• Build Southeast Asia's Future Together

    Learn from the best. No B.S. #1 regional startup podcast with 60,000+ listeners. Global top 10% podcast. Community, resources and coaching for founders, investors and tech operators.

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  • What We Do

     

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    Hosted By Jeremy Au

    VC & serial founder (1x sale, 1x bootstrapped). Harvard MBA & UC Berkeley. Adjunct university lecturer on entrepreneurship. Angel investor in 24 startups. Former Bain consultant. Forbes 30 Under 30. Sci-fi nerd & dad of two daughters. The best feeling is coaching good humans to be great leaders.

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    Covering Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand & Beyond

    Co-hosts: Shiyan Koh (Managing Partner, Hustle Fund), Gita Sjahrir (Head of Investments, BNI Ventures), Valerie Vu (Founding Partner, Ansible Ventures), Wing Vasiksiri (General Partner, WV) and Nir Eyal (WSJ Bestselling Author)

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    Every Monday, Wednesday & Friday

    Monday: Weekly regional tech news with thought leaders. Wednesday: Changemaker interviews. Friday: Bite-sized insights and Q&As. Videos with transcripts released at 6am (Singapore Time) in English, Bahasa Indonesia and Mandarin.

  • "Learned a lot from the journeys. Must-listen for anyone seeking advice to be a leader"

    @lindatangxy

    "Refreshing to hear from distinguished founders what they learned, both the good & bad"

    @seanojw

    "Incredibly useful in kickstarting my thought process around customers as an entrepreneur"

    @klowetan

    "After tuning into a couple of episodes, this is now my weekly routine. Keep it up!!"

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  • Episode Library

    Transcribed, highlighted and hyperlinked. Search by keyword or (desktop only) topics, roles, geography, gender & episode number

    Shiyan Koh, Managing Partner of Hustle Fund, and Jeremy Au explored the growing challenges of youth unemployment in Singapore and how AI is fundamentally changing the job market. They discussed how the rise of automation is making entry-level roles less necessary, leading companies to prioritize...
    Sadaf Sultan, Founder of Finprojections, and Jeremy Au analyzed the eFishery financial scandal and discuss broader issues of financial fraud in startups. They talked about why eFishery was appealing to investors and how the fraud unfolded and shared their insights into detecting fraud...
    Jeremy Au reconnects with Kwok Jiachuan, his first-ever podcast guest, to reflect on their journey from school friends to army roommates to co-founders of Conjunct Consulting. They talked about the challenges of starting and scaling a social impact consultancy, from early skepticism to securing...
    Gita Sjahrir, Senior Advisor at TBS Energi Utama, and Jeremy Au talked about the complexities of corporate governance and accountability within emerging markets. They discussed the eFishery scandal, the Pertamina corruption case, and the broader implications for economic growth and investor...
    Jeremy Au discussed common startup failure patterns, and emphasized that failure is frequent and often inevitable even for companies that make it to later funding stages. Many startups fail to deliver financial returns for investors, regardless of how innovative or pioneering they might be. He...
    Mohan Belani, CEO and Cofounder of e27, and Jeremy Au talked about how the Southeast Asia startup scene has transformed over the past decade, including the shift from early-stage exuberance to a more cautious, capital-efficient mindset, and citing specific cases like eFishery and Carousell. They...
    Jeraldine Phneah, Content Creator & Account Director of one of the top AI SaaS companies, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Journalism to Enterprise Tech Sales: Jeraldine studied journalism and public policy but pivoted to enterprise tech sales in 2016 for financial stability, future-proofing, and...
    Shiyan Koh, Managing Partner of Hustle Fund, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Trump’s Economic Policies, Tariffs & Crypto Initiatives: They examined the economic impact of Trump’s 2025 return, including a 10% tariff hike on Chinese imports and new tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The administration...
    Viktor Kyosev, Chief of Staff at Docquity, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Navigating Startup Failure: Viktor shared his experience as a founding team member of Greenhouse, a premium coworking space startup in Indonesia. Faced with declining performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company...
    Jeremy Au and Gita Sjahrir discussed: Indonesia eFishery Unicorn Scandal Q&A Jeremy and Gita analyzed the fraud involving eFishery’s co-founders, including Gibran Chuzaefah, who allegedly falsified financial statements to show $750 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2024, when...
    Jeremy Au discussed three key insights on Southeast Asia venture capital. First, he highlighted the "Series B Valley of Death," where local funds support pre-seed to Series A, and global investors focus on later stages, but Series B and C funding gaps force startups into aggressive cost-cutting...
    JingJing Zhong, the Co-founder and CEO of Superbench and Jeremy Au discussed: AI Impact on Service Businesses: JingJing explained how AI advancements have transformed traditional service industries. Previously, AI struggled with logic and calculations, making it unreliable for tasks like...
    Jeremy Au referenced Asia Partners’ report predicting a surge in Southeast Asian unicorns based on macroeconomic fundamentals, and discussed the GDP per capita “time machine” phenomenon where Chinese and American founders enter Southeast Asia to replicate proven business models in frontier...
    Nicolas Bivero, CEO & Co-Founder of Penbrothers, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Japan Intern to Philippines Director: Nicolas Bivero shared his journey as a Venezuelan-German, transitioning across continents and industries. His early exposure to Japanese culture through karate and aikido,...
    Jeremy Au explored the evolving venture capital landscape in Southeast Asia by linking GDP per capita thresholds (US$5K in Vietnam, Indonesia & Philippines vs. US$94K Singapore) to the rise of unicorns like Gojek and Grab. Jeremy also explored the implications of high global interest rates, which...
    Jeremy Au examined the evolution of technology marketing and communication, emphasizing the transformative impact of AI, the importance of addressing consumers' primary problems, and the iterative nature of innovation in startups. Jeremy stressed the necessity of solving consumers' most pressing...
      Pinn is a founding member of Lightspeed Southeast Asia, a global early-stage investment fund. Prior to Lightspeed, she was at Insignia Venture Partners and Tiger Global Management, where she focused on consumer and financial technology across SEA, India and China. She worked closely with...
      Jianggan Li, Founder & CEO of Momentum Works, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. China Exporters vs. Trump: Jianggan Li shared his experiences from nine trips to China, highlighting how exporters are stockpiling goods to mitigate U.S.-China trade tensions amid 2025 Trump-era tariffs. Discussions...
      In this lighthearted episode, Jeremy Au sits down with fellow podcaster Edric Poon, host of Podcaster’s Playground, for a unique twist on the usual format. Armed with a deck of “Truth or Drink” cards, the duo tackles unexpected and hilarious questions that reveal surprising insights about...
      Dave Overton, Founder of Symph.co & Geeks On A Beach, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Philippines Humanitarian Commitment: Dave recounts moving to the Philippines in 2003 with his wife, a midwife-turned-doctor, who co-founded a nonprofit delivering over 7,000 babies in the past two decades....
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