Tech startup stoush goes offline

Tech startup stoush goes offline

By Jeremy Mullins   |   Monday, 23 June 2014

A founder of MySquar has pulled a provocative blog post from her website detailing her side of a dispute which she claimed saw her forced out as the head of the tech startup last month.

Rita Nguyen, who had been named one of Forbes' Asia Power Businesswomen in March, claimed in the post to have been replaced as CEO without advanced noticed or reason at the firm she co-founded during a May 9 meeting.

The move came as MySquar officials say they have been evolving the company since January, which initially started out as a local-language social network app called "Squar" last year but is moving into Myanmar-created mobile apps, games and an app store.

In Ms Nguyen's blog post titled "When investors turn into bullies" – which was put up on June 11 but taken down by June 17, and also re-printed in some local media – she said many people had asked her about a "management shake up" at MySquar, and claimed to have been unfairly forced out by investors and the board of directors.

"During the course of the one hour meeting they had cut off my email and removed me from all the internal systems and have since changed the locks on the door," she wrote in the blog post.

"I've been fairly quiet about it because I was hoping to keep things civilised, despite the hostile and aggressive manner in which the other side has been handling everything. Now that they have issued a press release letting everyone know that I've 'stepped down', it's time to set the record straight because I'm damned if they tell my story for me."

Ms Nguyen claimed that in addition to being forced out as CEO by the board of directors, her lawyers had been bullied into dropping her by board members, and she and other early investors are out tens of thousands of dollars.

"In the grand scheme of things, it's a lot of personal money for my co-founder and I but little more than a rounding error for them. But it's been radio silence from them, other than getting my lawyer in Singapore to drop us," her post said.

MySquar announced in a press release dated June 14 that Ms Nguyen was now "pursuing other interests outside of MySquar", adding that Linda Lim was taking over as CEO.

Ms Lim, who previously worked in Silicon Valley as a Visa executive and the head of her own consumer products company before joining MySquar in January, told The Myanmar Times that she is excited to be working with the team at MySquar at the forefront of the technology movement in Myanmar.

She declined to discuss Ms Nguyen's departure, pointing to legal and privacy issues, while Ms Nguyen did not return request for additional comment or an explanation as to why she had removed the blog post.

Still, Ms Lim struck an optimistic note about the firm's future.

"Our business is maturing – and like we always intended – our structure and leadership is changing to meet the needs of our increasingly local focus," she said in the release.

Ms Lim told The Myanmar Times the firm is moving toward becoming a content platform, having opened a Myanmar-language app store called MyStore, and also planning a chat app called MyChat for a launch next month.

"Our vision is to create an online destination for Myanmar youth, with content that is Myanmar based created for Myanmar people," she said.

The Squar social network provided a window into youths' interests, which have been incorporated into their app design. For instance the firm found youth enjoy meeting new people, and several features facilitating this have been included in MyChat.

The firm aims to adapt its offerings to the rapidly changing Myanmar online market, she said. Currently its games can be played offline, and it is working to build advertising that is also available offline. It claims to be developing entirely local products rather than bringing and adapting foreign apps to Myanmar.

Asked about the challenges of replacing Ms Nguyen, who was prominent in the Myanmar tech startup scene, Ms Lim said the firm is at the fore of the industry.

"I believe it's less about the individual and more about the company," she said. "MySquar is transforming the online experience for youth and we're doing that because we have an incredible team.

The firm will also be hosting three-month interns from a Samsung technical training program, aiming to provide practical experience to participants.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/06/23/tech-startup-stoush-goes-offline/