Ep 111: Building the hottest Southeast Asian Tech Startup Newsletter | Amanda Cua (Founder, Backscoop)

Amanda Cua is the founder of Backscoop: the hottest newsletter covering all things in the Southeast Asian startup industry. She’s only 20 years old but: - Backscoop has already crossed 10,000 subscribers; - Has attracted funding from Buko Ventures; - Been featured on CNN; and - Has moderated a Wild Digital firechat with Jaeson Ma of 88Rising & OP3N. All this - with no college degree. Who said COVID-19 pandemic projects can’t go far? 😉 But if you listen to this STIMY episode, you’ll soon realise that Backscoop is so much more than a mere side project. Amanda envisions it to be a regional media company for the people in Southeast Asian tech. So if you’re interested in what drives Amanda, what it takes to run a newsletter that publishes x5/week (it now has a podcast!) & also what’s happening in the Southeast Asian startup space, then this is the episode for you. Highlights: 7:00 Deciding to not go to university 10:11 Maximising her gap year 15:53 Cold outreach tactics 17:38 Launching her own startup, Backscoop 20:36 Why Southeast Asia (and not APAC)? 26:59 Researching other newsletters 29:58 The different iterations of Backscoop 31:24 Dropping Soft Serve 32:44 Most effective growth strategy 34:34 Getting over stagnant growth 35:56 Building a regional media company 37:26 Trends in the Southeast Asian tech scene 39:36 Accepting investment from Buko Ventures 43:39 Launching a new product, One More Scoop 44:55 What’s the value proposition? 47:02 Serendipity 49:37 Personal branding 53:42 Competitor that Amanda admires & why 📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/111 🍦Subscribe to Backscoop: https://sparklp.co/p/9c1a338c2c 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you can find success & build a portfolio career on your own terms: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442