The marketing industry is one where trends are constantly evolving. Today, there’s a fresh new entrant in the marketing mix that’s making waves - if you haven’t yet heard, it’s called influencer marketing.
Despite being one of the hottest trends right now, the influencer marketing industry is challenged with a perception of inauthenticity in a saturated market. But this local startup is changing the way we see brand collaboration with content creators through a unique and fresh approach.
Founded in 2016, Partipost is a Singapore-based influencer marketing startup that helps brands access word-of-mouth advertising through its social media savvy users. What makes Partipost stand out in the market is the unique way in which they operate.
Instead of brands picking influencers, the influencers get to pick the brands they wish to work with. Aspiring individuals get the chance to pick the campaigns they wish to work on through the Partipost mobile app. Upon approval based on the campaign requirements, users can then proceed to post on their socials and withdraw their earnings from the app directly into their bank account. With this framework, the lines between exclusivity and accessibility are significantly blurred, making influencer marketing available to anyone and everyone who wishes to explore this path.
From the man himself, let’s hear it from Partipost CEO and Founder Jonathan Eg, on how he grew this thriving business from the ground up.
Please share a brief introduction about yourself, your company, and what you did before Partipost.
My name is Jonathan and I’m the CEO and founder of Partipost. Before Partipost, I worked in a family office and a tech startup.
Why did you decide to start your company?
My parents and friends really motivated me to become an entrepreneur. As entrepreneurs themselves, my parents made it seem normal to me to start a business. Initially, a lot of my friends also supported our idea and really thought that the vision of Partipost— to allow anyone to be an influencer, was achievable in the near future.
.png)
What has been the highlight of your journey as a founder to date?
I wouldn’t say there is a single significant highlight, but the journey itself — enjoying the process and each step of the way. What I enjoy the most is working with a great group of people every day who are passionate about their job and eager to learn, grow, and push themselves.
What inspires or drives you as a founder?
My co-founders and my whole team inspire me to do better. I know that the decisions I make will affect their jobs and their lives, and I never want to take that for granted.
Share with us an untold story of your entrepreneurial journey.
My biggest challenge is actually an ongoing challenge: How do I grow the company at such a fast rate without leaving existing team members behind, especially the early employees? Since not everyone might fit into the different growth stages of a company it’s also normal for employees to not want to grow with the brand. However, there are multiple solutions to this ongoing challenge.
One of the ways I chose to overcome this is to continuously manage expectations and over-communicate, especially when various changes are happening at one time. On top of that, I also believe that the leader of the company should set an example and work harder than everyone else before they can expect the same from their employees.
What do you think the future of influencer marketing will look like?
The vision of Partipost is to enable everyone to have genuine voices that can influence the world. In the next five to ten years, we believe that influencer marketing will become mainstream and more people will consider becoming influencers to promote things they are genuinely passionate about.
How has using Aspire supported your startup?
Aspire’s platform makes it easy for businesses to track expenses! The customer service team is also very prompt in answering queries.
What’s your favourite Aspire feature, and why?
The 1% cashback for all major performance services and SaaS is a great bonus. Every bit of saving counts, especially for startups like us.
Take your business to the next level with Aspire
Despite Partipost’s growing success over the years, it’s clear that founding a startup is no easy feat and will come with a unique set of challenges. However, Jonathan and his team have proven that the entrepreneurial path is one worth taking.
With plans for a massive expansion in the Southeast Asian region, Partipost needed a modern business account for the modern startup that they are; that’s why they chose Aspire.
As a startup ourselves, we wanted to create solutions that not only benefited us but fellow founders as well. With the Aspire Business Account, users can gain access to multiple features such as expense management, accounting integrations, competitive FX fees, and even 1% cashback on all eligible marketing and SaaS spend.
What’s not to love? Explore these features and many more with Aspire, and spend more time growing your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
