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

Hiroki Kato, Founder of Arches and Jeremy Au discuss how leaving a safe Japanese corporate career pushed Hiroki into Southeast Asia’s faster markets, where exposure to fraud, cultural contrast, and insider truth reshaped his view of risk and opportunity. They explore how Vietnam’s optimism expanded his ambition, why public data often hides reality, and how expert conversations became the foundation for building Arches. The discussion connects personal courage with business execution, showing how disciplined hiring, focused delivery, and human trust systems built a competitive expert network.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6j50BbnNl3TEaY1vxJ2T3n?si=1cJpS8ZdTMqcREV5a_klmw

Youtube: https://youtu.be/8CqqMnf5-Cw

"When I talk with ex-accounting staff, the management used investor money to buy their personal stuff like villas or houses. The management asked their staff not to share any information with the investor side, especially consultants, telling them, If you share any information you’ll be fired. That policy stayed internal and I got a lot of information like that. Of course this research cannot provide all the information." - Hiroki Kato, Founder of Arches

"First of all people are young. But not only young, they’re energetic and believe in the future. They always expect a bright future, so their behavior is active, aggressive, and positive. That expanded my horizon because I was born and grew up in Japan in a mature market. In Vietnam the living environment is not perfect, but for me it is much more fantastic and much more fun than living in Japan." - Hiroki Kato, Founder of Arches

"Long story short, I had experience seeing issues in the market and at the same time wanted to solve them through one interview with specific people. I realized there was an issue in the market and a solution there, so I decided to do it. That experience changed my life." - Hiroki Kato, Founder of Arches

Mike Mate, General Partner at Kickstart Ventures, joins Jeremy Au to trace how personal risk shaped his investing philosophy and how grit defines the Philippine startup ecosystem. They explore Mike’s path from history student to lawyer to venture capitalist, and how each transition built the mindset required to allocate capital under uncertainty. The conversation connects AI to past industrial revolutions, explains why Southeast Asia imports frontier technology instead of inventing it, and examines the structural hurdles blocking iconic Philippine exits. Mike shares how consumer demand drives opportunity, why late stage foreign capital decides ecosystem success, and how Filipino founders survive funding droughts through cultural obligation and persistence. Together they argue that the region’s advantage is not hype or capital abundance, but disciplined courage to build through uncertainty.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1axpdKiAOCmljehIdzhq4i?si=6108add2c2ce4723

Youtube: https://youtu.be/0yS7kJZoFAI

"For example, the way we think about AI: the steam engine and the railroad. Before they were invented, you were limited by your muscle power. You could only walk so far in one day. You could only travel as far as your horse could go. When the steam engine and the railroad were invented, your muscle power became unlimited. You could travel anywhere. You could move heavy loads across very long distances that were impossible before. It changed how people understood physical power and what they could do in their world. It opened massive possibilities and changed the world for the better." - Mike Mate, General Partner at Kickstart Ventures

"Now with AI, what does that do? AI changes your intellectual power. Before AI, we could only compute so many times a day. We get tired. We sleep. Our computers could only do so many things. Now AI works the same way the steam engine made muscle power irrelevant. AI has made intellectual limitations irrelevant. In the same way the railroad and the steam engine opened the world for us, AI will open the world and the universe for us. That is how I tie history together. History gives lessons from the past and helps correlate them to what we see in the future." - Mike Mate, General Partner at Kickstart Ventures

"It is forward thinking. As a corporate venture capital firm, our role is to work on things Ayala or Globe are not thinking about. We invested in a cultivated meat company. That is meat grown in a bioreactor. The underlying technology is stem cells. You take stem cells from an animal, place them in a bioreactor, and that becomes the meat. We invest in a company that produces the strongest stem cells in the industry. Their stem cells divide indefinitely and never die. Every downstream producer must use these cells because they are the fundamental technology. Ayala is not working on this today. They are not thinking about it. In 10 or 20 years, Ayala will own a company that underpins an entire global food industry." - Mike Mate, General Partner at Kickstart Ventures

Aik Chuan (A.C.) Goh, Founder of Singapore’s first traditional search fund, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how operators evolve from startup builders into long-term business stewards. They explore lessons from Uber’s Southeast Asia expansion, why localization determines platform winners, and how consulting shaped A.C.’s decision-making framework. The conversation covers the limits of venture capital in personalized industries like education, the hidden succession crisis inside Singapore SMEs, and how search funds bridge retiring founders with new leadership. Aik Chuan also shares why disciplined capital structures matter, how growth still exists in mature markets, and why conviction requires respecting experience without surrendering belief in your thesis.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3CKesDZUxmpZSuGO4LUTEj?si=ddfe276b59364cba

Youtube: https://youtu.be/aakACheMfS8

“So I went to McKinsey. It had always been my dream to see what was behind the curtain. I heard many people ask why I made the jump. At Uber, we worked with many consultants, and their ability to synthesize issues quickly and communicate clearly was remarkable. It felt like watching magic. I wanted to understand that skill and the secret behind it. The fastest way was to join McKinsey and learn directly from the best.” - Aik Chuan (A.C.) Goh, Founder of Singapore’s First Traditional Search Fund

“I fully expected consulting to mean heavy travel and tough problems. What surprised me was that even as the most junior person in Singapore, you could call a 20-year social media veteran or an automotive procurement expert in the US, and a partner would pick up and tell you everything you needed to know about the industry. That level of access was unexpected.” - Aik Chuan (A.C.) Goh, Founder of Singapore’s First Traditional Search Fund

“The number one thing I took away was the ability to make decisions quickly by building assumptions and running an iterative loop to reach a conclusion, testing whether it holds, adjusting the assumptions, and flipping again. I learned to be comfortable that decisions are made this way even at the most senior level. You never have enough data. No one does. The skill is bringing in enough data to iterate and keep moving. That was one of the biggest takeaways.” - Aik Chuan (A.C.) Goh, Founder of Singapore’s First Traditional Search Fund

Jeremy Au breaks down how venture capital really works after the check clears. He explains how VCs silently re-rank startups every year, why most companies get deprioritized, and how a tiny number of winners carry an entire fund. The discussion covers angel buyouts, secondaries, IPO strategy, and the tension between founders and boards during exits. It’s a candid look at portfolio math, hidden incentives, and the survival rules founders rarely hear out loud.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/olMGc9S99b8

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1pStZmngpL9yp2TON7S5OW?si=b88fb7529e604aab

"It's very important because VC funds are always scoring in their heads: if I’ve invested in 20 or 40 companies, which ones are the home runs that return the portfolio more? Which ones do I want to support because they have a shot? Which ones do I delegate because I don’t want to spend time there? Or who am I going to ghost? They won’t do anything so brutal as saying, “Hey we deprioritized you.” They won’t say that out loud because it feels bad and sounds bad. You never know the startup might figure it out after three or four years and suddenly take off like a rocket ship, and then the VC comes back and says, “Hey, we’ve always been supportive of you and we love you so much.” The founder knows, “Okay, you ghosted me for three years.” That’s the industry norm." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"The key thing is imagine you’re a VC looking at your portfolio and asking, am I going to put my money into supporting companies that are losers? No. My unicorns don’t need much help because they don’t even return my calls now; they’re everywhere and doing fine. My large wins are also doing well and don’t really need me, but maybe I can push them a little more and they become unicorn outcomes. Then the small wins can I push them higher? VCs concentrate their resources in the band of companies they believe can turn into small wins or large wins." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"A very underrated art is portfolio management. Even after deciding where to put the first check, a VC reassesses multiple times and asks, “Do I want to spend more time on this company? Are they on track or off track?” They must allocate time, resources, and attention. If after two years a startup keeps asking for help and the VC decides it won’t make it, the VC can tell the head of recruitment, “Please deprioritize this company. Save your time for companies that can be home runs.” This is a brutal mechanic most founders don’t see: even after investment, partners continue judging them throughout the time frame." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Youtube:https://youtu.be/rzikUSniS3w

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ZaDDka6bfQvfPg5pNNwxy?si=bbb7680589d2455e

"Singapore performs strongly in both health policy and research. Geopolitically it stands out as a stable, low-corruption hub in Southeast Asia. The government takes population health seriously, which contrasts sharply with the United States, where average life expectancy is nearly ten years lower. This gap is why some people describe Singapore as a blue zone, a term used in the health community to describe places with unusually high life expectancy where researchers look for shared factors that explain longer lives." - Kamil Pabis, Longevity Researcher in Singapore

"There is mounting evidence that even small amounts of alcohol are harmful, although this has been controversial for decades. Long-running debates in nutrition and prevention focus on whether a famous single glass of wine is beneficial because it may reduce cardiovascular disease while slightly increasing cancer risk. We do not know the answer, and it is not the most important question, because it mainly affects people who already have optimal diets deciding between zero, one, or two glasses. At the population level, larger gains still come from addressing low-hanging fruit. Messaging should remain accurate. If a safe amount of alcohol exists, it should be stated clearly. If no safe amount exists, that should also be communicated honestly." - Kamil Pabis, Longevity Researcher in Singapore

"The key idea is that a single driving force, or a small set of fundamental forces, causes most age-related diseases. A doctor or wellness practitioner treats people who are sick or close to being sick by targeting the specific disease they have. Longevity research instead targets the underlying aging process itself. The approach is fundamentally different." - Kamil Pabis, Longevity Researcher in Singapore

Kamil Pabis, a longevity researcher based in Singapore, joins Jeremy Au to unpack why extending a healthy lifespan needs systems thinking, not quick hacks. They define longevity as targeting aging itself, explain why academia both enables and constrains progress, and show how Singapore’s policy choices support longer lives. They also discuss the biohacker pipeline, the promise of drugs like rapamycin, and why regulation and trial design slow real proof in humans.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/yQWLfgyQLBo

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/4MAT3nz6n9m7R7QxMzJqnb?si=55b1d944023c4e16

"ChatGPT OpenAI may look like a Goliath today as the clear market leader, but there is a non-zero chance of the company failing, especially if there is an AI crash. We already saw this risk during the board control dispute, when questions about AI safety and trust in Sam Altman as CEO led to real value destruction. If Altman had been forced to leave, OpenAI would have followed a very different trajectory, with some arguing the value might have been higher and others believing it would have been much lower, which is something worth thinking carefully about." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"VCs need to be thoughtful not only about selecting the right teams but also about helping them survive the early stage. Many incubators and accelerators, especially those working with very early startups, spend significant time coaching founders, teaching them how to work together, and connecting them with people who can help." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"Even though it is well known that older founders have a higher chance of success because they have more experience, more self-awareness, and are less likely to make bad decisions, VCs still tend to invest in younger founders. One explanation discussed in the research is that older entrepreneurs often have more resources and can self-fund their progress, so they do not need to sell as much equity. As a result, VCs may index toward younger founders who need venture capital and where VCs believe they can add more value." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au discusses how value is created, preserved, and lost in Southeast Asian startups, focusing on governance, control rights, and exit risk. The conversation looks at real founder–investor breakdowns, regulatory shocks, and why weak structure often shows up only when things go wrong. It explains why growth alone is not enough, and how control, trust, and exit planning shape outcomes in emerging markets.

Youtube:https://youtu.be/LvUH1St6Y6E

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/2PDVDmrwDuIO12NcGQKb8n?si=bb8c03054cc144fc

"Founders can also choose to build new companies, so I call them rebound, revenge, and rebirth. Rebound founders are comfortable with the identity of being a founder, so they move to the next idea as quickly as possible without thinking it through. It is like a rebound relationship right after a breakup. They build a rebound startup because as long as they are doing a startup, they still have an identity and can still fundraise. There are also revenge startups. For example, a founder was fired from a benefits platform by the board and then went on to build a direct competitor. The original company was a unicorn and later collapsed, while the new company became a billion-dollar all-in-one HR platform." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"All startups are bets. They are bets on the future. They are bets that the future will become reality. They are bets that this company wins the race. They are bets that regulators will not regulate the company out of existence. In each round, investors pay more to find out what the bet really is. The real question is whether the risk taken matches the reward. From both the investor and founder perspective, founders can fail, but they are pioneers of a new world, and they teach us what can work and what cannot work." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"AI robots are back. They may have been too early for their time because hardware is now cheaper, indoor sensors are more available, facial recognition middleware is more powerful, and language is now powered by ChatGPT. AI robots are back for social robots. Jibo is a great example of this. They failed, but they were also ahead of their time, a pioneer of social robots. Today, we already know there will be AI-powered teddy bears." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au breaks down why most startups fail even after raising capital and why failure is often misunderstood by founders, investors, and the media. Drawing from venture data and real startup case studies, the discussion unpacks common failure patterns, the role of timing and macro forces, and why economic failure does not always mean bad judgment. The episode reframes failure as part of innovation, while staying honest about incentives, power laws, and investor reality.

Youtube:https://youtu.be/NkyBN1lpPPc

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/3hvcfx1VO09gTf8RxjNbqw?si=1b84cca7134a4d35

"I met a founder in Singapore who was crying. I asked why. He had received a term sheet that was onerous on both economic and control rights. More importantly, it was an exploding term sheet that had to be signed immediately or it would be withdrawn. He called his lawyer, who told him not to sign, but he did anyway because he felt there was no alternative. The next day, he regretted it. He could not sleep. From a founder’s perspective, that is deeply sad. From a VC perspective, you have to respect the investor, because they effectively secured the company at about half the price." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"Is my company worth this much? Egos often get in the way. I know a startup that had an opportunity to raise money at a price that was effectively flat to the prior round. The prior-round investor refused to sign, vetoed the deal, and pushed for a higher valuation. The company failed to close the capital and died about a year later. This shows the dynamic where, as an incoming VC, you are negotiating not just with the founder, but also with the board and early shareholders." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"Another important issue is control rights. When someone asks for a high valuation, you can trade valuation for control rights to manage risk. These rights shape governance between founders, management, early shareholders, and later shareholders. They matter more than many founders realize. Over time, control disputes have destroyed many companies." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au breaks down how venture capital deals really close, why many fail after the term sheet, and how financial and control rights shape outcomes for founders and investors over a 10-year relationship. Drawing from real cases across Southeast Asia, he explains the hidden trade-offs behind valuation, governance, and trust, and why “good economics” can still destroy long-term value if handled poorly.

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ce0UwMlbOnzKtIo8hJ2r6?si=37673d1d261d47df

Youtube:https://youtu.be/2ZN82aIYPk8

"Everyone is afraid of using AI in their tools because they see it as a black box and do not understand the generated responses. We invested in a company called OpenTopic that focused on generating content for media agencies. That opportunity mirrors why Bitcoin emerged in the first place, which was the failure of the traditional financial system where infrastructure was not robust enough and bank runs occurred. New players entered and asked why there should not be a decentralized system where, in Bitcoin’s case, no one even knows who started it and the system is fair to everyone." - Beatrice Lion, General Partner and CEO of True Global Ventures

"I wanted to be the technophile, the one who says, have you heard about this exciting thing that is happening. That was a pivotal moment for me to decide I wanted to be in this industry because it is where innovation is. I like being the person who introduces new technology to my friends. I do not want to be the technology lagger or the last to adopt something new. I want to be the one who asks, how are you not using this yet. That is what drew me in, and it is the same reason I wanted to enter at that moment and why I feel the same way about AI today." - Beatrice Lion, General Partner and CEO of True Global Ventures

"That moment coincided with the launch of ChatGPT, when AI became understood by the mainstream as a truly transformative technology. More people started using it and became less afraid of it, which made it the right time to deploy into these companies because clients were now asking what AI could help them do. That also made it a bad time to leave, because I did not want to miss being part of this fund at that moment. The pattern kept repeating, and I never felt like I was stagnating or done learning. That is why I never wanted to do anything else, not just for the economic incentive, but because it is always exciting to be part of real innovation." - Beatrice Lion, General Partner and CEO of True Global Ventures

Beatrice Lion, General Partner and CEO of True Global Ventures, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how early conviction, long cycles, and hands-on learning shaped her path from finance student to venture capital leader. They explore why blockchain and AI only look obvious in hindsight, how decentralization solves real risks created by centralized platforms, and why hype often masks weak demand rather than weak technology. The conversation covers building a venture fund from self-funded roots to institutional scale, navigating fundraising and regulation, and what it takes to grow as an investor across multiple market cycles. Beatrice also shares how staying in one firm for years can still mean many different careers, and why resilience and judgment matter more than timing.

Youtube:https://youtu.be/26iWt5AumoU

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/0xOyQBUFZdfmd0sZuidXQv?si=e5631fe2140642a3

"I finished college at 20. I grew up in a rural area of China with limited resources, but I developed strong curiosity early about how the rest of the world looked. Right after college, I spent two and a half years traveling the world with no money. I earned some income from university research work, bought a one-way ticket to Europe and the US, and lived by couch surfing, hitchhiking, and camping across unfamiliar places. I often did not know where I would sleep the next day or what I would eat, but things always worked out. The best and worst part was the same thing: dealing with uncertainty. As a founder and entrepreneur, you face uncertainty every day, every moment." - Rocky Yu, Founder and CEO of AGI House

"I did not need to live that way. I had family support in any situation, but I chose to do it out of curiosity. I wanted to understand the rest of the world, what young people like me were doing, and what they truly cared about. I do not believe that visiting a place for a few days is enough. I deliberately spent long periods living at their level to see and experience life as it was. I carried a 70-liter backpack with a tent and sleeping bag and traveled around the world." - Rocky Yu, Founder and CEO of AGI House

"We have seen many stories, and one word comes up often: resilience. You need to be extremely resourceful and resilient. People talk a lot about talent, but the world is not short of it. What differentiates people is who goes the extra mile to make things happen. When you realize, as Steve Jobs said, that the world is built by people no smarter than you, your perception changes. You realize you can be anyone and build anything." - Rocky Yu, Founder and CEO of AGI House

Rocky Yu, Founder and CEO of AGI House, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how early curiosity in computer graphics led him from engineering and startups to building one of the world’s most influential AI communities. They explore why talent density matters more than scale, how AGI House emerged during the pandemic as a mission-first experiment, and what it takes to turn deep technical conversations into real companies. The conversation covers Rocky’s journey from academia to entrepreneurship, how dinners and hackathons sparked breakout AI startups, and why AGI should be understood as a system of applied intelligence rather than a single god-like model. Rocky also shares his views on resilience, uncertainty, and how young people and parents should think about work, purpose, and opportunity in an AI-shaped future.

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BrjbJUS3XpWYmvLGh7vZN?si=5462d127d03a4b2f

Youtube:https://youtu.be/BZ3qCcezrcU

"Why do I make the decision for six lives? That was when I was brave enough to tell her, crying, ‘Mommy, I’ll be a good boy. I’ll listen to anything you say.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to die. I really don’t want to die. I choose life.’ We survived. I have my child, she is now a grandmother, and my sister has a child too. That moment toughened me and shaped why relationships matter so much to me. People ask why I’m afraid of heights, and I say no, because I almost jumped before." - Eldred Wee, Founder of Edenity

"With AI, vouching is now automated, but vouching means checking whether a real receipt and invoice match the bank statement and the full flow of money. When I reviewed the engagement, I saw receivables rising, sales increasing, and the sales director constantly trying to curry favor every time I visited. I worked on that audit for three years and kept thinking something was wrong. If we did the audit properly, it would not pass. In the first year, I reported it and was told to just close the audit. In the second year, I said I could not do this anymore and that I would take action if it continued. By the third year, everything unraveled." - Eldred Wee, Founder of Edenity

"Audit meant working late, juggling studies and exam periods, and grinding through long nights. I learned a lot and almost uncovered a fraud as a junior. It was hard to navigate because there were many stakeholders. I had to extract information from people who partly knew the truth, piece it together for the finance manager, and then report it clearly to the audit partners. That experience was unique and shaped why I started in accounting and finance." - Eldred Wee, Founder of Edenity

Eldred Wee, Founder of Edenity, joins Jeremy Au to unpack why corporate services and accounting firms sit at the center of Southeast Asia’s next wave of SME acquisitions. They explore how Eldred’s early career in Big Four audit shaped his ability to spot incentives, fraud, and double or triple books, and why these realities define investing in the region. The conversation covers the rise of roll-ups in accounting and corporate services, why organic growth is hard for B2B services in Southeast Asia, and how aging founders and low digitization are creating a narrow transition window for buyers. Eldred also shares why price arbitrage alone rarely works, how culture and trust determine post-deal success, and why relationship-driven execution matters more than capital in small business M&A.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/147TDmaS0ERT97vsTDwQf6?si=ad8265642b4d4463

Youtube: https://youtu.be/8XLdOWAnULY

"Two things stood out this year. First, the continued positive momentum. Many expected growth to slow due to global economic headwinds and several high-profile issues in Southeast Asia’s digital economy, yet we still saw double-digit growth in GMV and revenue, more sectors turning profitable, and major platform players performing strongly. Competition remains intense, with constant shifts and new trends emerging, but the overall trajectory stays clearly positive. Second, the focus on AI in Southeast Asia. What stands out is the region’s strong optimism toward AI, with interest levels three times the global average and net positivity higher than any other region." - Florian Hoppe, Partner at Bain

"The headwinds came mainly from global macro trends, including trade wars and tariffs. Southeast Asia largely escaped these impacts, even though there was a moment in April and May when uncertainty was high. GDP continues to trend up, and the digital economy has held up well, with double-digit growth across all sectors we examined. While some markets saw high-profile startup failures and audit issues, these did not detract from overall momentum. Beneath the surface, competition remains intense, especially in e-commerce where platform market shares shifted significantly, but the broader direction is still clearly positive." - Florian Hoppe, Partner at Bain

"Once the infrastructure layers are built, essentially laying the rails and pavement, we see a massive boom in data center investment across the region, alongside the emergence of strong local talent. The real opportunity sits in the enabling layer, which can unlock significant new business opportunities in the digital economy over the next decade. AI will reshape and enhance existing digital sectors, but it will also open new growth in areas that were previously constrained, especially healthcare and education." - Florian Hoppe, Partner at Bain

Florian Hoppe, Partner at Bain, joins Jeremy Au to unpack insights from the Bain Southeast Asia Digital Economy Report 2025 and explain why the region’s digital economy keeps growing despite global uncertainty and negative headlines. They explore the long-term forces behind this resilience, including consumer adoption, payments and logistics infrastructure, and sustained middle-class demand. The conversation covers the expansion from ASEAN six to ASEAN ten, how regional scale really works for founders, and why competition from China and global players continues to fuel innovation. Florian also explains why AI and data centers should be seen as foundational utilities, how local AI solutions create real value in healthcare and education, and what investors, policymakers, and parents should focus on as Southeast Asia enters its next digital decade.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1pBgSYGCnUAryHvtJGuJDb?si=7b1c2ba2a2d947a2

Youtube: https://youtu.be/xTImaXI-9-g

"Startup founders have to always make a decision because they either have to persevere or pivot because they are always going through some level of crisis. Persevere means continuing what they are doing, or pivot means changing what they are doing. Founders have to iterate and find the right problem, then finally arrive at the right solution. I was talking to a startup founder and it took him 15 years to generate product-market fit. He built one company, then built another company to service his first company’s problem, and that company ended up being successful. If you look at Slack, it was built by a game developer. They started building their own messaging system, realized the messaging system was a better idea than the game, and Slack was born because they had a problem communicating effectively." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"We look at Mark Zuckerberg and other founders today and see how amazing they are, and they seem like no-brainers. He is an MIT dropout, and there are incredible stories attached to that. But these are stories told looking back. The tricky part is looking forward. There are 100 MIT dropouts, and most of them are dropping out to build startups, so which one will succeed? There is a gap between who a founder is today and their ability to build a unicorn in the next 10 years. That gap is shaped by time, grit, perseverance, VC support, luck, and macro timing. All of these play a role. The real challenge is choosing one unicorn founder out of 40 top founders who are all scrambling for a VC check." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"When a VC meets a startup, the question is whether it will become a unicorn in 10 years. Is there a way for it to double this year, then double again next year, and so on. I recently reviewed a company with a strong founder in the AI space. After consideration, we felt the historical growth rate was not there, and we did not believe it could accelerate fast enough. We decided to say no, even though many friends had already invested or planned to invest. It was a difficult conversation, but we could not see clear differentiation from other AI startups. VCs are ultimately looking for founders who can build a unicorn over the next 10 years." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au breaks down how venture capitalists actually think about startups, founder selection, and long-term value creation. Drawing from real VC decisions, classroom debates, and emerging technologies, he explains why learning speed beats polish, why most “obvious” winners only look obvious in hindsight, and how founders navigate pivots, problem selection, and 10× breakthroughs. The conversation also explores how strange technologies move from science fiction to commercialization, and how VCs evaluate scale, network effects, and unit economics in practice.

WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e

TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea

Spotify

English: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TnqkaWpTT181lMA8xNu0T

Bahasa Indonesia: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Vs8t6qPo0eFb4o6zOmiVZ

Chinese: https://open.spotify.com/show/20AGbzHhzFDWyRTbHTVDJR

Vietnamese: https://open.spotify.com/show/0yqd3Jj0I19NhN0h8lWrK1

YouTube 

English: https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyAu?sub_confirmation=1

Apple Podcast 

English: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/brave-southeast-asia-tech-singapore-indonesia-vietnam/id1506890464

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/1UJxhZae3p4I8ZTjT2z1Wo?si=87d5d4b29e8344bc

Youtube:https://youtu.be/56oEw05KUSM

“I hope that AI becomes a partner to people rather than something that replaces or eliminates humans. I believe that in ten years AI will be more reliable, allowing us to trust it with many tasks. If robots become common, that is a good thing because they save time on labor like washing dishes. Today, language models still hallucinate, so we double-check their work. In the future, I hope we can rely on AI without constant verification, coexisting with it and becoming far more productive together.” - Kelvin Chan, AI researcher at Google

“One year ago, I did not expect image editing or image generation to become this good. There is always something new in this field, which is why I stay excited working in AI at Google. We do not know where the limit is, and that uncertainty drives me every day. Ironically, I have no artistic sense at all, yet I work on images. When I take photos for friends, they usually retake them because I cannot frame good shots. That became a motivation for me to work on image editing and generation, because now I can take a random photo and ask AI to adjust the angle or make it more artistic. It is genuinely useful, and it saves me from my friends’ sarcasm.” - Kelvin Chan, AI researcher at Google

“Google encourages us to use the AI tools we build because using them is the fastest way to understand what people need and what can be improved. When we build the tools and then use them ourselves, we learn how to refine them and create better models for the public. This feedback loop makes the work more effective and is what makes this an exciting moment to be working at the frontier of AI.” - Kelvin Chan, AI researcher at Google

Kelvin Chan, an AI researcher at Google, joins Jeremy Au to unpack his unconventional path from mathematics in Hong Kong to applied AI research across Singapore and the United States. They explore how AI research differs from traditional academic work, why iteration and results often matter more than theory, and how scale has transformed research culture from small experiments to highly collaborative, compute-heavy systems. The conversation covers the rapid evolution of image and video models including Google’s Nano Banana model, the push toward world modeling and embodied AI, and how AI tools are reshaping daily productivity for engineers. Kelvin also reflects on choosing AI in 2018 before it was mainstream, and why he believes the long-term future lies in AI as a trusted partner that augments human work rather than replaces it.

WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e

TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea

Spotify

English: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TnqkaWpTT181lMA8xNu0T

Bahasa Indonesia: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Vs8t6qPo0eFb4o6zOmiVZ

Chinese: https://open.spotify.com/show/20AGbzHhzFDWyRTbHTVDJR

Vietnamese: https://open.spotify.com/show/0yqd3Jj0I19NhN0h8lWrK1

YouTube 

English: https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyAu?sub_confirmation=1

Apple Podcast 

English: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/brave-southeast-asia-tech-singapore-indonesia-vietnam/id1506890464