{"id":5868,"date":"2025-07-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=5868"},"modified":"2025-07-01T13:12:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T05:12:57","slug":"khailee-breaks-down-the-doom-loop-thats-putting-a-drag-on-southeast-asia-startups-and-shares-strategies-to-prevent-a-regional-setback-markup-1185","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=5868","title":{"rendered":"Khailee breaks down the \u201cdoom loop\u201d that\u2019s putting a drag on Southeast Asia startups, and shares strategies to prevent a regional setback | Markup #1185"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXcXqjHGfVZU0VDgK_jRrLOqXti5D9z1Zz4yLCWH9QalQAkr21VDzobtgKU8ueE4EV-aELNhrN9TKJJ9AGri_tCk7YoxSDQSqgRLM8n6GOsQD0ionhdsoGQTuP5Fkt3_pIqQEao_RQ?key=fcSTl5SsJ3a1ccT0-tAGsQ\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:502px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo credit: Tech in Asia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Cycles and Crabs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cThere&#8217;s a micro doom loop that is spinning so fast and I don&#8217;t want this region to be set back,\u201d shared <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/khailee\">Khailee Ng<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/sea.500.co\/\">500 Global<\/a> Managing Partner.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The &#8220;micro doom loop&#8221; in VC begins when limited capital flows from LPs into the ecosystem. As a result, VC firms operate with reduced capital reserves, and may become more conservative in their investments.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This can lead to fewer startups getting funded, or more funding concentrated in fewer startups. If funded startups are unable to achieve sufficient growth, they may face difficulties securing subsequent rounds of investment. This limits the ability for VCs to generate returns for LPs, perpetuating the cycle.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cWe\u2019re doing crabs in the tub right now,\u201d Khailee shares, likening the self-destructive blame culture within the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem to how crabs in a confined space will tear each other apart due to scarcity and lack of external opportunities.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the startup ecosystem, this represents internal conflict, blame, and tearing each other down when resources are scarce, rather than collaborating for collective success.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>His advice for founders fundraising in 2025? Instead of having \u2018tunnel vision\u2019 reliance on a single VC, founders should explore multiple sources of capital \u2014 including from unusual suspects \u2014 by &#8220;walking up the ladder then down the ladder&#8221;.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This tactic involves founders first securing commitments from newer, eager VCs or angel investors who might be more willing to invest early. Once a significant portion of the round is committed, founders then approach their preferred top-tier VCs.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Securing commitments from smaller or newer investors\u00a0 creates urgency and social proof, making the top-tier VCs more likely to invest. After securing the top-tier VC, founders can loop back to earlier potential investors to close the round (walking down the ladder).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Watch the full podcast on <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4eo0vP3\">Tech in Asia<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cycles and Crabs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[322],"tags":[473],"class_list":["post-5868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily","tag-500-global"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Khailee breaks down the \u201cdoom loop\u201d that\u2019s putting a drag on Southeast Asia startups, and shares strategies to prevent a regional setback | Markup #1185 - Markup<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=5868\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Khailee breaks down the \u201cdoom loop\u201d that\u2019s putting a drag on Southeast Asia startups, and shares strategies to prevent a regional setback | Markup #1185 - Markup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cycles and Crabs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=5868\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Markup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/500southeastasia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-01T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-01T05:12:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Khailee-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ching Yee Ho\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/\",\"name\":\"Markup\",\"description\":\"Serving bite-sized news on 500 Southeast Asia&#039;s portfolio companies and insights to fuel your momentum in life and business.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=5868#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Khailee-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Khailee-1.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1350},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=5868#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=5868\",\"name\":\"Khailee breaks down the \u201cdoom loop\u201d that\u2019s putting a drag on Southeast Asia startups, and shares strategies to prevent a regional setback | Markup #1185 - 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