Affordable Consultation for Connection and Community

Have an idea but don’t know what to do with it? Every day of our lives, we are bombarded by new concepts, projects, and information through digital media and the convenience of smart devices. We are constantly interested, reacting, processing, and sometimes, coming up with our own cool new ideas.

But that’s where it stops, because more often than not, we don’t have the resources to turn those thoughts into reality. It’s easy to be innovative, but actually doing—now that’s not easy. Two rising Asian startups, on the other hand, argue that it doesn’t have to be hard. The following introduces leading startup CEOs Chris Chong and William Gondokusumo who believed in great ideas and felt it worth facilitating them.

Photo: Campaign.com website

Campaign.com

A world where good people can make a good living doing good things

Today, our SNS communities show that many are willing to voice their thoughts on matters they care about. Consider the #MeToo hashtag movement that swept social media platforms with the outbreak of the scandal revolving around renowned film producer Harvey Weinstein. Women not just in the United States revealed their own personal experience of being sexually violated by men in episodes ranging from light harassment to molestation, and even to assault. That movement has now evolved into a campaign that raises funds to support many more female victims.

And so it was with founder William Gondokusumo who said he saw “people coming together with a shared objective to make a positive change in our world”—this was his driving force, and it now drives Campaign.com as it aims to make real the passions of people around the world.

Founded in 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia, Campaign.com, with a blue heart as its logo symbolizing the heart of the clients—the “changemakers”—themselves, creates a nurturing and safe environment for anyone to begin a sustainable campaign. Company staff not only make it a priority to ensure funding for each campaign, they also make sure that their changemakers are able to make a living out of their work.

The way they go about doing this is by creating networks of associations between individuals, experts, community-based organizations, volunteer and student-led groups, social enterprises, and international agencies to help spread clients’ key campaign message and goals. Once the social connections are made, informational websites with crowdfunding links are created and then spread throughout internet communities.

Moreover, company events such as Networking Nites and #ForChangeID Hub form gathering opportunities for relevant members to meet and mingle through press events, fun evening activities, and simple get-togethers. Campaign.com also provides workshops in their Learning Lab during which changemakers learn from experienced campaigners what it takes to influence society.

All it takes is downloading the free Campaign.com app to begin chatting with staff member; from there on, the campaign planning begins.

Campaign.com projects are diverse in nature and often promote issues rarely addressed in public spheres. The #DoubleTigers movement worked to increase the population of Indonesia’s endangered Sumatran tigers, while the #AyoMembaca campaign sought to encourage reading books amongst young Indonesians.

Consultation fees are not always free, but they come at reasonable prices that take into consideration clients’ budgets. Campaign.org is unique in that it meets the many needs of any individual or group in their entire campaign cycle whereas petition and crowdfunding sites such as Change.org and Kickstarter only see to one specific need (TechinAsia).

Sumostory

Get started, get matched, get published, get noticed

Sometimes it takes years for a startup to gain the publicity it needs to maintain its business. And the harsh reality is that countless startups end up failing, unable to reach customers and reap company profits.

Himself having failed often in his other business, Sumostory founder Chris Chong wanted to make a platform for startups to get the jump-start they needed to exercise their potential. Sumostory, also being a startup itself, is, simply put, a startup for startups, meaning, it is an affordable public relations (PR) firm that bridges baby startups with notable media outlets.

Photo: Sumostory website

Using a boosted automated algorithm, Sumostory collects and organizes data from startups and from journalists (their writing history, publications, and interests) to quickly and efficiently match startups with media personnel. The result is immediate press coverage for such startups and valuable content for reporters.

The most obvious benefit of Sumostory is its low PR fees. While traditional PR agencies typically require a fee of $5000 per month, Sumostory offers startups a base fee of $1800 per 6 months with additional (optional) offers for upgraded consultation. The company takes pride in its “100% money back guarantee” that promises a full refund if clients are not satisfied with Sumostory services.

In just a few months since its founding in August 2017, Sumostory has built its own PR reputation and regularly connects startups with prominent media groups such as Bloomberg, The Straits Times, The Business Times, Vulcan, and CNBC to name a few.

Apart from the fact that 100% of clients that went through the Sumostory algorithm have now been published, personal testimonials by startup CEOs reveal the effectiveness of Chris Chong’s vision. Carol Chen, founder of fashion marketplace Covetella, and once client of Sumostory said, “Having a full page feature in The Straits Times was a huge win for me and my startup. Very impressed that the team was able to get us such major publicity so fast!”

What began as CEO Chris Chong’s wish to give all struggling startups a winning chance is quickly blossoming into a major PR enterprise bringing more equal opportunity to even the competitive world of business marketing.