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

Jeremy Au and Gita Sjahrir discussed three key themes during their conversation: 1. Apple’s $1 Billion Investment in Indonesia and Local Content Policies: Indonesia’s regulation requiring local components in imported products initially banned iPhone 16 sales, sparking public frustration. The government negotiated with Apple, escalating from a $10 million offer to a $1 billion investment. Gita high...

Ron Baetiong, Founder of Podcast Network Asia, and Jeremy Au discussed: Philippines Basketball Jock to Founder Exit: Ron shared his early life as a basketball jock raised in a lower-middle-class Filipino household by his single mother. Determined to achieve the Filipino dream of owning a house, Ron worked in a call center at 18 while studying at the University of Santo Tomas. Ron’s time at Groupon...

Tony Pang, founder of IME International Mandarin Education, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Veteran EdTech Founder Journey: Tony shared his evolution from a Boston University graduate to a seasoned entrepreneur. After working at Toshiba in Japan during its economic peak, he returned to Hong Kong in the 1990s to launch eSchool, a corporate e-learning platform during the dot-com boom. Despite the bubble...

Clement Pang, cofounder of Lirvana Labs and Jeremy Au explored: 1. Google Engineer to $400M Exit Clement detailed his journey from a computer science graduate at Rice University in 2004 to starting at Google during its IPO phase and later GLMX in 2007 to build a financial trading platform as a founding engineer. In 2012, he co-founded Wayfront, an observability SaaS company that filled a gap in sy...

Jianggan Li, Founder & CEO of Momentum Works, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Singles' Day 11/11 eCommerce: Jianggan shared his recent immersion trip to Hangzhou, where he observed China’s vibrant e-commerce and live commerce sectors. With Singles’ Day on November 11 approaching, he noted how this biggest shopping holiday in China has influenced shopping behaviors across Southeast Asia. Major plat...

Xiaoyin Qu, founder and CEO of Heeyo.ai, and Jeremy Au discussed: Facebook Product Manager to Stanford MBA Dropout Founder: Xiaoyin shared her journey from Shandong, China to studying at Pomona College in 2009, part of an early wave of Chinese students pursuing U.S. undergraduate degrees. Initially focused on economics, her career pivot to computer science was inspired by an internship at Atlassia...

Valeri Vu, Founding Partner at Ansible Ventures, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Vietnam Likes Trump Win: Valerie analyzed the positive local sentiment towards Trump’s recent U.S. presidential win in 2024. She highlighted the $100 billion trade surplus Vietnam holds with the U.S. which brings potential American tariff risks, with a potential Vietnamese counterproposal to balance the trade relationship...

ZQ, Cofounder of Sleek EV, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Electric Vehicle Founder Passion: ZQ shared his unconventional path from university studies to co-founding Sleek EV. Pivotal milestones include being inspired by his parents’ entrepreneurial roots and self-discovery traveling in a self-renovated solar-powered van and a NUS Overseas Colleges internship in New York. Two years after launching, th...

Edward Booty, Founder of reach52, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Health Access For 6M Lives: Edward Booty, CEO of reach52, shared how the company addresses healthcare gaps in rural and underserved regions across Asia and Africa. Initially conceptualized during Edward’s travels in India, reach52 shifted from a tech-heavy model reliant on shared kiosks to a comprehensive platform empowering local healt...

Shiyan Koh, Managing Partner of Hustle Fund, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. 6 Million Population: Singapore’s population reached 6 million in 2023, up from 5 million in 2010. Shiyan noted the population was 2.7 million when she left two decades ago in 1990, highlighting rapid growth. Increased density has boosted economic diversity, comparable to New York City’s business environment. Unlike USA or th...

Jeremy Au examined the key advantages for venture capital judgment, with a focus on local market expertise in Southeast Asia. VCs must confront the limits of their knowledge and not be overconfident, especially in frontier markets. Global funds have been burned by high-profile and hidden cases of unchecked fraud (e.g., Theranos, FTX, and Zilingo), illustrating how localized due-diligence analysts....

Kheng Lian Ho , Managing Partner at Turn Capital , and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Law to Turn Capital Managing Partner: Kheng’s disciplined childhood as a 11-year old Singapore national badminton athlete laid the foundation for her early legal carer For six years, she practiced restructuring and cross-border litigation in Singapore and Hong Kong, drawn to the intellectual challenges but stifled by ro...

Gita Sjahrir , Head of Investment at BNI Ventures , and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Trump 2028 Tariffs: With Trump’s return to the presidency and Republican dominance in the Senate, House, and Supreme Court, the stage is set for new tariffs on Chinese imports. This is likely to redirect manufacturing to Southeast Asia, positioning countries like Vietnam and Indonesia as key beneficiaries, particularly...

Shiyan Koh , Managing Partner of  Hustle Fund , and ​​Jeremy Au discussed: 1.  Trump Win vs. Southeast Asia Trade: Trump’s 2024 landslide election victory across the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, will reshape Southeast Asia’s economic landscape. His proposed “global 10% tariff” on all US imports and a targeted 60% tariff on Chinese goods may severely disrupt Southeast Asia’s tr...

Charles Ormiston , Founding Partner of Bain Southeast Asia, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Founding Bain Southeast Asia: Charles established Bain's office in Singapore, which initially faced major skepticism from Bain’s leadership who favored Hong Kong as the regional hub. Believing Singapore’s strategic location to be better suited for Southeast Asia, Charles stood firm - even at the risk of his car...

Jeremy Au and Adriel Yong discussed whether Southeast Asian founders should move to Silicon Valley, and why "sea turtle" professionals are returning from America (and China) to Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. San Francisco and New York are global tech talent vortexes, where non-American founders are attracted to their deep VC funding pools and a multi-generational legacy of founder support since...

Adrian Tan , Author of “No More Bosses” & Chief Marketing Strategist at Marketing Sumo , and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Laid-Off To HR Founder: Adrian’s career in HR began as he navigated the volatile job market of the early 2000s. After layoffs from tech companies during the dotcom bubble and another setback in 2003 with the SARS epidemic, he sought greater stability by starting his own recruitm...

Gita Sjahrir , Head of Investment at BNI Ventures , and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. 109 Member 48 Ministry Cabinet Coalition: With the inauguration on October 20, 2024, President Prabowo Subianto expanded the cabinet from 34 to 48 ministries, the largest since 1966. Prabowo's coalition-building strategy is to accommodate political allies and unify the seven-party coalition behind him. They drew compar...

Jeremy Au explored the evolution of technology marketing and how marketers have adapted to communicate complex innovations effectively. He began by referencing sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke’s 1974 “crazy” prediction about how their room-sized computers would eventually shrink to the size of briefcases and that people would eventually be able to work from anywhere in the world. Early software mark...

Tina Amper , Strategic Director of Geeks on a Beach , and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Burnout to Community Leader: Tina shared her experience of migrating from the Philippines with an engineering degree from the University of San Carlos to California’s booming tech industry in the 1990s. She excelled in product marketing and business development roles, but ultimately burned out after years of travel a...

Shiyan Koh , Managing Partner of  Hustle Fund , and ​​Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Singapore Vetoes Allianz $4.4B Insurer Acquisition: They discussed the Singapore government’s veto of the NTUC Income and Allianz merger, primarily over concerns of an undisclosed plan for $2B capital withdrawal post-merger. This case illustrated the delicate balance required between pursuing financial strategies and adh...

Jeremy Au breaks down the "David vs. Goliath" dynamics of startups challenging industry giants. Startups face unique marketing challenges but can thrive by focusing on experimentation and innovation, creating entirely new market categories. Just like the rise of oat milk and nicotine vapes, disruptive marketing turned once-unknown products into billion-dollar industries. He covers the case study o...

Michael Chua , Award-Winning Actor, and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. Consultant to Award-Winning Actor at Age 50: Michael had a a long and successful career as a technology consultant traveling across Europe. At the age of 50, he was talent-scouted through a Facebook photo to become an actor. His curiosity exploring a new creative field quickly blossomed into a successful career, with over 400 acting c...

Jianggan Li , Founder & CEO of Momentum Works , and Jeremy Au discussed: 1. US$1.1 Trillion Monetary Stimulus: Jianggan and Jeremy examined China’s recent monetary measures (equivalent to 6% of nominal GDP) boosting consumer confidence and stabilizing the housing and stock markets. The Politburo launched a $114 billion lending pool to support stock buybacks by asset managers and insurers, lowe...

Jeremy Au defined startups as newly established businesses bringing future technologies to the present, with unicorns being those valued at over $1 billion. These valuations are typically driven by revenue generation of around $100 million annually and market confidence in future profitability, eg. Palantir and Salesforce. Private markets apply valuation multiples based on future growth potential,...