The Silicon Review - Best Business Review Magazine 10 Best Startups of the Year 2019 Asia | Page 20

A Word Of Advice From Neeraj And Keith To The Budding Entrepreneurs
Having an idea, building a great product and gaining traction are the essential
activities of any startup. What makes a startup successful is the strength and ability
of the team to deliver on the purpose of the business. So, the most important aspect
is to assemble a solid team first. Get that right and your chances of success will be
higher than most already.
innovative thinking and having a
great product are merely the bare
minimum to survive and compete.
What differentiates Zeemart is our
organizational DNA- the company
knows how to build businesses
around strong principles of
excellence, passion and hard work.
We have a strong founding team
with deep domain knowledge and
rich experience across both F&B
and digital product development.
The two of us ran an interactive
digital agency for 15 years building
solutions and marketing campaigns
for global clients such as Unilever,
P&G, Starbucks and Adidas. The
other two co-founders are industry
veterans who previously held senior
management positions in the Horeca
space and have also run successful
companies.
The quality of the collective
experience of the founding team,
with the appetite and ability to
take on calculated risks while
navigating through obstacles, has
been invaluable in scaling up our
company at speed.
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Attracting, grooming and retaining
human talent are imperative for
any successful start-up. Zeemart
leverages on the rich networks of
the co-founders, as well as their
stellar track record, to build a
strong and committed team. The
strength of our team gives us the
confidence to compete and succeed.
JANUARY 2019
A startup may or may
not function as originally
envisaged. How do you
respond to this need for
change?
We’re living in a VUCA (Volatility,
Uncertainty, Complexity &
Ambiguity) world, where ‘disruption’
is ubiquitous. Even seemingly
change-proof businesses like
supermarkets and taxi services are
fighting for survival against online
stores and on-demand transport
services. No business is immune to
the vagaries of change and anyone
can be caught blindsided. We are no
different. Startups are even more
vulnerable being resource-strapped.
What we do is to be extra sensitive
to market change or demand and
respond with agility. We have to
work constantly at peak efficiency
and can’t afford to be ‘stationary’
for too long. Alertness, agility and a
healthy dose of paranoia help push
us forward continuously.
A startup is defined by its
core values. What are your
company’s core values
and how did they help you
succeed?
Yes, core values are extremely
important for a startup that is often
subjected to enormous pressures
from various angles. We’ve defined
five core values that guide us in
what we do and how we do things:
from product development and
customer service to recruitment
and retention. These act as the glue
that bonds the team to achieve our
purpose.
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•
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Enterprising - We love success.
We are not afraid to take a
chance, think big & outside the
box and achieve big results.
We are nimble - quick to think,
make our point, get to a decision
and execute. We are self-driven,
take ownership and challenge
ourselves & our teammates
Awareness - We are empathetic
& respectful towards the people
we work with, clients, suppliers,
time and our surroundings.
We appreciate the value in
looking back, learning from our
mistakes and taking our next
steps confidently. When we
make mistakes, we are humble,
accept responsibility, and seek
help to fix it
Transparency - We are all
accountable. Each of us is
accountable to ourselves and
the rest of the team. We are
genuine in what we do, why we
do it and how we do it. We work
across organizational levels,
geographical boundaries and
break down any barriers
Integrity - We act with
integrity. We are committed to
maintain equity and fairness
in the decisions we make and
how we treat one another. We
respect and value each other
for our diverse backgrounds,