For startups in Southeast Asia’s fast-moving markets, business strategy often outpaces PR execution. Traditional, rigid agency scopes struggle to keep up as founders pivot from building visibility to launching in new regions.
Mahou Consulting, led by Aniket Gupta, was built to bridge this gap. Designed specifically for high-growth companies, the PR agency prioritizes flexibility, regional nuance, and business impact over conventional retainer models. Rather than chasing vanity metrics like media mentions or treating PR as a direct sales tool, Mahou focuses on building true credibility that helps startups raise capital, win customers, and expand.
In this Q&A with TNGlobal, Aniket Gupta, Founder and Director of Mahou Consulting, shared why startups must ditch one-size-fits-all regional PR, how to navigate Southeast Asia’s fragmented media landscape, and why a distinct voice matters more than content volume in an AI-driven era.
Below are the edited excerpts:
Mahou Consulting was built specifically for startups and high-growth companies in Southeast Asia. What gap did you see in the traditional PR agency model that convinced you there was a need to build something different?
Having worked with startups, scaleups, and other high-growth companies all my career, I saw that business needs could change without warning. A startup that one day needs profiling could need thought leadership the next. A startup might suddenly discover that its product is gaining traction with an entirely different customer segment, requiring it to rethink its positioning and communications almost overnight. A company that needed to focus on a specific market one day could need to shift to a different one the next.
These are all part and parcel of running a business, especially when companies are growing across a complex region like Southeast Asia. But when it came to the communications and PR support that they had, it struggled to pivot as fast as their business needed.
Many times agencies can get stuck in the ‘vendor loop’. They would end up referring to their fixed scopes of work for planning, or become unable to pivot the right strategy due to a breakdown in communication. Flexibility was starting to become an issue, and at a time when the economy required businesses to be smart, that could have massive implications.
That’s why Mahou Consulting was established. With how we structure our engagements with clients, we are able to ensure we can stay nimble and pivot as and when needed. Additionally, in a tough economy, we are able to provide a sense of security to clients by structuring our engagements around what they actually need, rather than locking them into rigid and expensive scopes of work.
Essentially, we are bold enough to back ourselves to deliver what’s promised. We see ourselves as business partners, not vendors. Our priority is always business impact. PR and communications are simply the tools we use to achieve that.
Startups do not simply need visibility, but clarity, credibility and long-term trust. What are some of the most common communications mistakes you see startups make as they move from early-stage growth to Series A or Series B?
In my experience, there are a few areas where startups can commonly improve their public relations and communications.
First, it is easy to think that brand-building and reputation management only become important once a company reaches a certain stage. In reality, these are things that need to be built from inception through to exit. Even before a startup goes to market, it is important to have a clear understanding of what it wants to be known for, who it needs to build credibility with, and what its story is. That foundation becomes increasingly important as the company grows.
Another mistake is treating PR as a sales tool. Many startups, and even larger organizations, can be very sales-led. If something cannot directly translate into leads or sales, they tend not to value it. This can result in PR becoming a sales brochure, where every announcement reads like a step-by-step pitch rather than something that makes a genuine contribution to the wider industry conversation. PR is also not always directly attributable to sales in the same way that paid advertising or performance marketing can be. Its value can be more indirect, whether that is building credibility, supporting fundraising, making a sales conversation easier, or opening doors to new markets.
Finally, startups can measure PR through the wrong metrics. By default, PR output is often measured through quantitative metrics such as media coverage, reach, or share of voice. These are useful, but they only tell part of the story. We also need to look at qualitative factors, such as whether the right messages are coming through, whether the publication is relevant to the business, and whether the coverage is reaching the audiences that actually matter. Reach is not the same as relevance, and visibility is not the same as influence.
Ultimately, good communications comes down to understanding the business challenge, using the channels available to you, and defining success based on what you are actually trying to achieve. As the business evolves, that approach needs to evolve with it.
Reputation is a business asset rather than a vanity metric. In practical terms, how can strong communications support a startup’s fundraising, customer acquisition or expansion efforts?
Reputation is essentially a form of business infrastructure. It makes it easier for people who do not know you yet to trust you.
For fundraising, investors are not only assessing the product, financials, or market opportunity. They are also assessing the founders, the company’s credibility, its momentum, and whether its story makes sense. Strong communications cannot replace a good business, but it can reinforce the investment case by making that progress more visible and credible.
For customer acquisition, reputation can reduce perceived risk, particularly for B2B startups selling complex or high-value products. If a prospective customer has already encountered credible third-party validation, whether through media coverage, thought leadership, industry recognition, or the founder’s professional background, the sales conversation does not have to start from zero.
The same applies when entering a new market. A startup expanding across Southeast Asia is effectively entering a new ecosystem of customers, partners, investors, regulators, and media. Communications can help establish familiarity with
the audience and build credibility across a sustained period of media engagements.
The important distinction is that PR does not replace sales, fundraising, or market strategy. It strengthens the conditions under which those activities happen. That is why we believe the better question is not simply, “how much visibility did we generate?” but “how did that increased visibility help our business?”.
Southeast Asia is often discussed as a single growth region, but media landscapes and business environments can differ significantly between markets across Southeast Asia. How should startups adapt their communications strategy across markets?
The first thing startups need to understand is that Southeast Asia is a combination of vastly different markets. Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines all have different media ecosystems, business cultures, regulatory environments, and expectations.
A regional strategy therefore cannot simply mean taking the same press release and distributing it across six markets. While the core company narrative should remain consistent, there are nuances to every market which we need to consider.
There are also differences in what audiences consider credible or newsworthy. For example, a story that resonates with Singapore’s business and technology media may need a very different angle to gain traction in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, or Malaysia.
Localization is therefore about more than translation. It means understanding what matters to that market, who influences the conversation, and why the company’s story is relevant there.
Rather than trying to make a regional strategy fit a local market, we advise our clients and partners to look at what they are actually doing on-ground locally. Based on that, we would devise an approach that would encompass all of these local updates to build a regional narrative.
This is also where our local-to-regional approach becomes important. We believe companies should first build relevance and credibility in the markets that matter most to them, and then use those foundations to build a stronger regional narrative.
In practice, that means letting local market traction inform the broader story, rather than trying to manufacture a regional presence from the outset.
Many founders are highly focused on product development, fundraising and growth. At what stage should a startup begin thinking seriously about PR and reputation-building? Is there such a thing as starting too early—or too late?
Yes, but I think it is more useful to think about PR and communications as having different levels rather than a single point at which a startup should “start”. Founders are right to prioritise product development, fundraising, and growth in the early stages, but part of building a business is also making sure the company’s narrative and messaging are clear from the beginning.
We work with startups from their go-to-market phase to help establish that foundation. This can mean developing the company narrative and founding story, defining what the business wants to be known for, and beginning to build its owned and shared channels. You do not necessarily need a full PR program at this stage, but you should already be thinking about the reputation you want to build.
As the company approaches Pre-Series A or Series A, the role of PR can become much more significant. This is typically when startups are looking to seriously expand their business, whether that is through new markets, products, customers, or funding. They also tend to have enough of a track record to provide stronger proof points, making it easier to build a credible external narrative.
If they invest too late, they end up playing catch-up. By the Series B stage, there may already be missed opportunities if they haven’t invested resources into building their profile and reputation.
So I don’t think there is necessarily a point where it is “too early” to think about reputation. There is, however, a point where it can be too early to make a significant investment in PR. The right approach is to build the foundations early, then scale the level of communications activity as the business and its objectives evolve.
Mahou Consulting focuses on sectors including fintech, sustainability, robotics, and impact-driven businesses. These industries often involve complex technologies or regulatory issues. How do you turn complicated business narratives into stories that are both credible and understandable?
The first principle is to start with why the story matters, rather than the technology itself. Whether we are working with a robotics company or a sustainability business, we want to understand the problem they are solving, who it matters to, and what makes their approach different.
The second is finding the balance between accessibility and credibility. We want to make complex ideas understandable without oversimplifying them, particularly in sectors where accuracy and trust are important. That means stripping away unnecessary jargon while retaining the proof points and technical substance that make the story credible.
Ultimately, good communications should not make a complex business sound simple. It should make that complexity understandable and relevant to the audience.
With the growing use of AI-generated content and increasingly crowded digital channels, what does it take for a startup story to genuinely stand out today?
If I have to tell a startup one key thing to remember when beginning their communications journey, it would be to stop focusing on churning out copious amounts of content, and instead emphasise having something distinctive to say, saying it consistently, and making sure people can actually find it.
The biggest value of AI when it comes to content and communications is efficiency. Assuming AI is being prompted with your own thoughts and expertise, it can dramatically increase the speed and accuracy with which teams can produce
content, whether that is a press release, LinkedIn post, or other communications asset. But that is only one part of the equation.
But a lower cost of content production also means that content volume is no longer much of a competitive advantage. We are already seeing content inflation across digital channels, where everyone can publish more, faster, and often with very little differentiation.
So how does a startup stand out? First, it needs a clear point of view. Second, it needs consistent messaging across the channels it controls. Third, it needs credible third-party validation through earned media and other external channels. And importantly, these need to work together to create a structured presence that makes the company visible and discoverable.
Startups need to think about how their expertise, messaging, and credibility are represented across both earned and owned channels, so that they are not only visible to their target audiences but also increasingly discoverable by the AI systems those audiences use to find information.
AI can help teams research, analyse, repurpose, and execute more efficiently, but the strategic judgement around narrative, positioning, culture, timing, and reputation still requires human insight.
In the coming future, the startups that stand out will not necessarily be the ones saying the most. They will be the ones with a clear point of view, distinctive messaging, credible proof points, and a consistent presence across the channels where their audiences are paying attention.
You position Mahou as a long-term partner rather than a traditional vendor. What does a genuinely effective PR partnership between an agency and a startup founder look like?
We see our client relationships as we would any other personal relationship. To be a good friend, you need to care about the person deeply.
Many times, client-agency relationships fall not because of results, but because of a breakdown in trust, communication, and chemistry. We always prioritise being able to work well with clients. In practice, it means putting the client’s business objectives at the centre of the relationship. It also means treating yourself as an extension of
your clients’ teams and acting as ambassadors and advocates even when the client is not in the room with you.
For us, that partnership comes down to a few things: trust, candour, ownership, and adaptability. A good agency should understand the business well enough to anticipate what is needed, rather than waiting to be told what to do. And because startup priorities can change quickly, the relationship needs to be flexible enough to change with them, even if it means disagreeing.
Ultimately, the best agency relationships are the ones where the agency stops feeling like an external vendor and starts operating as part of the team.
This approach has worked very well for us so far. We consistently overdeliver our KPIs. Based on our post-engagement client surveys, we have a 100 percent client satisfaction rate. We take great pride in this and strive to continue such results even as we grow.
Aniket Gupta
Founder and Director, Mahou Consulting
Aniket is an acclaimed consultant who has driven brand-building and reputation management programs for leading companies in Southeast Asia’s innovative and high-growth industries. He specializes in building and delivering growth and impact narratives for his clients across multiple
markets through integrated communications strategies.
Throughout his career, he has partnered with clients in clean energy, sustainability, cybersecurity, fintech, AI, robotics, gaming, nutrition, healthtech and Web3.0. He has led successful campaigns for clients including Fortune500s and Asia’s most prominent startups.
Through communications, Aniket strives to deliver tangible business impact, which has earned him industry-wide recognition. He was named runner-up in the Young Professional category at the PRCA APAC Awards 2025. In 2024, he was a runner-up in the Singapore Young Lions competition. He is also an active member of the PRCA APAC Sustainability Committee.