BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English)

Jeremy Au explains how human civilization remained mostly unchanged for nearly a million years before experiencing rapid economic and technological growth in just the last few centuries. He traces this transformation from basic survival to modern innovation, reflecting on how technology, trade, and governance reshaped human life and why Southeast Asia’s development tells a unique story. 00:42 A Mi...

Jeremy Au explained how startups evolve from chaos to clarity and how fragmentation in Southeast Asia creates both problems and opportunities. He used the jungle-to-highway model to describe startup growth, compared founders to David facing Goliath, and showed how innovation, like oat milk or vaping turns small experiments into billion-dollar revolutions. Jeremy also reflected on how VCs spot tale...

Jeremy Au and Jordan Dea-Mattson reconnect to explore how Vernor Vinge’s Rainbows End anticipated today’s world of accelerating technology, reskilling challenges, and demographic shifts. They examine which predictions came true, which fell short, and how these lessons apply to AI adoption, fragile digital systems, and the need for lifelong learning. Their conversation highlights why individuals mu...

Gita Sjahrir and Jeremy Au analyze Indonesia’s nationwide protests to uncover how economic frustration, political tone-deafness, and social media reshaped the country’s trust in government. They discuss how widening income gaps and stalled reforms triggered anger across generations, how empathy and governance broke down, and how technology became both a rallying force and a regulatory battleground...

Jeremy Au discussed the founder’s dilemma of when to persevere or when to pivot, and why company culture works better when treated as a sports team rather than a family. He illustrated the points with startup case studies like Instagram, Netflix, YouTube, and Rippling, showing how companies evolved by changing either product or customer. He also emphasized professionalism in managing team changes...

Philipp Renner , Founder & CEO of Dr. Shiba , joins Jeremy Au to share his journey from a global childhood to building one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing pet wellness companies. He reflects on how eight years at McKinsey, the personal challenges of long COVID, and the limits of corporate consulting led him to take the leap into entrepreneurship. They discuss the realities of product marke...

Jeremy Au shared lessons from Toyota’s Kaizen model, Boeing’s safety lapses, and lean startup methods. He explained why small improvements, frontline empowerment, and rapid iteration matter for both manufacturing and startups. The discussion connected MVP thinking with divergence/convergence cycles and how faster learning beats the competition. 00:46 Kaizen as Learning Flywheel: Jeremy introduces...

Jeremy Au and Valerie Vu sit down in Singapore to examine how Southeast Asia’s private capital markets, Vietnam’s reforms, and regional politics are shaping investor sentiment and startup opportunities. They explore slower fundraising cycles, Vietnam’s push toward technology-driven growth, and how energy shortages and tariff shocks impact manufacturing. Their discussion also covers foreign investo...

Jeremy Au and Joshua Wang reunite after three years to explore how biotech startups navigate scientific breakthroughs, funding challenges, and leadership growth. They discuss Joshua’s work at VerImmune on repurposing the immune system to treat cancer, the shift in early-stage global biotech financing from founder-led ventures to the “professionalization of entrepreneurship” via venture studio mode...

Jeremy Au, Shiyan Koh, and Dmitry Levit dissect the collapse of eFishery, the breakdown of Indonesia’s growth narrative, and the systemic risks that resurface in Southeast Asia’s venture ecosystem. They explore how IPO failures and inequality capped consumer demand, why bad faith actors gained visibility, and how boom-era fads like embedded lending and play to earn unraveled. Their discussion high...

Jeremy Au explored how talent, policy, and capital flows shape startup ecosystems across Southeast Asia, India, and China. The discussion covered talent strengths and weaknesses across countries, the role of industrial policy and government subsidies, the challenges of building large language models outside the US and China, and the impact of US China geopolitical tensions on venture capital flows...

Jeremy Au explored why venture capitalists hunt unicorns and how Southeast Asia fits into this global race. He discussed the Asia Partners golden age thesis, the importance of technology stack progression, and how localization shapes billion dollar outcomes. The conversation compared the US, China, India, and Southeast Asia, broke down country strategies, and examined how ideas migrate across ecos...

Jeremy Au and an anonymous guest discuss the challenges of pursuing career opportunities in the United States from Singapore. They talk about how visa rules limit options, why overseas LinkedIn applications often fail, and the appeal of Silicon Valley’s innovation cycles. They also cover cultural differences that require stronger self-promotion, and why resilience is needed when adapting to life a...

Jeremy Au broke down how venture capital funds design LP decks, allocate capital, and differentiate themselves in competitive markets. The discussion covered portfolio construction math, capital call strategy, the role of opportunity funds, and how funds highlight unique value-adds like founder wellness programs. 02:12 Capital Calls and Timing Funds usually deploy half their capital in the first t...

Jeremy Au and Jianggan explore why China business environment is locked in cycles of over-competition that destroy margins and push firms to seek growth abroad. They trace how JD, Meituan, and Alibaba’s food delivery war escalated into billions of yuan in subsidies, why regulators hesitate to intervene, and how clusters like Shenzhen and Hangzhou still thrive despite intense rivalry. Their discuss...

Jeremy Au and Gita Sjahrir unpack Indonesia’s turbulence, from corruption scandals and startup economic uncertainty due to the collapse of eFishery. They contrast Singapore’s stability with Indonesia’s volatility, explore how weak rule of law erodes trust, and discuss how scandals damage both founders and investors. They also analyze the role of boards, GPs, and operating partners in strengthening...

Jeremy Au and DJ Tan sit down to discuss how Prefer grew from a bold bean-free coffee experiment into a flavor house tackling climate-threatened ingredients. They explore the evolution from naive product launches to customer-driven adoption, why B2B positioning makes more sense than B2C in food tech, and how shifting investor expectations shaped their fundraising strategy. Their conversation cover...

Kristie Neo and Jeremy Au compare Southeast Asia and the Middle East, exploring how mood shifts, tariffs, scandals, and cultural codes are shaping technology and finance. They discuss Southeast Asia’s dampened atmosphere after 2021, the role of sovereign wealth in the Middle East, and how generational challenges meet an AI-driven job market. Their conversation unpacks scandals like eFishery, co-fo...

Rob Liu, Founder of ContactOut, and Jeremy Au dive into the realities of building a profitable SaaS business, the myths of venture capital, and the role of lifelong learning. Rob shares how he scaled ContactOut by stacking insights from competitors, why bootstrapping gave him more control, and how he now invests in young founders. Their conversation also explores his shift from chasing wealth to p...

Jeremy Au spoke about the dangers of chasing only professional success and why it can lead to emptiness despite external achievements. He explained the importance of balancing career ambition with personal happiness, introduced a shifting framework for finding purpose, and shared stories that highlight resilience, injustice, and the values that truly define a meaningful life. 02:45 Defining Person...

Javier Lorenzana , former EdTech founder turned content creator, joins Jeremy Au to revisit their first meeting during an On Deck podcasting course and trace his journey from startup building to social media success. They discuss the creation and shutdown of his pandemic-born company Upnext, the personal and professional fallout that followed, and how he rebuilt confidence through fitness, self-wo...

Jeremy Au and Sang Shin trace Sang’s journey from a privileged childhood in the Philippines to his evolution as an entrepreneur, investor, and philosopher. They unpack the pivotal moments that shaped his outlook, the hard lessons from building a privacy-first startup that challenged big tech, and his creation of Fafty, a belief system grounded in the idea that life is a simulation and the true goa...

Jeremy Au shares why long-term career success depends on investing in health, cultivating purpose, and learning to handle inevitable criticism. He explains the link between purpose and happiness, why choosing your challenges makes them more bearable, and how treating yourself as your own best friend helps you grow despite setbacks. 02:00 The Role of Relationships: Research shows people with more h...

Adrian Choo , CEO of Career Agility International , joins Jeremy Au to explore how AI, job insecurity, and shifting regional trends are reshaping the future of work in Southeast Asia. They discuss why Singapore is losing its dominance as a regional employment hub, how mid-career professionals are getting priced out, and why Gen Z graduates are entering the job market without marketable skills. Adr...

Jianggan Li , Founder of Momentum Works , joins Jeremy Au to unpack the evolving trade dynamics between China, Vietnam, and the United States. They compare Vietnam’s swift concessions with China’s calculated rare earth strategy, discuss the blurred lines of transshipment, and explore how Apple, Pop Mart, and Labubu reflect larger trends in global manufacturing and consumer behavior. The conversati...