Introducing Summer Batch of 2022!
+ A New Format for our Newsletter, How to Run Simulations about your Business and Calling for Applications for Winter 2023
New Updates
Hey guys,
It's June here, Iterative's Content Strategist. Don't worry, Hsu Ken will be back with his columns (I made sure of it!) - I'm just here to make a quick announcement.
A lot of you have been asking for more content, and we're finally getting to it. To accommodate this, a few things to expect:
Instead of monthly newsletters, it'll now be biweekly. (That's two columns from Hsu Ken in a month!)
In between, you'll also receive a special edition newsletter series, where Hsu Ken and/or Brian will answer your top questions on startups, fundraising, and everything in between.
If you have anything you want answered, reply to this email! We read each and every one of them.
As always, if you guys don't like this new change, let us know. We'll iterate until we get it right.
Okay, let's get back to our regular schedule programming.
Welcome, Summer Batch of 2022!
After 430+ applications and over 200+ hours on interviews (thank you, visiting partners!), we've made our picks for Summer 2022.
Iterative Summer 2022
Barikoi (Bangladesh) - Mapping API’s and solutions for Bangladesh
Bueno! (Singapore) - B2B buy-now-pay-later software
ConcreteAI (Singapore) - Real-time concrete strength monitoring
Coverio (Singapore) - Payroll using crypto payment rails
Gobble (Singapore) - Discounted group-buy for take out with friends
Kipin (Indonesia) - Access to education for schools with no internet
Metabox (Singapore) - Hyper casual puzzle games as a gateway to the Metaverse
Mindpod (Vietnam) - Tiktok for short-form audios
Nodeflair (Singapore) - Career transparency platform for tech talent
Oyen (Malaysia) - Malaysia's best pet insurance
Qalboo (Indonesia) - Islamic wellbeing platform
Rebel (Philippines)- Consumer fitness content and coaching app
Soulgood Health (Hong Kong) - Premium online mental health therapy
Thrive EdTech (Bangladesh) - Personalised tutoring at scale
ULive (Malaysia) - Live-commerce platform for social media sellers
Waffle (Singapore) - Point of sale that gets FnBs more sales
Worq Health (Singapore) - Marketplace for on-demand healthcare professionals
Yippy (Indonesia) - Corporate gifting API to gift at scale
YPay Financial Services (Pakistan) - The easiest investing app for Pakistan
We can't wait to share more updates with you guys - until then, we'll be heads down, hard at work with these incredible founders. We're crazy excited.
Ideas From Iterative
How to Be a Great Founder
How do you go from a bad founder to a great one?
Short answer: Improve your mental simulators.
In this thread, Hsu Ken shares why it’s important - and how to mentally run accurate simulations about your business.
The Importance of Being Reliable as a Founder
Hsu Ken recently spoke to the great people at Rice People Podcast (fun fact: co-host Lei Wong Lei was part of Iterative’s W22 batch!) and shared his thoughts on…
what are the important traits of being a good founder
why mistakes fuel learning velocity
what it was like starting a business after the 2008 financial crisis
Check out the podcast here.
Ideas From Others
Sahil on Founder Mistakes
Hsu Ken: I agree with 1, 3, and 5 but would argue 2 and 4.
As Andrew Bosworth from Facebook says here, "the best product doesn't always win. The one everyone uses wins." You need marketing in almost equal parts to product. Since most founders naturally prioritise the product, I'd argue they need to over prioritise marketing to have a more equal balance.
Similarly for hiring, especially at early stage startups, I tend to hire more for personality. Early stage startups need generalist and personality matters more. They will often be asked to do things which they have no prior experience (no skill). Larger companies hire people for specific, specialised jobs so skill is paramount.
Spotlight on Founders
I Raised From Iterative One Week Before Bankruptcy
“Until the last week (before bankruptcy), I was still interviewing - just in case.”
We like to take the space to shine a spotlight on our incredible founders. This week, we’re featuring Adrien Jorge, founder of Propseller (S20).
This one is for the books because Propseller was Iterative's first ever investment - but to get there, Adrien had to plough through a dumpster fire of a journey.
You’re going to want to read this one.
In the Loop
Applications for W23 Are Now Open
Our latest cohort is underway, but we’re already on the lookout for the next companies to invest in. We’d love to see what you’re working on!
W23 might be a few months away, but early applications have a much higher investment rate. Be one of the early founders that we speak to.
Seeds Capital Backs SG Robotics Startup’s Pre-Series A
“Founded in 2017 by Nikhil Venkatesh, Prashant Trivedi, Singaram Venkatachalam, and Rahul Nambiar, Botsync specialises in building industrial autonomous mobile robots for manufacturing factories and warehouses. It currently has operations in India, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.”
Congratulations to the Botsync (Iterative S21) team on their $3.2M raise!
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