Hello everyone,
We’re happy to have launched our book BRAVE10 featuring the top 10 tech leadership journeys in Singapore! We had a tremendous kickoff with over 100 attendees hosted by our guest-of-honor Minister Alvin Tan. Get your autographed hardcover here at https://jeremyau.com/book, as there’s less than 50 copies left! Book profits are donated to The Codette Project, a local non-profit helping minority women break into technology. We’re happy to have been covered across The Straits Times, Mediacorp and CNA 93.8FM!
Most Popular Episodes
- Southeast Asia VC Outlook Over The Next Decade with Koh Shiyan, Goh Yiping & Mohan Belani: Our three panelists discuss their expectations that SE Asia VC winter will get worse over the next few quarters. They share how founders should respond, why founders will be “de-lionized” by the media, and how the long-term fundamentals for the region’s tech scene are still strong.
- Melissa Ng on Depression vs. Healing, Mental Health Founder & Surviving Leukemia: Melissa had a wonderful life after establishing her own product design firm that worked with McDonald's, Samsung, and Visa. Yet, she struggled with anxiety and depression and set out to channel this energy into founding Bravely, a mental health platform. She was then struck by leukemia but continued to build the startup from the hospital bed until she eventually overcame cancer.
- Anuvrat Rao on Launching YouTube APAC, US vs SE Asia Envy & Almost Losing A Leg: Anuvrat shares what he learned from launching Youtube across Asia and the regional differences. However, the experience of almost losing one of his legs due to surgery inspired him to leave the Google corporate path to build his own startup.
- Todd D Schweitzer on Founder Learning Curve, Complementary Distributed Teaming & SE Asia Decisions: Todd talks about how financial stability has a domino impact on building a credit score, building savings, and reliably working towards financial goals. He realized the importance of complementarity when cofounding Brankas – essentially two people bringing different skills to the table and reinforcing each other’s professional skills while covering each other’s weaknesses and blind spots.
- Ser En Low on Winning BAFTA, East vs. West Representation & Founder Uncertainty: Ser En fell in love with film as a child because she wanted to remember moments in time forever. She shares how students have shifted from wanting to become the next Quentin Tarantino in film to now wanting to become YouTubers or TikTokers. She also shares her experience winning the BAFTA award and the risks of building a creator startup.
Community News
We would like to congratulate Jacqui Hocking, CEO of VS Story for the recent acquisition by Singaporean full-service global communications agency, Redhill. Check out her podcast sharing about how she fell in love with the environment and storytelling.
We would also like to congratulate Anthea Ong, former Singapore Member of Parliament for the release of the new book, The Nominated Member of Parliament Scheme: Are Unelected Voices Still Necessary in Parliament?. Listen to Anthea share how she overcame both personal and financial collapse and why courage is a muscle.
Quote of the Month
"In the beginning, your skills are raw, your knowledge is sparse, and you lack experience. At best, you will be able to produce work that is "just okay." And even then, you'll only manage to reach "just okay" by giving your best effort.
Nobody wants to produce something that is "just okay." You'll feel like it's beneath your standards. You'll worry about what others think of you. You'll wonder whether you would be better off taking a different path. But it is impossible to reach that stage unless you are willing to work through your current stage.
And so, one of the main obstacles between who you are and who you could be is courage. The courage to keep trying even if you're not yet as good as you hope. The courage to keep trying despite your fears of what others may think. The courage to keep trying without knowing how the future will unfold.
Your great work is on the other side of your early work. The only way to be exceptional later on is to have the courage to be "just okay" right now. This is how it is for everyone." – James Clear
Stay Brave,
Jeremy Au