Ming Xia HO - Head of Global Community, Draper Startup House

Ming Xia HO

Head of Global Community, Draper Startup House

More about Ming Xia HO

Human work in progress | Enabling ONE MILLION entrepreneurs | Community, Startups, VCs & Ecosystem building | Low-/No-code advocate

Human being heading global expansion, community, partnerships, marketing and tech strategy at DSH, 25+ locations & counting.

For a living, I map out startup ecosystems around the world and meet travelling entrepreneurs solving the world's problems while learning from investors. Along the way, I build communities that serve the needs and support the founder journey.

I geek out on startup communities, entrepreneur tourism, discomfort zones, and solo female adventures ๐Ÿš€

(and also enjoy data storytelling. Curious about: experience design, user journeys, product management)

โ€”

Xia is the Head of Global Community and a Ventures Associate at Draper Startup House. On a mission to enable one million entrepreneurs, she is passionate about ecosystem building and bringing greater value through collaborations that empower.

Learning from entrepreneurs to turn dreams into reality, Xia picked up no-code along the way. She is a big believer that it will drive progress by enabling action to founders across all fields (technical and non-technical) through democratising access to tech tools.

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Unless having met in person before, please at least add a "๐Ÿš€" in the connection request.

Skillset and things I provide expertise on:
- workflow strategy and automation
- scaling and launching new cities
- community building
- startup ecosystem buildingย 
- low code, no-code tools
- business partnering
- project and operations management (incl. running UATs, initiating and implementing systems, SOPs, data analytics)
- marketing strategy (social media, events, PR, communications, branding, content creation, copywriting, design)
- pitchdeck refining, startup fundraising
- VCs
- networking

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ #India: It's been a FUN week in the world of #entrepreneurtourism! March is my favourite month of the year. It's a celebration of life and being on many levels: from birthdays to my gender, driving movements for gender equity, etc.

Last week on a panel with Moina, Shruti, Maithreye, Charu, we discussed launching startups, challenges in the entrepreneurial world, and on a less conventional topic of support systems to tide through hurdles, we dived deep and personal over a closeknit roundtable.

The journey can be lonely (sometimes more so as a woman), but how do we navigate that?

It is heartening to hear that support systems for these empowered women range from families and supportive partners, communities, micro-communities, to having access to like-minded peers in the same business social circles, alongside professional networks such as Women in Investing Network and Women in VSEA.

Earlier that day, I caught up with Aashraya who's one of the few #web3 founders in #Hyderabad โ€“ we shared a panel on network states and virtual nations last year in #Bangalore. We discussed ambitions and future plans for Illuminated.

Just yesterday, Deeksha from Anthill Ventures was passing through #Bangalore. Coincidentally, me too! So we couldn't pass on the opportunity to catch up in person at Draper Startup House in #koramangala and explore collectively driving progress in the startup community. It's always cool to meet a fellow woman in VC โ€“ i always have something to learn from them.

๐Ÿ’ซ On a personal note over birthdays and wishes, I hope that people continue to be the progress they want to see in this world.

The future belongs to the dreamers and visionaries who believe in the beauty of their dreams, and I'm always grateful and humbled by the community that shows me, without fail, everyday:

The future is here ๐Ÿš€
#Throwback

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ #Bangalore: Would you attend a startup demo day on a Saturday evening?

4 years since I last saw Jatin at DSH Singapore for eChai Ventures, we finally caught up IRL โ€“ this time co-hosting an eChai #startup pitch event and #investor panel discussion at DSH Bangalore. Our roof was filled with 130+ #entrepreneurs and investors.

Here are some learnings:

โณ45 DAYS to 6 MONTHS

Is the duration for which due diligence, getting a term sheet, to receiving money in the bank can take up to in the process of startups #fundraising (as a gauge) ๐Ÿช™

๐Ÿ“š RESOURCES

โ€“ Venture Deals by Brad Feld is a great read to prepare founders who are #raisingcapital

โ€“ indianvcs.com is a pooled resource built by some VC folks, for entrepreneurs to have access to investor contacts (built with Notion ๐Ÿ”ฅ)

๐Ÿค๐Ÿผ KEEP IT PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL

โ€“ Before reaching out to an investor, research on the fund and what they invest in.

โ€“ Be genuine and authentic. Dishonesty is a red flag; The industry is interconnected, and will soon find out ๐Ÿšฉ

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Seeing is believing. I wouldn't have imagined a pitch night on a weekend evening being full house, and the energy is uplifting.

Thanks a ton to the investors for their valuable insights (Vijetha, Himansu, Bikramjeet, Mohammed Amaan Memon) and all the entrepreneurs who came to share their vision and business ideas with us ๐Ÿš€ ... Not forgetting one of the best hyper-connectors and startup enablers around: Jatin ๐Ÿ’ฏ


WHO SHOULD I MEET NEXT? ๐Ÿ˜
I've been here for two weeks already, but will be based out of Draper Startup House #India for the next couple more โ€“ I'm happy to connect with #founders, #startups, #investors, ecosystem partners and would love to meet others who are also enabling the startup community! Thanks for the recs ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ


Loving this journey so far!
Stay tuned for updates from BLR ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ #Singapore in peak bustle on a Thursday!

HEX's TENTH Singapore cohort of founders took the stage and pitched their businesses yesterday evening. One of the memorable demos was EduKate, promoting STEM education for girls through dolls ๐Ÿ‘ง๐Ÿผโ™€๏ธPleasant surprise to bump into Remi and Benedict who were the judges, and hella proud of Jaclyn Benstead and Shirley Pham who led this program and made it epic!

Worlds colliding ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ’ฅ when Jodie meets Mihaela meets HEX! The startup ecosystem welcomes everyone โ€“ innovators from all walks๐Ÿšถ๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿšถ๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿšถ (for context: Jodie is an excellent UX researcher/designer and Mihaela is working on her phD in financial inclusion +ย 

I missed Accelerating Asia Ventures's demo day this week and the FOMO got to me ๐Ÿ˜ข but I'm truly glad that everyone passes through the Draper Startup House HQ whenever they're in town... (๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿฝ hi Amra ๐Ÿฅฒ)

Paying for beer in Singapore with #India rupees ๐Ÿป๐Ÿ’ฐ I'm grateful for this fellow globetrotting buddy Ibrahim who recently passed through Hyderabad, and exchanging notes and insights on the city!

It's been an epic two weeks in Singapore; I'm happy to be home! ...If you think I'm taking off soon, you guessed right ๐Ÿ˜‰

๐Ÿ”œ NEXT STOP #HYDERABAD ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿš€

I'll be around for a month(ish), excited to CONNECT with the entrepreneurs, founders, investors, operators, and the startup community and learn from everyone ๐Ÿคฉย 

ASK: Who should I meet / grab chai with? ๐Ÿ‘€
Featured speaker at previous eChai events:

Preferred eChai Partners

Incubators and Accelerators

FMCG Food and Retail

Investment Banking

Event Marketing

HR Tech and Agencies

Legal

Blockchain Development

Healthcare

Climate Tech

ERP

CoLiving

Sales

Coworking Spaces

Branding and Marketing

Developer Tools

eChai Ventures is a friendly global startup network that hosts engaging Startup Growth meetups in 10+ Countries and enables cross-border collaborations.

You can reach out to Jatin Chaudhary, Co-Founder, eChai Ventures over WhatsApp or over email at [email protected] to explore more.