Brandon Chiang, Associate (江旻峻 / 經理)

負責投資。加入 AppWorks 前，在鴻海集團服務負責「互聯網＋健康」相關服務之開發與推廣。鴻海之前，在台灣大哥大負責通路管理與 KPI 設定，後來參與 myfone 購物之經營分析管理。更早之前，敏盛集團負責連鎖醫院經營之事業規劃與募資，並參與盛弘醫藥之上市櫃流程。台大數學系、商研所畢業。喜歡籃球跟音樂，特別是讓人融化的 Smooth R&B。

很多看過用一張表格掌握你的 Business Model 的朋友都跟我說，文中提到的方法非常簡單易懂，可以幫助他們快速理解自己的 Business 是否有實質獲利。事實上，我們還可以利用銷售、成本、營收等基本數字做各種不同的計算，藉以作為調整公司營運方向的參考。

這次，我就來談談 Retention。Retention 指的是客戶留存率，台灣的電商市場相對成熟，在我的觀察中，多數能夠在競爭激烈的市場上長久經營的團隊，大致上都有很好的 Retention，你一定要知道有多少客戶在消費過後還會再度上門，才能依照當時的狀況，選擇合適的工具優化留存率。

在現在這個流量越來越貴的年代，不管是透過寄發 EDM 來跟舊客戶溝通，或者是發折價券來提醒舊客戶再度上門，還是經由各種 Remarketing 管道來進行推廣，許多團隊都紛紛開始想辦法靠著舊客戶來提升業績。採取這種做法的最主要原因，無非就是一般而言舊客戶的維繫成本低於開發新客戶，換個角度說，如果你做的生意還得拿大把鈔票來把舊客戶找回來、如果你的利潤不夠好，那這往往就是個賠錢的生意。

如何定義 Retention

剛加入 AppWorks 時，曾經有個團隊來跟我聊他們平台的營運狀況。談到舊客戶的留存時，他直接就說，我的 Retention 是 20%。當時，我馬上問他：你對 Retention 的定義是什麼？

為什麼要這樣問？因為 Retention 可以從很多角度來觀察：
1. 舊客的業績貢獻佔比：仔細詢問之後，我發現這個團隊提到的 Retention，指的是舊客的業績貢獻佔比。比方說，如果一個月做 100 萬的業績，Retention 是 20%，那表示其中有 20 萬都是來自舊客戶的貢獻。

2. Cohort Retention (同批次之回購)：如果你做的是像電商這種單次購買，那最常用的就是 Cohort Retention，因為客戶這個月買了，下個月不一定會再回來，但如果我們針對每一期獲得的客戶，長期追蹤觀察，就可以得知每一期逐月的回購狀況。說到這裡，熟悉 Cohort 的朋友腦中應該會浮現出一個倒三角形的圖案，還不熟悉 Cohort 的讀者也不用擔心，我在下文會仔細介紹。

3. 客戶回購的比例：有些人的 20% 則是指所有客戶中有 20% 每個月會回來消費。例如，如果某個團隊的客戶累積有 10 萬人，其中有 20% 的客戶會回來，那就代表每個月有 2 萬人會回來消費。

當然 Retention 有時可能會高達 90% 或 95%，但這樣的數字在一般一次性買賣的產業比較難出現，能達到這麼高比例的，大多是訂閱制服務 (亦即有綁約的服務，例如電信業或音樂串流服務 )。但如果你做的是訂閱制服務，可能就比較適合以舊客戶的 Churn Rate (流失率) 來看。因為如果沒有太大問題，客人短期內應該每個月都會回來，所以從流失的角度來看會比較客觀。

如何清楚整理出 Retention

我們可以試著把上述觀察 Retention 的角度整理成管理報表來看 (對！我就是喜歡用表格來整理，建議正在創業的各位也應該多多整理你自己的數字，這個過程就像是醫生在看心電圖，可以幫助你清楚公司的營運狀況)。

這次，我一樣用實例來說明 Retention 象徵的意義與和運用方式，但這次故事的主角變成過去一年以來我最愛的筆記本品牌 SketchyNotebook (AW#12)。

假設 Sketchy Notebook 從 Y18 (即 2018 年) 開始販售筆記本。首先，我們要先製作 Cohort 表。所謂 Cohort ，就是針對每一期客戶，長期觀察其購買狀況。

Y18/01 (即 2018 年 1 月) 有 300 個新客人買了筆記本。(參見 (圖一))

(圖一)

接下來，到了 2 月，Y18/01 這 300 個客人中，2 月又回來購買筆記本的人數是 120 人，此外，2 月也有 500 個新客人購買筆記本。(參見(圖二))

(圖二)

到了 3 月，Y18/01 這 300 個客人中，回來購買的人數是 90 人。同時 2 月的 500 個客人，在3 月時 (也就是這群客人在這個平台的第二個月 – Month 2) 有 250 人回來購買，而 3 月新購買的客戶則是 800 人。(參見(圖三))

(圖三)

在此要請大家注意，如果某個客人 (假設客戶編號 001-300) 是在 Y18/01 這一期第一次購買，那麼往後這個客人就只會在 Y18/01 這一列出現，這就是 Y18/01 的 Cohort。

以此類推，假設以下是 2018 年 1-6 月的 Cohort 表。我們以每個 Cohort 的新客數當分母，後面逐月的客數當分子，兩者相除就可以得到每個月的 Cohort Retention。例如， Y18/01 Month 3 的 90 人代表 300 人中有 90 個人在 Month 3 回來了，回來的比例就是 90/300 = 30%。依此類推，就可以算出 (圖四) 下方表格中的 Cohort Retention Rate。

一般而言，第二個月的回購率就會有蠻大幅的下滑，但長期會趨於穩定。有些產業的長期 Cohort Retention 是 5%，有些可能是 20%，數字通常會依照產業的類別而出現變化。在這裡，我教大家一個訣竅，那就是你只要看 Cohort Retention Rate 三角形下方那一條線，抓個平均值，就可以知道你的 Cohort Retention 是多少。以 (圖四)為例，假設這個區間夠長，那我大概會抓整體的回購是 15-20%。但像 Y18/05 數字的第二個月是 29%，我會認為這應該還沒滑落到一般的水準，會予以排除。

(圖四)

另外還有一個觀察 Retention 的小訣竅，那就是把這個三角形從左下往右上看，同一個顏色就代表該月份消費的用戶數。
Y18/01：新客 300，舊客 0
Y18/02：新客 500，舊客 120
Y18/03：新客 800，舊客 250+90 = 340
Y18/04：新客 1,200，舊客 240+150+60 = 450
Y18/05：新客 1,700，舊客 500+160+120+50 = 830
Y18/06：新客 2,000，舊客 500+200+120+100+48 = 968

(圖五)

把上面的數字整理一下，每個月新客人數、舊客人數和累積舊客數就可一目瞭然。

從 Retention 的變畫找出提升業績的方式

接下來，我們就可以分析這些數字代表的意義。
首先，我先把當月新、舊客數轉置成下圖，相關定義如下：
1. 當月舊客比例：即當月購買的客戶中，有多少比例是舊客。例如， Y18/06 中，新客有 2,000 人，舊客回購的有 968 人 (500+200+120+100+48)，所以，舊客人佔當月購買客數的比例就是 968/(2,000+968) = 33%。
2. 舊客回購比例：即當月回購的舊客數，佔整體消費客人的比例有多少。例如，累積到 Y18/05，我們已經有 4,500 個購買過筆記本的客人了，Y18/05 有 830 個人回來，所以所有客人中，該月回購的比例就是 830/4,500 = 18%。

如果你產品/服務的回購率是穩定的 (穩定不見得就是好，而是說明你所提供服務的特性，在你現在的努力下呈現這樣的狀態)，舊客回購比例長期下來會跟上面 Cohort Retention Rate 的最下緣數字很接近。因為如果每個 Cohort 長期都是 15% 左右的回購率，那每個 Cohort 堆疊起來就是總會員數的回購，也會是 15% 左右。

上述的 Cohort 表其實還有其他的用法，例如，如果我們把客戶數改成訂單數、GMV 或營收，你就可以知道每個 Cohort 的每個客戶貢獻單數，每單平均金額的趨勢變化。你也可以看看哪些 Cohort 的表現比較好，再去想想為什麼你能在那個 Cohort 中找到比較好的客人。是你哪個月試了哪個新通路嗎？還是你用怎樣的手法把客人找回來？只要仔細觀察這些數字，通常都可以找到蹊蹺。

Cohort 的應用就這樣而已嗎？其實不然，你可以融合 ROI 的觀念，例如：這個客人我透過什麼通路？花了多少錢？做了什麼事情他才回來，回來後會怎樣？之後，我會在下篇文章跟大家分享這些觀念。

【歡迎所有 AI / IoT、Blockchain / DeFi、面向東南亞市場的創業者，加入專為你們服務的 AppWorks Accelerator】

Jun Wakabayashi, Analyst (若林純 / 分析師)

Jun is an Analyst covering both AppWorks Accelerator and Greater Southeast Asia. Born and bred in America, Jun brings a wealth of international experience to AppWorks. He spent the last several years before joining AppWorks working for Focus Reports, where he conducted sector-based market research and interviewed high-level government leaders and industry executives across the globe. He’s now lived in 7 countries outside US and Taiwan, while traveling to upwards of 50 for leisure, collectively highlighting his unique propensity for cross-cultural immersion and international business. Jun received his Bachelors in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

• • AppWorks’ Year in Review 2017 reveals our community is together valued at US$ 1.6 billion
  • New US$ 100 million Fund III will focus on financing Series A and B rounds across GSEA
  • AppWorks Funds invested in 8 deals across fintech, e-commerce, security, and social media verticals

In 2017, Greater Southeast Asia (GSEA) was without a doubt launched into a new level of global stardom. Not only did SIngapore-based Internet and gaming company Sea–the original curator of the term “GSEA”–make its long anticipated public debut on the NYSE, but several foreign tech giants put down the stepping stones for their initial foray into the region including Amazon via PrimeNow in Singapore, Expedia via Indonesia’s Traveloka, and Alibaba via its billion dollar investment in unicorn darling Tokopedia.

It almost seems as if the cat’s finally been let out of the bag–that GSEA is an incredibly prospective region, ripe with riches just waiting to be unlocked, eventually. A recently updated report by Google and Singapore’s Temasek quoted a region that is now home to the world’s 3rd largest population of Internet users and an online market that is set to exceed US$ 200 billion by 2025. If nothing else, this has further validated our focus on building a regional startup community and support system that also leverages Taiwan’s unique positioning to strengthen entrepreneurs all across GSEA.

Accordingly, and in the true fashion of any startup, AppWorks has needed to iterate in line with looming paradigm shifts in order to better serve our community and effectively cater to its needs moving forward. This past year marked several milestones in an overall emphasis on helping our startups capture a piece of the region’s rapidly growing Internet economy, and equipping them with the proper resources to fully capitalize on the region’s digital awakening.

Of the 52 startups across AW#14 and AW#15 that graduated from AppWorks Accelerator in 2017, more than half of the combined cohort actually originated from countries outside of Taiwan, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Korea, while 25% comprised of female co-founders. These two figures truly highlight just how far we’ve come since AW#1 in expanding the diversity of our community, in terms of both perspectives and demographics. And if the CEOs of the world’s leading tech companies today serve as any indication, diversity is a core underlying asset that can most certainly serve as a great driver of innovation.

With the addition of 52 AW#14 and AW#15 startups, our community has scaled to a stage like never seen before. The AppWorks Ecosystem now counts 323 active alumni startups and 780 founders in its network. These AppWorks startups are generating US$ 1.3B in total revenues, growing at 65% year-over-year, and have created 5,696 jobs, increasing by 53% from the prior year. They have raised US$ 432M from both AppWorks Funds and third-party investors, up 57% from last year, and together exhibit a composite valuation of US$ 1.6B, roughly a 75% uptick over the last 12 months. In other words, 2017 marks the year that The AppWorks Ecosystem has finally crossed the valuation mark of a unicorn.

Meanwhile, AppWorks Funds made 8 investments in several promising startups including Shopback, Umbo CV, Morning Shop, EMQ, ReCactus, and Intowow, while helping them raise a total of US$ 99.4M across these rounds. Moving forward, however, we’re anticipating many startups to encounter a US$ 5 – 15M gap in Series-A and Series-B financing spanning the next 12 months. This is in part why we’ve raised our 3rd fund of US$ 100M to help startups bridge the proverbial valley of death and clear the way for future growth.

ShopBack (AW#13), based in Singapore, has expanded  to Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan.

As value-added mentors, partners, and investors, we’ve directed a lot of our time and resources in enabling more GSEA startups to enter key markets such as Taiwan and Indonesia, while helping them harness Taiwan’s formidable supply of talent and set up R&D teams here in Taipei.

True to these efforts, AppWorks Landing Pod was launched late last year and designed to help founders / CEOs of fast-growing tech startups immerse themselves in local ecosystems across GSEA to best prepare for formal expansion. The first iteration of this 3-week immersive program was initiated this past November in Indonesia, where we see emerging opportunities across the country’s expansive and rapidly growing online economy.

That being said, shortages of quality talent still remains one of the foremost challenges that growing tech companies face today. AppWorks School was started 18 months ago as a separate channel to build a more fortified pipeline of skilled labor and help our community meet the technical demands of tomorrow.

iOS Class #4 Orientation

We’ve now managed to graduate 49 newly trained developers through our 14-week free coding program, which offers both iOS and Android tracks. 80% of these graduates went on to pursue successful software engineering careers in prominent Internet companies such as Pubgame, 91APP, and Bahamut with an average annual salary of US$ 20,400.

Spanning all pillars of our platform, AppWorks closes out the year with a special acknowledgement to its team in all they’ve done to empower founders and elevate the startup ecosystem all across Greater Southeast Asia, while setting its sights on even greater horizons in 2018.

For highlights of all the initiatives and achievements that sought to reinforce our community across the region in 2017, visit AppWorks’ Year in Review 2017.

TP Lin, Associate (林子樸 / 經理)
負責投資。七年光電產業經驗，為隆達電子創廠員工之一，見證公司成立、併購與上市，過程中經歷產品研發工程師、研發主管、專案管理等不同職務歷練。在 AppWorks 負責協助軟硬整合新創團隊，充分運用台灣與中國的硬體製造能力。台灣大學物理學士、光電碩士。

前一陣子，Uber 的新聞鬧得沸沸揚揚，早期投資人一口氣把創辦人告上法庭。照理來說，投資人應該和創辦人站在一起，共同為公司努力，但我們卻時不時就會聽到投資人與創辦人鬧翻、對未來方向不一致、產生路線之爭，甚至不惜對簿公堂，讓人覺得有些可惜。

如何經營出好的投資人關係，是每個新創團隊在接受投資後的必修課題。這兩年，我手上處理過幾個不同類型、不同規模的投資案，也曾輔導團隊進行募資，在此，就與大家分享我的觀察和心得。

投資人關係 IR (Investor Relations) 和所有關係一樣，最重要的是從一開始就要找到對的人，這跟選擇一個對的創業夥伴一樣重要。好的投資人除了要能提供新創團隊該階段成長需要的資本，對創業的過程與產業也要有相當的了解，在團隊努力往前時，他們要能適時提供協助和建議，進而引進關鍵資源。相對的，團隊也絕對不能因為急需對方的金錢挹注，而忽略彼此的目標、價值觀，以及對產業發展的看法是否契合。所以，當有團隊針對募資前來諮詢時，我都會建議他們，除了投資人選擇要不要投資你們，你們也應該好好思考要不要讓這個投資人入股。

先合作再投資

但究竟要如何判斷對方是不是一個好的投資人？我建議不妨先「約會」看看。可以先和對方合作一陣子，看他會針對你的業務給出什麼樣的建議，是否能幫你介紹你需要的資源，其次，也可以試著接觸對方投資的公司，和那些公司聊聊他們被投資後的經驗，看你的投資人如何與他投資的公司一起努力。一個合格的投資人必須公開他的投資戶清單，也應該很願意幫你介紹他投資過的公司。

而一旦接受投資，大家首先要有一個觀念，那就是往後你的公司將不再只是創辦人所有，你之前約會許久的潛在投資人已經跟你上了同一條船，且身份也轉換成股東，這時，身為創辦人的你首先必須認清經營權不等於所有權。

一如共同創辦人、上下游廠商等創業過程中的其他關係，投資人和被投資人之間的信任非常重要，因為有了信任基礎，你們才能一起做出可以幫助公司發展的決定。當然，這信任關係並非一朝一夕可以建立，它需要一點時間，在建立信任關係的過程中，你必須 keep your investor in the loop，盡可能讓投資人了解公司目前的狀況，包括公司的主要政策、業務走向，如此一來，投資人才有辦法對你的公司提供建設性的意見和援助。

千萬不要踩地雷

創業者必須和投資人相互了解，積極建立良好的信任關係，但相對的，有些事是大家千萬要避免的：
一. 違反合約
合約中記載了許多投資人與被投資人的重要權利與義務，某些事項，如股權增減、公司的重大決策等，都需要經過董事會同意，有些則是需要股東同意，甚至要有一定比例的投資人同意才行。因此，公司在執行某些決議之前，必須先仔細確認是否需要經過這些程序。

二. 隱藏壞消息
業績和公司狀況的浮動對大部分新創公司來說都是家常便飯，但很多 CEO 擔心投資人知道這些狀況後，會留下不好的印象，總想著等業積改善再向對方報告，然後一拖再拖，以致錯失調整的機會，陷入無法收拾的窘境。

三、提供捏造的財報等不實資訊
有時，投資人為了隱藏壞消息，還會提供不實資訊，比如說「已經和某某大客戶簽約了」、「誰誰誰已經要投資了」……，甚至捏造不實的數字，如財報、管理報表。這樣的事情一旦被發現，往往會對彼此的信任關係造成極大傷害。

四. 預料之外的危機
當公司出現重大危機時，不管是公關或是財務方面，都要主動聯絡投資人、告知狀況，並說明當下的處理方式與計畫，循求投資人的協助，千萬不要讓投資人經過第三者，甚至是從媒體上得知。

五、錢快燒完了才急著跟股東要錢
完成募資後，創業者應該馬上想到下一輪募資，同時也必須思考，該利用手上這筆資金達到什麼樣的里程碑，讓公司在用什麼樣的狀態、於什麼樣的時間點再度進行募資。創業團隊應該善加掌握公司的現金流，了解公司的現金還可支撐多久，千萬不要某天突然發覺公司下個月就會產生資金缺口，才急忙向舊股東請求支援。

促進彼此信任，一起努力向前

接受投資後，除了資金的援助，創業者往往也會需要投資人針對其業務給予有效建議；相對的，一個好的投資人，當然也會想助創業者一臂之力，讓團隊的業績蒸蒸日上。在這個前提下，創業者可以多做兩件事來促進彼此的瞭解和信任，提升投資的整體效益。
一、寄送月報 (或週報)
至少每月固定發一封 email 給投資人，報告公司現況，信件中可以包含以下資訊：
關鍵績效指標 / 管理報表：簡單來說，就是幾個關鍵數字的更新，例如：日活躍用戶 DAU / 月活躍用戶 MAU / 每用戶平均貢獻 ARPU 等公司營運領先的指標。
財務數字：包括營業額、毛利、毛利率、稅前淨利等重要財務數字，以及與上月及去年同期的比較。很重要的一點是現金的狀況，如果公司還在虧損狀態，則必須算出距離現金用完還有多久時間。
產品開發狀況：產品是公司成長最重要的動能，因此，不妨仔細說明目前公司產品開發的狀況如何、是否能準時推出、預期的影響會是什麼。
團隊狀況： 團隊是否有人事異動，對公司又會造成什麼影響。
媒體露出：近期的媒體露出，不管是好消息或是壞消息都應該告知。
請求協助 Call to Action：最重要的一點是，可以請投資人提供團隊需要的協助，如介紹通路、合作夥伴、人才，幫忙推廣產品、提供意見。你越積極請投資人幫忙，就越能讓投資人了解你對未來的規劃，讓雙方攜手向前。

二、定期會議
除了報告公司狀況的 email ，也需定期與投資人開會，如董事會、策略會議等，這些會議的目的是一起討論公司未來的方向與策略。建議早期團隊召開董事會的頻率不要低於一季一次，若能召開月會勢必更有幫助。而會議的重點，除了更新 email 中的事項，一定要預留時間，和投資人溝通並討論公司接下來要面臨的重大挑戰為何，並且說明為了因應挑戰，必須做那些重要決定，請投資人提供建議，讓彼此達成共識。

若事前缺乏規劃，會議很容易流於型式，雖然講了很多事，卻沒有重點。以下是開會的時間安排建議，大家可以參考一下，看看怎麼做才能充份利用時間。
10 mins              CEO 從宏觀的角度簡述公司目前的狀況，並提出未來的發展重點與挑戰
40 – 60 mins    公司的各項表現，從數字面更新公司與產品狀況
15 mins             公司組織與人員異動
30 – 60 mins    針對公司下一季的目標與策略進行討論

選對夥伴，創造共同利益

除了開發商品、建立可獲利商業模式，創業者還有一個很重要的工作，那就是選擇對的夥伴，除了共同創辦人、員工、客戶、供應商，當然還包括投資人。當對的人都上船後，則要開始思考如何培養共識和默契，創造大家的共同利益，讓所有人都一起為這個價值努力。

想瞭解更多創業相關知識，歡迎追蹤 AppWorks Fan Page。

As a region, Southeast Asia has become a ubiquitous classification that is generally understood to encompass the 10 nations under ASEAN, with a primary focus on the six largest markets of Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. But what if you, perhaps quite sensibly, lumped Taiwan into the mix? So enters Greater Southeast Asia.

Source: sea

Simply put, Greater Southeast Asia (GSEA) is Taiwan + Southeast Asia. The term was most recently popularized by Singapore-based internet and gaming company Sea in their recent IPO filing on the NYSE. In the group’s prospectus summary, GSEA is characterized as “one of the world’s fastest growing regions in terms of per capita GDP and at the early stages of internet penetration,” with “markets [becoming] increasingly interdependent, particularly for internet business models.”

It’s a rather colorful illustration that has long been applied to the formative grouping of 10 ASEAN nations. And given that 90 percent of Sea’s revenues is largely derived from its Garena gaming business, there’s a stark possibility that Taiwan was merely roped in for its regional dominance in online gaming.

However, a closer side-by-side comparison reveals a market that can not only hold its own when it comes to economic clout and technical ingenuity, but also serve as a guiding beacon for its more emerging brethren in the region that have only recently begun fully embracing the digital age.

A Diamond in the Rough

By and large, Southeast Asia’s startup landscape is still in its infancy, particularly when stacked up against mature markets such as US and Europe or even China where unicorns are comparatively abundant. To date, only 10 startups have crossed the coveted billion-dollar valuation threshold, with an average age of 6.5 years running across the board.

Unbeknownst to most, there is actually one unicorn to have come out of Taiwan’s stable—online English learning service TutorABC, which was established in 2004. That being said, Taiwan’s internet sector extends much further, with the earliest instance of e-commerce dating back to the late 90s when local online shopping champion PChome was founded. That means Taiwanese citizens have been purchasing on the web for the better part of two decades. It should therefore come as no surprise that the percentage of residents who shop online in Taiwan is surpassed only by the US and UK. Coupled with smartphone penetration reaching upwards of 75.8%—the 2nd highest in the world—this little island has actually given way to the largest e-commerce market in Greater Southeast Asia, for now at least.

Source: Frost & Sullivan

Aside from a few other challengers such as Momo, Taobao, and Yahoo!, PChome’s dominance over the domestic market had been left more or less uncontested since its establishment—that is until Singapore-based Shopee (Sea’s e-commerce arm) entered Taiwan in 2015. By adopting a mobile-first strategy, Shopee truly hit home with the nation’s digitally savvy and cyber-hungry population. Monthly orders grew rapidly to roughly 5.8 million per month, effectively usurping PChome as the market leader and contributing more than a third of the group’s total orders by Q2 2017.

Naturally, more and more foreign players have caught wind of the latent opportunities in Taiwan’s internet and mobile economy that are evidently up for grabs, despite its maturity. Southeast Asian startups such as Carousell, Shopback, and Honestbee have increasingly prioritized Taiwan along their regional conquests, a trend that’s likely to continue moving forward.

Startup Sanctuary

With only a population of 23.5 million people, Taiwan actually boasts the second largest economy in terms of nominal GDP when stacked against ASEAN countries. The country also displays—albeit unofficially—a human development index of .882, superceded only by Singapore in the GSEA region, while also scoring highly on most international rankings including global competitiveness, ease of doing business, and most notably innovation; According to Bloomberg’s Global Innovation Survey in 2014, Taiwan was cited to have the highest number of patents per population, and per R&D expenditure in the world.

Source: IMF

While unable to keep pace with the lucrative growth rates of an Indonesia or Philippines, Taiwan offers several fundamental factors conducive for bootstrapping and developing startups. Not only are the living costs a third of what you might find in Singapore, but the availability of technical talent far exceeds the rest of GSEA–perhaps best validated by Google’s US$ 1.1 billion acquihire of HTC’s smartphone assets, reportedly consisting of 2,000 engineering and design talent.

Currently, Taiwan boasts roughly 8,000 software engineering graduates per year, with average annual salaries hovering around US$ 20,400, compared to approximately 4,400 graduates and US$ 35,000 respectively in Singapore.

This is on top of the roughly 25,000 electrical engineers the country’s academic system churns out every year, truly speaking to the country’s longstanding heritage of semiconductor and hardware manufacturing. This grants aspiring innovators a unique opportunity to capitalize on the trending intersection of hardware and software, especially when it comes to IoT, smart city, and Industry 4.0.

From a VC funding perspective, although visibly minimized by Singapore and Indonesia, Taiwan still manages to come in a resilient third. And if we back out the billions of dollars raised by the region’s handful of unicorns, namely Grab of Singapore and Go-Jek of Indonesia, you realize Taiwan is just as good a place for an early-stage startup to raise money as those 2 countries.

Source: CB Insights, Taiwan Startup Stadium

Certainly recognizing its limitations as an end-all, be-all type market, Taiwan’s government has been pushing for a more future-ready environment that fosters and embraces innovation, rather than stifles it. Whether it’s establishing a regulatory sandbox, launching a dedicated AI research lab, unveiling a US$ 333 million national VC fund, or even just loosening its borders for foreign talent, it’s clear that Taiwan is keen on cultivating an ecosystem that can attract and enable startups from all over the region to keep up with the evolutionary pace of technology.

Redefining Old Cliques

2017 marked the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, a collective club of chaotic and sprawling settlements, historically only seen in the underbelly of neighboring behemoths China and India, until recent times that is. Open up the front page of Tech in Asia or e27 and you’re bound to come across the latest high-flying valuations of Southeast Asian tech startups disrupting traditional industries.

For Taiwan, though, the last 50 years have largely operated under the impetus of “Greater China.” While this term is not an official political classification, it infers an dependent type of relationship that has long confined Taiwan and its economic future to forces outside of its own control.

Taiwan’s “New Southbound Policy,” short of formally joining the intergovernmental organization, strives to align the island nation with ASEAN countries. Specifically, it fittingly contextualizes the country’s technical brawn, mature digital economy, and longstanding penchant towards innovation as the beating heart of a region currently bursting with opportunities.

If you’re a startup in the region looking to capture both scale and monetization, both growth and margin, and to build both local operations and a regional R&D hub, then expanding your scope to include both SEA + Taiwan hence, Greater Southeast Asia, is increasingly looking like an avenue that you can’t afford to miss.

For more information on how ambitious entrepreneurs across Greater Southeast Asia can leverage AppWorks Accelerator to capitalize on the region’s digital awakening, visit our website.