Timestamps

00:57 Why did you move to Asia? — Stu shares what led to his move to Asia

02:24 Stu’s advice for SaaS startups that want to scale in Asia

04:18 You need to productise your sale and be consistent with your Unique Value Proposition

05:47 Challenges that Stu faced in growing businesses in Asia

06:43 If you’re trying to sell, think like you’re in a private equity

09:12 The impact of crises in large tech companies—how it affects the world

11:57 Major shifts in IT—Stu shared how it affects business in the Asia Pacific region

15:50 How Stu aligns people around one vision — and how he selects the next best tech company to buy

21:08 Stu shares why he loves his work at Aiven

About Stu Garrow

Stu Garrow is a veteran of the software industry with over 25 years of experience in growing companies like Mulesoft, Talent and now Aiven in Asia.

Scaling Your SaaS Startup: How to Survive Crashes & Crises in Asia 

If you’re a SaaS startup that's thinking to scale in Asia, you must also prepare for crashes and crises. I had a wonderful opportunity to talk with software industry veteran, Stu Garrow. He shared insights that only someone with over 25 years of experience can articulate.

Here are some of my favourite elements from my conversation with Stu:

1. Focus on one strong message

Stu believes that SaaS companies in Asia need to deliver a strong and unique message, which is tailored to the specific needs and preferences of each country.

If you're scaling to Asia, make sure to avoid dividing your efforts across different markets and focus on one message that resonates with your target audience throughout Asia. Having multiple messages for different regions can lead to confusion and misalignment with your corporate website.

Actionable insights for startup companies:

1. Market research: Understand the cultural nuances and market demands of each country you plan to enter. Conduct thorough market research to identify the unique needs and preferences of your target audience in each location.
2. Tailor your message: Develop a clear and compelling message that effectively communicates the value proposition of your product or service. Adapt your messaging strategy to resonate with the specific cultural and business contexts of each country.
3. Maintain consistency: Ensure that your message remains consistent across all communication channels, including your website, marketing assets, and sales decks. Consistency with your brand assets helps build trust and credibility with your audience.

2. Productise your sale

Productising your sale is a crucial part of growing startups. It means communicating your company's value, and methods of selling, and handling objections to your audience.

Stu strongly suggests you should concentrate on productising your sales processes instead of outsourcing salespeople or partners. With a good productisation process, you can hire a team to handle sales while keeping your company's distinctiveness.

Actionable insights for startup companies:

1. Define your sales process: Clearly outline your sales process, including key stages, messaging frameworks, and objection-handling strategies. This helps ensure consistency and enables effective scaling.
2. Train your sales team: Invest in training your sales team to effectively communicate the value proposition of your product or service. Provide them with the necessary resources and knowledge to handle objections and close deals.
3. Partner strategically: Once your sales process is well-defined and established, consider partnering with external sales teams or channels to expand your reach. However, maintain control over your messaging and ensure that your partners align with your company's values and vision.

3. Emulate Asia's resilience

Stu had survived various crises in Asia, including the Asian economic crisis, SARS, MERS, the global financial crisis, and COVID-19. He has observed that different parts of Asia have unique resilience and crisis management skills, which are influenced by their cultural beliefs. This, in turn, affects their ability to overcome challenges.

Here's how you can overcome challenges as you scale in Asia:

1. Foster adaptability: Build a resilient company culture that can adapt to changing circumstances and navigate through crises. Encourage open communication, agility, and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
2. Learn from past experiences: Analyse and learn from previous crises to develop strategies for mitigating risks and minimising the impact of future disruptions. Continuously evaluate and improve your crisis management capabilities.
3. Seek local expertise: Engage with local advisors, industry experts, and professionals who have experienced and successfully navigated crises in the specific regions you operate in or plan to enter. Their insights can help you prepare and respond effectively.

4. Think like a private equity executive

If you're looking to sell your services, adopt a mindset similar to that of private equity professionals. Focus on two key levers for growth: the Growth Lever, traditionally associated with software companies, and the Efficiency Lever, which involves productising activities through your partners, channels, and distributed teams. Understanding your market's needs and adapting accordingly is crucial for your startup's success.

Actionable insights for startup companies:

1. Identify growth opportunities: Continuously analyse your market and identify areas with growth potential. Invest resources strategically to capitalise on these opportunities and expand your customer base.
2. Optimise efficiency: Streamline your operations and leverage partnerships, channels, and distributed teams to improve efficiency. Automate processes where possible to reduce costs and increase scalability.
3. Understand your customers: Put yourself in your customers' shoes and align your offerings with their needs and priorities. Stay informed about market trends and adapt your sales approach accordingly.

5. Empathise with your customers

In Asia, customers want to save money and time. Meanwhile, in Western countries, people usually try to save money and time by reducing the number of jobs or making things more efficient. But in countries where labour is abundant and cheap, making things slightly more efficient might not matter much.

As a startup scaling to Asia, you need to understand whether you're in a phase of growth or efficiency. Once you do, focus on giving your customers what they want, when they want it.

Actionable insights for startup companies:

1. Segment your target audience: Identify specific customer segments within your Asian markets based on their preferences, buying behaviours, and needs. Tailor your offerings and messaging to each segment to maximise relevance and appeal.
2. Adapt your value proposition: Consider the cost-saving and efficiency-focused mindset prevalent in Asia when developing your value proposition. Highlight the unique advantages and benefits your product or service offers in terms of improved productivity, cost-effectiveness, or operational efficiency.
3. Emphasise local context: Incorporate local context and cultural factors into your marketing and sales strategies. Localisation efforts, including language, messaging, and customer support, can enhance customer trust and engagement.

6. Look for opportunities in crises

Stu has observed that crises at big tech firms can have a significant impact worldwide, resulting in talent shortages and cost-cutting. This can lead to opportunities for other companies to attract and hire skilled people who may be available because of layoffs.

This cycle of ups and downs in business helps bring skilled workers into firms. With these kinds of opportunities, you can actually take them as an opportunity to drive innovation and growth in your business.

Actionable insights for startup companies:

1. Timing is key: Keep an eye on the market during periods of crisis, as talent becomes more accessible. Instead of solely focusing on survival, seize the opportunity to hire skilled individuals who can contribute to your company's growth.
2. Foster a strong company culture: Build an inclusive and engaging company culture that attracts top talent. Cultivate an environment that values creativity, collaboration, and personal growth to retain and motivate your workforce.
3. Embrace innovation: During times of crisis, invest in research and development, and focus on innovative solutions that address emerging challenges. Agility and adaptability are crucial for thriving in a dynamic tech landscape.

7. Look out for technology shifts

The Asia Pacific region has experienced significant shifts in IT over the past few decades. Previously, companies aligned with specific technologies, but there has been a shift toward adopting best-of-breed technologies in each sector.

Stu notes that one significant trend is the rise of open-source camps and multi-cloud adoption, which have reshaped the IT landscape in the region.

Actionable insights for startup companies:

1. Stay up-to-date with technology trends: Continuously monitor the evolving IT landscape and stay informed about emerging technologies and industry best practices. Being aware of trends helps you adapt your offerings and strategies accordingly.
2. Embrace open-source technologies: Consider the advantages of leveraging open-source technologies and communities to build robust and cost-effective solutions. Open Source can provide access to a wide range of tools, resources, and support.
3. Cater to multi-cloud environments: Recognise the growing demand for multi-cloud solutions and ensure that your product or service is compatible with different cloud providers. Adapt your offerings to support portability and compliance requirements, such as GDPR.

8. Align people to one vision

Stu believes that aligning people with a clear vision is crucial for success, particularly in the enterprise space. People who join a company driven by a compelling vision are more likely to stay motivated and committed, while those driven solely by monetary incentives may be more prone to leaving.

This is where executives can make an impact. To motivate people with the company’s vision, they have to be excellent at communicating it across the organisation.

Actionable insights for startup companies:

1. Define a compelling vision: Develop a clear and inspiring vision that encapsulates the purpose and long-term goals of your company. Ensure that it resonates with employees, customers, and stakeholders, and communicate it effectively.
2. Foster a culture of purpose: Cultivate a sense of purpose and shared values within your organisation. Encourage employees to connect with the company's vision and see their work as meaningful and impactful.
3. Provide a roadmap for the future: Develop a strategic roadmap that outlines how the company's vision will be realised over time. Communicate this roadmap to employees, allowing them to understand how their roles contribute to the overall vision and how it spans generations of technology.

In conclusion, startups looking to scale into Asia successfully should focus on three main things: developing a strong and unique message, productizing their sales processes, and navigating crises with resilience.

By implementing these actionable insights, startup companies can position themselves for success in the dynamic and ever-evolving startup ecosystem in Asia.

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