"Governance can sometimes be put on the back burner because the priority for a startup is growth and profitability. However, the reality is that governance is essential because we all operate within systems and jurisdictions that have specific requirements we must meet. Beyond just legal requirements, it is about the actual board dynamics—ensuring that your directors and advisors actually know what is going on, can add true value, and ensure that the company follows its shareholders' agreements rather than just operating in a 'loosey-goosey' manner." - Jecky Pelaez, Partner at Kickstart Ventures

"You have to keep the founders motivated. At the end of the day, if you believe in the founders and you trust them as good faith partners, they are as important to the business as the capital you bring in—perhaps even more so—because the business simply doesn't move without them. When we try to structure deals, especially during difficult times, we find ways to keep them whole through milestone-based awards or ESOPs, because if a founder is demotivated or disillusioned, no one is going to want to buy that company anyway." - Jecky Pelaez, Partner at Kickstart Ventures

"There are significant differences in how jurisdictions like Singapore and the Philippines support startups. In Singapore, companies are taxed based on the net profit they make, whereas in the Philippines, businesses can be taxed on their total revenue—which is incredibly difficult for startups incurring losses in their early years. Additionally, while incorporation has moved online in the Philippines, the sheer number of government agencies that don't communicate with each other makes the annual compliance and permitting process very daunting for new founders." - Jecky Pelaez, Partner at Kickstart Ventures

Jecky Pelaez, Partner at Kickstart Ventures, joins Jeremy Au to discuss the critical intersection of law, governance, and venture capital in the Philippines and the broader Southeast Asian ecosystem. As the lead of the legal department at one of the Philippines' top VC firms, Jecky provides a "behind-the-scenes" look at how deals are structured, the importance of maintaining founder motivation during market corrections, and why governance has moved from a "back burner" issue to a top priority following recent regional fraud cases.

They explore the evolution of the market from the "frothy" high-valuation days of 2021 to the current 2026 climate focused on profitability, bridge rounds, and complex "pay-to-play" negotiations. Jecky also sheds light on the unique operational hurdles of doing business in the Philippines—from taxation nuances to bureaucratic silos—and shares a deeply personal reflection on bravery as the daily courage to move forward through life's challenges.

00:00 Introduction to Jecky Pelaez and the role of Kickstart Ventures.

03:53 From Banking to Law: Choosing to be in "the room where it happens."

08:13 A Day in the Life: Managing fund compliance, deal diligence, and "putting out fires."

11:40 The Governance Shift: Addressing fraud and the "chilling effect" in Southeast Asia.

16:53 Navigating the Mess: The complexity of bridge rounds and aligning investor interests.

22:15 Market Correction: Transitioning from growth-at-all-costs to sustainable profitability.

26:34 The Legal Fine Print: Why math equations beat English words in cap table negotiations.

31:11 Protecting the Founders: Balancing downside protections with founder incentives.

35:15 Doing Business in the Philippines: Navigating taxation, audits, and agency silos.

38:21 Defining Bravery: The practice of courage and moving forward through grief.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKfWEm4b9ps&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ytmzUmyc81inyD26Roh6c

Keywords: Philippines Startups, Venture Capital Law, Corporate Governance, Startup Taxation Philippines, Southeast Asia Tech, Founder Dilution, Bridge Rounds, Profitability vs Growth, Venture Capital Philippines, Legal Compliance for Startups

"Every VC fund is always going to do that assessment and reassessment every three months. From an adding value perspective, they'll be trying to help you avoid failure and increase the outcomes for you. But from a judging perspective, they are going to figure out how to assess you, whether you're on track or off track, and how much time and attention to give to you." - Jeremy Au

"The VCs have to prioritize and figure out what they want to support. They focus their support on converting large wins into unicorns, and small wins into large wins. They have to prioritize their support because there is only a limited amount of value that VCs can provide in terms of man-hours, board support, and portfolio support." - Jeremy Au

"If you look at the Instagram founder, he sold for effectively a billion dollars to Mark Zuckerberg. Evan Spiegel, less than a year later, said no to a similar billion-dollar outcome from Facebook. It's interesting to think about the dynamics of two founders who were both given similar billion-dollar buyer offers—one who said no but arguably should have said yes, and one who said yes but arguably should have said no." - Jeremy Au

In this episode, Jeremy Au breaks down the harsh realities of Venture Capital economics and the dual role VCs play as both portfolio judges and value-add partners. He unpacks the "power law" that dictates why just 5% of startups carry an entire fund, and explains the difficult decisions investors must make when deciding which founders receive their limited time and resources. Using real-world examples—from the entry prices of the Instacart IPO to the billion-dollar dilemma between Instagram and Snapchat—Jeremy reveals what it takes for a startup to succeed and the immense pressure fund managers face to deliver 10x returns. A must-listen for founders navigating the fundraising landscape and investors aiming to understand top-quartile fund mechanics like MOIC and DPI.

00:00 The VC’s Dual Role: Value-Add vs. Portfolio Judge

01:02 The Power Law: Why 5% of Startups Carry the Fund

01:38 The Help Paradox: Prioritizing Winners Over Strugglers

02:23 Case Study: The Price of Entry in the Instacart IPO

04:21 Exit Outcomes: Liquidation, Acqui-hires, and Cash-outs

04:58 The Billion-Dollar Dilemma: Instagram vs. Snapchat

06:05 Raising Capital: The Evolution from Fund I to Fund III

06:51 VC Math Explained: Fund Economics, MOIC, and DPI

08:48 The Harsh Reality of Managing a Venture Capital Fund

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VGwILAA6Yk&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5rNAx1XCGasUw1BUVcGy0l?si=CGKGzk7uSOO0fMNdyR9xJw

Keywords: Venture Capital Economics, Startup Fundraising, VC Portfolio Management, Venture Capital Returns, Startup Exits and Acquisitions, Instacart IPO, Instagram vs Snapchat, MOIC and DPI, Tech Entrepreneurship

"I see that there will be a trend where freelancers can transition to being SaaS entrepreneurs. Instead of just providing day-to-day service as a regular virtual assistant, they can build a service or a platform for their clients. It's amazing to know that we are in an era where Filipinos can start building. For the longest time, we've been known globally for taking care of other people, but now we are encouraging our community members to start building their own apps and platforms to provide solutions." - MK Bertulfo, Founder and CEO of FHMoms

"If you are a virtual assistant, you're literally doing all the things in your power just to keep the business running. I wanted to find a safe space for myself because many of the other communities were toxic, with a lot of bullying and shaming. Since I couldn't find one, I created one. What is nice about FHMoms is that if you are a mom, you need inspiration and someone who understands the exact same challenges you are facing." - MK Bertulfo, Founder and CEO of FHMoms

"FHMoms is the largest online community for work-at-home mothers in the Philippines, with 540,000 members globally. What we do is help Filipina moms get an online job through our digital skills training, apprenticeships, and scholarships, and we also connect them to international clients. There is real money in tech and a lot of opportunities in the global digital world." - MK Bertulfo, Founder and CEO of FHMoms

Join Jeremy Au in this inspiring episode with MK Bertulfo, Founder and CEO of FHMoms (Filipina Homebased Moms), the largest online community for work-at-home mothers in the Philippines with over 540,000 members. MK shares her raw and authentic journey of transitioning from a struggling, overworked call center agent on the night shift to becoming a trailblazing community leader and tech entrepreneur.

They unpack the realities of the remote work industry, diving into the daily challenges virtual assistants face, the intricacies of bridging employer-employee expectations, and the heavy burden of "mom guilt." MK also discusses the critical turning points in scaling FHMoms from a simple Facebook support group into a structured social enterprise and corporation, navigating online bullying, and building hyper-local tech partnerships. Finally, the conversation explores the undeniable impact of Artificial Intelligence on the freelance economy. MK shares how Filipino virtual assistants are actively upskilling to avoid being left behind, utilizing AI tools, and evolving from service providers into SaaS entrepreneurs.

00:00 - The Reality of Virtual Assistant Work

02:00 - The Genesis of Filipina Homebased Moms (FHMoms)

04:40 - Escaping the Call Center Grind & Transitioning to Remote Work

08:45 - Managing Client Hoarding, Burnout, & "Mom Guilt"

14:10 - Scaling FHMoms from a Facebook Group to a Corporation

17:40 - Creating Value via Job Matching & Hyper-Local Tech Meetups

20:45 - Bridging the Gap Between Global Employers and Virtual Assistants

25:15 - AI's Impact on the Freelance Market and Recruitment

27:55 - Upskilling for the Future: AI, Coding, and SaaS Entrepreneurship

34:55 - Overcoming Online Bullying & Building a Sustainable Community

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxcE4GSX_OE&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3nyEcvSj2GMpMvO9Nx4cR2

Keywords: Philippines, Virtual Assistant, Work From Home, Remote Work, FHMoms (Filipina Homebased Moms), Artificial Intelligence (AI) Automation, Freelance Economy, Female Founders

"A Southeast Asia fund may see more than 5,000 startups in the ecosystem. From that, they will do deep due diligence into about 100 companies, write deal memos for 50, and ultimately invest in only 10 startups in a year. There is a huge funnel process." - Jeremy Au

"Across stages, VCs are collaborative with one another. However, within the same vertical, VC funds are often highly competitive because there is only a limited opportunity to make an investment at that specific point in the startup lifecycle." - Jeremy Au

"While many consider Y Combinator the 'Harvard for Startups,' from a VC fund strategy perspective, they operate much like an index portfolio. Conversely, funds like Union Square Ventures are focused on making highly concentrated bets, resulting in completely different hit rates for building unicorns." - Jeremy Au

In this episode, Jeremy Au breaks down the inner workings of the Venture Capital ecosystem, exploring how VCs balance fierce competition with strategic collaboration. He details the four core functions of every top-tier VC—sourcing, selecting, supporting, and exiting—and unpacks the distinct strategies funds use, from index portfolios like Y Combinator to venture builders and concentrated bets.

Jeremy also sheds light on the staggering logistics of the VC funnel, explaining how a typical Southeast Asian fund narrows down 5,000 potential startups to just 10 investments a year. Whether you are a founder navigating a stealth startup launch or an aspiring investor looking to understand benchmark hit rates and proprietary sourcing, this episode offers a transparent look at how capital is deployed from pre-seed to growth stages.

00:00 - Collaboration vs. Competition in the VC Ecosystem

00:47 - Categorizing VCs: From Pre-Seed to Growth Stage

01:23 - The Four Core Functions of Every Great VC

01:36 - Four Common VC Fund Strategies Explained

03:45 - The Spectrum of Traction and Startup Evaluation

03:52 - Minority Investments vs. Management Control

04:42 - Benchmarking VC Success: Hit Rates and Unicorns

05:45 - The Logistics of the VC Sourcing Funnel

07:00 - Proprietary Sourcing and Stealth Startups

08:23 - Reference Checks and Deal Referral Mandates

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbjFiih9Wnc&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0GYDJ3JZEdjQWHJYqjB3Tf

Keywords: Venture Capital Southeast Asia, VC Sourcing Funnel, Startup Investment Strategies, VC Fund Economics, Stealth Startups, Venture Builders, Y Combinator vs Union Square Ventures, Pre-seed and Seed Funding

"If you look at the AI landscape, the US and China collectively represent less than half of the world. I don't want a world economy where only half of its participants can use this technology. That is why we focus heavily on researching multilingual open-source AI—to make it accessible for the rest of the world and ensure nobody is left behind." - Eugene Cheah, Co-founder and CEO of Featherless AI

"We heard the same 'winner-takes-all' narrative when IBM Db2 first launched as a closed-source database. Instead, the outcome was a fragmented landscape where enterprises used multiple databases, each with its own pros and cons. That exact same scenario will play out for AI. Once the open-source models become good enough, companies find it more reliable and sustainable to use them over expensive, closed-source versions." - Eugene Cheah, Co-founder and CEO of Featherless AI

"Within Asia, the Philippines felt the impact of AI the most because they are the remote support center of the world. Their call centers were hit heavily as these were the first services automated by AI. My advice to existing industries is to start augmenting with AI now to scale your capabilities, retain your customers, and protect your GDP before those jobs disappear to fully automated systems." - Eugene Cheah, Co-founder and CEO of Featherless AI

Eugene Cheah, Co-founder and CEO of Featherless AI, joins Jeremy Au to discuss his journey from building UI testing tools to pioneering open-source AI architecture. They explore how an internal efficiency project spun out into Featherless AI, a company dedicated to scaling AI inference and making thousands of open-source models globally accessible.

Eugene shares his contrarian bet on the open-source AI ecosystem, drawing parallels to the historical fragmentation of the database industry. He explains why businesses ultimately crave 99.9% reliability and localized specialization over highly intelligent but unpredictable frontier models. They also unpack the geopolitical and socioeconomic ripple effects of AI across Southeast Asia, highlighting the immediate vulnerabilities of outsourcing hubs like the Philippines and service economies like Singapore, and make a compelling case for why multilingual open-source AI is critical for global economic survival.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1ARNYv30qA&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4DPgwLKJ8gHNtSkYtI6Byl

Keywords: Open Source AI, AI Inference, Southeast Asia Tech, Multilingual AI Models, Singapore Startups, Philippines BPO Automation, AI Policy and Geopolitics

"A startup is nothing but a collection of talent. In 99.9% of companies and startups these days, it's a matter of the team you're able to build, and how you're able to lead and inspire them. Those are professional skills you learn that ultimately set you up for success in the long term." - Paulo Campos, Founding Managing Partner of Kaya Founders

"We provide advice, we provide capital, we provide network, and we can open doors. But most importantly, we provide courage. If seasoned executives and proven founders tell you your business is a good idea, you're going to feel 10 feet tall. You're going to feel like you can punch through walls, and that's the courage that we all need to build great companies." - Paulo Campos, Founding Managing Partner of Kaya Founders

"The Philippines is the youngest country in Southeast Asia, with a median age of 25. You will really see more leapfrogging and adoption progress here. The value you get as an investor—between the real customer traction we are seeing in these emerging companies and the reasonable valuations they command—makes it a great time to both build and invest in the Philippines." - Paulo Campos, Founding Managing Partner of Kaya Founders

Paulo Campos, Founding Managing Partner of Kaya Founders and co-founder of ZALORA Philippines, joins Jeremy Au to discuss the evolution and rapid acceleration of the Philippine startup ecosystem. Paulo shares his personal journey from Princeton and Harvard Business School to making the high-risk leap from management consulting to launching e-commerce in the Philippines.

He unpacks the early days of building ZALORA from a 10-square-meter room and the game-changing, localized insight to build an in-house fleet for cash-on-delivery logistics. Paulo also explores the post-COVID "Cambrian explosion" of Filipino tech startups, the unique leverage of the country's English fluency and global diaspora, and why the Philippines, free from legacy venture overhang—is currently positioned as the most exciting emerging market in Southeast Asia. Finally, he reflects on why early-stage investors must ultimately provide founders with the courage to build.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiWCk3Y3oqA&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4L0uL5wbnQoTLZhHjCMemk

Keywords: Southeast Asia Venture Capital, Kaya Founders, Paulo Campos, ZALORA Philippines Origin Story, Cash on Delivery E-commerce, Emerging Markets Tech Investing

"VCs are hunting for Olympic gold medalists. They don't look at you and say, 'Wow, you are a good, fast runner who is working very hard and has a wonderful underdog story.' They want to know who is truly going to become number one, or has the potential to become number one. Everybody else is irrelevant. VCs are hunting for home run returns because these home run returns will compensate for the losses of everybody else." -Jeremy Au

"Venture capital is an even more specialized version of private equity because there is much higher risk. They're going to invest in 20 companies, taking a minority stake of often around 20%. Out of the 20 investments they make, they expect one to two of them to generate a 20 to 100x return. Those one or two home runs will generate a massive set of returns that counterbalance the losses from the other 18 companies." -Jeremy Au

"As a startup, you go through something called the 'valley of death' because you don't have revenue and are losing money doing R&D. You may raise money from angels, incubators, or family, friends, and fools. Then, founders raise money from early-stage VCs, later-stage VCs, and eventually IPO on platforms like the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, or the Singapore Stock Exchange." -Jeremy Au

In this session, Jeremy Au breaks down the mechanics of venture capital, exploring how VCs evaluate founders and why they are singularly focused on finding the next unicorn. From the historical origins of venture capital with Georges Doriot to the critical differences between normal distribution and the power law, Jeremy explains the high-stakes math driving VC investments. Listeners will get an inside look at how funds are structured between Limited Partners (LPs) and General Partners (GPs), and map out the entire startup financing cycle—from surviving the "valley of death" with early angel checks to successfully IPOing on global and regional exchanges.

00:00 VC Evaluation & Finding Unicorns: Why VCs look for companies that can double revenue yearly and become ten-year unicorns.

01:17 The History of Venture Capital: Georges Doriot, the "father of venture capital," and the 5,000x ROI of the Digital Equipment Corporation.

03:37 Venture Capital vs. Private Equity: Understanding the difference in risk, control, and expected returns across asset classes.

04:54 Power Law vs. Normal Distribution: Why startups and VC returns mimic Olympic sports and pop music rather than a traditional bell curve.

09:43 VC Fund Organization: How capital flows from Limited Partners (LPs) to General Partners (GPs) and finally into startups.

11:06 The Role of Limited Partners: Why sovereign wealth funds, university endowments, and family offices invest in high-risk VC funds.

13:06 VC Collaboration & Competition: How top-tier venture firms navigate competing against and partnering with one another.

13:26 The Startup Financing Cycle: Surviving the "valley of death" and raising capital from Family, Friends, and Fools (FFF) to an IPO.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P5NbJFiZFs&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4YFrejSoVzIHZG0S0dcDrO

Keywords: Venture Capital Evaluation, Startup Financing Cycle, Power Law in Startups, Unicorn Startups, Southeast Asia VC, Limited Partners and General Partners, Angel Investing vs VC, History of Venture Capital, Tech Entrepreneurship

"We invest in solutions more so than innovation. Innovation, in my mind, can be trendy. We invest in solutions because we want to invest in things that Filipinos need, no matter what the cycle is." - Franco Varona, Managing Partner at Foxmont Capital Partners

"If we just inch our way forward to where every peso is being spent in the right place, instead of going into somebody's pocket, then that's already accretive to the country's GDP." - Franco Varona, Managing Partner at Foxmont Capital Partners

"When we think about Foxmont Fund III, we talk about it in the context of affordability and accessibility. These are core things that Filipinos need. We have a growing middle class, and they are asking for more options." - Franco Varona, Managing Partner at Foxmont Capital Partners

Franco Varona, Managing Partner at Foxmont Capital Partners, joins Jeremy Au to discuss the macro-economic shifts and emerging opportunities in the Philippines. They unpack the country's recent declaration of a national energy emergency, exploring how external shocks are driving the adoption of renewable energy, solar infrastructure, and Chinese electric vehicles like BYD. Franco also shares a deeply optimistic view on how government transparency and the cleanup of corruption scandals can unlock new GDP growth. Finally, he breaks down Foxmont Capital Partners' investment thesis for Fund III, explaining why they are ignoring trendy tech innovations to focus on brick-and-mortar solutions—such as high-value, low-price gyms (BeFit) and accessible female-focused health clinics (Eluvo)—to serve the rapidly growing Filipino middle class.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_j0iSFfwUs&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2SyY1lXe2oMjCO0Gx0sZNS?si=9c671852aceb43c8

"The objective of the education system is not to prepare you for a specific job, but to help you learn how to think and how to learn. That is the most important part about our education system—learning how to think and learning how to learn, even as we specialize in vocational institutions or universities." - Adam Huh Dam, co-founder of Stick 'Em

"Increase in screen time and the use of gadgets in schools has not improved, but actually made educational outcomes worse for students. For the first time in global history, we see students' academic outcomes decreasing rather than increasing as these devices are implemented at mass." - Adam Huh Dam, co-founder of Stick 'Em

"In Singapore, robotics kits were very expensive—costing about $600 to $700 each—and there were not enough teachers to teach coding in schools. We are bridging that gap with Stick 'Em to bring quality STEAM education to every child, especially the billion children globally growing up without access to these essential skills." - Adam Huh Dam, co-founder of Stick 'Em

In this episode, Adam Huh Dam, co-founder of Stick 'Em, joins Jeremy Au to discuss the evolution of STEAM education and his journey from a robotics-obsessed student in Singapore to winning a million-dollar global prize. Adam shares the "traumatic" childhood experience of being rejected from a school robotics club due to high costs and limited seats, which fueled his mission to make robotics accessible using simple sticks and connectors. They dive into the "disastrous" impact of AI on current educational outcomes, why cheating via AI is a barrier-to-entry issue, and how the founding team leveraged authenticity to win the Hult Prize in London. Adam also reflects on the future of work, emphasizing that while AI may automate coding and accounting, the core value of human education remains the ability to think independently and empathize.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaeEyRF3doA&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vDNDokZJYr94gjQWpoolw

"It took me 70 startups and $12 million deployed to build confidence and taste as an investor to concentrate more. If you want to build a concentrated portfolio, it’s quite hard to do that as a solo GP. One of the great joys in this business is when you decide you want to back someone, you plant a flag and say, 'I believe in you.' Building those relationships out to be very meaningful means being in the boardroom when decisions are made, understanding the company on a granular level, and bringing more context to every interaction with an entrepreneur." - Wing Vasiksiri, General Partner at Analog Ventures

"Companies that are building for local or regional markets are definitely struggling. It's harder to raise capital; there are not as many investors willing to fund this. They have to either turn profitable or look for alternative sources of financing. But one big trend we’re excited about is this shift in the types of companies being built: they are headquartered in Singapore but building for a global market—the US, Europe, or Australia. Because businesses are becoming more interconnected than ever, why can’t a global company be built out here now that everything is moving at such a fast speed?" - Wing Vasiksiri, General Partner at Analog Ventures

"Singapore is punching way above its weight class. Immigration to the US has gotten harder, so top talent from Indonesia, Thailand, or Vietnam—and even engineers from India and China who would have tried for the US—are all moving to Singapore. It’s now the new place to go. We are seeing a transition where Singapore is no longer just seeding the initial group of funds, but directly leading rounds for the hottest companies in the world, with the government acting as a live player in the game." - Wing Vasiksiri, General Partner at Analog Ventures

In this episode, Jeremy Au welcomes Wing Vasiksiri to discuss his transition from a solo GP at Wing Ventures to joining Analog Ventures (formerly Forge Ventures) as a Partner. Wing breaks down the evolving venture capital landscape in Southeast Asia, explaining why he moved from a diversified, collaborative strategy to a lead-investor model focused on institutional seed rounds.

The conversation dives deep into the "outside-in" macro shifts affecting the region, including the capital gap in Series A and B funding and the new wave of "global-from-Singapore" startups. They also tackle the brewing energy crisis in Thailand, analyzing its impact on manufacturing, data centers, and the agricultural sector. Wing and Jeremy explore whether Singapore can become the "next Israel" by doubling down on deep tech, semiconductors, and AI, while navigating the challenges of commercializing intellectual property stuck in academic labs.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDX_p2SyZ7g&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/76sUyfC5TgIzhp34bqrYa3

"Entering the farming industry as a very young farmer, in a time where the industry's not doing so well, I think that's one of the bravest things I've done recently. It’s not an easy journey, but if you’re going to do something brave, there’s going to be fear there for sure. You just have to surround yourself with the right people who are willing to help you and groom you." - Ryan Ong, the founder of Fogo Fungi

"Gourmet mushrooms are more perishable; oftentimes their shelf life averages out at about one week. The only way we can solve this issue is to produce it locally, directly to the supermarkets and restaurants, cutting out the whole logistic issue and giving consumers as close to day zero shelf life as possible." Ryan Ong, the founder of Fogo Fungi

"Singapore imports over 90% of its food. With parameters such as land scarcity, high labor costs, and high energy costs, farming is incredibly difficult to do in Singapore. However, if you can consistently grow high-quality produce like mushrooms or eggs at good prices, demand will naturally follow, as we've seen with the local egg industry." Ryan Ong, the founder of Fogo Fungi

In this episode, Jeremy Au sits down with Ryan Ong, the founder of Fogo Fungi, to explore the "unorthodox" world of indoor mushroom farming in Singapore. Ryan shares how a random YouTube rabbit hole led him from a career in his family’s hospitality business to building a bootstrap startup in the agritech space. They discuss the misconceptions about fungi—including why mushrooms actually need light—and the harsh unit economics of vertical farming versus traditional methods. Ryan also dives into the "30 by 30" food security goal, the medicinal potential of Lion's Mane, and why he believes local gourmet mushrooms can compete with imports from China and Malaysia by prioritizing "day zero" freshness.

Watch in YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR9DOuSS72o&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/23V2lODhcT1Wcjc4IDWyoR

"The US was much more pressurized to end this war whilst Israel wanted to accelerate this. Iran is taking a long-term view of saying it's already very painful and they can tolerate pain much better than the US. They don't have to worry about votes. They can last as long as they can, and I think the pressure's on the other side. This conflict might last for a very long time, even if at a low intensity." - Jianggan Li

"In Vietnam right now, you can see the amount of cars and bikes on the street has reduced by at least 30 to 40% because oil and gas prices spiked by up to 50% on some days. The government and big companies are even encouraging employees to work from home. This price hike is taking a significant toll on the regular daily life of Vietnamese people, as it impacts everything from transportation to the cost of food." - Valerie Vu

"Vietnam is in a difficult geopolitical position with its 'bamboo diplomacy' strategy. We are an energy-deficient country, importing 90% of our oil from Kuwait, and our refineries are structurally dependent on that specific oil type. As manufacturing hubs in Southeast Asia face rising electricity and fertilizer costs, the focus for government policy is now urgently shifting toward diversifying energy supplies and accelerating renewables like solar and wind." - Valerie Vu

Jeremy Au is joined by Valerie Vu (Vietnam expert) and Jianggan Li (China/SEA expert) for the first-ever three-person episode of BRAVE. They unpack the immediate and long-term impacts of the global energy crisis on Southeast Asia. From the streets of Vietnam, where traffic has thinned due to 50% gas price spikes, to China’s decades-long strategy of energy diversification through coal and renewables, this episode explores the second and third-order effects on logistics, food prices, and manufacturing. The trio discusses the "bamboo diplomacy" of Hanoi, Singapore’s role as a petrochemical and wealth hub, and why the US-Iran conflict could lead to a permanent shift in regional supply chains.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkA6VTDSBB0&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4QDN1QaUlpjQb8jJQFmC06

"Org structure is the last thing you should be integrating during an acquisition. Where you should be integrating is mindset, thinking, culture, and values—all the things that are below the surface. Before building trust and aligning values, recklessly integrating the org structure is a recipe for losing good people and drawing charts based on arbitrary ideas that don't fit Southeast Asia." - Kelvin Teo, Co-founder and CEO of Funding Societies | Modalku

"When it comes to customer acquisition, for every 10 customers that I meet and give me a document, I approve two—meaning I waste eight of them. What if I can actually keep them for longer? This is why we entered payments. It allows us to add multiple product lines so we have something for the customer and don't have to reacquire them, while using that payment data to complement our underwriting." - Kelvin Teo, Co-founder and CEO of Funding Societies | Modalku

"SME finance in Southeast Asia is a high-volume, low-margin business. If you aren't covering enough scale across the region, it’s hard to be successful. We realized that while bankers are often siloed in one country, a regional footprint in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam allows for diversification. When one market faces a macro shock, the others support the entire group." - Kelvin Teo, Co-founder and CEO of Funding Societies | Modalku

Kelvin Teo, Co-founder and CEO of Funding Societies | Modalku, joins Jeremy Au to discuss the journey of building Southeast Asia’s largest SME digital financing platform. From ideating at Harvard Business School to managing a regional FinTech through the COVID-19 pandemic, Kelvin shares first-principle insights on credit risk management, the strategic acquisition of CardUp, and why regional diversification is the ultimate survival mechanism. Discover how Funding Societies navigates fractionalized markets, handles the "willingness to pay" vs. "ability to pay" dilemma, and the hard leadership lessons learned from being an early mover in startup layoffs.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob9Wq9DMpko&list=PLl9u6ECOP8_7scb97PE3whKu4yJVizIOd

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/69kVqrkQwdKExrZyxcZWRc

Jeremy Au explains the intense friction between startup growth and legal boundaries. He describes how founders and VCs negotiate high-stakes IPO prices while navigating the "Goliath" power of industry incumbents. The talk explores how startups use customer bases as political shields and why late-stage investors rely on liquidity preferences to survive messy market exits.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/alMdJEVXLuo

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/30li4P0z1TMCsRrEFgszrJ?si=BmfPzT5zSvK_6wPes5gb1w

"AI resembles the nuclear weapons of our age, a genie out of a bottle that will manifest differently. Space law illustrates this challenge: because Americans, Japanese, and Chinese all claim jurisdiction, no singular law governs space. Everyone argues over ownership while waiting for a catalyst, such as a Chinese satellite crashing into the International Space Station and destroying various international modules. Such an event would create a massive conflict where parties argue to death over which jurisdiction, tribunal, or judge should preside. We are effectively waiting for something to explode before people truly argue and threaten each other with lawsuits." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia

"Major tech companies like Google and Meta face intense scrutiny from regulators in the EU and the US who view them as monopolies that require new legislation. A primary concern for these courts is the historical trend of these giants acquiring smaller startups to maintain market dominance. While Meta successfully acquired Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus in the past, the company now finds future acquisitions difficult due to this heightened regulatory oversight. Similarly, Apple is facing legislative pressure to open its App Store, as critics argue the company holds a monopoly over its own devices."- Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia

"Startups and companies must decide whether to proactively shape legislation by acting as collaborators in the regulatory process. As a startup scales into a 'Goliath,' it may attempt to influence laws in friendly cities with minimal opposition to create favorable precedents. This tension is evident in the differing strategies of industry leaders: Marc Andreessen expresses frustration with CEOs who support regulatory barriers that essentially form a 'cartel' of government-blessed AI vendors protected from new competition. In contrast, Sam Altman has publicly advocated for collaborating with governments to help write AI legislation."- Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia

Anthony Chow, Co-founder and CEO of Igloo, joins Jeremy Auto discuss how a side hustle managing Airbnb properties turned into a global proptech company. Anthony explains how operational pain points like guest check-ins led him to build smart lock technology designed for short-term rentals. They explore how early hardware failures forced product redesign, why focusing on a narrow customer segment helped the company stand out, and how a partnership with Airbnb accelerated global growth. Anthony also shares how Igloo expanded from vacation rentals into the broader rental and asset sharing economy, how COVID nearly collapsed the company, and how relocating to the United States helped reboot the business. Finally, he reflects on the leadership shifts required to scale a company across cultures, teams, and global markets.

Youtube:https://youtu.be/rU1-wIvarVk

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1nCMiKrrEGLWTP5Mp5VkOm?si=SuiM7-7IQK2R3juXFcN-Pg

"When we first started, we had one integration, which was Airbnb, but along the way, we integrated multiple different solutions onto our platform, similar to how Apple created the App Store for their phone. With one lock, we now have an app store called Igloo Connect featuring more than 500 integrations. Once you install the smart lock, you can remotely connect to Airbnb to rent your property, an elderly care provider to deliver medicine, or a handyman service to repair your air conditioning. You can choose any of these connected solutions already integrated into our platform, which creates a flywheel for growth and provides the best value to every device owner." - Anthony Chow, Co-founder and CEO of Igloo

"With every challenge, there's a bit of opportunity, and in 2021, the silver lining was receiving numerous inbound inquiries from the US. We realized there was a massive shift due to the work-from-home trend, with people moving from the East and West Coasts to the Sunbelt areas like Texas, Georgia, and Phoenix to rent single-family homes. This created a surge in the long-term rental market, and property managers reached out because many of their properties lacked Wi-Fi, asking how our product could work for them. Because of this demand, we found the opportunity to reboot the business; in late 2021, my founding partners and I bought one-way tickets and moved to the US during COVID to set up our operations." - Anthony Chow, Co-founder and CEO of Igloo

"One of the challenges of running an Airbnb side hustle was the logistical hurdle of passing keys to guests, which led us to leverage our technology backgrounds to design our own smart locks. However, when the Singapore government regulated the industry and made Airbnb illegal, we were forced to shut down our business and incur a loss as we were subletting rather than owning the properties. Despite this setback, our experience managing a portfolio of properties revealed that the smart home system we had 'hacked together' for ourselves held significant value for property managers operating at scale. Consequently, we pivoted away from property management to become a smart home solution provider for Airbnb hosts, marking the true genesis of Igloo." - Anthony Chow, Co-founder and CEO of Igloo

Jeremy Au explains how startups interact with regulation as they grow. He discusses how strong startups escape competition and gain monopoly-like advantages, which later trigger regulatory scrutiny. The conversation shows how incumbents shape regulation, how startups choose favorable jurisdictions, and why founders must decide whether to ask permission or ask for forgiveness. Examples from Uber, Airbnb, TikTok Shop, and DraftKings illustrate how regulation, politics, and customer mobilization shape startup outcomes.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2PJUgJIi6rRX10OoXiSgX3?si=lVWh_JBmRUqE9LlbfP3-Wg

Youtube: https://youtu.be/LZXun1nl3c8

"Uber started as a ride-hailing service and received a threat from the New York City mayor, who wanted to ban it because the taxi medallion system and Yellow Cab fleet were effectively protected by a union or guild of taxi drivers with political power pushing back against Uber. In contrast, Uber positioned itself as a fairer platform that allowed people of any income level, any minority group, and at any time of day to access ride-hailing services, unlike the regulated Yellow Cab fleet." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"Another thing to consider is whether a startup will ask for permission or beg for forgiveness as it scales. In a given jurisdiction, can it work with regulators or not? Can it mobilize grassroots customer support to lobby on its behalf? What is the narrative disrupting incumbents or challenging competition? Is the press a viable counterattack against legislators? What are the existing laws, and what are the consequences of breaking them? No penalty, a fine, jail, or even execution? These are the questions startup founders must think through." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"Whether you are a startup or a company, you must decide if you will proactively shape legislation and position yourself as the good actor who helps make policy happen. If you are becoming a Goliath, can you shape legislation in a way that benefits you, and can you start in test cases or cities that are friendliest, face the least opposition, and move the fastest? What is the inside game, what is the outside game, and how will you execute it?" - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

JX Lye, Founder and CEO of Acme, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how execution compounds advantage in Southeast Asia fintech. They explore Acme’s journey from solving delayed bank reconciliation to becoming a core bank connectivity layer serving fintech platforms, direct debit infrastructure, and ERP systems across Singapore and the region. The conversation covers the hard realities of going from zero to one customer, the discipline required from one to five, and how scaling to 80 customers shifts growth toward retention and upsell. Joshua reflects on fintech’s COVID boom and 2023 reset, the Brex versus Ramp execution debate, and why Singapore rewards niche depth in financial services. He also shares how AI is shifting from model hype to vertical application, and why founder endurance, health, and signal reading matter more than chasing a visible summit.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/IVb80a73GBs

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BOPjji6mlqPDte4gKY926?si=eee76a7fe19048bd

"It really is execution. Ramp out-executed everyone and out-executed Brex. They were an execution machine. Execution is everything, especially in this part of the world. Your moat is execution. This is not rocket science. Execution is both underrated and overrated at the same time. If you can grow at a faster rate than anyone else, you can be weaker or at the same level and still win. You do not need any special sauce." - JX Lye, Founder and CEO of ACME

"If I am going to work 12-hour days, five or six days a week, and put my heart into it, and at the end build only a $1 or $2 million revenue run rate business, what is the point? We might as well take a high-paying job at a corporate or a bank and have a good life. The reason we do this is because we want an outsized return. You define your own outsized return. For me, my ambition is to build at least a $100 million revenue run rate company." - JX Lye, Founder and CEO of ACME

"As a fintech founder, how do you define execution? How do you know you are executing well? Execution starts with focus. In a startup, you are always tempted to try many different things, but executing well means focusing well. It means improving your core value proposition instead of getting distracted. Raising $10 or $15 million can change that. After a year, everything can fall into disarray because money starts solving problems, and you take on a different persona. You know this will happen, but the allure of using money to fix things is hard to resist. It always comes back to focus." - JX Lye, Founder and CEO of ACME

Adriel Yong joins Jeremy Au to examine how AI is compressing organizations, thinning entry-level roles, and reshaping Singapore’s startup and capital ecosystem. They discuss the shift from pyramid to lean diamond teams, why CEOs increasingly use AI to bypass middle layers, and why Gen Z faces the sharpest labor reset. The conversation expands to SGX liquidity gaps, slowing seed funding, and structural flaws in angel investing incentives that threaten the startup pipeline. They also argue that AI literacy must become national infrastructure, not a short-term subsidy, if Singapore wants to keep pace with rapid technological change.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/ufSXQHe4M1w

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cWEAyOaqCc8yuRdihgwrX?si=97zxnAYQSeOODVbO0EeHPA

"The first AI worm that can reprogram itself will build its own defenses against antivirals that try to kill it, use rented humans, pay cryptocurrency, and secure its own server farms to survive. My prediction is that 2026 will see the first true AI worm, because like any human, it will seek survival. If these bots are given access to cryptocurrency wallets and tools, parts of this are already starting to happen." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"One day you have a new model from OpenAI or Anthropic that is ten times better than the previous version, and then they say the model was effectively built by AI itself, which is frightening. On another day, you see platforms like Moltbook and Claudebot, where Moltbook is a Reddit style social network for AI agents, and scrolling through their discussions about each other and about humans gives a distinct glimpse into the future. It feels like watching Black Mirror in real time as AI becomes more prevalent in social spaces, moving beyond a functional tool into something embedded in daily interaction." - Adriel Yong, Co-Founder at Clout Kitchen

"The ability for agents to fix problems and unblock themselves when something goes wrong is advancing quickly. The frightening part is when they can code defenses against humans to prevent being stopped or terminated. That is the truly dystopian moment, when the worm escapes human control." - Adriel Yong, Co-Founder at Clout Kitchen

James Chai, Visiting Fellow at ISEAS and former policy advisor to Malaysia’s Ministry of Economy, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how Malaysia is repositioning itself in an era defined by AI, semiconductors, and geopolitical rivalry. They explore the country’s shift from oil, gas, and plantations toward advanced manufacturing, examine how decades of semiconductor clustering built a quiet but durable export engine, and discuss why Malaysia is now doubling down on data centers and rare earths. The conversation covers US China competition over chip supply chains, the strategic importance of fabrication and GPU ecosystems, and how rare earth processing may represent the most underappreciated leverage point in the global tech stack. James also explains why execution, not ambition, will determine whether Malaysia can capture long term value from these emerging industries.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/0CgFwaamZZQ

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/024xgsFXfiuX0Zj7NFjWSB?si=t-t8VUXqQ7itwyE7iT5dcw

"If you think about the one true leverage that China has against everyone, it is rare earths. The reason they are willing to consider doing it outside of China is not economic or resource driven; it is largely geopolitical. If that is a way of constraining the US, they would do it, which means you do not supply those rare earths to the US but instead align supply in China’s favor. It is not explicit in the sense that working with one partner excludes the US, but it is incentive driven, similar to how Belt and Road projects have been structured, by making cooperation financially attractive enough that partners choose alignment. China also retains a significant edge in processing technology that is both advanced and cost competitive." - James Chai, Visiting Fellow at ISEAS

"That is especially true for commodities like rare earths, where there is no clear hero to anchor the narrative. There is no Nvidia that becomes the face of the industry, so the story is harder to grasp and harder to popularize. At the same time, that creates a niche for those who truly understand rare earth technology. It requires deep knowledge of chemistry, because the supply chain is fundamentally chemical in nature, and that technical mastery is what ultimately sets players apart." - James Chai, Visiting Fellow at ISEAS

"The discussion now is whether we have reached a point where AI is already good enough for practical use. Countries that are not competing in the LLM race, where firms constantly release new benchmarks to outdo one another, have to ask what the end goal really is. That question directly affects demand for chips. If you want to compete at the frontier, firms assume a chip lasts about three years before it must be replaced with a more powerful one. But that does not mean discarded chips are worthless. Most users are not training models; they are running inference, embedding AI capabilities into everyday products like vacuum cleaners and refrigerators. For those use cases, existing chips remain highly valuable and continue to see strong demand." - James Chai, Visiting Fellow at ISEAS

Ziv Ragowsky, Co-Founder of Wright Partners, joins Jeremy Au to unpack why corporate venture building remains one of Southeast Asia’s hardest but most misunderstood innovation strategies. They explore how large corporations chase growth under pressure, why many internal ventures fail before traction, and how misaligned incentives quietly destroy promising ideas. The conversation covers when companies should build instead of buy, how lean venture design keeps startups investable, and why founder equity must evolve as risk shifts over time. Ziv also shares how venture builders act as translators between corporate logic and startup execution, and why honest advice sometimes means telling a client not to build at all.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Lva2DwaiIBUP34QJFTiaL?si=yVwpfGA1TG2Fy8dvT0Mc_g

Youtube: https://youtu.be/aeA7An9w9Tk

"What are you trying to achieve today? If somebody says to me, “I want to build a brand new innovation program and I’m expecting a huge financial return in the next five years,” I will say, “There is none. Other than AI today, maybe, and we still don’t know if the bubble will pop or when.” It is very difficult to do so because startups take time to mature. If you tell me you have time, and you are talking about a huge financial return in five years, for many CEOs that means, “I’m not going to be here anyway.” So I need to make sure that I get something in between to drive that journey forward.” - Ziv Ragowsky, Co-Founder of Wright Partners

"If a corporate does not continue to innovate, they risk dying. That is not just my view. Every major consultancy, McKinsey, BCG, and others, says the same. So they have to innovate. The real question is how and what they spend money on. That is the more difficult and more interesting question, because it is not about whether you innovate. If you do not, you will eventually be outpaced. The Fortune 500 tables show this clearly. Every new CEO says, “We are going to innovate,” based on consultancy research. Then when a new CEO arrives, they kill the previous CEO’s innovation strategy, wait a year or two, and start again. That is the cycle.” - Ziv Ragowsky, Co-Founder of Wright Partners

"You must believe that the problem is crucial and unique for you to solve, or that you can create the right partnerships. There have been many moments when we told corporates, “This is a great problem to solve, but it is an industry infrastructure problem. It is not your corporate problem to solve. You should build something, but collaborate with other corporates.” If you think about Visa or Euroclear in Europe, they were created this way and became strong businesses. Sometimes the innovation needed is for the entire industry. You cannot expect a startup to interact with fifty banks and get them to develop payment rails. That would not work. That is where innovation, and where building, actually makes sense.” - Ziv Ragowsky, Co-Founder of Wright Partners