It is said crisis unites and there’s no better time than now for unity as the travel industry undergoes its biggest test with the outbreak of Covid-19.
With most of the world on lockdown and as China and Singapore enter another round of their fight to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic by placing restrictions on inbound travellers and asking residents to defer non-essential travel, it is clear the travel industry is coming to a near-complete standstill.
With things changing so rapidly, it is even more important to have the important discussions and debate to get us through this period. There must be lessons to be exchanged, and ideas and practices to be shared, so that we can unite and collaborate our way out of this crisis.
No one knows how long this will last, but what we do know is that we will come out stronger if we think together. And failing the ability to meet physically for now, this is our way of connecting the industry through deep, meaningful discussions and debate
WiT Podcast: Unity In Crisis – Episode 5: William Bao Bean, Partner, SOSV Capital and Managing Director, Chinaccelerator
In this episode, we speak to William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV Capital and managing director of Chinaccelerator, who’s got loads of experience in tech investing in Asia. He founded MOX, SOSV’s Mobile-Only Accelerator, in partnership with GMobi, the largest mobile platform for South-east Asia and India. William is also an active angel investor with 39 investments between 2004 and 2014. He’s also known for not being afraid to speak his mind.
Here are some soundbites from this wide-ranging conversation that covers his personal experience of being in Shanghai currently, his views on the China tech scene, how startups and investors must behave like cockroaches even if it means losing a couple of legs and the leapfrogging in mobile innovation in health tech that is coming out of Asia as governments collaborate with private sector to fight Covid-19.
“We’re in China, we’re talking to you from the future”
“We’re in China. We’re talking to you from the future. Most of the world are just coming into quarantine. And we’re coming out of it after two months. So think about what happens. People still have to eat. So how do they get their food? People get very bored and they also get very angry and distracted by their children. So there’s actually quite a lot of opportunity here.”
Impact on big vs small
“Big, disruptive downturns have a big negative impact on larger companies, as opposed to small companies, because small companies don’t have that physical and human infrastructure. They’re also much more nimble and it’s easier to make cuts.”
Asia leapfrogging in mobile innovation in health tech
“Asia has a bit of an advantage in terms of speed because they’re more open to (tech) adoption than other markets. This is the leapfrog effect twe’ve seen in travel, fintech and banking. And now we’re seeing it in the health industry, where new solutions innovation is rolled out much more quickly.”
On China’s Health Code app, Singapore’s TraceTogether app
“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. I think globally, what you’re going to see is an increase in adoption in technology and the lead has really been taken by Asia. People are citing South Korea, China and Singapore.”
Could there be a global collaboration on a global health code app?
“Governments generally move slowly. They usually only speed up when things get really bad. This pandemic is not a great thing, obviously, but it could loosen things up and bring this to the forefront, especially in the West. But globalization has not been popular recently.”
Cockroaches can live without a couple of legs
“Recessions are generally no fun. This is going to qualify as a recession and very likely a global recession. In this circumstance, the equity investors take a hit, global investors take a hit. Early stage investors, because we have a 10-year plus timeline, don’t take as much of a hit. Some of the companies definitely die. But if you go into cockroach mode, you might lose a couple legs, but you have a few left.”
(This was recorded March 25.)
Get more investor insights at our next WiT Virtual on April 1, 11am-12pm (GMT+8) where three investors will share perspectives on the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. Register here.
