和你們創業當時非常不同，整體上樂觀許多。不少稍具知名度、規模的項目，都能更快地拿到更多的資源與支持，創業的選項也很多。在這樣截然不同的大環境中，你們在堆疊或累積競爭優勢，去發展未來產品與服務時，背後的思考脈絡為何？

Hsuan: 其實我們的目標一直沒變，希望可以成為人們進入區塊鏈世界的入口。錢包要滿足用戶身份識別以及存放、交易資產的需求，不管是加密貨幣、NFT，或是最近很受關注的 Metaverse、區塊鏈遊戲等，我們希望能持續累積競爭優勢，成為用戶進入區塊鏈，或是未來進入 Metaverse 的入口。

這是我們一直專注在做的事情。其中，最重要的考量，就是要讓用戶的技術感降低。因為對用戶來說，他就是想來玩遊戲、收藏 NFT，並不在意底層技術怎麼運作，到底在哪一條公鏈上來運行，用戶在乎的，是能否在這當中獲得一致的體驗。我相信未來幾年內，整個產業都會處於多鏈並行的狀態，這也是我們正在解決，下一個成長的契機，我們跟比較多這類的跨鏈應用合作，讓我們可以建構起一個跨鏈的生態系，進而使我們可以成為各種區塊鏈應用的入口。

Edwin: 這應該也算是我們創業初期至今的特色。因為我們一開始就決定要切入錢包，所以我們不要和既有的 Player 競爭，因為這個產業先行者優勢還滿明顯的，在 2019 年那時，可能只有千分之一、萬分之五的人用過區塊鏈，如果和其他對手競爭這樣規模的市場，將會非常辛苦，我們要做這些人以外的市場，能夠帶來可能是從千分之一成長為百分之一這樣的新用戶，我們今年也確實在幾個合作案例上，看到成功帶入大量新用戶，算是有實現創業的目標。

在跨鏈應用上體驗一致、資產互通

Q: 如何帶來這些從沒使用過區塊鏈的新用戶？

Hsuan: 這應該跟我們在這個產業滿久了有關，對各種技術都還算熟悉，反而讓我們不會單純從技術角度去思考問題。我們一直努力讓用戶在不同公鏈的應用上，能夠體驗一致、資產互通。例如，解決 Ethereum、Solana、Polygon、Flow 這些不同 Layer 1、Layer 2 公鏈之間資訊互通的問題，需要做哪些事情，才能讓用戶可以很無感地在不同公鏈之間切換，這比較是我們思考問題的方式。

Edwin: 這某種程度來說，這也是我們堆疊起的護城河。在產品陸續改版時，我們會刻意把鏈跟鏈之間的距離感消除，從我們創業第一天就是這樣。但確實有一些產業基礎發展上，是我們當下無法解決的關卡，所以有些部分快，有些部分慢，但只要能從我們這邊解決的問題，我們會儘量讓使用者在我們的產品上，使用不同公鏈的體驗是一致的。

Q: 你們曾一起當過同事，然後一起創業，在創業的過程中，身為 Co-founder，兩位如何分工？決策如何產生？如何化解意見分歧？

Hsuan: 我們第一次見面時，是在前公司一起出差到柏林時認識的，應該對彼此的第一印象都不錯。當時我負責技術，Edwin 負責 BD，其實相距還滿遠的，但就覺得有一些共通點，Edwin 其實也是技術背景出身的，所以在溝通時，其實還滿容易互相理解。

創業後的分工，我主要負責技術與產品，他負責 Marketing 與 Operation，其他像 BD、募資或是公司方向策略，則是一起討論、一起負責。在各部門的執行上，就依據這樣的分工各自運作。印象中，我們創業至今，好像還沒有吵過架吧，我們都還滿⋯⋯

Edwin: 激烈地溝通。

Hsuan: 或是到講話比較大聲。

Edwin: 真的都還好、都還好⋯⋯

Hsuan: 對！甚至連激烈地溝通都沒有很激烈。我們 EQ 還算高，也都滿理性的，遇到意見或想法不同時，就是努力說服對方，或是說有一些喬事情的方式，在各自負責的部門策略或戰術上，就互相尊重、相信對方。

例如，在經營社群上，我覺得既然我們希望打造注重用戶體驗的錢包或生態系，用戶有任何疑難雜症，我們都應該要盡量協助。但 Edwin 並不認同，他認為這樣會花費太多時間與人力，去照顧所有人的需求，可能會造成極少數的用戶，不先自己動手找答案，只要有問題就想要問，會讓我們要花很多資源去照顧極少數用戶，他認為應該把資源花在優先解決用戶的重要問題上。因為這是 Marketing 的範圍，我也就尊重他的決定。 

營收成長還是用戶成長優先？

Q: 這樣的分工可以理解。但在更關乎公司長遠發展的方向上，你們如何化解意見分歧？

Edwin: 公司剛成立時，其實沒什麼錢，我們有看到一個眼前立刻就可以 Catch 的機會。也不是說要賺什麼快錢，而是我覺得既然我們要提供服務，就應該做營收，能賺的錢就要賺。但 Hsuan 的想法不同，他認為還是應該要繼續把用戶做起來，把用戶做好，營收自然會跟著來，我們比較常在溝通這類的事情。

很多時候，我覺得比較像是兩人在鬥智。我們都知道對方會怎麼想、會怎麼說，然後想能不能提出更好的說法說服對方。這某種程度也有一些樂趣，感覺很好玩。但在創業前，我們也有討論到，萬一真的無法說服對方時怎麼辦？我們的 Agreement 是就聽 Hsuan 的，創業至今，也就只用過兩次。

Q: 等於平均一年用不到一次！聽起來，你們在創業之前的 Smart Contract 寫得不錯，各種溝通上可能發生的情況，都有對應的自動執行機制？

Hsuan: 這是最後不得已的手段，我真的非常謹慎保守在使用它，不會動不動就覺得「我們當初不是就決定我說了算嗎？」總的來說，我比較偏夢想一點，例如想做 Ecosystem Building，去帶動更大的用戶成長；Edwin 比較偏實際一點，例如在不同階段，公司現在有多少現金、該賺多少錢。

Q: 創業至今，有沒有發生錢不夠用的時候？你們通常會怎麼解決？

Hsuan: 我們之前的確遇到過，創業資金快燒光了。當然我們還是儘量維持原本在做的事情，希望以比較小幅度的調整，能夠產生更多營收，或是先募一筆資金。我們當時其實有把各套劇本準備好，例如，資金還剩六個月時，要做哪些事情，萬一只剩兩個月，資金水位還是沒有起色，又要做哪些事情。比如說，是不是要接一些案子，先賺一點錢進來，讓大家多撐三個月，雖然對長遠發展來說比較不理想，但至少可以讓我們撐過去。

差不多就是 Flow 準備上線時。成為支援 Flow 的錢包，是我們很相信的路線，也相信這個合作會很有收穫、會很成功。但問題在於這需要比較長的時間去等待，而我們投入了很多 Effort 在這上面，但 Flow 整體生態系的發展，終究無法只取決於我們自己，我們也有想好，如果 Flow 成功或不成功，或是沒有那麼快成功，我們要怎麼樣才可以繼續支撐下去。

Edwin: 更早一次發生在我們剛創業時。剛創業時，我們都有去當過講師，Hsuan 教區塊鏈的技術，我教區塊鏈的 BD，努力先賺點零用錢養公司。後來真正更吃緊的時候，我們也想過是否能跟誰先借錢，或是我們兩人暫時不要拿薪水，各種選項都討論過。

當然，還算幸運，這些挑戰我們都順利度過了。儘管再怎麼缺錢，我們自始至終都沒想過要賺一點快錢 (編按：割韭菜)，始終都還是想著，怎麼把這個系統建立起來，也許當下變慢一些，但不要背離我們的方向。

各種創業會遇到的挑戰，除了理性溝通外，我覺得我們兩人都滿重感情的，會支持彼此，也許這次你辛苦一點，下次就換我辛苦一點，我們都會覺得說「OK，彼此彼此」。

Q: 這真的有一種工程師才懂的志氣與浪漫！在你們的心中，希望 Blocto 成為怎樣的公司？

Hsuan: 希望公司能繼續維持新創思維，並成為全體目標一致的團隊。這類似 OKR 的精神，就是所有人對代表目標的 O (Objectives) 都能看得更清楚。我們知道，當團隊正在成長，規模正在變大，所有溝通與訊息傳遞會變得更困難，但我們還是希望大家都能知道公司目前的方向是什麼。

我們每週會有一個一小時，所有人都必須參與的會議。在會議上，我們會分享觀察到的市場狀況，公司之前做了哪些嘗試與調整，從中學習到什麼，接下來要往哪個方向發展。希望讓所有同事都能清楚知道，公司未來大約三個月的整體目標是什麼，我們最在意的事情是什麼，讓每位同事都能從自己的工作與角色中，去思考一些可以做到、符合公司整體目標的事情。

在這過程中，我們會有試錯的新創思維。也許會錯，然後可能會放棄或是修正，在這過程中，一起找出更好的方向一起前進。希望能熱愛自己做的產品，大家互相 Cover，而不只是把自己份內的事情做好，比較像是除了自己負責的部分外，盡可能在其他任何可以貢獻、Cover 的地方，把每個小縫都能補得很滿。

我還滿驕傲的，現在我們有二十多位同事，還能維持住這樣的文化。有個小故事讓我很有感觸。今年初，我們有一個被併購的機會，對方開得條件不錯，因為我們所有員工也都是公司股東，如果接受這個併購，所有人應該都能獲得不錯的報酬，等於提早出場，然後幫別人打工。我們有在會議上跟大家分析這當中利弊得失，能賺到一筆錢，但未來公司技術、產品與發展方向，未必能全部由自己控制。後來我請大家閉起眼睛投票，想或不想被併購的舉手，結果所有人都舉手不想被併購，沒有任何一個人舉手想要被併購，大家都想要繼續打拼下去，那個畫面真的很感動我。

Q: 要讓所有節點都產生共識，這真的是很難得的經驗。其實 Blocto 與 AppWorks 也很有緣，你們在 2019 年創業那一年就加入 AppWorks Acclerator 成為校友，畢業後又成為 AppWorks 的投資案。你們覺得加入 AppWorks 為創業者校友所打造的社群，對你們往後的創業有哪些幫助？

Edwin: 我覺得有兩個面向。第一個，就是 Networking，比如說，我們跟 Flow 團隊第一次正式的會議，就是 AppWorks 介紹的 (編按：AppWorks 是 FLOW token 在 IEO 時，全球第二大的機構投資人)，隨後以此開展出深度的策略合作。AppWorks 有 Accelerator、VC，還有培養軟體人才的 School，這一整套體系很不錯，等於方方面面的人都會碰到，創業者不管要找創業與商業合作夥伴，甚至是找人才，在 AppWorks 的體系中都有機會遇到。

第二個，是在各自的創業旅程中，彼此一起交流與學習的創業者同儕。當然，我們一直很努力做出一些東西出來，但其實也會很害怕做錯方向，而自己並不知道，把資源和心力消耗在一些無法產出成果的地方。在 AppWorks，有非常多和其他創業者交流的機會，不論是私下或是 AppWorks 主辦的活動，因為區塊鏈還是非常新的產業，許多事物都正在發生，需要不斷去探索，我們不會期待別人告訴我們該怎麼做，但至少會有其他創業者跟我說「欸！你不要浪費時間在這裡了，你應該去做其他事情，我試過了，在這裡是不會成功的。」我覺得對我們來說，這非常受用。

Hsuan: 作為一位創業者，要經營一家新創事業，有非常多知識需要學習。AppWorks 的 Master Team，會提供一些課程與輔導，比如說人才招募、法務、財務上的知識架構，當然創業者本身要努力做功課，但 AppWorks 可以幫助我們更快入門，知道要先從哪邊著手，再從此延伸更深入的學習。另一個收穫，是我在 AppWorks 認識了不同國家在區塊鏈產業的創業者、或是其他領域的學長姐，這是非常有幫助的 Connection。

Q: 很高興聽到加入 AppWorks 的創業者社群，真的對你們的創業有幫助。展望未來半年到一年，Blocto 有哪些新計畫？

Hsuan: 我們會繼續發展跨鏈的應用，希望能吸引更多現在還在幣圈、鏈圈以外的用戶加入。例如，我們現在發展最成熟的公鏈合作，就是 Flow，希望在這個基礎上，開啟更多的跨鏈應用的合作，把我們的優勢擴展到例如 Solana、Polygon、BSC 上，這已經慢慢在發生。

在應用上，會從純 NFT 和 Gaming 再往外擴一點，例如 GameFi，或是稍微結合一些 Finance、交易或是買賣加密貨幣等服務。如果大家對於 Metaverse 的想像更明確、更清楚，或是整個產業體系更加成熟，我們也會在此佈局。

Edwin: 除了產品與技術層面外，我們一開始就是想做幣圈、鏈圈外的市場。這其實滿好玩的，我們一直在進攻這個市場，比如說，未來一段時間內，區塊鏈的使用人數，從總人口的千分之一增加到百分之一，別人可能會覺得不過就是百分之一的小市場，但對我們來說，就是水漲船高、十倍成長紅利的可能，其實我們一直關心那些準備但尚未進入區塊鏈世界的潛在用戶，一直在思考，是否有做出真的滿足這群人需求的產品或服務。

Blocto 經驗給創業者的 Takeaways：

1. 找到明確的北極星 (創業的長期目標)：創業是一趟充滿各種未知變數和挑戰的旅程，找到明確的北極星，才能持續朝同一個目標打磨產品、服務與商業模式。

2. Co-Founders 間不可能總是會產生共識：感情、默契再好的朋友或同事一起創業，都有可能發生想法不同、溝通不順的時候，創業前，對於各種可能阻礙「凝聚共識」的情況，以及如何解決的討論越清楚越好。

3. 信任是點點滴滴累積而來：不論對創業夥伴、員工來說，建立信任或向心力都不是容易的事情，透明與開放的溝通，則是逐步累積信任的重要過程。

【歡迎所有NFT、Blockchain / DeFi、AI / IoT 以及目標 Southeast Asia 的創業者，加入專為你們服務的 AppWorks Accelerator】

Pace Raises USD40 Million Series A Funding from Pan-Asian Group of Investors from Singapore, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia
AppWorks
November 22, 2021
in Investments

Editor’s note: AppWorks is proud to be participating in Pace’s Series A. Together with our founder community with more than 400 startups, we’d be helping team Pace paving their way to enter Taiwan market. The press release from Pace as below:

・Series A investors include Japan’s Marubeni Ventures, South Korea’s Atinum Partners, Taiwan’s AppWorks, Indonesia’s Alpha JWC, and Singapore’s UOB Venture Management, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia, and Genesis Alternative Ventures

・Funding from local investors supports and strengthens Pace to forge ahead with its expansionary plans to Japan, Korea, and Taiwan

・Pace took only a year to grow into a Pan-Asian BNPL provider and is on track to hit Gross Merchandise Value run rate of USD1 billion in 2022

Pace, a Singapore-based fintech solution company that allows customers to ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL), today announced that it has raised USD40 million in its Series A investment round. Investors that joined the round include UOB Venture Management (Singapore), Marubeni Ventures (Japan), Atinum Partners (SouthKorea), AppWorks (Taiwan), and a series of family offices from Japan and Indonesia. Previous investors, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia, Alpha JWC, and Genesis Alternative Ventures also participated.

Turochas ‘T’ Fuad, Founder and CEO of Pace, said: “This investment from some of the most successful and established investors signals confidence that Pace is a leading BNPL player in Asia. The region is expected to become the world’s fastest-growing BNPL market, and this funding supports Pace in achieving its mission of democratizing financial services for all, by helping us pave our expansion into Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.”

“We are impressed by Pace and the founder’s clear vision, rapid growth, and experience not only in BNPL payments but in its progress in creating financial inclusion, and remain confident in their ability to revolutionize financial services. With this funding, we are excited to join them on their journey forward,” said Paul Ng, Executive Director at UOB Venture Management.

Joon Oh, Executive Director, Atinum Partners Co., Ltd, commented: “The financial services industry in Asia is shifting dynamically, but Pace has managed to establish primacy in markets by tapping into local consumer curves to establish itself as a dominant player with its clear vision. Through this funding, we hope for Pace to continue empowering more people across Asia with innovative fintech services.”

Following this investment round, Pace is now the fastest growing multi-territory BNPL player from Singapore. The new funding will go towards expanding technology, operations, and business development, to hit a Gross Merchandise Value run rate of USD1 billion in 2022 and grow its user base by 25X over the next 12 months.

To date, Pace has more than 3,000 points-of-sale across the region, driven by Pace’s ability to increase overall sales up to 25% by leveraging local customer insights, while driving repeat purchases from Pace’s fast-growing base of users.

Chua Joo Hock, Managing Partner of Vertex Ventures SEA and India, added: “Since leading its seed round, we have seen Pace grow by leaps and bounds. It has demonstrated excellence in expanding its users and merchants significantly to become a leading regional BNPL player. BNPL will become more prevalent in Asia, and our continuing funding in Pace reaffirms our belief in the strong execution capability of T and his team, and the hyper- growth prospects of the Company.”

Launched in 2021 by Turochas ‘T’ Fuad, Pace has successfully grown its overseas operations by working closely with regulators and adapting ultra-local approaches, such as integrating frequently used in-market payment methods to build resonance with merchants and shoppers. It will continue to replicate a hyperlocal framework as it goes live in new countries.

Currently, Pace allows consumers to split their purchase bills into three equal interest-free payments over 60 days, through an omnichannel experience that helps consumers spend sustainably.

Pace aims to create financial inclusion for consumers in the region, by helping them take control and shop on their terms, while helping merchants meet the increasing consumer demand and scale sales efficiencies.

About Pace

Pace is a fast-growing multi-territory fintech solutions company from Singapore with a mission to democratize financial services across Asia. It aims to build a banking engine that can operate across countries easily to help merchants create sales efficiencies and provide consumers with an option to spend sustainably. Its “Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL) solution for offline and online merchants matches customers with appropriate spend limits and allows them to split their purchases over three equal interest-free payments. Pace currently operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Thailand. For more information about Pace and how it sets out to achieve its vision to become Asia’s future digital banking engine, visit https://pacenow.co/.

【If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with AI, Blockchain, and NFT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the leading founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.】

Entrepreneurs: the Highly Capable, Under-appreciated
David Wu
November 18, 2021
in View

David Wu, Associate (吳戴文 / 投資經理)

David is an Associate mainly focused on investments. He previously lived in the US, but was drawn to the Greater Southeast Asia region by the growth opportunities and the wonderful people here. He spent the first five years of his career as a consultant at IBM, where he became intimately familiar with the enterprise software and services needs of Fortune 500 companies. Later, he focused on building predictive models and solving optimization problems for large companies, and gained an appreciation for the role of data and algorithms in our lives. He joined AppWorks in 2020 after receiving his MBA from Columbia Business School, and also has a B.S. in Mathematics from the Ohio State University. In his free time, he tries to stay active and is always looking for opportunities to hike or trek, often seeking the trail less traveled.

In “The Market for Lemons,” George Akerlof described frustrated sellers of high-quality used cars not fetching a fair price because the prospective buyers were unable to distinguish between high-quality used cars and low-quality ones (known as “lemons”), that on the surface looked identical. Sellers could only find takers at a discounted price taking into account the possibility they were buying a lemon. Those who have experienced swift price depreciation upon driving a new car off the lot know this well intuitively. Eventually, sellers of high-quality used cars leave the market, as they cannot be fairly compensated due to the market’s inability to appraise their vehicles fairly.

A new study suggests that the same applies broadly to entrepreneurs. It is impossible for companies to 100% accurately appraise the capability of job applicants and current employees. Hiring managers tend to assess talent based on traditional credentials, such as educational background and work experience at prestigious schools and companies. And managers tend to assess current employees through a combination of perceived signals, personal bias, and company politics. Those who may be highly capable but lack traditional credentials or particular signals sought by senior management (akin to the frustrated sellers of high-quality used cars) withdraw from the labor market and ultimately choose entrepreneurship instead, a path to earnings not constrained by uninformed buyers of labor on the market.

Going from unhireable to startup founder may sound fanciful, but there are some high profile examples. Brian Acton’s capabilities were not accurately assessed by Facebook and Twitter, where he failed to pass the interviews in the summer of 2009. By November, he joined San Jose State University dropout Jan Koum in starting WhatsApp, which the duo later sold to Facebook for US$19 billion. 

Many immigrant entrepreneurs face the same choice when they arrive in a new country that does not recognize their foreign degrees or accomplishments. They can either work low-level jobs not requiring any credentials, or they can start small businesses and capture more of the value of their talents. 

More precisely, the study finds that entrepreneurs tend to be those whose talents are better than the credentials and abilities readily observed by outsiders. When we choose to go work for someone, the company retains our productivity minus our wage, which is based on the company’s assessment of our “market value”, or the cost of replacing us with another worker who shares similar backgrounds and experiences. Those who feel that the gap between their productivity and their market wage is too wide can take the entrepreneurial plunge and, if everything works out, capture the entire value of their productivity.

A separate but related finding was that “entrepreneurs have higher cognitive ability than employees with comparable education.” If those with comparable educations exhibit comparable signals and end up at similar jobs and companies, it suggests that many entrepreneurs decide they’re out of place, “cognitively” speaking, even when surrounded by similarly credentialed peers at their job. Their boss might see them as just another employee, but the would-be entrepreneur believes this is wrong, and that they should be several titles up, running entire departments or even the whole company. They can’t fathom how the ship is being run, and since the company can’t evaluate their true value and compensate accordingly with much higher responsibilities and pay, they decide to run their own ship.

On the flip side, those underperforming yet well-credentialed workers that exhibit positive observable signals can’t believe they’re getting paid so much to add so little value. They would thrive in a large corporation that is blind or apathetic to the fact that the worker is capturing the gap between their high wage and their scant contributions. These lucky workers would find no incentive to pursue entrepreneurship, where the market would discover their true value. 

Intuitively, I think this makes sense and matches what I have observed at AppWorks. A lot of great founders have elite degrees and prestigious work experience, but they look around at their workplace and think: “This is a great gig but I’m capable of so much more in this life.” Other great founders went to average schools or were late bloomers stuck at middling companies and didn’t have any luck applying to elite companies and jobs, perhaps due to their lack of pedigree. They couldn’t bear delaying greatness any longer and took matters into their own hands.

I asked a couple of our portfolio companies’ founders for their take, including Wayne Huang, co-founder and CEO of Taiwan-based XREX (AW#17), a neo-fintech that solves dollar shortage issues for cross-border merchants in emerging economies that recently announced a US$17 million financing.

“I can quite relate to this,” the second-time founder said. “It was just obvious to me that I wouldn’t be happy with the employment opportunities that I had when I graduated. I was just not going to be happy. That part I understood very well.” 

Indah Maryani, co-founder of InfraDigital, a company digitizing Indonesian schools’ data and billing, had frustrations as an employee at a previous startup. “You’re not an owner or an investor. You don’t own the vision; others are driving it. We said it should be done another way, but it was hard to convince the others. So my co-founder and I said, let’s create another company and build it ourselves,” she says. So they did.

Of course, this is an academic study. It would be presumptuous to suggest that an entrepreneur’s or employee’s motivations are purely financial (though the study did control for several correlates of entrepreneurial choice, such as worker wealth, risk-taking, locus of control, and other demographic features). I would also argue that the capability to add economic value is not the same as the capability to add entrepreneurial value. 

But it does shed light on some of the common thoughts and fundamental drivers of entrepreneurs. “I’m more capable than this.” “I feel out of place among my coworkers.” “Is this all the impact I’m going to make in this life?” “My work is useless or misguided, and I can’t believe my boss can’t see it.” “Why am I working so hard for these wages?” “I’m not getting the respect I deserve—let me prove that I’m way more capable than this.”

After simmering in these types of thoughts, entrepreneurs of all colors make the jump, despite how scary, lonely, and risky the journey is. They move toward the entrepreneurial abyss, despite skepticism by their peers, doubts by observers, and mockery by salaried workers, all things that exist in today’s society which values so much name brands, stability, and validation by others. Despite risking being viewed as overconfident, egotistical, or doing it because they can’t find a good job, they set out on the journey anyway. They have a special drive that enables them to do this, and perhaps part of that drive for some entrepreneurs is the information asymmetry between actual talent and perceived talent.

I suppose you could say we’re lucky that this information asymmetry exists. Without it, some founders would instead find high-level jobs, having his or her hands on the wheel while adding great value at great companies, getting richly compensated, and perhaps even being able to spin their divisions off while having significant equity ownership. Instead, they embark on the difficult road of entrepreneurship, and in the process create massive value that only a startup founder could possibly create — more value than they ever could have imagined. Making lemonade out of lemons.

【If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with AI, Blockchain, and NFT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.】

Tiki Commits Additional $258 Million Investment into Vietnam to Grow Homeland’s Digital Economy and Jobs Creation
AppWorks
November 11, 2021
in Investments

Editor’s note: Congratulations Tiki on closing their latest round of financing, we are thrilled to back Tiki. Looking forward to collaborating with the team in the future. The press release from Tiki as below:

Tiki, the all-in-one e-commerce and supply chain has announced the completion of $258 million investment into Vietnam with its 5th funding round.

Led by AIA Company Limited, this investment also had the participation of a global, diversified set of experienced investors in e-commerce and digital economies such as Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, Taiwan Mobile, AppWorks, Yuanta Fund, and STIC Investments – one of the largest investment firms in South Korea, also Tiki’s current shareholder.

Despite global market uncertainties, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic in the last 2 years, Tiki has consistently achieved double-digit growth. In Q3 2021, significant sales increases were recognized within most of the marketplace’s products and services. The fresh grocery delivery service TikiNGON set a new record with an exceptional year-over-year growth of 2,000%. TikiNOW 2H, the super fast delivery subscription service, tripled its active user base. TikiPRO, the scheduled delivery, and installation service also enjoyed a 150% increase in gross merchandise volume y.o.y.

During the pandemic, users appreciate Tiki’s continuous effort to double its selection and triple its product categories, particularly in TikiNGON’s menu, a timely response to customers’ urgent need of fresh/grocery delivery. For merchants and businesses, the e-commerce platform also ramped up its TikiNOW express delivery offerings, logistics capabilities, a competitive listing fee as well as other value-added services. Tiki is also known as the pioneer in adopting innovations like automation and robotics, which helped double its fulfillment capabilities.

Tiki dedicates the $258 million investment to logistics and “Make in Vietnam” technologies – which are two cornerstones in its value propositions as a leading digital platform. The investment not only emphasizes Tiki’s vision of being an integrated infrastructure of choice for all customer and business needs but also reaffirms the commitment of Tiki to grow Vietnam’s digital economy.

On the digital services front, Tiki collaborates with AIA to develop an insurtech platform offering a wide portfolio of insurance products and financial services, aiming to help customers save significant time and effort in a 10-year comprehensive exclusive agreement. The project will be officially kicked off upon the launch of AIA’s health insurance products on Tiki, tentatively by the end of this December. With this solution in place, customers will be able to consult insurance offers as well as make insurance claims directly right on the platform.

“We always have a unfazed conviction and passion about the potential and growth of Vietnam’s e-commerce and digital economy. The $258 million investment dedicated only to Vietnam proves Tiki’s long-term commitment to building world-class infrastructure, whether they are technologies, supply chain capabilities, talents development, and jobs creation… to turn potential into reality, hence creating sustainable values for Vietnamese users and businesses. We are humbled and greatly appreciate our investors who share the same vision, and the trust they place in Tiki’s members, Vietnam market, and talents” – said Tran Ngoc Thai Son, Founder, CEO of Tiki.

“This unique and first-to-market partnership starts a new era of personal life insurance in Vietnam. Together, united by a shared vision to deliver seamless health and protection to Vietnamese families, we will focus on three distinct areas: Lifestyle benefits and innovative distribution; distinctive digital health & wellness offerings, and other financial & e-commerce propositions. We believe with Tiki’s existing assets and market leadership, we can bring an accessible and enhanced customer service proposition to make a positive difference in the lives of the people of Việt Nam. We are very excited to extend AIA’s Vietnam’s market leadership and work together with our partner, Tiki.” – said Wayne Besant, Chief Executive Officer of AIA Vietnam.

“We have a very positive outlook for Vietnam’s economy, digital transformation, and e-commerce growth. In particular, as a leading local e-commerce company in Vietnam, Tiki is providing differentiated and valuable services to Vietnamese consumers. Tiki has been improving the credibility and convenience of Vietnam’s e-commerce market through its high-quality products offering and fast and accurate delivery. Today, we are witnessing the rapid advancement of technology-led disruption of the consumer sector and we see Tiki as one of the companies that can lead this wave and growth in the area. Further to Tiki, Mirae Asset and Naver plan to more aggressively expand its investment in Vietnam’s advanced tech companies in the future.” – said Jikwang Chung, Managing Director, Mirae Asset Capital, the strategic investment arm of Mirae Asset.

“We are extremely excited to be part of Tiki’s growth journey. We look forward to the partnership between Taiwan Mobile/Momo(*) and Tiki, and aim to provide the best products and services to our customers.” – Tim Lee, Vice President, Taiwan Mobile.

“STIC Investment first invested in Tiki since Series C in 2018 and keeps supporting them by an additional investment each year. Tiki’s customer loyalty, high-quality product, and delivery, as well as proven operational performance, gave us strong confidence for this round. We are always willing to have a long-term partnership with companies in Vietnam with the strong management team, sustainable competitive advantages, and high growth potential.” – said Hongjin Kim, Managing Director, STIC Investments.

“AppWorks are proud to support Tiki on their journey going forward. Tiki has been a long-term infrastructure builder for 11 years in order to provide better service to its customers. With the rapid growth of Vietnam’s eCommerce, customer satisfaction is the foundation of competitiveness. We believe Tiki will nail it with their innovation and execution.” – said Jessica Liu, Partner at AppWorks.

Founded in 2010, with 11 years of establishment and development, Tiki has become the leading e-commerce Vietnamese platform with up to 4.000 employees and 20 million registered customers. Tiki ecosystem includes the e-commerce marketplace Tiki with up to 30 diverse categories, Tiki Trading – a retail subsidiary with millions of authentic products, and TikiNOW Smart Logistics – an integrated supply chain platform owning 20 Fulfillment Centers and Warehouses with a total area of nearly 80.000 m2.

With a strong commitment to delivering authentic products at competitive prices, together with fast delivery, Tiki has achieved remarkable milestones with numerous awards, including The most trusted e-commerce marketplace (Nielsen, 2019), Top 10 Best Brands in Vietnam (YouGov, 2020), and Top 1 E-commerce Brand with best customer experience (KPMG, 2020).

 (*) Momo mentioned is the leading e-commerce platform in Taiwan.

About Tiki:

Tiki is a leading all-in-one commerce platform in Vietnam, including the trusted e-commerce marketplace, TikiNOW Smart Logistics – an integrated supply chain platform, and Tiki Trading – a retail subsidiary.

Tiki stands for “Tim Kiem” (Searching) and “Tiet Kiem” (Saving), which is also the vision and mission for the business: becoming a destination where customers can search for anything they want, save their time and budget.

【If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with AI, Blockchain, and NFT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.】

Why We Invested: Eden Farm’s “Big Three”
Sophie Chiu
November 8, 2021
in Investments

Sophie Chiu, Associate (邱敬媛 / 投資經理)

Sophie is an Associate in the investment team. Before joining AppWorks in 2020, Sophie had 10 years of experience covering public equities. She was part of the portfolio management team at Neuberger Berman, focusing on emerging market opportunities. Prior to that she served as a research analyst at Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, and London-based Autonomous Research. Sophie holds a Master of Finance with distinction from Warwick Business School and BS Finance from National Taiwan University. Her passion and expertise, however, extend far beyond just researching companies and industries. She is also an author of two published poetry books and holds a keen interest in human psychology and human behavior.

Last month we at AppWorks proudly announced our investment in Jimmy’s Petreus’s iSeller, a SaaS provider in Indonesia. Coming on the heels of that deal, we closed another investment in an Indonesian AgriTech startup called Eden Farm, co-leading its $19M Series A alongside existing backer AC Ventures.

David Gunawan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Eden Farm, who joined up with Ramavito Mountaino (CFO) and Febrianto Gamal (COO) to change the way food is distributed in Indonesia. The trio had been together for several years since their previous startup, SAFE Logistics, which eventually folded but taught them numerous valuable lessons and made them better founders. In Team Eden Farm, we recognize very rare but crucial co-founder dynamics and bonding, resulting in a balanced and powerful leadership combo. On the macro side, considering Indonesia offers the most fertile land in Southeast Asia for AgriTech startups to thrive, we decided to back David, Ramavito, and Febrianto in sowing the seeds for Eden Farm’s future growth.

Tight-knit bonds forged by a bumpy founder journey

Coming from a humble background, David inherited the entrepreneurial bug from his family, instilling in him a desire to one day start his own business. He persuaded his MBA classmate Ramavito to quit an assistant portfolio manager job at Manulife to start SAFE Logistics, an on-demand logistics service. At the same time, another MBA classmate Febrianto advised on financial matters while working full-time at EY. SAFE Logistics had a rough path and eventually failed. At one point, David and Ramavito were surrounded by hundreds of angry drivers asking for payment. It was eventually resolved and this unique experience and the whole startup journey taught them hardknock lessons, helping them gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. 

While SAFE Logistics failed, the experience working with several AgriTech startups in Indonesia led David to realize the vast opportunities in this field. Although there seemed to be many incumbents along the entire value chain, David was determined to build an ultimate consolidator in the upstream segment of fresh produce. Ramavito, as a solid financial projector behind David’s ambition, also agreed on the enormous hidden (or lost) value lurking within the highly fragmented and long agricultural supply chain. In need of capital, the pair turned to their old pal Febrianto, who promptly quit his job and committed startup capital into the company. Being the most rigorous, Febrianto became the ideal person to wear a COO hat and focus strictly on operation and execution, giving birth to the “big three” for what would become Eden Farm.

Methodical go-to-market strategy with grassroots wisdom

The trio established Eden Farm in June 2017, with an ambition to become the ultimate upstream consolidator and drive their vision of “Feeding the Nation.” Consolidating Indonesia’s agriculture supply chain is not an easy task—requiring intensive operational involvement and engagement with several layers of industry stakeholders. 

To address Indonesia’s complex and fragmented agriculture landscape, Eden Farm developed a multi-layered go-to-market strategy, building up supply in phases alongside demand. Eden Farm does not remove layers of suppliers just for the sake of it. It’s a methodical approach designed to help manage capital efficiently while testing each new market. For each layer of distribution down to the production level, Eden Farm works tirelessly to communicate with stakeholders from their own perspectives and build communities, all in an effort to foster a grassroots sense of trust and collaboration. 

Eden Farm focuses on product diversification. Instead of relying on a small handful of GMV-driven items, Eden Farm’s SKU spread is much more balanced. This has created a  healthy foundation for the company, demonstrating the team’s long-term vision of sustainable growth over short-term quick gains. The company’s client portfolio is also well-diversified, including warungs, individual and chain restaurants, wholesalers, and e-grocery startups. 

As a result, Eden Farm helped increase farmers’ income by two fold and reduced food costs by at least 30%. The company now serves more than 53,000 customers by working with over 2,000 farmers across Java, equipped with five fulfillment centers. As of September 2021, Eden Farm is supported by 400 key partners to ensure reliable product supply. 

Strong founder-market fit in the AgriTech industry

Agriculture represents one of the main pillars of Indonesia’s economy, contributing 14% of the GDP while occupying 30% of the land and 12% of the workforce. The industry however suffers from fragmented distribution and operational inefficiencies, leading to  reduced margins and poor transparency. With so many challenges to address, Indonesia’s agriculture sector may be the most fertile soil for startups to experiment with innovative business models and technology. It is also so massive—with US$140 billion in production—that it can allow startups to focus solely on key segments instead of the whole value chain. However, AgriTech isn’t exactly considered a sexy business in the VC world because the operational complexity ultimately involves a high degree of integration with the physical economy.  

Having briefly worked as farmers themselves, David, Ramavito, and Febri possess immense local wisdom and diligence in working with stakeholders across the agricultural value chain, effectively bringing a new business model to an old industry. 

While consumer e-grocery models tend to receive better attention, we see the potential in Eden Farm becoming a powerful enabler behind them in the long run. We admire the three co-founders’ foresight, impressive level of strategic thinking, and relentless execution.  AppWorks is built by founders, for founders—we are all about supporting great entrepreneurs as they solve big problems and elevate the community they serve. We see great things ahead for the Eden Farm “big three” and are incredibly excited to help support them make this great impact.

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