"I think sometimes we don't, and in working with leaders, sometimes I feel like we get stuck in this idea of who we are—and that's the danger when we don't give ourselves the space to evolve. Even as leaders, right? Definitely more further down in their career, maybe in their 50s, some people in their 60s—'cause you have board members as well—and some people are very, like, you know, maybe more fixed in their ideas or belief systems about, 'Oh, I just don't do that, I'm just not a good communicator,' or, 'I always struggle with empathy, I always struggle with speaking to big groups and people.' But when we give ourselves the space to acknowledge where we are, but also the room to evolve our narrative identity, our story of ourself, I think it gives us so many more possibilities of who we can become—and we don't limit ourselves." - Jiezhen Wu, Leadership Coach and Community Builder

"Becoming a parent also made me think about these things. After Harvard, I was like, 'Okay, do I go work in-house in big tech or go into more corporate consulting and impact consulting?' Like, there's so many different paths I could have taken. But I think as a parent, one of the very clarifying questions for me was like, 'Okay, I really wanna be present for my kids.' I really struggled at first—like, do I have to choose between that or doing work that I loved in the world? And the work I've been doing now is really about that integration. How do I do both? How do I be present and do work I care about in the world and really look at the impact that I wanna create? But I think that thread was clarified in becoming a parent, because I was like, 'If there's any time I'm spending away from my children, it has to count.' So where am I going to get my biggest buck, right?" - Jiezhen Wu, Leadership Coach and Community Builder

"If I'm going to invest time coaching—and I coach a variety of leaders—but if I'm working with those top teams, the ripple effect can happen within their teams and organizations. I'm coaching, like, C-suite, right? The impact of their decisions affects so many people. And I've seen the shift that can happen when leaders really step into their full potential of who they can be, and that huge ripple effect of what that means for not just the organization and the teams, but their customers, their families, their communities." - Jiezhen Wu, Leadership Coach and Community Builder

Jiezhen Wu, leadership coach and community builder, joins Jeremy Au to explore how identity, leadership and parenting intersect in shaping purposeful careers. They trace her journey from nonprofit work and Harvard to coaching C-suite leaders across Asia. Together, they reflect on living by design rather than default, the trade-offs of relocating from the US to Singapore, and the internal clarity needed to define true success. Jiezhen unpacks how becoming a mother reshaped her professional lens, why Southeast Asia holds untapped potential for leadership development, and how frameworks can guide but not dictate growth. The episode blends candid stories, cultural nuance and practical reflection for anyone navigating career and life transitions.

"And personally, of late, I've been spending a lot of time on AI. I believe AI plus 5G—which needs low latency—can solve a lot of problems. Think of it: if I can have a personal assistant as an agent who helps me on every step, a personal nurse who understands me and gives me proactive guidance, every child will have a personal tutor as an agent. My two decades of learning in terms of all the evolution of G, we were too focused on speed. Speed can only do so much. Yes, we saw a lot of things which were not possible earlier, and that got started with 3G, but it completely got demonstrated on 4G. The 5G potential will get unlocked now, which is AI plus 5G." - Vikram Sinha, CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison

"The key learning which I got is, if you make mistakes, also be honest and upfront. Audit is not to catch you; audit is to improve your own mistake. So there is a difference between mistake and integrity. I think I keep teaching all my employees that it is okay to make mistakes, so don't mix mistakes with integrity. And because I was very honest, I was upfront, I was not hiding anything, it was categorized as a mistake. If I would have tried to make up something, it would have been an integrity issue, and I would have lost my job." - Vikram Sinha, CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison

"Personally, the most brave decision I took was to accept the assignment of a merger. The moment I was told, I was excited, but when I spoke to a few of my close friends, everyone told me that it was a recipe for disaster. Most of the CEOs who had taken this on lost their job in 12 to 18 months, maximum two years, because telco mergers—if you go back in history—close to 100% were failures. There wasn’t any example of success. And that is what I started in 2022. People supported me, my family supported me, and my team. I have to say, now we have become one. We looked at each other as a management team—it has been three years now—and we said we have two choices: one, to become history, or two, to create history. Let's work towards creating history. So it’s mind over matter. We started with that mindset." - Vikram Sinha, CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison

Vikram Sinha, CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, speaks with Jeremy Au about his personal journey, the power of distribution, and why AI is not just another wave of telecom innovation. They retrace his career from selling mobile plans to leading a successful merger, discuss why distribution is still the biggest driver of growth in emerging markets, and unpack how AI must be localized, inclusive, and protected from bad actors. Vikram explains why telcos should stop blaming regulators, focus on customer experience, and build sovereign infrastructure to stay competitive. He shares how his leadership is shaped by integrity, purpose, and prioritizing people over process even when facing fear and uncertainty.

"After I was in Bangkok and the crypto company I was working with collapsed—because of what happened in the crypto space with FTX and everything—that’s when I started getting all these panic attacks. For the first time in my life, I was forced to confront the whole issue of mental well-being, which was a very challenging process. In terms of bravery, it was about being able to confront that as a man. Especially for us, we’re very driven by the idea that we cannot show weakness—there’s no such thing, just go to the gym and man up. But when it hits you and you’re forced to deal with it, I think that takes a lot of willpower, acceptance, and reflection. To me, that is a brave process, because not many people find it easy to deal with."- Pav Gill, ex-APAC Head of Legal at Wirecard

"So where was the money coming from? And that was something you could verify from filed financials. These financials were always filed late—yeah, one and a half years late. Why was he hired as the third most powerful person in the finance team, right? And also, Wirecard liked to say it was a fintech company focusing more on the tech element, but no one saw where that was coming from. It was very basic tech. Alipay and all these other providers were doing way more advanced things. So where was the money coming from? That was the first red flag. And then, obviously, that led at some point to an internal whistleblower who came to me—fearing for her life—because she didn't want to carry out transactions that were clearly illegal anymore. So that's what kicked everything off."- Pav Gill, ex-APAC Head of Legal at Wirecard

"I mean, they were faking documents and contracts—literally forging stuff. She knew that it was forged documents, and that’s why she saw it as an illegal transaction. It was scary because what was happening is they would have an unknown third party that pretends to be a client, that invoices them. So the money moves from one entity to that third party. That third party then moves the money to another Wirecard entity. That Wirecard entity moves it to another third party company, which shouldn't be a customer of Wirecard. And these are millions being moved around. Then at some point, you lose the trail of what happens from that third party company. And that’s clearly—just clearly—round tripping and potential money laundering, for sure."- Pav Gill, ex-APAC Head of Legal at Wirecard and Jeremy Au

Pav Gill, ex-APAC Head of Legal at Wirecard, joins Jeremy Au to share how he uncovered one of the largest financial frauds in Europe. They discuss Pav’s early career shift from traditional law to fintech, the moment red flags at Wirecard became undeniable, and how an internal whistleblower’s plea led him to launch a covert investigation. Pav reveals how management retaliation escalated into threats, fake HR cases, and even potential physical harm. With support from his mother, he connected with investigative journalists, leading to Financial Times exposés and Wirecard’s collapse. Pav reflects on the limits of legal privilege, the challenges of systemic fraud, and how founding his governance startup, Confide, helps companies act on misconduct before it spirals.

"If you're a first-time founder, you have about an 18% chance of success. If you've previously failed and this is your second startup, then you have a 20% chance of success with your second startup. But if you have succeeded with your first startup and you're doing a second startup, then you now have a 30% chance of success. So this is basically talking about how successful entrepreneurs tend to repeat that experience over time. And what we talked about is how there are relatively several major components to that. What they were able to decompose and show was that, first of all, there were three components. The first component is that successful entrepreneurs tend to be better at timing. In other words, they tend to launch in a vertical that is not too early, not too late, and so they're able to start at a time when they're able to get the funding but also ride the technology cycle." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"So basically what we have here is that the question people have is: do VCs add value, do VCs help? But basically, we can talk a little bit about some of the research that's available, and one of the key things we showed here was that in the early stages of startups, when it comes to angel investments, it is shown that if you receive the same quantitative score from an angel syndicate but one of you took money from the investors group and the other did not, it turns out that angels are beneficial and help increase the likelihood of survival 18 months after the funding cycle by 14%, increase the likelihood of hiring 40% more employees on average, and also increase the probability of a successful startup exit by 10%. So this is actually key information that we have here." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"But what's interesting is that you can also make the argument that there's little arbitrage left in order to find talent. And so actually, even in that same analysis, they also talk about schools that generate lots of returns but are not necessarily overpriced in that sense. So for example, there's the University of Waterloo, which is a very good engineering school in Canada. There are a lot of schools that are good but relatively under-scouted. So for example, if you look at Southeast Asia—other than Ivy Leagues—for Southeast Asian unicorn founders, I think the top two universities that are overrepresented are the National University of Singapore, number one, and number two is actually the University of Indonesia. Now, you can make an argument about why and so forth, but what's true is that most VCs are not really looking at these two universities in Southeast Asia as closely as they are at Ivy League universities." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au unpacks the real value add of venture capital beyond just funding. Using data and founder behavior patterns, he explains how investor type, timing, team building and university background shape outcomes. The conversation highlights what actually helps founders succeed, how top tier funds scout talent and where undervalued opportunities lie across Southeast Asia.

"The truth is the industry would have to utilize it. If not, they’ve already been utilizing it for at least the last two or three years. Whether it’s creating short-form content, animation, or just generally concept artwork—anything that can be shortened will be shortened with the use of AI. Now, the morality—the moral issue aside—there are a lot of debates going on, so I won’t touch that. The moral issue aside, the truth is whether you like it or not, it’s here to stay. It’s here to, above all, empower you to create your concepts into reality in a much shorter time. And that’s why I think AI is already heavily utilized across all kinds of creative industries." - Jackson Aw, founder of Mighty Jaxx

"It scares me a little bit because—with the use of that, certain content will be quite terrifying. It might not reflect the truth, and you’ll see a lot more stuff that is just pure, you know, bullshit in that way. And that scares me as a parent, right? Because they browse YouTube and stuff like that. Sometimes you get like weird AI Spider-Man out there that are—it’s super weird and it’s so freaky to them. But they’re like, oh, this is Spider-Man. I think that’s quite terrifying on the extreme end of it." - Jackson Aw, founder of Mighty Jaxx

"Physical object or representation of a design or something that's creative IP that you want to have displayed anywhere in the world or anywhere in your home—it really helps you be in the environment, right? Now, if it’s digital, of course it’s kind of hard to have that tactile feel of things. And I think that’s one thing that’s never gonna go away. It’s a similar thing—I think maybe not the best example—but like LPs, like vinyl records versus Spotify. You know, it’s one of those things." - Jackson Aw, founder of Mighty Jaxx

Jackson Aw, founder of Mighty Jaxx, joins Jeremy Au after three years to reflect on his leadership journey, the evolution of the global collectibles industry, and how personal growth reshaped his business decisions. They discuss the shift from creative spontaneity to strategic discipline, the emotional psychology behind collectibles, and how AI and tariffs are changing how physical products are made and consumed. Jackson also shares how fatherhood made him more patient, why trust in the next generation is now a core business strategy, and what it takes to stay relevant in a fast-moving market driven by youth culture and fragmented IP.

"One sentiment is people saying, 'Nah, there's nothing we can do, so might as well just spend some time playing cards, let's relax a little bit and just see what goes.' And some factories are saying, 'Okay, let's just pause for a while.' Some of them actually did pause, which is weird because for a long time many of them were telling me, 'Okay, they can't, they can't afford to pause.' And the second group of people, which I find really interesting, are sharing clips of the Korean War—because that was the first time the communist government of China managed to defend against a much more superior U.S. army in Korea. So they were putting all these clips from back then, saying, 'Yeah, we can eat the bitterness and this.' I have to say, it's funny that you mention that, because from the Chinese perspective, they thought they won the war—while I think most people in America believe they won the Korean War by defending South Korea against North Korea." - Jianggan Li, Founder of Momentum Works

"It's interesting that we're trying to make predictions, but what you potentially see is people form an opinion about a certain development, and they try to act on that opinion—then that forms a trend. One example is that every China e-commerce player was thinking about the U.S. market and thought it was too hard, but when Temu went in, everybody said, 'Okay, if they can go in, why can't I go in?' So now we see that as some of them are shut out of the U.S. markets, they’ll reassess the other markets in a more aggressive way. The question for many of them is still how can they build this? For selling goods, yes, for sure—they have the manufacturing leverage they can play. But for really building long-lasting business models and platforms in different countries, how do they work effectively with the local players? Selling goods is straightforward—you find local distributors or you pay the local tax, etc." - Jianggan Li, Founder of Momentum Works

"No, seriously, most people don't know what to do. I mean, it's just that—in early March, people were still pushing aggressively to relocate some of the manufacturing to Vietnam. So we brought a delegation of Chinese businesses to Ho Chi Minh City, and 50 of them showed up, which is a large group to manage. But a few days later, when that tariff on Vietnam was slapped on, people were just confused—'Mm, what should we do next?'" - Jianggan Li, Founder of Momentum Works

Jianggan Li, Founder of Momentum Works speaks with Jeremy Au to unpack how the US-China trade conflict is reshaping global manufacturing, trust in international trade, and Southeast Asia’s role in the crossfire. They explore why businesses are stuck in limbo, how Vietnam and Cambodia became unintended casualties, and what diversification looks like when no one trusts the rules anymore. The two dive into historical analogies, business strategy, and what Chinese multinationals might do next to weather the storm.

"Steve Jobs, for most people, was actually fired from Apple because he started doing some things—he was way too perfectionistic about his products, he didn’t listen to engineering, and he didn’t know how to marshal talent—so he kept drinking his own Kool-Aid, and Apple’s performance got so bad that he was fired. He cried and was very sad, and then he was known as an insufferable person. He would go into meetings and be a total—imagine your project work, and he’s just a total asshole amongst those peers. But then, after he was fired, he went on to build a second company called NeXT, and he was even more perfectionistic at that company. He wanted to create perfect cube computers, and he wanted the robots engineering these products to be entirely spotless—which didn’t make sense, because these are engineering assembly robots. Then he wanted these cube computers to be so square that the molds casting his cases would leave a corner behind. You get what I mean? Like, you actually need a little bit of roundedness in the cast to let go." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"You often see that founders are very often talking to other senior founders, similar to how freshmen talk to sophomores, talk to juniors, talk to seniors. You see a lot of founders will often get advice—they’ll say something like, 'Hey, I'm raising money from this person, what do you think about that?' They will triangulate advice, they’ll be like, 'Hey, do you think now is a good year to fundraise? How much revenue?' I got a WhatsApp message—she was like, 'I have raised my Series A, I want to raise a Series B next year, how much revenue should I get?' So I think the good founders, to avoid failure, will consult wiser people, advisors. And it’s got to the point where, for example, even in America, you may have dedicated executive coaches that focus on coaching founders because it’s a high-risk job, right?" - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"So last year a lot of people joined AI—was that the right time? We don't know. A lot of people did. Some people are still waiting it out too, so it depends on that perspective. The second thing that's important is that success breeds success. In other words, if you are a successful entrepreneur, you have the ability to attract more resources. So you walk around, 'I'm an exited founder,' and more people want to join you, more people want to give you money. Because of that, this amplifies the advantage over less successful peers in the past, and this creates a perception. And because they have more inputs—if that makes sense—therefore the outputs are better, right?" - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au unpacks how startup failure patterns often begin with charisma unchecked by execution. He explores how founders can avoid false starts, the real reason repeat founders succeed, and why the value of VCs and angels depends on founder maturity. The episode draws parallels between entrepreneurship and professional disciplines like medicine, stressing the need for coaching, humility, and peer learning to improve success odds.

"10 years ago, it’s ‘better be digital.’ What does digital mean? Maybe you have some apps on your phone, you're using some software beyond Microsoft Word to help you with your—you're using Google, maybe—and things like that 10 years ago. And now it’s like it’s embedded. We need to be on top of AI. Think about it as your little competitor. If you're on top of it and you know what your competitor is doing, then you'll always be one step ahead of your competitor, right? Yeah. So you think of AI—if you think of AI replacing your jobs, then AI is my competitor. Then I better be one mile in front of my competitor. Start now. I can't predict exactly what jobs will be replaced or at what rate, you know? Mm-hmm. Right now, we can only guess on some ends. But the safest net for anyone in the job market right now is to be on top. Yeah. Which means to use AI, join communities, learn together—whatever you wanna do." - Elena Chow, Founder of ConnectOne

"So when I preached the borrow to people around me—whether they are startup founders or VCs—buy is very simple: you hire your full-time employees. Build means hiring fresh grads or inexperienced talent and developing them. Borrow is the fractional piece, where you bring in expertise on demand for a specific outcome, but they aren’t part of your full-time bench. People used to be skeptical, asking, 'Why would I bring in someone like that?' and questioning the commitment. But over the last two years, cost pressures and the need for flexibility have made this model more accepted. You now see the word 'fractional' used a lot more—there was a LinkedIn or Harvard Business Review report that said LinkedIn used to have 2,000 profiles with the word 'fractional.' Guess what the number is now? 120,000. That’s the level of change in just two years." - Elena Chow, Founder of ConnectOne

"We know that AI started with language—the power of language. A year ago, we all said they're not analytically great, the scripts are wrong, the numbers they spit out are inaccurate. So we said, 'Okay, it's strong on the language front,' and that mostly affected content marketers—people who write and produce all forms of content. But now, just a year later, AI is super powerful analytically—it can write scripts for you, its databases are accurate, and that shift is dramatic. We're now going, 'Oh my gosh, analytic skills are going to go.' And alongside that, coding is also becoming more accurate. So I think, as a fresh grad, we just have to be on top—first, of what kind of skill AI will possess, and then, how that skill will either replace or reduce the need for a human to have it. That’s the way I look at it." - Elena Chow, Founder of ConnectOne

Elena Chow, Founder of ConnectOne and Jeremy Au reconnect after three years to examine how Southeast Asia’s hiring landscape evolved from rapid expansion to cautious, AI-aware decision-making. They explore how employer expectations have become more structured, why talent strategies now vary across the region, and what individuals must do to stay employable in the decade ahead. Their discussion covers the rise of Malaysia as a hiring hub, Vietnam’s growing edge despite language challenges, and how automation is reshaping job functions. Elena also shares her “skills, markets, and industries of the future” framework, helping professionals make better career moves through strategic alignment.

"People are gonna be cautious, which they should be but they're not at a point where they're saying, 'Hey, we're just not gonna, we're gonna close the checkbooks and we're gonna wait four years to see what happens.' So their companies are reaching the ends of their cash runways. They're gonna need funding. These are companies that I think a lot of investors have conviction in, and I don't think this staring contest to wait for a down round is gonna be as pronounced as it was, for example, back in '23. Founders and existing investors are willing to take that markdown nowadays, from what I've seen. There's not as much stigma attached to it, I think, as there was two years ago. So at least in that sense, I think that the gridlock of this kind of staring contest between VCs and founders is getting progressively better, in a very noticeable way." - David He, partner at Gunderson Dettmer

"Let's hit the brakes a bit on expansion at all costs. Let's focus on the markets that we understand, the customers that we understand. Let's roll out products and see how—rather than just building a pipeline of products—and get to financial sustainability much quicker than we otherwise would. What that means is it will unlock different sources of capital that your traditional VC-backed, loss-incurring, cash-burning startup wouldn't do. So the moment you can become profitable or flip profitable at will, that unlocks access to venture debt, private credit, perhaps small cap PE money." - David He, partner at Gunderson Dettmer

"Hopefully interest rates gradually continue to be brought down. And I think another thing we talk about is AI, the focus on utilizing AI tools, right, as a source to not only build better products for customers but also to reduce costs and optimize internally. So all those things were leading, I think, to what you refer to as an easing of the fund winter or a spring. Personally, I saw more activity, I think, in the second half of '24 than I did in the 12 or 18 months combined preceding that." - David He, partner at Gunderson Dettmer

David He, partner at Gunderson Dettmer sits down with Jeremy Au to dissect Southeast Asia’s shifting startup and legal terrain. From the fallout of the eFishery scandal to the rise of ESG compliance and convertible notes, they explore how investor behavior and founder strategies are evolving. The discussion highlights governance gaps, tougher diligence, and why regional funding optimism may have stalled again.

07:12 E-Fishery Scandal as a Southeast Asian Theranos:

Jeremy Au breaks down why most startups fail and why it’s rarely just one thing. Backed by funnel data and battle-tested case studies, he reveals six patterns that repeatedly kill ventures, no matter how visionary the founders are. From premature scaling to bad macro timing, this talk shows how failure is often structural, not personal.

"I felt that the scale was the reason we focused on agriculture, and the fact that that is where the people at $2 a day are—or even $6 a day, that’s another threshold for poverty. If I want to address the problem, I need to go where they are. So let’s try to figure out what their issues are, what the problems are. As for climate, I had started with that sustainability reporting piece while I was at Keppel. That was in real estate, and it was very well defined. Outside of real estate, it was very hard to come up with concrete, measurable things. I also invested in this company weighting for materiality for listed companies for ESG." - Joanna Yeo, Founder and CEO of Arukah

"People burn agriculture waste because it's not valuable, but if you can aggregate it in a certain way, these biomass-type projects are very valuable in global markets. We see the opportunity to create a very standardized set of projects that can do that. And the other piece—because we are very committed to poverty alleviation—is that we commit 50% of our carbon credit project revenue to the participating farmers, so we can unlock more income for them. That also makes it feasible for them to do things. I feel like a lot of the climate space or carbon markets have this mindset where they're like, 'Oh, it's very hard to get farmers to change their behavior,' but you're asking someone to change their behavior for 10 years with no income." - Joanna Yeo, Founder and CEO of Arukah

"But in 2018, my mentor—who's now one of our advisors—was then the CEO of the IFC's SME Finance Forum. I connected with him through the Harvard network. Alumni networks are very valuable and helpful. I said, 'Matt, I'm very worried about small businesses and market access,' because from where we were sitting, investing in private equity and also in tech, I could see the wedge growing in terms of opportunities. How do they survive, right? He said, 'Oh, I understand what you're concerned about.' He was the one who said, 'Look at mobile and blockchain.' I said, 'Okay, mobile I get, but blockchain? What are you talking about? It's like crypto cowboys.' And he said, 'No, look at blockchain as infrastructure.' The fact that it's immutable, distributed, and secure—these are very powerful in markets where you don't have secure access to centralized sources of data and finance. So look at how you build a credit history." - Joanna Yeo, Founder and CEO of Arukah

Joanna Yeo, founder and CEO of Arukah and former institutional investor, speaks with Jeremy Au to explore how Southeast Asia’s agri-waste can be transformed into a global carbon credit engine. They unpack how her education at Harvard, Cambridge, and Stanford shaped a mission to connect vulnerable communities to opportunity, and how she learned from finance, blockchain, and rapid tech scaling to build a climate startup grounded in data, incentives, and farmer equity. Joanna shares why embedded finance failed to scale in agri, how she discovered the commercial viability of biochar and biogas, and why her company commits 50 percent of carbon revenue to participating farmers. The conversation highlights how Southeast Asia’s agriculture base, low-cost advantage, and digital infrastructure can lead the world in transparent, high-trust climate solutions if builders focus on real data, real problems, and real upside sharing.

"I felt that the scale was the reason we focused on agriculture, and the fact that that is where the people at $2 a day are—or even $6 a day, that’s another threshold for poverty. If I want to address the problem, I need to go where they are. So let’s try to figure out what their issues are, what the problems are. As for climate, I had started with that sustainability reporting piece while I was at Keppel. That was in real estate, and it was very well defined. Outside of real estate, it was very hard to come up with concrete, measurable things. I also invested in this company weighting for materiality for listed companies for ESG." - Joanna Yeo, Founder and CEO of Arukah

"People burn agriculture waste because it's not valuable, but if you can aggregate it in a certain way, these biomass-type projects are very valuable in global markets. We see the opportunity to create a very standardized set of projects that can do that. And the other piece—because we are very committed to poverty alleviation—is that we commit 50% of our carbon credit project revenue to the participating farmers, so we can unlock more income for them. That also makes it feasible for them to do things. I feel like a lot of the climate space or carbon markets have this mindset where they're like, 'Oh, it's very hard to get farmers to change their behavior,' but you're asking someone to change their behavior for 10 years with no income." - Joanna Yeo, Founder and CEO of Arukah

"But in 2018, my mentor—who's now one of our advisors—was then the CEO of the IFC's SME Finance Forum. I connected with him through the Harvard network. Alumni networks are very valuable and helpful. I said, 'Matt, I'm very worried about small businesses and market access,' because from where we were sitting, investing in private equity and also in tech, I could see the wedge growing in terms of opportunities. How do they survive, right? He said, 'Oh, I understand what you're concerned about.' He was the one who said, 'Look at mobile and blockchain.' I said, 'Okay, mobile I get, but blockchain? What are you talking about? It's like crypto cowboys.' And he said, 'No, look at blockchain as infrastructure.' The fact that it's immutable, distributed, and secure—these are very powerful in markets where you don't have secure access to centralized sources of data and finance. So look at how you build a credit history." - Joanna Yeo, Founder and CEO of Arukah

Joanna Yeo, founder and CEO of Arukah and former institutional investor, speaks with Jeremy Au to explore how Southeast Asia’s agri-waste can be transformed into a global carbon credit engine. They unpack how her education at Harvard, Cambridge, and Stanford shaped a mission to connect vulnerable communities to opportunity, and how she learned from finance, blockchain, and rapid tech scaling to build a climate startup grounded in data, incentives, and farmer equity. Joanna shares why embedded finance failed to scale in agri, how she discovered the commercial viability of biochar and biogas, and why her company commits 50 percent of carbon revenue to participating farmers. The conversation highlights how Southeast Asia’s agriculture base, low-cost advantage, and digital infrastructure can lead the world in transparent, high-trust climate solutions if builders focus on real data, real problems, and real upside sharing.

"If you look at the news that came out, Sonos released a new soundbar that uses a new technology, right, called the Arc Ultra. So they promised this groundbreaking technology. But what had happened was that about 3 years ago, they had acquired a startup. This startup was a Danish startup that had created a new technology approach to make the sound device much more efficient and much smaller. In other words, instead of having a sound system with 2 speakers, a subwoofer, you can combine all of that into a much smaller device and have the same level of sound quality. It's like a 10X smaller form factor for the same sound quality, which is an interesting pitch they have made." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"This company called M-A-Y-H-T, they basically raised $10 million of funding. They were very hot in Tech Crunch, and then one year later they were acquired by Sonos for $100 million. So a 10X return in one year as a founder. So they invented technology, raised the money, they acquire it for a 10X return, and then 2 years down the road, their product is now available in the Sonos Arc Ultra. But these are the kind of returns that would be good, because if you're a VC, you invested $10 million today—next thing, you get $100 million, a 10X return, right." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"For example, we see that Y Combinator invests in 632 companies, and about 1% of them are unicorns. So it's—versus you look at the other side, which is Union Square Ventures, which most of you have not heard of because they're very focused on their geography, which is New York and America. For them, they only invested in 62 startups, but 8% of the companies are unicorns, right? So that's about one in 12. That means every portfolio of 20 investments, they have about 2 unicorns in that portfolio. These are very different strategies. Some of them are snipers at the top—high pick rate, selection rate, good judgment, small number, snipe it, get it done. Whereas YC, that you think is very selective, is actually more like a shotgun—but a very prestigious shotgun approach—where they have that. And then there are other companies in between that have differing versions of that strategy. As a result, we were able to map out how these VC investments are power law." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au pulls back the curtain on Southeast Asia’s high-stakes venture capital world where 5,000 startups fight through the jungle, but only 10 reach the expressway. It’s a ruthless game of asymmetric bets, power-law outcomes, and make-or-break timing. He reveals what really happens inside VC firms: how general partners juggle investor pressure with founder bets, why a single breakout startup matters more than dozens of average ones, and how the best founders move faster than anyone expects. You’ll hear about billion-dollar exits, internal prioritization dynamics, and why follow-on capital is often more political than rational.

"If you look at the news that came out, Sonos released a new soundbar that uses a new technology, right, called the Arc Ultra. So they promised this groundbreaking technology. But what had happened was that about 3 years ago, they had acquired a startup. This startup was a Danish startup that had created a new technology approach to make the sound device much more efficient and much smaller. In other words, instead of having a sound system with 2 speakers, a subwoofer, you can combine all of that into a much smaller device and have the same level of sound quality. It's like a 10X smaller form factor for the same sound quality, which is an interesting pitch they have made." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"This company called M-A-Y-H-T, they basically raised $10 million of funding. They were very hot in Tech Crunch, and then one year later they were acquired by Sonos for $100 million. So a 10X return in one year as a founder. So they invented technology, raised the money, they acquire it for a 10X return, and then 2 years down the road, their product is now available in the Sonos Arc Ultra. But these are the kind of returns that would be good, because if you're a VC, you invested $10 million today—next thing, you get $100 million, a 10X return, right." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"For example, we see that Y Combinator invests in 632 companies, and about 1% of them are unicorns. So it's—versus you look at the other side, which is Union Square Ventures, which most of you have not heard of because they're very focused on their geography, which is New York and America. For them, they only invested in 62 startups, but 8% of the companies are unicorns, right? So that's about one in 12. That means every portfolio of 20 investments, they have about 2 unicorns in that portfolio. These are very different strategies. Some of them are snipers at the top—high pick rate, selection rate, good judgment, small number, snipe it, get it done. Whereas YC, that you think is very selective, is actually more like a shotgun—but a very prestigious shotgun approach—where they have that. And then there are other companies in between that have differing versions of that strategy. As a result, we were able to map out how these VC investments are power law." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au pulls back the curtain on Southeast Asia’s high-stakes venture capital world where 5,000 startups fight through the jungle, but only 10 reach the expressway. It’s a ruthless game of asymmetric bets, power-law outcomes, and make-or-break timing. He reveals what really happens inside VC firms: how general partners juggle investor pressure with founder bets, why a single breakout startup matters more than dozens of average ones, and how the best founders move faster than anyone expects. You’ll hear about billion-dollar exits, internal prioritization dynamics, and why follow-on capital is often more political than rational.

Jeremy Au and Gita discussed the challenges of doing business in Indonesia, particularly the issue of "preman" (gangster) culture, its effects on businesses, and potential ways to mitigate this issue. They also addressed systemic corruption, the importance of legal reforms, and how emerging markets can better integrate informal sectors.

"So the reason why sourcing is difficult is that because thousands of startups are launched every year with no public data. So if say anybody here right wanted to basically build a company, so let's say Jose says I want to build a fashion tech startup and now's my time to make it go. Too bad Zilingo didn't know how to make it work but now I know how to do it. How would I know? I wouldn't know because he's a startup, he's talking to his founder friends in US Enterprise Club or whatever it is, Entrepreneurship Club. There's no information that tells me you're doing what you're building, what you're thinking, how good you are. So there's no public data, there's no announcement that you have launched. Secondly, the founders who are really good tend to accelerate very quickly. I gave you an example already that a founder can, within a single day, have multiple bids to happen. So the stronger you are, the faster you go. So again, we're looking for power law founders. That 1% tend to accelerate very quickly." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"I think there is actually a real insight to this, right. The thesis here is that since the majority of the fund will be generated by a few companies only, you should just invest very widely in your first spread and then double down aggressively on the companies that generate home run returns within the next two years. So with a company starting to rocket ship up, what happens is that a lot of people feel like, Hey I can't tell so I just want to go very wide. Because the worst-case scenario is that you went too narrow and said no to 20 other companies, and then the home run company that starts to accelerate takes off in the company you said no to. So you should have a wide top of the funnel and then narrow aggressively onto that." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"But of course the reason why VCs and private equity make money is because we deal with proprietary information. We know things that other people don't know and don't understand; it's not publicly available. So we are trying to understand, and the people in crypto made money because they understood before others did that crypto was going to be a big thing eventually, so they knew that. Same thing for AI, not everybody understands how big AI is going to be, but they also don't know where it's going to show up. So proprietary information and secrets are really important to make you a stronger VC or not." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au breaks down how Limited Partners shape the Southeast Asia venture capital landscape and why founders should care. He explores the hidden motivations of sovereign wealth funds, endowments, corporations, and family offices, and how they quietly influence funding decisions. Jeremy reveals how startups move through brutal funding stages, why VCs compete fiercely at the same stage yet collaborate across them, and how different VC fund strategies from index portfolios to venture builders change founder outcomes. Finally, he dives into the race for proprietary information, sharing how top VCs win deals before competitors even know they exist. This conversation is essential for founders navigating opaque markets and VCs fighting to stay sharp in a crowded field.

"If you just had some sort of automated process where all press releases went into ChatGPT and then ChatGPT was crunching the information and spinning it back out, I think the quality of information will eventually degrade, right? It would be a really good — it could create a really good Wikipedia, objective, put-together information, but I think the insights wouldn't be there necessarily. So I think there's still a role for newsrooms to play in the AI world. But whether or not there's a need, I think you would have to be ultimately really niche, like hyper-localized, which I think you're starting to see in some of the US. In the US, there's some really hyper-local state content, deeply insights-driven, tapping into experts' expertise that AI otherwise wouldn't have. And then again, maybe like scoops driven. I don't know. It's my working." - Maria Li, Chief Operating Officer at Tech in Asia

"You know, I think technology is agnostic, right? It's really how you use technology. And I've been getting more into the climate tech space specifically, and I think it's super interesting because, like, on the one hand, technology is one of the things that have gotten us into the climate crisis I think we're now in. And then honestly, AI and the use of data centers and the water and the power usage and energy usage is not great. But at the same time, it's like, okay, then the way we kind of innovate our way out of this is also through technology. And so, you know, technology is what it is. It's just a tool. It's really all about how you use it, how you want to apply it in your life. And it's all about you making sure that you're using the tool as opposed to technology using you. And I think that's probably where, if you think about Facebook's growth model, which was like utilizing the user data without them even really knowing and then being able to build their marketing machines off of that." - Maria Li, Chief Operating Officer at Tech in Asia

"The reality is that when you're in the negotiation process for the acquisition, everything is rosy, right? You're both like, wow, look at this amazing market opportunity. If we only join forces, we can go capture that. And then the worst case scenario — you've heard about the acquisitions that have gone wrong, like the teams don't get along together. And then within 3 to 5 years or whatever, there's a management buyout or they shut down, right? I think probably the reality is always going to be somewhere in between. And so being able to level set your expectations in terms of like — and you need to be able to think, okay — and to run all the permutations before you sign the SPA, right? It's like, okay, what do I want out of this for my company, best and worst case scenario? What do I want out of this for myself, best and worst case scenario? You know, and just really kind of play out all the possible ways that it could end up. And I think as long as you go into that with that sort of mental framework, you'll be able to handle things a lot better, right?" - Maria Li, Chief Operating Officer at Tech in Asia

Jeremy Au reconnects with Maria Li to explore how Tech in Asia is navigating Southeast Asia’s startup winter, generative AI disruption, and corporate acquisition pressures while maintaining community-first values. Together, they discuss AI experimentation, acquisition integration, leadership dynamics, and balancing the demands of modern media and parenthood. The discussion highlights lessons in adapting to rapid change, staying transparent, and making intentional choices in business and life.

"I feel like, you know, the Singapore of our youth would not have produced this sort of candidate. Right? And yeah, so it's like really refreshing to see folks come out and try. And you know, he made a funny comment, right? He was like, 'Oh, you know, some PAP person's like: Who's this Jeremy Tan? I've never heard of him before.' And then he's like, 'Well yeah, who's my opponent? I've never heard of her before either.' Like, you know, he's just a regular person. So I think that in a place that tends to somehow, like, put people's credentials kind of on a pedestal, I think it was refreshing to have someone come through and sort of be like, 'Hey, I have ideas, I've done research, I care about this, and I'm going to run. I don't need validation from a party or anything.' Yeah, I thought it was kind of neat." - Shiyan Koh, Managing Partner at Hustle Fund

"I did think that, you know, in WP wards where they are taking share — actually, even in Tampines where they lost — they still swung the vote share by quite a large amount. And so that's an interesting sort of result to me, which is that for places where the Workers' Party has been more entrenched, their management of the town council, the familiarity, them seeing their MPs walking around, continues to build trust amongst their constituents. And, you know, I think they're emerging as the most credible and organized opposition party, right? I think the other thing is that, like, ten plus parties contested, but everyone else lost their deposit except the independents. I think it's interesting because it's definitely fair to say that there was a sense that the quality of the candidates had improved for the Workers' Party — especially, I think, less so for the other political parties." - Shiyan Koh, Managing Partner at Hustle Fund

"And I think the question you've got to ask yourself is: is this rewriting of the East and West relationship a four-year thing, or is this a forty-year cycle? Because if you're saying that it's a four-year thing, then Singapore's economic model doesn't have to change — in terms of its ports, logistics, and so forth. If it's more systemic, right, as a forty-year cycle that we're seeing here, then I think that's a serious headwind for the Singapore economy. So I think some serious thinking needs to be done, and we never really got that conversation going. Obviously, a lot of this is new and happening live. But I think there's going to be a serious debate over the next four years, which is like: if this is true, then what do we do? And I think that's a more fundamental debate. Because, I think, if you make an argument that East and West trade — let's say — goes to zero (I'm just saying as an example, right, not saying that's true), if you make that argument and go all the way to one end and say it goes to zero..." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au and Shiyan discuss Singapore’s election outcomes, unpacking voter behavior, opposition growth, independent candidates, and future policy challenges. They reflect on global trends, local issues like housing and education, and how politics, tech, and business intersect in a rapidly changing world.

Jeremy Au shares how venture capital evaluates startups, using examples from crypto confusion, post-WWII VC history, and power law returns. He explains why founders often misunderstand their market type, how tech repeats old cycles, and how VCs structure investments. Speaking practically, he highlights why founders must communicate clearly and how VC math rewards big winners and tolerates many losses.

"I see venture as possibly the only asset class where you could systematically make outsized returns, right? Mm. The outsized returns are the multiplier returns. Mm, yeah, which basically negates a lot of the other asset classes, including, well, real estate, unless you have a long enough holding horizon, right? Mm. Because, like, the time equation is really important. Right. I don't think it's a guaranteed return, but I think it's systematic in that it's statistical that you could reach those outcomes through, you know, kind of sound investing principles, like seeing enough deal flow, all of this stuff, right? It literally is one of those things where you just need the one deal. Mm. Literally that pays out, right, and it's just a game of probabilities." - Jed Ng, Angel investor

"I think it's maybe also the universe giving me a sign that 'Well dude this is not your path,' which is fine, and so over the last four years I've learned an incredible amount about this structure. It's very nuanced, it's very complicated, it's a very fascinating vehicle. But let me net it off. Why do a syndicate versus a fund? On a personal level, it's timing. I talked about my ambition that, you know, within three years I want to be able to be in a position to retire. I'm not saying that I would, but I just like to be in that position that if one day I said 'I had enough,' if you do a fund it's a 10 or 12 year commitment, so you have to stay the course. And for me, I like the optionality. I would start a fund under different ambitions. That's a whole other topic, but anyway, with the syndicate, what's good and bad, right?" - Jed Ng, Angel investor

"What does it mean that we say, you know, it's all about the team? And I don't know, right? It's still a very subjective thing, but I think the subjective things, these soft skills, like characteristics like, is somebody hard enough to want to build a company and a venture-scale company? It takes a certain kind, and I don't think everyone is cut out for it. I think that we live a bit in a world where venture is romanticized in some kind of unhealthy ways. One of these is like, 'Oh, we gotta help all the founders,' or 'Everybody's got a shot, ra-ra-ra.' And I was like, 'No, some people are not cut out for it.' It's not a value judgment on the individual. They're not bad people, they're not lesser people. I'm just saying it takes a certain kind." - Jed Ng, Angel investor

Jeremy Au chats with Jed Ng, founder of AngelSchool.vc, about why he chose angel syndicates over VC funds as a faster, more flexible path to financial freedom. They discuss the current venture downturn as a rare opportunity, the gaps in angel education, and how Jed scaled his 1,400-member syndicate globally. Jed also shares how he evaluates founders and the hard truths of building solo in Southeast Asia’s venture scene.