From my experience in the startup scene for 9 years, I have seen many startups in Southeast Asia struggling on going beyond series-B. And we observed that they have a common problem, which is they are not able to to cross border and go regional/global. Most of them are solving a problem locally. Therefore, the market size is not big enough for VC to invest and get their return back.
From the VC stand point, Series-B required a startup to be at least in 3 markets/countries, that’s why they are willing to invest and scale the startup to be the market leaders in these 3 markets.
So, in order to build a successful startup, my 2 cents:
It has to be on the internet - Internet allows you to scale and test other markets in the early stage even without physically be in the market. But don’t get me wrong; an early stage startup doesn’t necessary required a mobile app or high tech to start from. There are plenty of tools on the internet to validate the market before you spend a lot of money to build an app.
It has to be global ready - You don’t have to be global at the start, but the proble you are solving have to be big enough that other market/country alos face the problem.
It has to be a platform - a platform means that you don’t focus wholly on selling your own products but selling/reselling others’ products, this allows you to scale quickly without the hassel of handling the production and inventory.
Summary:
Find a problem that is big enough globally to be solved, use internet to validate and solve it by using other’s resources.
My suggestion would be to work for a company before starting a startup, unless you're very sure of what you're doing.
If you just have an idea, it's probably best to build your network and experience before starting a company, as running a business can be very challenging.
But if you do decide on starting a startup, here are some things you should take note of:
Have a clear goal on where you're headed. Validate your ideas.
Work out a solid business plan + financial model. Be clear on what you need to spend to get to your goals.
Be mentally ready to hustle continuously for a very long time (maybe a few years).
The journey is long, but it is very rewarding. Good luck! 💪🏻
