http://www.techsylvania.co/

1. How To
Expand To Asia
Krating Poonpol, Partner, 500 Startups

2. 72.5% of International Unicorns Are Asians.

3. The Next 100 Billion USD
Companies Will Be Coming
From Asia Or Those Who
Successfully Conquer Asia
My Two Bold Predictions
1.

4. > 90% of The International
Unicorns Will Be Either
Asian Startups Or Those
Who Successfully Conquer
Asia
My Two Bold Predictions
2.

5. Asia is Growing Young
While US and (Majority
of ) ROW Are Greying

6. Millennial and Gen Z will be key
consumer segments
Consumers Ready to Go Online and Ready
to Adopt New Tech Products and Services.2.1Billion
Source: GoldmanSachs

7. The Young, Tech-Savvy, Socially
Addicted, Open Consumers
1 1.5 billion aged between
15 and 35 live in Asia
currently
2 1.2 billion internet users in Asia
but penetration at 35% is well
below ROW at 52%
450mn monthly active
users in Facebook Asia Growing smarter: 1.3bn
smartphone users in Asia
currently and expected to
grow 30% p.a
Consumption (% of GDP)
in Asia is 49%, below the
world average and
growing at 8% CAGR
3
4
5
Youthful Asia
Getting Online
More Sociable
Growing Smarter
Rising Consumerism
Source: GoldmanSachs

8. Mobile technology and tech-savvy demography
to usher in an era of digital financial services.
Case In Point : FinTech
Source: GoldmanSachs

9. “Transformation to
a digital financial
services paradigm”

10. Case In Point : WeChat

11. Smart Money Also Seems To Believe So….
VC Investment Trend
US EuropeAsia
2015
2016
$82 B
$72 B
$18 B
$16 B
$39 B
$39 B
2020 ??? ??? ???
https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2015/10/venture-pulse.html

12. https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2015/10/venture-pulse.html
Smart Money Also Seems To Believe So….
VC Investment Trend

13. Life is too short not to build a
billion USD or even 100 billion
USD Unicorn!

14. But Asia Is….

15. Asia Is NOT Only China, India, and Japan
“This is a great place to be. There is going to be a lot going on here.”
Draper gained fame for investments in startups that went on to become household names, such as Baidu Inc.,
Tesla Inc. and Skype.

16. South East Asia
According To Facebook

17. Source: TechInAsia

18. Asia is Tough!

19. Asia Is Tough!
> 9,000 P2P Lending Startups In China!

20. Asia Is Tough!

21. Asia Is Fragmented
https://twitter.com/2morrowknight/status/802040299484651520

22. Asia is Fragmented
CAC LTV
Tier 1 City
Tier 2 City
Tier 3 City
$20
$29
$34
$83
$52
$36
It’s Many Mini-Countries Within A Country!

23. How To Expand To Asia?

24. Amazon invested 2 Billion USD in India
and plan to enter South East Asia
http://techstory.in/amazon-india-rise/

25. Don’t Enter Asia
Don’t Even Enter China,
India, or South East Asia

26. Enter Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore,
Bangalore, Beijing, Jakarta, or etc. instead
To Capture A Billion Customers. Start With 10 Million!

27. You don’t come to Asia
as a startup; You come
to Asia to be a Unicorn.

28. Do The Macro Analysis
Find Your Beach Head
Concentrate Your Efforts

30. Cross-market Variables
City
pop index
*adjusted
Laundry
price index
Chosen
Segment
Size
Estimate ($
mil)
Total City
Size
Estimate
($ mil)
Bangkok 1.00 1.00 60 200
Singapore 0.65 1.91 75 249
Hong Kong 0.87 1.43 75 248
KL 0.20 1.10 12 43
Macau* 0.07 1.43 6 20
Seoul 1.22 3.75 276 919
Tokyo 1.59 2.29 219 728
Taipei 0.85 0.91 45 155
Shanghai 2.92 1.21 210 704
Sydney 0.57 3.57 123 411
Auckland 0.17 3.97 42 136
Jakarta 1.18 1.01 72 238
Manila 1.43 1.78 153 509
HCMC 0.99 0.58 33 115
Total 1,401 4,673
¨ Hard Variables
¤ Population
¤ GDP per capita
¤ Internet penetration
¤ Smartphone penetration
¤ Laundry Price
¨ Soft Variables
¤ Urban setup e.g. no. of mall,
high-rise building, etc.
¤ Age distribution
¤ Logistics infrastructure
¤ Government policy
Case In Point : On-Demand Laundry Box and Smart
Locker Startups
Source: Box24

31. Laundry is big and urban
Singapore
TokyoShanghai
Bangkok Auckland
Jakarta
240
Manila
HCMC
500
120
Sydney Taipei
Hong Kong
Seoul
KLMacau
200
400
140 700
150
600
20 50
250250
Asia-Pacific Total Addressable Market Over USD 4,600 mm
: Total Accessible Market Size (USD mm)
700
Source: Box24 estimate based on population and price index
High
Growth
Low
Growth
Source: Box24

32. List Top 5 Mega Cities
Your First Hypothesis
My Product/Service Can Do 10x Better
Than My Asian Competitors Because I Have
This xxx Unfair Advantage
“Features, Technology, Know-How, Business
Model, Brands/Stories, Capital…”
What Do I Need To Make My Products/
Service Platforms 10x Better?

33. Find The Bridges And Allies
China, SEA,
MENA, Japan,
Thailand, VN
Telco, Banks?

34. Joe Gebbia, Co-Founder of AirBnB
Do Things That Don’t Scale

35. Find The Connectors

36. Find The Connectors
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jlim/2016/07/31/asias-best-co-working-spaces-are/#28787c44ef4d

37. Read Local Tech Blogs and Befriend
Local Journalists. Do Guest Post.

38. Engage Local Talents and
Establish Influencer Lists
Localization Must Be Done
By Locals

39. Zara ’s Launch in Malaysia
Source: https://hotcopy.co/blog/zara-epicfail-malaysia-localization/

40. Source: https://hotcopy.co/blog/zara-epicfail-malaysia-localization/

41. Where Is My Beach Head?
Who Are My Allies And Bridges?
What Are My Unfair Advantage?
How To Make My Product/Service/Platform 10x
Better? Strategic Partners? Contents?
Who are Top Influencers, Talents I Should Engage?
My Minimum Viable Go-To-Market Strategy and
How To Validate It?

42. Respect Everyone.
But Fear Noone!

43. Book A Ticket and Visit
The Markets and Enjoy The
Beauty of Asia !