BEYOND UNICORN: Private Investors' Knowledge Base Widelia Liu

Today’s guest is Bruce Pon, CEO of BigchainDB and founder of Ocean Protocol. We began our conversation by probing into the value of data as an asset, what are the problems preventing the value of data being unlocked and how Ocean is solving that problem by building a protocol for data sharing, how it envisions global adoption through community building and industry partnerships. We discussed about the Ocean token – its usage, value creation and learnings from its IEO and ICO. Finally, we imagined a future where Ocean Protocol becomes the de facto protocol for access control and an Ocean DAO driven entirely by its contributors.
A personal disclaimer before we begin – I am a holder of Ocean Token since March 2019.
 
Key highlights from our conversation
Data is worth at least as much as land
Data is the new asset that people are going to be able to monetize, securitize, use as collateral. The hypothesis is that data is worth at least as much as land which is estimated to be worth $7trillion by an economist. This belief is further reinforced by the fact that the top 10 most valuable companies in the world today are mostly internet platforms, information platforms.
Blockchain is the middle layer between data provider and data buyer
The key problem with centralised data marketplaces is that they need to have custody of your data which results in the need for trust – data providers need to trust that the data marketplaces can manage your data well, keep it secure and provide you with a full audit trail. This often limits data sharing. What blockchain can do is to act as a trusted middle layer – the custodian for data, providing the data providers the full control of their data.

The Ocean Protocol is fundamentally an access control system.
Currently, there aren't any other protocols that look at data sharing as an access control problem. Ocean is the access control layer. In five years, what I want is Ocean being seen as the protocol that everybody follows to use for access control.
 
The usage and value accrual of Ocean Token
At the very core, any crypto token can be used as a means of exchange. In the case of Ocean token, it is the means of exchange within Ocean Protocol. So that's the base level.
Second thing. And this is since the inception of the proof of authority network, you can use Ocean tokens to kickstart smart contracts on our proof of authority network. So right there was utility of this kind of a native token for a unique network.
Moving into the future, we're going to have some other exciting kind of uses of the Ocean token. Number one is we're going to kickstart the network rewards. This is 51% of the total supply that we've talked about from the very beginning. That is kind of a discount token model that allows value to come back into the ecosystem if people are using the protocol. And then there's another use case where we have for the Ocean token, which is governance. That's a little preview of what we're going to be releasing later on this year.
 
In the blockchain space, you can't separate speculation from utility from kind of global adoption. I think it all plays together. I see speculation very, very optimistically. It is viewed as this interplay between builders, speculators and the existing kind of traditional world where we are trying to disrupt.
 
Content at a glance with time-code
(01.36) Bruce’s background story
(03.18) BigchainDB and Ocean Protocol explained
(05.57) Data as an asset is worth at least as much as land
(07.38) Core problems in data that Ocean Protocol is solving
(17.56) How Ocean Protocol is designed to overcome trust, privacy and security of data
(20.30) Uses cases and industry partnerships of Ocean Protocol
(24.59) Importance of community for decentralised projects like Ocean Protocol
(27.30) The usage and value accrual of Ocean Token
(33.03) Learning from Ocean’s failed IEO
(36.47) The value of speculation within Crypto
(39.38) The futur

Today’s guest is Veronica Zhou, partner of Blue Elephant Capital, the first pure play education technology focused early stage investment fund in China. We began our conversation by segmenting the Chinese education market into 3 broad segments, namely to consumer (2C), to school (2S) and to business (2B). We then delved deeper into the complex sales system in the “to school” segment; how Covid-19 created the paradigm shift in online education. And lastly, we discussed Blue Elephant Capital’s investment approach and the key investment theses in the next 5 years.
 
Key highlights from our conversation
Chinese education market is divided into 3 broad segments 1) To Consumer (2C): to families and students 2) To school (2S): to schools, education bureaus, to government’s budget 3) To Business (2B): this includes 600,000 small and medium sized afterschool shops;  about 20 large scale education companies such as TAL or New Oriental
Education spending continues to rise across China
Families in the first-tier cities (e.g. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen) in China spend on average 20 to 30% of their disposable income on their kids' education. This trend is observed to be growing over the last few years, and is also developing in the second-tier cities such as the provincial capitals and other more affluent cities in China. It is observed that in a certain city, once over 40% of students go to after school classes, a flipping point will be reached resulting in FOMO - suddenly everyone wants to go to the after-school classes and every parent feels obligated to send their kids there.
2S is the largest segment with government spending on public education expected to rise
The government spending on public education system in China is about RMB 5 trillion - just above 4% of GDP for China. In more advanced economies like Northern Europe, this ratio is about 8% of GDP. So, it is believed that the Chinese government spending on the public education system will continue to grow.
Covid-19 led an 85% increase in online education but this is believed to be temporary
The first wave of online education start-ups came into existence around 2013. By 2019, data shows that about 15% of the consumer market is acceptive to online education. Covid-19 led an 85% hike in the online education market. But it is believed to be temporary as the majority of the education will still be conducted in physical campus and the majority of the school system will go back to its old track.
Key growth trends identified are 1) education of kids before 3 years old 2) after kindergarten market: OMO (online merges offline) 3) Screenless education for kids before 6 years old 4) Online education for vocational training 5) digitalisation of physical campus 6) The use of new media like TikTok for education purpose
 
Content at a glance with time-code
(01.20) Veronica’s background story and a brief introduction on Blue Elephant Capital
(02.39) Overview of Chinese education market: how it segments to 2C, 2S and 2B; key trends within each segment
(09.13) 2S: what areas of private investments are relevant for the 2S segments
(11.25) The government’s procurement and purchasing decisions within 2S
(16.25) Chinese online education before and after Covid-19
(26.06) Blue Elephant Capital’s investment approach
(32.07) Key growth trends in EdTech in the next 3-5 years
(38.06) The unicorn discussion
Episode links
Blue Elephant Capital: http://en.ibecapital.com/
 
 

Today’s guest is David Ng, co-founder and CEO of Pollen, a community sales-as-a-service platform empowering brands to turn their fans into resellers. We began our conversation by diving into Pollen’s business model – understanding the challenges and opportunities of a B2B model versus a B2C model, dissecting the key value proposition and the key stakeholders’ relationships of social commerce, highlighting the difference between social commerce and multi-level marketing. Lastly, we discussed the competitive landscape of social commerce and how Pollen positions itself among the competitors.
Key highlights from our conversation
Direct to consumer brands and social commerce go hand in hand
A lot of famous direct to consumer brands became popular due to social media so what social commerce does for D2C brands now is to enable them to go one step further from engaging their community through contents to turning them into resellers for the brands.
Key difference between multi-level marketing and social commerce
Multi-level marketing is focused on the recruitment of other agents where the bulk of the income comes from instead of selling for the brand while social commerce focuses on selling for the brand by attracting people who can build personal relationships with the buyers.
The key value proposition for social commerce is centred around the hypothesis that “I am more likely to buy it from someone I trust as opposed to buy it from someone whom I don't know or by seeing a brand’s advertisement”. There are three key stakeholders at the heart of social commerce – the brand or supplier, the resellers and end consumers.
Casual sellers make up the bulk of the reseller network
75% of the community piloted at Pollen is made up of casual sellers who are potential buyers too while the remaining 25% of the community are hardcore sellers who see social commerce as a way a main income generating engine.


Non-commodity type products are more suitable for social commerce such as fashion, beauty, food, wellness, lifestyle because purchasing decisions for such products depend on a multitude of factors beyond pure functionality and price alone.
 
Content at a glance with time-code
(01.26) David’s background story and the journey to founding Pollen
(03.22) Snapshot of Pollen’s business model
(05.09) Direct to consumer brands and social commerce go hand in hand
(07.43) Difference between social commerce and multilevel marketing
(11.46) Casual sellers vs hardcore sellers
(13.36) The B2C element of social commerce
(16.04) What types of products work best for social commerce
(20.05) B2B vs B2C social commerce business models
(32.20) Unicorn discussion: the fine balance between profitability and valuation
Episode links
Pollen: https://www.pollen.store/
Jumper AI: https://jumper.ai/

This episode is part two of our industry talk on fashion and retail. And it follows on from our discussion in the previous episode released two weeks ago. In this episode, we looked at the rise of Direct to Consumer brands, and how technology contributed to this trend; the truth surrounding online and offline retail, the challenges faced by department store and then circling back to considerations of franchising and licensing which were first introduced in the last episode. Finally, we conclude our discussion by zooming out to a more general discussion on overall industry trends.
Our expert guest is Stefaan Le Clair, the Managing Director of Berenike Global Fashion Management. Stefaan’s past industry experiences include being the VP of Retail Europe at Espirit Group, the CEO of denim brand Lee Cooper, the General Manager of Hudson’s Bay Benelux which is also the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, the CEO of Galerie INNO which is a department store chain in Belgium. 
Key highlights from our conversation
Direct-to-consumer brands: do-it-all Vs excel-at-all
Direct to consumer brands have the ability to communicate directly to end consumers instead via third parties thus it is easier to maintain distinct brand entity. However, when it comes to distribution channels, it is rare to see brands who do-it-all become a specialist in all the channels. So, brands have to strike a fine balance between do-it-all but not excel at all aspects and outsource certain elements to more experienced partners.
Online and offline are doomed to be married forever
The cliché discussion of “is offline going to die in favour of online?” or “is online going to die because of lack of profitability?” is unlikely to yield useful conclusions. What is more important is the wishes of consumers which depend very much on the type of product and the emphasis on convenience.
Certain products such as mid-level premium luxury brands and lingerie work better in offline settings with the involvement of salesperson while for certain product categories, online offer the opportunity of wider product assortment which is difficult to achieve offline. So, it is important for brands and retails to be present in an omni-channel environment with a blend of online and offline channels.
The key to the future of department store is social
Department store is a complex business with very huge surfaces and wide selection of product categories. It has a negative reputation today because it has never changed. The future of department store rests on its ability to recreate the social element of being a gathering place for people, working place, eating place or even a sleeping place – a place where people come to experience something, to have an “event” feeling at certain moments. Successful examples of ILLUM and Selfridges are highlighted.
Licensing and franchising remain a viable business model
It is important to recognise that it is difficult to excel in all aspects of the business. It can be beneficial to find a partner with complementary skillsets. This is especially true for geographical expansion where local network and expertise are crucial. As a brand owner, one needs to ensure that you have a good contract in place to guard and police your brand DNA.
How technology helps fashion and retail companies
The first major role technology plays in advancing fashion and retail companies is on consumer data and insights. The second role it plays is in helping businesses to become more agile and flexible so to respond to ever changing consumer demands. These two roles are most critical when evaluation the usefulness of a technology to fashion and retail brands.
Top 3 sub-segments with high growth potentials are highlighted
Travel retail is the fastest growing sub-segment before Covid-19; however, its development post Covid-19 remains unclear. Sustainability related sub-segment remains popular due to the rising environmental concerns worldwide. And hos

This episode kicks off a mini series of industry specific expert talks. The objective of industry talks is to help investors to structure their thought process when evaluating companies operating in these industries. It also helps entrepreneurs who are looking to start a company in these industries.

Today we begin with fashion and retail industry. And our expert guest is Stefaan Le Clair, the Managing Director of Berenike Global Fashion Management. Stefaan’s past industry experiences include being the VP of Retail Europe at Espirit Group, the CEO of denim brand Lee Cooper, the General Manager of Hudson’s Bay Benelux which is also the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, the CEO of Galerie INNO which is a department store chain in Belgium. 
Our discussion is divided into two episodes. In this first episode, we begin by working through the different stages of the value chain in fashion and retail. Starting with product development, looking at how brand positioning influences design and manufacturing arrangements in a business; and how supply chain efficiency became the new norm, so shifting value differentiation to other elements. We then went on to discuss Sales & Marketing considerations, such as revenue mix between wholesale Vs retail and the importance of being present in multiple channels.
 
Key highlights from our conversation
The cost of a product today is influenced by factors beyond the direct cost of production
In today’s world, the actual cost of a product is no longer the key determinant of the price of a product. The cost is often influenced by the pricing power of downstream sales and distribution channels and how a product enters such channels (e.g. the number of middlemen and their commissions). Increasingly, consumer demand and price sensitivity also play a big role in determining the cost. So, we often have to turn the box round and calculate margins and costs backwards.
Efficient supply chain is no longer sufficient to drive and sustain value
Supply chain efficiency is an important value creator in the past. But by being more efficient and better controlling the cost are no longer sufficient in driving and maintaining value for today’s brands. What are more important for value creation are the speed of bringing products to market and the process that followed.
Greater emphasis placed on consumer feedback in product creation
In the past, products were created by product managers within the company. And today there is a greater emphasis on customer centricity with an increasing trend of product co-creation using consumer insights captured through data.
Achieve growth by widening assortment is a better strategy as compared to creating sub-brands
Widening product assortment under one umbrella brand is a strategy that will deliver more value than splitting one brand up in multiple sub-brands as that will dilute the core DNA. It is better to focus on your core customer and surround them with a 360-degree product assortment.
 
It is important to adopt a multi distribution channel approach
We have seen traditional wholesale business venturing into retail to seek growth and manage risk. At the same time, vertically integrated retail brands are selling via wholesale channels too in an attempt to further broaden its customer base.
 
Content at a glance with time-code
(02.06) Stefaan’s personal background story
(04.21) Compare and contrast different business arrangements of product development
(09.18) How supply chain efficiency is no longer a key value creator today
(12.03) Can luxury brands still create value through unique designs?
(18.31) How to balance the need to stay true to a brand’s core and respond to ever changing consumer demand?
(25.26) The future of fashion business is a conglomerate structure with multiple brands under one company
(30.34) How value has been shifted away from supply chain to later stages such as sales & marketing
(32.52) What does consumer centric

Today’s guest is Sam Gibb, founding partner of Singapore-based early stage VC fund Endeavour Ventures. We began our conversation with Sam’s personal investing experience as an active angel - how he got started, his view and recommendation on deal sourcing and network building. We then went on to discuss the five things that he looks for in a start-up, the reality of financial return and motivation of angel investing. And finally, on his recent transition from angel to VC and what are his key investment focuses for 2020.
Key highlights from our conversation
Getting involved with angel networks is a good way to get started in terms of building relevant networks and gaining investing related knowledge. However, deals listed on the angel networks maybe those that have been passed on by more experienced investors, so one has to be aware of the potential selection biases in these deals. For investors based in Singapore, BANSEA and AngelCentral are highlighted among other angle networks.
Being nice to people, being interesting and being direct when dealing with entrepreneurs help to create and build networks. One of the worst habits that investors have is just ghosting – try avoiding that.
In order to do exceptionally well, one has to be contrarian right because if it's a consensus good idea, then it's going to be well exploited and already priced into the valuation.
Investing successfully over the long run needs a very disciplined approach; some of the good disciplines highlighted include maintaining a due diligence checklist and writing an investment memo to document reasons for making a particular investment.
It is important to determine what one’s motivation is with angel investing; if financial returns are your key objective, you need to be realistic that investing your cash in equity may generate higher returns based on historical VC fund returns over the last 10 years; also you will need to do at least 20 investments to have a 89% chance of returning your original investment so portfolio construction is an important consideration.
Key investment opportunities for 2020: developer tools that aid collaboration in remote work settings; security token in the blockchain space and cybersecurity in general
 
Content at a glance with time-code
(01.17) Sam’s journey into angel investing
(02.55) Channels for deal sourcing
(04.19) What are the considerations with getting involved in angel networks?
(06.50) Selection bias in deals listed on angel networks
(10.00) BANSEA and AngelCentral are highlighted
(10.56) How to build and maintain networks
(15.30) The due diligence process and investment criteria
(21.08) How the process of investing has changed over the last 6.5 years
(23.30) How to overcome personal bias
(24.40) The importance of being contrarian right
(26.39) Discipline and long-term investment success
(29.26) It is difficult to succeed financially as an angel investor
(33.35) Transitioning from angel to VC
(35.13) Investment opportunities in 2020 – Digital transformation in Southeast Asia
(37.58) Unicorn discussion – potentially a good signal for legitimacy
 
Episode links
Endeavour Ventures: https://www.endeavour.ventures/
AngelCentral : https://www.angelcentral.co/
BANSEA : https://www.bansea.org/