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BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capit
BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capit
Learn from Southeast Asia's best tech leaders. Build the future, learn from our past & stay human in between. No B.S on success. Southeast Asia's #1 startup & venture capital podcast with 80,000+ listeners. Hosted by Jeremy Au, a VC & serial founder with an MBA from Harvard and a degree from UC Berkeley. The podcast features weekly tech news debates, changemaker interviews, and listener Q&As, covering the startup ecosystems of Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Episodes
China’s AI & Robotics Are Advancing Faster Than Expected - E737
Jianggan Li joins Jeremy Au to report back from a week in China visiting five humanoid robot companies and three AI investors. They cover the US-China summit that produced a hotline and the term superintelligence, why Jianggan reads the agreement more generously than the media did, and the near-absence of safety discussion among Chinese labs racing toward general intelligence and embodied AI.
Fred Ng: The Einstein Visa, Getting Paid Before Building Anything & Letting AI Do the Paperwork - E736
Most founders who come to Beyond Border assume a US work visa works like an ESTA: fill in a form, get an answer in 48 hours. Frederick Ng, its co-founder, explains why a good O-1 process takes about three months and a 700- to 1,000-page petition. He joins Jeremy Au to cover the O-1 and L visas for founders and their launch teams, why a spouse's work rights often decide the visa, and how execu
E735 - Singapore: Health, Scale & Policy Blueprint
In 2016, Singapore declared a War on Diabetes. This BRAVE compilation looks at what the Singapore blueprint gets right on health and public policy, and what that stability may cost in entrepreneurial drive.
Dr. Sue-Anne Toh of NOVI Health explains TOFI (thin outside, fat inside), why Asians develop diabetes at lower BMI, and how insulin resistance works. Adriel Yong of Clouted lays out the e
Edy Widjaja: From Jakarta Provision Shop to Bain Senior Partner & The Lessons In Between - E734
Edy Widjaja, former Senior Partner at Bain & Company and author of The Accidental Partner, joins Jeremy Au for a candid look back at a 16-year management consulting career. They cover what the job actually consists of once you take away the slides and the pitch, how performance reviews and feedback really work inside a top firm, how he handled clients and competing stakeholders, how he an
EdTech: The Future of Learning & K-12 Disruption - E733
Get the basics right in school and everything else builds on it. Miss that window, and it is very hard to course correct.
In this compilation from the BRAVE archive, Adam Huh Dam of Stick 'Em, Adriel Yong of Clouted, Henry Motte-de la Motte of Edge Tutor and host Jeremy Au break down what actually improves learning outcomes, and why so much of edtech does not.
Why authenticity and real
Singapore Buys Fintech. Thailand Builds Data Centers. | Wing Vasiksiri E732
Wing Vasiksiri joins Jeremy Au to analyze a major wave of tech M&A deals and macro growth trends reshaping Southeast Asia. They dissect Grab’s $1.5 billion acquisition of a 60% stake in Atome Financial, examining its unique performance-linked staged structure, offline-to-online retail synergies against Sea Group, and the strategic value of Atome’s credit underwriting capabilities. They al
Selling My Company Taught Me More Than Building It | Ajay Bulusu - E731
Ajay Bulusu sold NextBillion.ai after a two-year process, and his verdict on cross-border M&A is blunt: 99% of attempts fail, and the founders who never sell are usually stopped by greed rather than by the market. He tells Jeremy Au why 2021 SaaS valuations stopped being fundable the moment ChatGPT arrived, why he picked a number before he started and walked the day he hit it, and why age
AI Has Changed The Way We Create, Consume And Value Content | Adriel Yong - E730
Adriel Yong is the Co-Founder and COO of Clouted, the AI-native clipping and distribution company that turns long-form content into short video and routes it to the right platform and audience. Clouted has raised a $7M seed led by Slow Ventures, following a $4.45M round backed by a16z SPEEDRUN and AppWorks under its former name, Clout Kitchen. The team also produces &FRIENDS, one of the l
What 500 Harvard Case Studies Actually Do To Your Brain - E729
Jeremy Au takes the hot seat in a reverse interview hosted by Edric Poon to unpack the true value of a Harvard MBA and the fundamental principles of business leadership. Jeremy unbundles the prestigious degree into three core components: practical utility and learning, building a long-term global network, and acquiring a costly social credential. He shares actionable frameworks for effective
The Truth About China's Competitive Advantage - E728
Jianggan Li returns for a China read: Europe's run on Chinese air conditioners, the humanoid robot games, Shein's discounted Hong Kong listing, and what breaks when Chinese firms go abroad. One thread runs through all four. China's advantage is not invention. Midea did not build a better aircon, it read Europe's building codes and engineered to them. Robot hardware raced ahead because enginee
Itamar Novick: Where AI Replaces People, and Where It Does Not - E727
"How are you going to stay ahead of the competition in a world where two kids can vibe code a clone of your product over a weekend?"
Itamar Novick is a solo capitalist and the founder of Recursive Ventures, a pre-seed fund focused on AI and emerging tech startups. He has supported over 50 successful startups, including Deel, Honeybook, Placer, Credible (IPO), MileIQ (acquired by Microsoft),
$70,000 Per Child: What Singapore's New Family Package Actually Changes - E726
Jeremy Au and Shiyan Koh take apart Singapore's new SG Child Support Package: almost $70,000 per Singaporean child paid out over 17 years, more childcare leave, and preschool fees heading towards $150 a month.
Jeremy on why the number only means anything relative to income. Shiyan on why the preschool change matters most. Whether the extra leave actually gets taken, or quietly costs you at
The Next 3 Years Will Deliver 30 Years of Innovation | John Lin - E725
The next three years should deliver what the last thirty did. That is John Lin's argument, and it is why he thinks the ground under founders has shifted.
John Lin is the Founding Partner of Linea Ventures. Previously, he helped start F-Prime Capital's west coast tech practice and was also a Principal at Trinity Ventures. He has invested in 50+ companies, including Numeral, Squire, Branch,
The Innovation Playbook of 3 Southeast Asian Founders - E724
Where does innovation in Southeast Asia actually start?
Not in a lab. In this compilation from the BRAVE archive: a lock that took eleven hours to install, a Peter Thiel put-down at Harvard, and customers using a real estate website to sell food.
Anthony Chow built Igloo's first smart lock from parts bought in China, watched the first shipments fail, then invented an offline PIN lock (G
Leadership Lessons From Best-Selling Authors - E723
An offhand compliment from a leader becomes praise. An offhand insult becomes a verdict. Nobody in a leadership role gets to opt out of that.
Three conversations from the BRAVE archive with three best-selling authors, and one thing they share: all three went and checked what everybody already assumes about leadership, and found the data pointing the other way.
Adam Galinsky is a profess
The New Architecture Of Tech: Seat Pricing, Orbital Rings & Superstar Employees - E722
Software has been sold by the seat for twenty years. Nobody has ever had to promise it worked.
Three conversations from the BRAVE archive, on what changes when software starts getting paid for outcomes instead of access, and what has to be rebuilt underneath it.
Andres Klaric spent a decade in private equity watching SaaS scale before co-founding Fuse, an enterprise lending platform. Hi
AI in Healthcare: Will it work for you? - E721
What is technology actually doing to healthcare, and what can it still not touch?
Four conversations from the BRAVE archive, on the gap between what medicine can do and what a doctor actually has time to do.
Dr. Thomas Kelly walked away from vascular surgery to build Heidi, an AI scribe and care partner now used by clinicians in more than 100 countries. He argues a doctor's paperwork is
Navigating Southeast Asia: Jeremy Au on Building, Investing, and Career Pivots - E720
Jeremy Au joined Rohit Malhotra on Life Self Mastery to talk about the moves between founder, VC, and operator, and what each seat actually teaches you. Now leading Cosmetic Physician Partners Asia after Bain, CozyKin, Monk's Hill Ventures, and Lucence, Jeremy is candid about what does not transfer between roles.
They cover the three things every founder has to get right (the product, the
Stop Chasing Unicorns - E719
Jeremy Au joins an episode of The Accidental VC podcast. Hosted by seasoned founders and VCs from ANZ and SEA, this show reveals how unlikely beginnings can lead to extraordinary outcomes. Whether you’re building, backing, or just curious—tune in for stories, strategies, and sharp takes from those who’ve been there.
In this episode, we explore the thought that “Everyone wants a unicorn. B
Navigating the Longevity Market | Dr. Sue-Anne Toh - E718
Dr. Sue-Anne Toh, CEO and co-founder of NOVI Health, joins Jeremy Au to discuss the critical intersection of metabolism, longevity, and health policy. They explore the "War on Diabetes" in Singapore, unpacking why Asian populations are predisposed to insulin resistance and visceral fat accumulation even at lower BMI levels. Dr. Toh shares her transition from healthcare administration at NUHS
AI: State of Industry and Investment | Aravind Kandiah, Jun Wakabayashi, John Homer Alvero - E717
Everyone has the same access to the same frontier models. So what's actually left to compete on?
Jeremy Au moderates a panel at the Crosscurrents Summit in Parañaque on where enterprise AI adoption really stands.
Aravind Kandiah is CTO and Co-founder of Bifrost, a robotics infrastructure company that simulates the world to evaluate robots. Its simulations power some of the largest robot
Building the World's Most-used Medical AI | Dr. Thomas Kelly of Heidi - E716
Dr. Thomas Kelly was a vascular surgery trainee in Melbourne before he walked away from medicine to fix the problem he hated most: paperwork stealing time from patients. Today he is co-founder and CEO of Heidi Health, an AI medical scribe and "care partner" used by clinicians in more than 100 countries, valued at US$465M after its 2025 Series B led by Point72.
In this episode, Jeremy Au and
Spent $1.5m On One Sperm Race and It Went Viral | Eric Zhu - E715
An 18-year-old got kicked out of high school, built a data startup from a bathroom stall, and now raises millions to race human sperm on live television.
In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au sits down with Eric Zhu, founder of Aviato and Sperm Racing, to unpack one of the strangest venture-backed stories in tech. Eric explains how he ran founder calls from an
Zombie Unicorns: Southeast Asia's Structural VC Problem | Kristie Neo - E714
Southeast Asia's venture market is not in a downturn. It is in a structural winter, and mid-2026 is when that distinction stopped being academic.
Kristie Neo returns to break down what is actually happening across the region: Singapore's IPO revival is real but is being carried by data centres and REITs rather than homegrown tech; allocators now rank Southeast Asia at the bottom of Asia behi
Climbing the Wrong Mountain: Why I Walked Away from Big Law and PE | Daniel Suh - E713
Daniel Suh spent a decade optimizing for prestige. Korean immigrant parents who left careers behind to start a small business in the US, a childhood spent moving apartments through bankruptcy, UCSD, five years in consulting to put his brother and mother through school, then an accelerated JD-MBA at Northwestern. He landed the big law summer and a private equity offer, the American dream on pa
The Career Advice Harvard Never Taught: Burnout, Fear & Flow | Pooja Venkatraman - E712
Executive coach Pooja Venkatraman (Harvard College, Harvard MBA, ex-BCG, ex-Capital One) explains why burnout has almost nothing to do with how many hours you work, and everything to do with the mental soundtrack running while you work. She breaks down the two flavors of burnout high achievers miss, why "just quit" is bad advice, and the framework she uses to help Ivy League grads and operato
AI, Zeitgeist and Algorithmic Warfare | Justin Banusing - E711
Host Jeremy Au sits down with two-time founder Justin Banusing, who returns to BRAVE to explain why he shut down a startup that was already working, near $1M ARR and freshly funded, and what that call taught him about building across Southeast Asia and the US. Together they unpack the value-chain trap Justin calls "sharecropping on someone else's land," why college gaming and esports could no
The End of Peak SaaS & How to Build Outcome-Based Software | Andres Klaric - E710
Is SaaS dying? Andres Klaric, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Fuse, joins Jeremy Au to explain why he believes we have reached "peak SaaS" and why AI agents are forcing software companies to charge for outcomes instead of seats. Andres shares how he spent a decade on Wall Street to build a war chest, launched during the 2020 pandemic, and pivoted from automotive refinancing to an AI-native loan orig
The Science of Inspiration: Why Leaders Inspire or Infuriate | Adam Galinsky - E709
What separates leaders who inspire from those who infuriate? Columbia Business School professor and bestselling author Adam Galinsky (Inspire, Friend & Foe) breaks down the science of inspiration: the Leader Amplification Effect, why every leader inevitably inspires or infuriates, and the three universal traits of inspiring people, being a Visionary, an Exemplar, and a Mentor. He also exp
Nickel, Chinese EVs and a Senate Chase in the Philippines | Franco Varona - E708
When the oil crisis hit, Southeast Asia changed overnight. In this episode, recorded in Manila, Foxmont Capital's Franco Varona joins Jeremy Au to unpack how the energy shock supercharged the electric vehicle boom across the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. They break down BYD's stunning climb to become the Philippines' third best-selling car brand in roughly three yea
Stablecoins And The Agent Economy Will Rewire How Money Moves | Dušan Stojanović - E707
Dušan Stojanović, founding partner of True Global Ventures, joins Jeremy Au to map where money is heading as stablecoins and AI agents collide. He traces his path from building one of the first internet banks in France to becoming Europe's Angel of the Year, then breaks down the news that matters now: the Hong Kong stablecoin license won by Anchorpoint, the Standard Chartered, HKT, and Animoc
Turn Limiting Beliefs Into Liberating Beliefs | Nir Eyal - E706
Behavioral designer Nir Eyal sits down with Jeremy Au to unpack the ideas behind his New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief. He explains why information alone never changes behavior, why your limiting beliefs stay hidden like your own face, and how the motivation triangle of behavior, benefit, and belief decides whether you actually follow through. Nir breaks down the research showing why ma
Singapore Works Too Well To Be A Great Startup Hub? | Adriel Yong - E705
Is Singapore too efficient to ever become a great startup hub? After a single shower-thought tweet went viral and sparked a tech Twitter debate, Adriel Yong joins Jeremy Au to unpack the uncomfortable idea that Singapore works so well it dulls the hunger founders need to build. The conversation digs into whether a 5 million person market really caps your upside, why Grab out-earned Gojek desp
Singaporeans are willing to give you a chance if you have "The Focus" | Jeremy Tan - E704
Jeremy Tan, independent candidate for Mountbatten SMC in Singapore's GE2025, joins Jeremy Au and Shiyan Koh to unpack why he ran, why he lost, and what he learned about Singapore's political meta. He explains why public scrutiny and small-town dynamics deter Singaporeans from entering politics, why negative campaigning backfires with voters, and why opposition parties should focus resources o
Invent the Category - E703
How do startups actually beat established incumbents? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au reframes the classic David vs Goliath story to explain why startups are not underdogs. They are operators who choose the right weapon, then go for the kill shot of category creation.
Break down the David vs Goliath Reframe, where the slingshot was equivalent to a pistol a
Ori Sasson: AI Job Replacement & The Future of Work - E702
Are AI agents and LLMs coming for your job? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au sits down with Ori Sasson to uncover the harsh realities of AI job replacement, the "Hollywoodization" of the workforce, and the explosion of 10x productivity in startups. Discover how employers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia are redesigning roles, navigating "shadow AI", an
Southeast Asia is in its Golden Age - E701
Is Southeast Asia entering a golden age of technology? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au explores the booming venture capital landscape and what it actually takes to build a unicorn in highly fragmented markets like Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Dive deep into The Technology Stack & Leapfrogging, explaining why fundamental infrastructure, like wides
Become Incorruptible - The Truth Behind Successful Businesses | Eric Ries - E700
Join Jeremy Au on the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast for an exclusive masterclass with Eric Ries, legendary author of 'The Lean Startup' and the new book ‘Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great’. They dive deep into the future of company building, how the AI boom is dramatically accelerating startup velocity, and why the standard venture capital play
Choosing Your Career Path and the Tradeoffs You Must Be Aware Of - E699
Most career advice is a lie. In this raw solo episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au breaks down why self-help advice from successful business leaders is often self-serving, and what young founders, operators, and professionals across Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia should actually pay attention to.
Jeremy shares the hard-won lessons th
How Lasers Could Replace Undersea Cables & Reshape Global Internet | Rohit Jha - E698
Rohit Jha, Co-founder and CEO of Transcelestial, joins Jeremy Au to explain how his Singapore-based startup is using laser communications to transmit internet at speeds far beyond what Starlink currently offers, and why that matters for Southeast Asia, global telcos, and the future of deep space.
Rohit breaks down how Transcelestial went from building ground-to-ground laser links for 5G towe
Trump Xi Summit Decoded: Thucydides Trap, Boeing Deal & China AI Chip Strategy - E697
Jianggan Li, Founder of Momentum Works, joins Jeremy Au to unpack the Trump Xi Beijing summit, the first US presidential visit to China since 2017. They decode the optics of Zhongnanhai Garden and the Temple of Heaven, Xi Jinping's Thucydides Trap reference, the 200 plane Boeing deal, and why the absence of major deliverables is itself a strategic win.
The conversation dives deep into the AI
Wen-Szu Lin: Lessons learnt from Franchise Failure to Scaling Uber in Asia - E696
In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au is joined by Wen-Szu Lin who opens up about the brutal reality of entrepreneurship, from securing the master franchise for Auntie Anne's in China just before the 2008 Olympics, to navigating massive business failure, and eventually scaling Uber's Community Operations across Asia.
Wen-Szu shares the untaught lessons that prop
Find Your Unfair Advantage in Business and Use It - E695
Is the world fair? How do you find your true purpose in business? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au shares his deeply personal journey into the cancer diagnostics space following a tragic loss. He breaks down the crucial difference between "problem-market fit" and "founder-problem fit," the reality of life's unfairness, and why you must play to your unfair ad
Solo Founding at 58 and AI as a force multiplier for the medical industry | Jay Fajardo - E694
In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au sits down with Jay Fajardo, serial entrepreneur and CEO of BetterClinic, straight from Manila, Philippines. Jay discusses his return to the founder’s seat at age 58, driven by the massive paradigm shift of the Artificial Intelligence supercycle.
We dive deep into how AI is completely transforming digital healthcare by elimin
How the Global Energy Crisis is rewiring Southeast Asia Tech | Kristie Neo - E693
How is the ongoing Middle East conflict reshaping the global economy, energy markets, and the tech sector? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au sits down with Kristie Neo, PitchBook's newly appointed Asia Editor, to unpack the macroeconomic shockwaves hitting Southeast Asia and the Gulf.
From surging oil prices and the fuel emergency in the Philippines to the s
Dennis Velasco: The Reality of the Trust Gap and Building a Tech Startup in Southeast Asia - E692
Dennis Velasco, founder of Prosperna, provides a raw and definitive account of transitioning from Silicon Valley leadership roles at Salesforce and Xero to the front lines of the Philippine startup ecosystem. In this episode, you will learn the structural mechanics of the "Trust Factor Gap" in Southeast Asian B2B markets and how Velasco navigated a $300,000 personal investment across multiple
The 3 Phases of Startup Success: From the Jungle, through the Dirt Road & to the Highway - E691
Is Southeast Asia entering its Golden Age? Jeremy Au breaks down the "1 in 40" gamble of building a unicorn, the David vs. Goliath strategy for startups, and the brutal reality of the VC Power Law. Learn the three phases of startup growth—from the jungle to the highway—and how to identify the six clusters of failure before they kill your company. Essential viewing for founders, investors, and
Inside the Boardroom: How VCs Actually Deal with Fraud & "Bad Faith" Founders - E690
How do you build a multi-billion dollar company while navigating the complex regulatory landscapes of Southeast Asia?
In this episode, Jeremy Au sits down with Jecky Pelaez, Legal and Investment Partner at Kickstart Ventures, to pull back the curtain on the "unsexy" but critical side of venture capital: Governance and Compliance.
Jecky reveals the stark differences between incorporating in
VC Economics & Exit Strategies: Case Studies from Seed to IPO - E689
Ever wonder how venture capitalists actually judge your startup behind closed doors? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au breaks down the brutal reality of VC economics and the math that drives the tech industry.
We explore why just 5% of startups generate almost all of a fund's returns (The Power Law) and why struggling founders often get left behind. We also
How MK Bertulfo Built a 500K+ Community for Filipino Virtual Assistants - E688
In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au sits down with MK Bertulfo, the visionary founder of Filipina Homebased Moms (FHMoms). MK shares her raw and inspiring journey transitioning from an overworked, underpaid BPO call center agent in Manila to building the largest online community for work-at-home mothers in the Philippines, now boasting over 540,000 members glob
The Hidden Strategies of Venture Capital - E687
Ever wondered how venture capitalists actually pick winning startups? In this solo breakdown on the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au pulls back the curtain on the secretive world of venture capital. Whether you are building a stealth startup in Singapore or scaling across Indonesia and the Philippines, understanding the investor mindset is crucial for securing funding.
Jeremy bre
Eugene Cheah: Open-Source AI and the Future of Work - E686
Is open source the true future of Artificial Intelligence? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au sits down with Eugene Cheah, CEO and Co-Founder of Featherless AI. They dive deep into the architecture of the RWKV model, the intense global competition between open source and closed source AI, and how China is aggressively pushing an open source strategy to bypass
Paulo Campos: Founding Philippines ZALORA & Kaya Founders Venture Capital Lessons - E685
Is the Philippines the next major tech hub in Southeast Asia?
In this episode of BRAVE, venture capitalist Jeremy Au sits down with Paulo Campos, Founding Managing Partner of Kaya Founders. From leaving a lucrative career at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to pioneering cash-on-delivery (COD) as a co-founder of ZALORA Philippines, Paulo has been at the forefront of Southeast Asia's digital rev
Venture Capital 101: Why VCs are backing other startups and not yours - E684
What does it actually take for a venture capitalist to invest in your startup? In this masterclass episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au breaks down the hidden mechanics of venture capital, how VCs evaluate founders, and the brutal math behind finding the next billion-dollar unicorn.
Whether you are building the future in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, or beyond, unders
Franco Varona on the Philippines' Energy Emergency, and Investing in Solutions for Middle Class Filipinos - E683
The Philippines recently declared a national energy emergency. What does this massive oil and power crisis mean for the economy, local startups, and everyday consumers?
In this episode of the Brave Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au sits down with Franco Varona, Managing Partner at Foxmont Capital Partners, to unpack the harsh realities of the region's energy vulnerability and how the co
How To Win A $1M Prize And Fixing The Global Education Crisis | Adam Huh Dam of Stick ‘Em - EP682
Is AI actually making our kids smarter, or just better at cheating? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au sits down with Adam (Huh Dam), co-founder of Stick ‘Em, a Singapore-based startup bringing affordable STEAM education to the world.
From being rejected by his primary school robotics club to winning a $1 million prize in London, Adam shares his "rebel" journ
The New Era of Southeast Asia Tech: AI, Deep Tech, Global Scaling and the Future of Energy of Thailand - EP681
Is the "Uber for Southeast Asia" era officially over? In this episode, Jeremy Au sits down with Wing Vasiksiri of Analog Ventures to analyze the massive shift in the regional venture landscape. As immigration to the US tightens, Singapore has emerged as the global magnet for top-tier engineering talent from China, India, and across ASEAN.
They dive deep into why Wing transitioned from a Solo
Can Mushroom Farming Help Achieve Singapore's Food Security Goals? Ryan Ong of Fogo Fungi
Is farming in a skyscraper-filled city a genius move or a foolish one? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au talks with Ryan Ong, the founder of Fogo Fungi. Ryan moved from a comfortable path in his family’s hospitality business to the "dark, cool, and laborious" world of indoor mushroom farming.
Ryan pulls back the curtain on the Singapore agritech scene, expla
Global Energy Shock: Southeast Asia & China Effects & Countermeasures - E679
Is the era of cheap energy over for Southeast Asia? In this special three-person debate, Jeremy Au, Jianggan Li, and Valerie Vu break down the reality of the current energy crisis and its disproportionate impact on Vietnam, China, and Singapore.
As oil prices spike by 30-50% in some markets, the team explores the second and third-order consequences that most businesses are missing. From the
How Kelvin Teo Built Southeast Asia’s Largest SME FinTech Empire - E678
How do you scale a FinTech company across 5 countries while navigating global pandemics and regulatory shifts? In this episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au sits down with Kelvin Teo, Co-founder of Funding Societies | Modalku. Kelvin shares his incredible journey from being a "naive" Harvard MBA student to managing a platform that has disbursed over $5 Billion USD in SME
BRAVE: IPO Battles VS. Regulatory Giants, Boardroom Conflict & The Tech Lobby Game - E677
Jeremy Au explains the intense friction between startup growth and legal boundaries. He describes how founders and VCs negotiate high-stakes IPO prices while navigating the "Goliath" power of industry incumbents. The talk explores how startups use customer bases as political shields and why late-stage investors rely on liquidity preferences to survive messy market exits.
01:00 The IPO Pric
Anthony Chow: From Airbnb Hustle to Global Smart Locks, COVID Pivot & the Rise of the Rental Economy – E676
Anthony Chow, Co-founder and CEO of Igloo, joins Jeremy Au to discuss how a side hustle managing Airbnb properties turned into a global proptech company. Anthony explains how operational pain points like guest check-ins led him to build smart lock technology designed for short-term rentals. They explore how early hardware failures forced product redesign, why focusing on a narrow customer seg
BRAVE: Regulation VS. Startups, Monopoly Power, Regulatory Capture & Startup Strategy - E675
Jeremy Au explains how startups interact with regulation as they grow. He discusses how strong startups escape competition and gain monopoly-like advantages, which later trigger regulatory scrutiny. The conversation shows how incumbents shape regulation, how startups choose favorable jurisdictions, and why founders must decide whether to ask permission or ask for forgiveness. Examples from Ub
JX Lye: Execution Is the Moat, Fintech’s Reset & Why Speed Beats Strategy – E674
JX Lye, Founder and CEO of Acme, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how execution compounds advantage in Southeast Asia fintech. They explore Acme’s journey from solving delayed bank reconciliation to becoming a core bank connectivity layer serving fintech platforms, direct debit infrastructure, and ERP systems across Singapore and the region. The conversation covers the hard realities of going from z
AI Workforce Compression, SGX Liquidity Gaps & Singapore’s Startup Reckoning with Adriel Yong – E673
Adriel Yong joins Jeremy Au to examine how AI is compressing organizations, thinning entry-level roles, and reshaping Singapore’s startup and capital ecosystem. They discuss the shift from pyramid to lean diamond teams, why CEOs increasingly use AI to bypass middle layers, and why Gen Z faces the sharpest labor reset. The conversation expands to SGX liquidity gaps, slowing seed funding, and s
James Chai: Malaysia’s Chip Strategy, Rare Earth Leverage & The US–China AI Race – E672
James Chai, Visiting Fellow at ISEAS and former policy advisor to Malaysia’s Ministry of Economy, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how Malaysia is repositioning itself in an era defined by AI, semiconductors, and geopolitical rivalry. They explore the country’s shift from oil, gas, and plantations toward advanced manufacturing, examine how decades of semiconductor clustering built a quiet but durabl
Ziv Ragowsky: Corporate Venture Myths, Why Innovation Fails & How Startups Survive Inside Conglomerates – E671
Ziv Ragowsky, Co-Founder of Wright Partners, joins Jeremy Au to unpack why corporate venture building remains one of Southeast Asia’s hardest but most misunderstood innovation strategies. They explore how large corporations chase growth under pressure, why many internal ventures fail before traction, and how misaligned incentives quietly destroy promising ideas. The conversation covers when c
Hiroki Kato: Leaving Corporate Japan, Exposing Fraud in Vietnam & Building Asia’s Expert Knowledge Network – E670
Hiroki Kato, Founder of Arches and Jeremy Au discuss how leaving a safe Japanese corporate career pushed Hiroki into Southeast Asia’s faster markets, where exposure to fraud, cultural contrast, and insider truth reshaped his view of risk and opportunity. They explore how Vietnam’s optimism expanded his ambition, why public data often hides reality, and how expert conversations became the foun
Mike Mate: Philippine Startup Fog, Founder Grit & Betting on the Future – E669
Jeremy Au and Mike Mate connect personal career risk with the structural limits of the Philippine startup ecosystem. Mike explains how jumping from law into finance shaped his tolerance for uncertainty, why venture capital requires emotional endurance, and how AI mirrors past industrial shifts. They examine why Southeast Asia imports frontier technology, why Philippine consumer startups strug
Aik Chuan Goh: Uber Lessons, Search Funds & The Future of Southeast Asia SMEs – E668
Aik Chuan (A.C.) Goh, Founder of Singapore’s first traditional search fund, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how operators evolve from startup builders into long-term business stewards. They explore lessons from Uber’s Southeast Asia expansion, why localization determines platform winners, and how consulting shaped A.C.’s decision-making framework. The conversation covers the limits of venture capit
BRAVE: VC Ghosting, Portfolio Math & The Brutal Truth About Startup Survival - E667
Jeremy Au breaks down how venture capital really works after the check clears. He explains how VCs silently re-rank startups every year, why most companies get deprioritized, and how a tiny number of winners carry an entire fund. The discussion covers angel buyouts, secondaries, IPO strategy, and the tension between founders and boards during exits. It’s a candid look at portfolio math, hidde
Kamil Pabis: Why Health Hits a Ceiling, Longevity Needs Drugs & Science Moves Too Slowly - E666
Kamil Pabis, a longevity researcher based in Singapore, joins Jeremy Au to unpack why extending a healthy lifespan needs systems thinking, not quick hacks. They define longevity as targeting aging itself, explain why academia both enables and constrains progress, and show how Singapore’s policy choices support longer lives. They also discuss the biohacker pipeline, the promise of drugs like r
BRAVE: Founder Control VS. VC Governance, Exit Risk & Value Protection - E665
Jeremy Au discusses how value is created, preserved, and lost in Southeast Asian startups, focusing on governance, control rights, and exit risk. The conversation looks at real founder–investor breakdowns, regulatory shocks, and why weak structure often shows up only when things go wrong. It explains why growth alone is not enough, and how control, trust, and exit planning shape outcomes in e
BRAVE: Why Startups Fail: Power Laws, Failure Patterns & Being Too Early - E664
Jeremy Au breaks down why most startups fail even after raising capital and why failure is often misunderstood by founders, investors, and the media. Drawing from venture data and real startup case studies, the discussion unpacks common failure patterns, the role of timing and macro forces, and why economic failure does not always mean bad judgment. The episode reframes failure as part of inn
BRAVE: VC Term Sheets VS. Founder Control, Valuation Myths, Governance & Deal Failure - E663
Jeremy Au breaks down how venture capital deals really close, why many fail after the term sheet, and how financial and control rights shape outcomes for founders and investors over a 10-year relationship. Drawing from real cases across Southeast Asia, he explains the hidden trade-offs behind valuation, governance, and trust, and why “good economics” can still destroy long-term value if handl
Beatrice Lion: From No-Pay Intern to Global VC, Betting Early on AI & Blockchain – E662
Beatrice Lion, General Partner and CEO of True Global Ventures, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how early conviction, long cycles, and hands-on learning shaped her path from finance student to venture capital leader. They explore why blockchain and AI only look obvious in hindsight, how decentralization solves real risks created by centralized platforms, and why hype often masks weak demand rather
Rocky Yu: Inside AGI House, Talent Density & Why AI Is Built by Communities – E661
Rocky Yu, Founder and CEO of AGI House, joins Jeremy Au to unpack how early curiosity in computer graphics led him from engineering and startups to building one of the world’s most influential AI communities. They explore why talent density matters more than scale, how AGI House emerged during the pandemic as a mission-first experiment, and what it takes to turn deep technical conversations i
Eldred Wee: Inside Southeast Asia’s SME Gold Rush, Double Books & the Roll-Up Playbook – E660
Eldred Wee, Founder of Edenity, joins Jeremy Au to unpack why corporate services and accounting firms sit at the center of Southeast Asia’s next wave of SME acquisitions. They explore how Eldred’s early career in Big Four audit shaped his ability to spot incentives, fraud, and double or triple books, and why these realities define investing in the region. The conversation covers the rise of r
Florian Hoppe: Southeast Asia’s Digital Resilience, AI Infrastructure & the Next Growth Wave - E659
Florian Hoppe, Partner at Bain, joins Jeremy Au to unpack insights from the Bain Southeast Asia Digital Economy Report 2025 and explain why the region’s digital economy keeps growing despite global uncertainty and negative headlines. They explore the long-term forces behind this resilience, including consumer adoption, payments and logistics infrastructure, and sustained middle-class demand.
BRAVE: How VCs Actually Think About Founders, Unicorns & Growth - E658
Jeremy Au breaks down how venture capitalists actually think about startups, founder selection, and long-term value creation. Drawing from real VC decisions, classroom debates, and emerging technologies, he explains why learning speed beats polish, why most “obvious” winners only look obvious in hindsight, and how founders navigate pivots, problem selection, and 10× breakthroughs. The convers
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