Ng Jing Shen, the co-founder of Paktor, a leading dating app in Asia, talks about the business of love.
Five years ago, online dating wasn’t really a “thing”. The design was not appealing enough, some considered it creepy, and was rarely used. By 2015, it started becoming a trend. Several apps emerged, and even social media networks became dating hotspots.
In Asia, however, things worked a bit differently. Considering the relatively conservative culture in the region, dating platforms gained momentum slowly. But one thing was clear: the rising young, busy-looking-at-phone population was looking for love. Paktor was launched keeping this in mind, in June 2013. Since then, Paktor, best-known as a Tinder rival in Asia, has launched in 12 countries, including Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Hong Kong. It secured funding from investors like Yahoo Japan-affiliate YJ Capital and Singapore’s Vertex Ventures.
LOVE GAMES The founders of Paktor are primary school classmates —Joseph Phua and Ng Jing Shen. After completing his MBA from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and dumped by his girlfriend of eight years, Joseph returned to Asia to start Paktor. The app, however, couldn’t handle the high volume of users and crashed. He then reached out to Jing Shen, a University of Michigan graduate, for help, who at that time was working with Amazon as a software engineer and was a part of the team that re-architected one of the world’s first cloud computing services, S3.
Bu hikaye Entrepreneur magazine dergisinin December 2018 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Entrepreneur magazine dergisinin December 2018 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
How To Ask Family For Money
Your friends-and-family fundraising round doesn't have to be scary and awkward. Here's advice from one of the world's leading investors.
Data Breach Drama: When Trust Turns Costly In A Digital Age
Amid data breaches surges, Indian businesses are prone to financial and reputational fallout. Can cyber insurance emerge as a safeguard?
THE TERRAIN TAMER
Spearheading a California-based, Series D SaaS company is no easy feat. It requires a blend of ownership, innovation, and the ability to handle stress. But Anand Jain, co-founder and chief product officer of Clever Tap, finds his calm by escaping to rough terrain whenever he gets the chance-be it India or Colombia.
THE INTELLIGENT READS
Hardika Shah founded Kinara Capital in 2011 with the mission to address the acute credit gap in the micro-small-medium-enterprises (MSME) sector in India, by providing fast and flexible business capital to small business entrepreneurs. Despite operating in highly competitive and tough market of collateral free loans, Kinara Capital has been steadily growing in Hardika's leadership. In conversation with Entrepreneur, Hardika shares insights on her favourite books.
THE CURSE OF GROWING TOO FAST
FAIRE is a platform for small businesses, but it grew big the wrong way-almost becoming a $12 billion wreck. Here's how it fixed the problem, and why you should think twice before skyrocketing.
There's No Perfect Answer
I worked the same job for 19 years. I hated it, but it paid the bills. Then, in 2017, I entertained an exciting but terrifying question: Could I be an entrepreneur? I wasn't sure, so I needed something that felt like a guarantee. I searched for signs that would feel like a big, clear \"yes!\"
Give Yourself the Gift of Time
Happy holidays! Emmy Award-winning tech expert Mario Armstrong has five recs to get more hours in the day.
How to Become a Main Street Millionaire
It started when I bought one little laundromat. Now I have a whole portfolio of small local businesses that bring in tens of millions in revenue a year. Here's why following my playbook could be your ticket to financial freedom-and saving America's local small businesses.
Want to Better Serve Your Clients? Become Them.
As a designer for brands, starting my own product company gave me a dose of humility-and it changed the way I relate to clients.
How to Succeed With Gen Z Workers
People often say that younger employees are different. But are they? We asked six business leaders what they've learned, and how their teams thrive.
