Wavemaker VC and PropertyGuru Group with Steve Melhuish

Aug 22, 2019

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Steve Melhuish, co-founder of PropertyGuru and partner from Wavemaker VC, shares the lessons of his journey from an entrepreneur with PropertyGuru to now a partner in a venture capital firm. Steve started with the backstory behind on how he founded PropertyGuru and shared the lessons in scaling up the company across Southeast Asia and explained the thinking process and execution behind his transition out of the CEO role in the company. Subsequently, Steve discuss his current gig with Wavemaker VC, and the key traits in companies and founders which he invests on and his current thoughts on the proptech space.

Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included):

Steve Melhuish, co-founder of PropertyGuru and partner in Wavemaker VC (LinkedIn) [0:12]
- How did you start your career? [0:30]
- In your career journey, what are the most interesting lessons that you can share with my audience? [5:07]
PropertyGuru [10:17]
- Can you talk about the backstory when you founded PropertyGuru? [10:42]
- From the creation of the company till you moving over to be a venture capitalist, what are the most interesting milestones that PropertyGuru? [14:07]
- What is the rationale for you to step down as CEO and what's the thinking and execution phase to bring in a professional CEO and make that transition happen? [22:52]
- How are you involved with PropertyGuru now? [29:00]
Wavemaker VC [30:00]
- Can you introduce Wavemaker, the venture capital firm in Southeast Asia to my audience? [30:05]
- What’s your current role and coverage as a venture partner in Wavemaker VC? [32:31]
- What is a typical day for you as a venture capitalist? [35:05]
- What are the attributes in founders from startups that you look for before investing in them? [36:05]
- Which are the interesting verticals that you are now looking into startups for investment? [39:15]
- Can you talk about your perspectives on the current wave of startups in proptech, and what are the key opportunities there for startups to solve? [41:10]
- How would you advise a startup to expand into Southeast Asia? [44:49]
Closing [46:30]
- Can you recommend a book, movie, podcast or anything else that has recently impact your personal or work life? [46:39]
  - Steve's recommendation: "Blue Planet 2" documentary by David Attenborough and the movie "Vice", books such as "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh, "Start from Why" by Simon Sinek, "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, "Mastering the Rockefeller Habits" by Verne Harnish.

Podcast Information:

The show is hosted by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong & weibo) until 30 June 2019 and are sponsored by Ideal Workspace (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) with their new Altizen Desk (Twitter, Facebook, Medium). Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack and this episode is edited by Carol Yin, and co-produced by Carol Yin and Bernard Leong. This episode is recorded and produced in June 2019.