Know any founders who are departing their startups? We’re hosting our fourth Phoenix offsite on November 23, Saturday, 10am-12pm SGT. We’ll hear founders discuss their early transitions, how they mentally integrated past learnings, and their approach to exploring new opportunities as future tech operators, VCs, or repeat founders. Confidential, pro bono, 2 hours, virtual. Interested founders can RSVP here.
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Regional News & Deep Dives
- Valerie Vu, Founding Partner of Ansible Ventures, discussed Vietnam’s new president Tô Lâm and visit to China & the $3.3B of damages caused by Super Typhoon Yagi.
- Jianggan Li, CEO of Momentum Works, discussed $1B+ AAA game “Black Myth: Wukong” and how the Chinese story “Journey to the West” reflects long historical ties with Southeast Asia.
- Shiyan Koh, Managing Partner of Hustle Fund, explored her view on the upcoming Johor-Singapore SEZ agreement and anticipated surge in cross-border economic activities.
- Gita Sjahrir, Head of Investment at BNI Ventures, talked about Indonesia’s shrinking middle class and the urgent need for economic reform.
Popular Interviews
- Serena Lam: Vietnam Refugee Inspiration, IBM to SaaS Founder & Sales Automation Consequences: Driven by her family’s legacy of resilience as refugees from China and Vietnam, Serena embraced the challenges of startup founder life. She leveraged her seven-year strategic experience at IBM across the U.S., China, and India to create Fuzzy Sequence, a sales AI platform that automates sales processes and personalizes client interactions.
- Jesse Choi: Bain Capital & Stanford MBA, Moving To Indonesia For Love & Founding Reku Investment Platform: Jesse shared his learnings as a former Bain consultant, Bain Capital private equity investor, and Stanford MBA. He moved to Indonesia to be with his now-wife, and founded Reku to help Indonesians invest and diversify - starting first with cryptocurrency and now US equities.
- Audra Pakalnyte: Lithuania To Malaysia, Adapt & Localize (Groupon Malaysia, KFit & Fave) & First Move VC Partner: Raised in a post-Soviet entrepreneurial family, Audra leveraged her early business lessons to help localize and scale companies like Groupon Malaysia and Fave across Southeast Asia. She now strategically invests in early-stage consumer tech startups as a VC partner, utilizing her keen insight into regional market dynamics to foster growth and adaptation among her portfolio companies.
- Raditya Wibowo: Gojek Chief Transportation Officer, Founder MAKA Motors & How Hard Can It Be?: Raditya navigated Gojek's rise and developed the surge pricing algorithm during his tenure as Chief Transportation Officer. He shared how he founded an electric motorcycle startup, MAKA Motors and detailed the transition challenges from software to hardware including the design principles tailored to meet Indonesian market demands and consumer behaviors.
- Sherry Jiang: Founder Poker Strategy, Navigating Product-Market Fit Pivots & Big Tech Career Advice: Sherry pivoted from a Southeast Asia stablecoin protocol to building Peek, an AI-driven personal finance management platform. Using a poker analogy, she emphasizes strategic risk management, decision-making and resilience in entrepreneurship.
- Oscar Jesionek: Austria Digital Nomad to Vietnam Founder, Audio Learning Product-Market Fit & Trust Your Gut: Oscar transitioned from diverse roles in Austria to founding Fonos in Vietnam, which began with a simple goal to provide accessible non-fiction audio content, inspired by his spouse’s learning preferences. His journey underscores the importance of trusting one’s instincts amid strategic decisions and market shifts.
- Joseph Mocanu: PHD MedTech Founder, Global Healthcare VC & Emerging Manager Investor Myths: Joseph transitioned from molecular genetics research at the University of Toronto to founding a medical device startup specializing in brain imaging. He later established Verge Fund, which focuses on health technologies that enhance accessibility in emerging markets, emphasizing the need for patient capital and strategic adaptation during global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Rob Snyder: McKinsey to Harvard MBA Founder, Cracking Product-Market Fit & Accelerate Or Die: Rob evolved from political philosophy to McKinsey and eventually Harvard MBA. He discussed the pivotal "Founder's Journey" course, key strategy pivots influenced by direct customer feedback and how his startup was finally able to generate millions of revenues after product-market fit hell. He also embraces the "accelerate or die" philosophy, seeing the intense pace as both a norm and a reward in startup culture.
Community News
- Gregory Van, CEO of Endowus, was featured by Tech in Asia for leading the company through a year where revenue more than doubled to US$15.4 million, with the goal of achieving profitability by 2025. Read about his insights on financial accessibility and purpose-driven investing.
- Congratulations to Joshua Wang for VerImmune’s $4.5 million Pre-Series A funding round led by Beiley Biofund. Check out his episode on transitioning from PhD to biotech founder and overcoming the challenges of developing groundbreaking cancer treatments.
- Todd Schweitzer, co-founder and CEO of Brankas, discussed expanding payment options through a new partnership with PayMongo on Fintech News Philippines. Learn more about his insights on overcoming constant rejections and leading a distributed team across Southeast Asia.
- We’d like to congratulate Raffy Montemayor, Founder & Philippine Business Head of Salmon for leading Salmon to win the Best Fintech Start-Up Company award at the Global Business Outlook Awards 2024. Check out his podcast episode on navigating ambiguity as a general manager and building financial inclusion with Salmon in the Philippines.
- Andy Hwang, General Partner at Wavemaker Partners, was featured by TechNode Global for backing Checkmate's $1.6 million seed funding to help expand its pre-employment screening platform into Southeast Asia. Read about his perspective on entrepreneurial curiosity and the importance of coaching in managing startup risks.
- Congratulations to Roger Egan for Nurture’s $2.8 million pre-seed funding round led by Golden Gate Ventures! Hear his vision for using interactive gameplay to teach kids emotional intelligence and critical life skills. Discover Roger’s learnings from RedMart’s early challenges and applying Constructionist Learning Theory to revolutionize education.
Notable Press & Listener Feedback
- “Great mini episode by Jeremy Au. Love the thought of insights not being a matter of *what* you know but *when* you know it. Most successful insights seem obvious in hindsight bc of the diffusion curve of knowledge.” - JLT Ventures
- “Love the episode. With great power (and creativity) comes great responsibility (and audit).” - Andrew Yip, PhD
Best Read
Kyle Harrison's “Loudest or Proudest” dives into the tricky balance between making big promises and delivering big payoffs in the tech sector. Leaders like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk show how strategic narratives can drive growth, but these narratives are only sustainable when paired with measurable outcomes. For me, it's the ability to follow through that really counts - no matter the size of the vision.
Quote
"The tattered cloak of the beggar will bear him up like the rayed plumes of the angels. But the kings in their heavy gold and the proud in their robes of purple will all of their nature sink downwards, for pride cannot rise to levity or levitation. Pride is the downward drag of all things into an easy solemnity. One "settles down" into a sort of selfish seriousness; but one has to rise to a gay self-forgetfulness. A man "falls" into a brown study; he reaches up at a blue sky. Seriousness is not a virtue. It would be a heresy, but a much more sensible heresy, to say that seriousness is a vice. It is really a natural trend or lapse into taking one's self gravely, because it is the easiest thing to do. It is much easier to write a good Times leading article than a good joke in Punch. For solemnity flows out of men naturally; but laughter is a leap. It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light. Satan fell by the force of gravity.” G.K Chesterton
Reflection
“At the day, it's not about virtual or in-person meetings. It's more about people craving connection. Humans are, by nature, social animals. On top of that, we live in a world where we have never been more connected than we are today.” - David Zhou
David Zhou’s journey from a shy introvert to a prominent figure in Silicon Valley’s LP and VC space was not just a career shift, but a transformation of identity. Growing up amidst the ups and downs of startup life due to his serial entrepreneur father, he initially resisted following the same path. However, his time at UC Berkeley, particularly his involvement with the SkyDeck startup accelerator, marked a turning point, reshaping him from a passive observer to an active participant in the venture ecosystem. A major hurdle was overcoming his fear of cold outreach, which he tackled by sending one cold email a week: a small, deliberate action that expanded both his network and confidence, leading to significant breakthroughs. David’s journey highlights the power of curiosity and persistence - personal growth stems from pushing beyond our comfort zones and remaining open to new opportunities.
Reflect on a personal fear or hesitation that has held you back. How can you take small, deliberate steps to overcome it, similar to David's method of sending one cold email per week?
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Stay Brave!
Jeremy Au