Commence hope: The year of the 'Rabbit'
Edition 81
Xīnnián hǎo 新年好
[p: sshin-nyen haoww, m: ‘New Year Goodness’/ similar to have a nice day/New Year.]
Happy New Year. I love that the With the 15 day Chinese Spring (Lunar) festival kicks off just days after the western calendar. It makes you feel like the dismal January blues can be thrown off to really kick start a new year. So, since today marks the Chinese New Year, let me start with my wish for you all - may this year of the Rabbit bring you ingenuity, humour and of course, happiness and wealth. This year, the Chinese calendar promises us, is the year of hope!
Now, I never pay attention to my sun sign! I never read my horoscope! Never, I say! Alright! That’s a whole load of hokum! I do occasionally peer at one, have a good giggle and move on! But for some reason, I seem to subconsciously take the Chinese lunar calendar rather seriously.
If you’re a tad curious about what animal you are, and which of the Five elements (earth, fire, water, wood, metal) rules your existence —here’s a rather fun, and quite informative little infographic in the South China Morning Post!
And let me put it out there, with all modesty! I’m the GOAT! Literally! And an earth goat at that.
Gōngxǐ fācái 恭喜发财
[p: Gon-See-Fahh-Kai, m: to wish happiness and prosperity]
Stepping Out with flair
A PM’s sudden resignation usually triggers speculation and articles about political strategy failures, potential weak points that were left unguarded, party positioning or a prospective loss of confidence vote.
In Jacinda Arden’s case, political machinations have been thrown out of the window. Even serious news organisations have been caught up in the vortex debates about women ‘having it all,’ or not. The justification for that kind of coverage seems to be her reason for stepping down — “the tank is empty.” It reminds me of a question put to her at a press conference with Finnish PM Sanna Marin, just a few weeks ago - whether the two leaders were meeting because they had '“so much in common.” I guess even leading news organisations that constantly preach about being champions of diversity and inclusivity struggle accepting a woman who has a baby in office, can also be a fit leader. Why would the tank be empty for any other reason, after all?
Ms. Arden served as New Zealand’s Prime Minister for 6 years. She made global headlines for her no-nonsense approach to leadership. She oversaw a terror attack by a white supremacist, and firmly stood her ground with New Zealand’s zero tolerance approach to Covid19. The subsequent economic fall out of that policy has dramatically divided opinions of Kiwis, resulting in a difficult political year for the former Kiwi PM.
The ‘lead with empathy’ Ms. Arden is being replaced by “Mr. Fix it” education minister Chris Hipkins. He was the man who led the Covid19 policies of New Zealand and will now contest the October general elections for the Labour party. Carmel Sepuloni has been appointed as his deputy prime minister. She will be the first ‘Pasifika’ — a New Zealander from Pacific Island descent in such a senior role. Predictably, Mr. Hipkin’s appointment has generated a less ‘emotional” coverage. Here are the basics of what you need to know about what’s next for New Zealand in The Financial Times.
The implosion
This seems to be a bad year to be a high-profile female founder. Last week JP Morgan decided to put Charlie Javice, founder of Frank in the spotlight. This week, it’s fashion tech company Zilingo’s turn.
Remember when the world was raving about a young Indian woman’s massive achievement called ‘Zilingo’? Yes, till even 8 months ago, the tech sector, its funders and its journalists couldn’t get enough of Ankiti Bose and her game changing start up. Zilingo was valued at close to $1 billion in a 2019 funding round when Ankiti was 27. She was a fixture in tech conferences, magazine lists (again, with the lists!) and in high demand for female founder interviews worldwide.
Then funders Sequoia and Temasek fired her as CEO last May, citing serious financial irregularities at the firm. She countered with demands for an investigation, calling it a “witch hunt” accusing Sequoia India’s boss of pushing her out of the company she founded.
This week the board of Zilingo seems to have written the company’s final chapter, though perhaps not Ankiti’s. It has appointed EY Corporate Services as provisional liquidator bringing to a close a tumultuous year of crisis for South and Southeast Asia’s tech players.
Per media reports: “The liquidation comes after Zilingo creditors Varde Partners and Indies Capital Partners found a buyer for some of its assets, the people said. Those assets have been transferred to the new owner for an undisclosed purchase price.” How this liquidation plays out for Ankiti, both legally and financially will be interesting. Read more in The Straits Times
In each of these cases, it seems investors and the board didn’t dig deeper, guide the founders or do their due diligence. But for every bad story, there are always good ones waiting in the wings to be told. So here are a few fabulous founders making magic! (Just make sure you do your own diligence on them, don’t just take my word for it or the newspaper who wrote about them!)
Saving the world, one start-up at a time
I’ve previously written about Iceland’s innovative start-up Carbfix and its founder Edda Aradottir. But she isn’t alone! Iceland’s been hitting it out of the park when it comes to other women innovating some serious climate solutions too!
Fida Abu Libdeh is the CEO of GeoSilica, which harvests silica build-up from the Hellisheidi waste stream to make health supplements.
Halla Jonsdottir is co-founder of Optitog which creates equipment to increase the catch area of shrimp trawls without scraping the seafloor.
Julie Encausse is founder and CEO of the bioplastic start-up Marea, which leftover biomass to create a microalgae spray to reduce the world’s reliance on plastic packaging.
Read more about the women in The Sjavarklasinn (“Iceland Ocean Cluster”) network at The Washington Post
Happy Moonday is a Korean start-up run by CEO, Kim Do-jin in the world of femtech. The company refers products and services to support women's health, providing services ranging from selling eco-friendly sanitary pads to offering a subscription service that delivers pads tailored to customers' menstrual cycles. Read More at Yonhap News Agency
In other news
Culture With/Vs Law?
In India, the law seems to be bending to cultural norms. For where else would you find child protection laws being flouted and children being celebrated by for becoming a nun at the ridiculously young age of 8 years? That’s the story of diamond heiress Devanshi Sanghvi which has gripped Indian media and social media. And the headlines are almost appalling. From ‘headstrong 8-year-old gives up wealth’, to the almost celebratory, ‘8-year-old becomes a nun, following family traditions’. Read more at The Guardian
Cultural norms celebrate a Jain family’s status if a young girl within it joins its strict religious order. With Devanshi’s indoctrination, her wealthy family’s social position within the community just rose. But why there has been no legal ramifications or investigations into allowing a child to make a dramatic lifelong decision, is the more pertinent question. You have to be of legal age to marry or vote but it turns out there might be a loophole when it comes to religion. And that loophole in the law has been exploited before, to push young children into life changing decisions outside of their understanding. Read more at She the People
Quickie Sports bite
Lilou Wadoux has become Ferrari’s first female factory driver and is set to race in the GTE Am class for the prancing horse automaker in the World Endurance Championship this year. Read more at Auto Sport