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How did AIS The StartUp receive the Global Startup Award
28 Feb 2020

From the previous article, we have already looked at the origin and importance of the Global Startup Award from the “A major victory for AIS The Startup, as the sole recipient of the Global Startup Award (GSA) in Thailand, emphasizing its longstanding leadership” article. For this article, AIS The StartUp has compiled the insights behind its success and the concept from AIS The StartUp that has never been revealed anywhere else before! as to how did AIS The StartUp became the sole recipient of the award in Thailand. Let's go and have a look!!

It had a clear long-term strategic plan which is constantly updated and developed on a yearly basis. AIS The StartUp's strategy and operational plan is not just action based, i.e. it does not particularly specify on what needs to be done, but it contains a yearly supporting long-term strategy that defines annual operations which results in creating long-term value for the subsequent years, which can be classified into 5 phases, namely

1.1 Explore the Potential : a period that is made into an event based, or in the form of event management and organizing activities, to find directions and study market possibilities.
1.2 Educate the Market : Driving the whole country, as AIS cannot accomplish it on its own without any other partners in the ecosystem. Educating both the market and ecosystem is made through organizing events to stimulate the building of partnership, as well as creating a foundation for Thailand as well.
1.3 Strengthen Foundation : Once the market has begun to recognize and respond, AIS The StartUp will elevate its role, to not just being an event organizer, but developing a new innovative partnership model between corporations and startups or a technological company.
1.4 Unlock Value Creation : AIS is currently in this phase, which is a year of shared value between corporations such as between AIS and innovative companies, to support the upcoming 5G industry and to explore for new business partners which are looking for new markets, new customer bases, new industries, such as VDO and streaming businesses, insurance, finance and payments, and gaming business. We are also collaborating with Singtel Innov8 to bring leading technology from the world based on investments made by Innov8, to give Thai people the opportunity to try it out. With these factors, the role of AIS The StartUp in this phase will be to elevate business expansion and investment to the next level, and not just merely promoting ideas, but creating innovations that will drive actual revenue and profit. The knowledge that AIS The StartUp delivers to digital operators will be upgraded to strategic planning and advanced business management.
1.5 Create new wave potentials : create new growth opportunities.

AIS The StartUp created an important keystone for the Startup Ecosystem, as AIS was the originator of the Startup Ecosystem in Thailand since 2011, and since then has been a starting point for positive results and causing a wide ripple effect for Thailand's Digital Economy to grow not only in Thailand but also in several other countries.

AIS The StartUp has been in cooperation with every sector to create both “investment” and “alignment”. Currently, there are 47 member products and services, with +70% of portfolios that were able to enter the profitable milestone last year. Each year more than 60 tech companies have been linked up by AIS The StartUp and recommended to other AIS organizations. More than 150 companies have collaborated with partners in the ecosystem both domestically and internationally. In addition, AIS The StartUp has also been the only agency in Thailand selected to participate in the ASEAN-Korean ICT Partnership Platform, organized by Born2Global, an affiliated agency of the Korean government.

AIS The StartUp’s action plans and activities does not necessitate the need to purchase licenses and import knowledge from foreign countries for use in Thailand, but would make an effort to understand the startup ecosystem first and then create programs in their own unique style to suit the needs or behavior of Thais and create their own identity. At the same time, other Thai corporations and ASEAN tend to purchase licenses from other places such as USA or Europe, or use the identical operating model from abroad.

Start Locally, Grow Globally Although the initial objective of AIS The StartUp is to support startups in Thailand and not just developing starting business in Thailand, or long-term strategies, but the operation of AIS The StartUp was heading in the direction of growing and supporting the expansion to work and cooperate at the global level. This is not only useful for Thai startups, but also useful for foreign startups that expand their business in Thailand as well. More importantly, it is also crucial in helping to promote the international market at the same time, which was an important factor that prompted AIS The StartUp to win the GSA.

Not just create but also share and capture values Not just create but also share and capture values. By not only creating value, but also sharing and capturing values ​​by applying the business innovation model concepts. Several people may focus on only creating value, but the AIS The StartUp concept of value brings forward both strategy and planning through more in-depth thinking, i.e. sharing value to all stakeholders involved, and consequently bring those values ​​back (capture value) in order to further develop and create new values thereby leading to true long-term growth.

AIS The StartUp has a clear set of key business achievements that are in line with its strategic plan. The year 2019, has seen several achievements that were released to the public, and have created cooperation with regards to revenue sharing, transaction fees, or startup-as-a-customer, as well as many others.

Developing the capabilities of Startup Founders. It was not just limited at the level of the initial product development, but it was also related to enhancing the transformation process from starting a business to expanding into a tech enterprise, and re-skilling the founder from being a Doer into becoming a Manager (Leader).

Team combination to promote global standards, which is an essential part of the startup businesses, as well as other related agencies that are also included in the ecosystem. The global level award was not just a team combination of AIS The Startup, which was limited to concepts and knowledge within the country only, but the team’s ability must also support operations that create benefits for the digital economy across the continent as the current business boundaries are no longer limited by geopolitical demarcations. Therefore, global awards cannot be based solely on the team’s knowledge at the local level any longer.

Up to this point, we hope that you have now developed an understanding on how we have achieved this great success, which we consider to be an important first step in the Thai start-up industry. However, before attaining such prestige, the road to success for AIS The StartUp has not been a smooth one. This prestigious award was acquired through dedication and sacrifices on every aspect, i.e. knowledge, experiences, and most importantly, a unique perspective that allowed AIS The StartUp to prevail above all other competitors.

If you are interested in participating and becoming a part of the AIS The StartUp family, you may submit your work at http://www.ais.th/thestartup/connect.html

by
AIS The StartUp