EP 147 - Ed Barker - SquarePeg - Optimistic Curiosity

It was good fun to talk to Ed Barker, a Senior Associate at Square Peg in Singapore. Square Peg has invested in some of the region's seminal startups, including Canva, Doctor Anywhere, Pluang, and many others.

Some of the topics Ed discussed:

• As a youngster, Ed loved to tear down tech and put it back together
• His first job was repairing computers at ANZ Bank
• How he realized he loved technology but did not like IT
• Was fortunate to have his consulting roles take him to Europe, the US, Asia, and Australia
• Getting stuff done in a big organization is tough…need to have a 10X solution
• The joy of going deep on things when he gets excited about them
• Learning every single day
• Some of the things you can not know about Southeast Asia unless you are on the ground
• The employment of data to make better investment decisions
• How to provide greater access to new services
• Value creation versus value capture - finding the balance
• How to effectively use talent globally

Some of the other titles we considered for this episode:

1. Taking Things Apart and Putting them Back Together
2. We’re Very Early in the Capital Journey
3. The Opportunity to Fundamentally Improve People’s Lives Through the Use of Better Technology
4. How Do We Reduce Friction?