Johann Wah, President & Cofounder of Nika.eco, and Jeremy Au discussed:

1. Student Founder Beginnings: While attending Yale-NUS, Johann founded a sustainable apparel company to pay for his university expenses and dates with his now-wife. The business started gaining traction after a Straits Times article featured their eco-friendly fabrics, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to canceled orders and an overwhelming inventory. Faced with financial challenges, he borrowed money from friends and family to meet his Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) for the fabrics. When B2C sales dried up, he pivoted to B2B, cold calling and knocking on doors of corporations with sustainability mandates. After three months of high risk, he secured contracts with Western multi-national corporations headquartered in Singapore that allowed him to clear his debts and pay for his university fees.

Wing Vasiksiri, General Partner & Founder of WV Fund, and Jeremy Au discussed:

1. Founder Failure Stigma: They compared how failure is perceived by founders and society in Southeast Asia versus the US, focusing on Thailand and Singapore. In Thailand, failure carries a strong stigma, making it harder for failed founders to reintegrate into the ecosystem, while in the US, failure is seen as part of the entrepreneurial journey, with founders often wearing it as a badge of honor. They noted that the lack of a talent recycling system in Southeast Asia makes it riskier for founders to fail, as there are fewer opportunities for them to be absorbed back into other startups, VC firms, or incubators. In contrast, Silicon Valley provides a more robust safety net for failed founders, who are quickly reabsorbed into the ecosystem.