Blog | Team DealStreetAsia continues to grow

Over the last few months, DealStreetAsia has been quietly fortifying its editorial and operational teams with a slew of strategic hires. A stronger team has helped us keep delivering value to our subscribers as well as our sponsors during these challenging times.

Stephen Jacob, Chief Operating Officer

Meet our very first chief operating officer (COO), Stephen Jacob. Responsible for all non-editorial activities, including sales, marketing, strategy and product development, his appointment comes at a critical time for DealStreetAsia as we look to expand our subscriptions and data offerings.

Stephen brings with him valuable experience and extensive insights on scaling up operations; in his previous role as a chief marketing officer at Paneco Singapore, he played a vital role in the rapid expansion of the e-commerce platform.

Valerie Law, Team Lead, Research

Strong data and research capabilities are integral to our growth as we seek to complement our extensive news coverage in this region. We have already made substantial headway in this area this year, with six new reports published so far, and several more in the pipeline.

Valerie Law, who has joined us as the team lead for research in Singapore, has been responsible for several of these reports, including our latest on the Chinese tech giants’ e-wallet proxy war in Southeast Asia. She has been working closely with our reporters and other research team members to provide you with in-depth analysis and insights. She greatly enhances our data and research capabilities with her decade-plus experience in the field of investment research.

Yimie Yong, Correspondent, Malaysia

In a boost to our editorial team, Yimie Yong has joined us in Malaysia to cover private equity. She has previously worked at an array of publications, including Nikkei Markets, The Star and The Edge, and has hit the ground running at DealStreetAsia with her interviews with the top executives at Ekuinas and COPE Private Equity, and stories on US pension funds’ capital commitments to Asia-focused funds.

Ravi Balakrishnan, Editor, Content Strategist

Sponsored or branded content provides a significant monetisation opportunity for media companies such as ours. Beyond making sure that sponsored content never masquerades as anything else, we hope to provide our readers and partners value by using the same approach as our editorial team while keeping the two separate from each other.

By roping in Ravi Balakrishnan to lead our branded content strategy, we are hoping we can achieve that and more. With over two decades of experience as a business journalist, Ravi has worked across print, television and digital at The Economic Times, CNBC-TV18 and most recently, Mumbrella Asia. Check out our updated partner content section to see how we are trying to do this differently.

Melvin Chew, Manager, Subscriptions & Business Development

Subscriptions are key to building a sustainable media business. Since the launch of our premium subscriptions in May 2019, we have received a great response from our readers who have demonstrated their support and appreciation of our work with their wallets.

In our quest to further build our subscriptions business, we have roped in Melvin Chew to drive sign-ups by individuals and corporates across the markets we serve. An avid networker, he has been instrumental in boosting the uptake of our premium offerings.

“We have a mission to be indispensable to the entrepreneur & investment community,” said Joji Thomas Philip, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, DealStreetAsia. “These recent hires join our amazing team to help produce content that makes a difference in the professional lives of our readers.”