Monk's Hill Ventures

Our Principal, Arun Pai, speaks with The Asian Business Review about blitzscaling, a growth strategy that prioritizes speed over efficiency. He highlights the concept of negative blitzscaling, which occurs when a company massively scales its operations and aggressively subsidizes its products (at a loss) to outbid competitors for market share, without having a sound business in place. The focus on valuation building instead of value creation creates a false sense of progress that would prove fatal to many startups. Arun emphasizes that startups can achieve sustainable growth only if built on a strong foundation. This entails having the right people, the right culture, and a solution that truly solves a problem. Read more about negative blitzscaling and the dangers it brings in this article by Peng T. Ong and Phong T.: From Unicorns to Unicorpses: The False Promise of Negative Blitzscaling https://lnkd.in/g8fp4Hzx

Jason Tan, CFO and Co-Founder of our portfolio company Rainforest on good corporate governance.

The first of our MHV Breakfast Series brought together seasoned finance leaders with our portfolio CFOs and founders to discuss their top-of-mind concerns around fundraising, capital preservation, and strategic capital allocation. A few takeaways from our panel featuring Allen Shim and Juliet Zhu, CFA, moderated by Monk's Hill Ventures Head of Talent Cheryl Liew: 📈 Growth in context: While often celebrated, growth must be evaluated against cost structure, margin potential, and market position to truly understand competitive advantage. 💡 Value creation vs. valuation: Regularly stress-testing your business model is crucial for sustainable growth and strategic refinement. 🤓 Navigating imposter syndrome: Even experienced leaders face self-doubt. The antidote? Developing unparalleled expertise in your industry and business. Our gratitude goes out to Stripe for their partnership, to our portfolio founders and CFOs for their participation, and to the seasoned finance leaders who gave us their mornings: our Head of Corporate Development, Ali Darwish, Rahmat Budiardjo from Kopi Kenangan, Justin C. from Circles, Leigh Gui, CFA from SHEIN, Dominic Ong from Endowus, Cho Weihao from Una Brands, and Sabrina Ng from CXA Group and Hummingbird Bioscience. If you're interested in contributing to future sessions in our MHV Breakfast Series, do drop us a message 📩

We're honored to be nominated for Startup of the Year 2023 in the Asean Startup Awards. With just days left until voting closes on July 8th, I invite you to watch our impact video and consider casting your vote for Dagangan. Our journey to empower rural communities has been remarkable, and your support would mean the world to our team. If you believe in our mission, please take a moment to vote at: bit.ly/gsa-dagangan Together, we can continue to drive positive change in rural areas across ASEAN. Thank you for being part of our story. Global Startup Awards

Join our portfolio company, iPiD, for an exclusive webinar on Verification of Payee (VoP) Strategies for Seamless Compliance tomorrow, July 2, 2024. Listen to experts Alain Raes, Founding Partner & CCO at iPiD, Jeroen Hölscher, VP and Global Cards & Payments Practice Lead at Capgemini, and José M (Chema) Buey, Director and Global Head of Client Account Services at Deutsche Bank as they discuss VoP regulations and their impact, effective strategies for liability management, and real-world solutions from industry leaders. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gQUycjGw

Last month, AppWorks hosted our Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Peng T. Ong, in Taiwan. It was a fantastic opportunity to engage with and learn from their incredible community of founders. Peng enjoyed sharing his insights and experiences on a range of topics with the AppWorks Mafia, from the advent of AI to strategies for Taiwanese startups to consider Southeast Asia. We look forward to the next gathering!

We are proud of our portfolio company, ELSA, Corp, and its exceptional team, Vu Van and Xavier Anguera, for being recognized as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer 2024! Don't miss the opportunity to hear Vu Van speak at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China, from June 25-27. Tune in here: https://lnkd.in/gTVVJ4rz Congratulations, ELSA, Corp! https://lnkd.in/gwaEYRxN

Our Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Kuo-Yi Lim (林国毅), shares his insights with CNBC International on how #SoutheastAsia has emerged as a top beneficiary of the "China Plus One" strategy. This approach involves businesses reducing the risks associated with full reliance on China's market or supply chain. Learn how #Indonesia, #Singapore, #Malaysia, and #Vietnam are playing pivotal roles in this global supply chain transformation. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/d4R3H7KJ

Earlier this month, our Partner Susli Lie participated in SuperAI Singapore's panel, "Unveiling Asia's AI Revolution: Regional Perspectives and Developments" together with Pachara (Pinn) Lawjindakul, Kasima Tharnpipitchai, and Kunal Chatterjee. The panelists covered a wide range of topics and delved into critical issues facing #AI in our region, from the intricate challenges of localization in Southeast Asia to conducting technical due diligence on AI startups. They also explored the crucial importance of ethical practices in AI development. Susli was particularly excited about the unique advantage held by health tech and diagnostics founders in #SoutheastAsia, given their access to proprietary data that is invaluable for training AI models that can effectively serve our diverse market needs. We're grateful to have been part of SuperAI's inaugural AI event in #Singapore. If you're a founder working on Generative AI, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch with us at [email protected] or https://lnkd.in/gwMeykCs Winnie Wang Shiyun

The meteoric rise of tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon has ingrained the belief that hypergrowth is synonymous with success. However, the path to growth is as crucial as growth itself. The past decade has seen the spectacular rise and fall of startups such as WeWork, Veev, and Hopin. These implosions share a common theme: a shift from value creation to valuation building, leading to unsustainable business models. 🎈 The Tech Bubble's Roots The transformation from unicorns to unicorpses has been long in the making. The 2008 financial crisis led to suppressed interest rates and an influx of capital into riskier assets, including venture capital. This environment emboldened investors to pursue increasingly speculative ventures. ⚔ Blitzscaling: A Double-Edged Sword Blitzscaling prioritizes speed over efficiency, aiming for market dominance. However, this approach is fraught with risks, especially when applied without a clear path to profitability. Negative blitzscaling, characterized by scaling at a loss, often leads to temporary market dominance but eventual financial collapse. 📉 The Consequences When funding dries up, startups with negative unit economics struggle to survive. The fall of WeWork and the deflation of Uber's stock prices are stark reminders of the dangers of blitzscaling without a sustainable business model. 🔁 Back to Basics It’s time for the tech industry to rediscover its roots: 1. Maintain a healthy financial runway. 2. Build positive unit economics. 3. Focus on user retention, virality, and steady growth. The era of capital-fueled battles is waning, heralding a return to business fundamentals. Successful startups will be those that build products adored by customers and maintain financial sustainability. Read more of Peng T. Ong and Phong T.'s thoughts on negative blitzscaling here: https://lnkd.in/g8fp4Hzx