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

Jeremy Au explores how technology, economics, and startups shape Southeast Asia’s future. He shares why young founders should take early risks, how AI is changing entry-level jobs, why GDP growth reflects centuries of human progress, and how unicorns are built across different customer and revenue models. 02:00 Taking Early Risks: Jeremy encourages young people to take risks early in their careers, explaining that finance will always be an option later. 05:00 AI and Work Automation: He describes how Microsoft Co-Pilot now handles meeting minutes, making senior executives’ lives easier but removing traditional tasks from junior staff. 09:30 Economic Lessons from Asia: He compares GDP per capita across countries, noting that Singapore’s 90,000 USD income level makes a Filipino visitor feel as if they are jumping 45 years into the future. 13:20 Startups and Unicorns: Jeremy defines startups as newly established businesses, from cafés to tech firms, and explains that only one in forty funded startups become unicorns. 16:40 Paths to a Billion-Dollar Company: He outlines the “flies to whales” framework, showing how companies grow through different mixes of customer numbers and annual revenue per user. Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/startup-time-machine Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Bahasa Indonesia: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Chinese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts #AIinWorkforce #SoutheastAsiaTech #StartupGrowth #EconomicFuture #UnicornBuilders #DigitalTransformation #CareerRisks #AutomationImpact #TechEducation #BRAVEpodcast

AVP of Investments at ACV Larry Susanto and Jeremy Au discuss Larry’s journey from a Berkeley-trained engineer to a climate-tech investor shaping Indonesia’s sustainability future. They trace how his career evolved across research, product management, and consulting, and how Southeast Asia’s climate ecosystem compares to Silicon Valley’s innovation-driven model. Their conversation explores Indonesia’s renewable potential, capital gaps, and the role of government policy in turning natural resources into long-term value creation. Larry also shares how courage, learning agility, and purpose guided each of his career leaps across industries and continents. 00:00 From lab to venture capital: Larry shares how curiosity for chemistry and sustainability led him from UC Berkeley to the Bay Area’s solar startup scene. 05:32 Choosing home over the U.S.: Larry reflects on returning to Indonesia to give back despite visa hurdles and more advanced R&D ecosystems abroad. 10:42 Strategy at Bain: Larry deepened his business acumen, joining sustainability projects such as EV strategy, plastic recycling, and Bain’s Green Economy Report. 15:12 Climate tech in context: He contrasts the West’s deep-tech innovation with Southeast Asia’s business-model adaptation and localization approach. 19:36 ACV’s five climate pillars: Renewable energy, electric mobility, energy efficiency, climate-smart agriculture, and waste circularity form their investment focus. 25:22 Indonesia’s EV and mineral opportunity: Despite abundant nickel and raw materials, the nation must improve downstream capacity to capture more value. 30:22 Untapped green potential: With 500 gigawatts of solar capacity and 120 million motorbikes ripe for electrification, Indonesia holds a massive opportunity. Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/larry-susanto-indonesia-green-leap Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Bahasa Indonesia: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Chinese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts #ClimateTech #Sustainability #GreenEnergy #IndonesiaStartups #RenewableFuture #ElectricMobility #VentureCapital #CleanInnovation #SoutheastAsiaTech #BRAVEpodcast

Franco Varona, Managing Partner of Foxmont Capital Partners and returning guest from episodes 357 and 516, joins Jeremy Au to unpack why the Philippines is fast becoming Southeast Asia’s next big investment and startup hub. They explore the country’s rapid digitization, growing middle class, and unique strengths like its global diaspora and English fluency. The conversation covers how Foxmont’s latest fund is backing local solutions to Filipino problems, the rise of accessible health and wellness ventures, and the government’s evolving role in supporting innovation. Franco also shares why first movers can dominate the Philippine market and how solving for price and accessibility unlocks massive opportunity. 01:34 Foxmont Capital’s journey and fund milestones: Franco shares how the firm built three funds since 2019, making 45 investments focused on the Philippines’ growth story. 04:53 Philippines’ digital leap fuels investment: From 30% digital wallet penetration pre-pandemic to 99% today, the country’s digitization and rising middle class are reshaping its economy. 08:00 Private capital surge matches Indonesia: Annual startup investments now top $1 billion, signaling growing global confidence in the Philippines. 16:46 Diaspora drives growth and return talent: Millions of overseas Filipinos send money home while second-generation entrepreneurs return to launch startups. 19:27 Language and cultural edge: The Philippines’ English fluency and global mindset make it an ideal second expansion market for regional startups. 22:58 First movers win big: Filipinos’ strong brand loyalty and investor collaboration help early entrants dominate categories like coffee chains and gyms. 25:23 Investing in accessible health and fitness: Foxmont backs BeFit, an affordable gym chain, and women’s clinics offering localized, comfortable care solutions. Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/franco-varona-philippines-rising Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Bahasa Indonesia: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Chinese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts #PhilippinesStartups #SoutheastAsiaTech #VentureCapital #FoxmontCapital #DigitalEconomy #EmergingMarkets #DiasporaInnovation #AffordableGrowth #TechInvestment #BRAVEpodcast

Shao Ning, Cofounder of AngelCentral and returning guest from Episode 267, joins Jeremy Au to reflect on Southeast Asia’s startup evolution from the fundraising highs of 2021–2023 to today’s disciplined recalibration. They unpack how founders, investors, and angels are adapting to longer fundraising cycles, stricter due diligence, and a renewed focus on cashflow and execution. Shao Ning shares lessons from building AngelCentral, how she balances investing and family life, and what she tells her four sons about navigating an AI-driven future. Their conversation spans shifting market dynamics, founder accountability, and why sustainable growth now matters more than rapid expansion. 06:00 Market highs turned to prolonged winter: After the 2021–2023 boom, the ecosystem faces a slowdown as valuations drop and LPs demand real returns. 10:00 Fundraising timelines doubled: Founders now need up to 18 months to close rounds, making cost control and financial discipline critical to survival. 15:00 Over-optimism gave way to realism: Southeast Asian startups once chased rapid growth across markets, but the focus is shifting back to fundamentals and measured scaling. 17:00 Founders must prioritize business over fundraising: Shao Ning reminds entrepreneurs to build traction and sustainability instead of chasing term sheets or inflated valuations. 19:00 Balance investor advice with founder instinct: Founders should listen but make their own calls, since they understand operations and timing better than their investors. 25:00 Investment discipline returns: AngelCentral halves its annual outflow and targets post-seed founders with real revenue and strong cashflow management. 32:00 Preparing the next generation: Shao Ning urges her sons to combine hard skills with soft skills, invest in themselves, and build adaptability as AI transforms the job market. Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/shao-ning-surviving-startup-winter Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Bahasa Indonesia: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Chinese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts #StartupWinter #SoutheastAsiaVC #AngelCentral #FounderDiscipline #CashflowStrategy #VCInsights #AIandEntrepreneurship #ResilientFounders #StartupRecovery #BRAVEpodcast

Nathaniel Yim, Founder of Nila Studios and former Co-Founder of Janio, joins Jeremy Au to share how he went from a fresh graduate to leading one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing logistics startups and later building a B2B marketing agency. They discuss how to earn trust in a mature industry, why human creativity remains vital in the AI era, and what resilience looks like when founders face real hardship. The conversation highlights lessons on credibility, adaptability, and building lasting value through learning by doing. 03:14 Startup leap over job offers: Right after graduation, Nathaniel turned down stable job offers to co-found Janio with friends after one pivotal conversation that reshaped his career path. 07:55 Cracking Southeast Asia’s logistics puzzle: Janio built a software-driven, asset-light platform to integrate fragmented cross-border supply chains and navigate customs. 14:22 Reverse logistics as a new frontier: He explains why product returns remain one of the region’s toughest and least profitable challenges in e-commerce logistics. 18:36 Wearing every hat as a founder: Nathaniel evolved from marketer to sales and operations leader, even managing warehouses to improve efficiency and execution. 23:48 Building credibility from zero: Without industry experience, he earned trust through partnerships, educational events, and consistent public storytelling. 28:55 From internal team to agency: After struggling with external vendors, he built Janio’s in-house marketing team, which later inspired his current venture, Nila Studios. 35:40 Defining bravery through scarcity: Nathaniel recalls surviving with only a few dollars before Janio’s first funding, learning that progress, not comparison, sustains founders. Watch, listen or read the full insight at  https://www.bravesea.com/blog/nathaniel-yim-startup-grit-growth Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Bahasa Indonesia: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Chinese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts #FoundersJourney #SoutheastAsiaStartups #B2BMarketing #LogisticsInnovation #StartupGrit #CrossBorderCommerce #HumanCreativity #AIandMarketing #EntrepreneurshipLessons #BRAVEpodcast

Li Hongyi, Director of Open Government Products, shares insights on real performance in organizations. He emphasizes that defining 'high-performing' is crucial before chasing achievements. The discussion highlights the importance of clarity over profit, smartly designed metrics, and explicit communication to build trust. Li warns against the dangers of over-promotion and advocates for sustainable growth, promoting skill development over long hours. His approach blends lessons from public service and startups, focusing on accountability, empathy, and structured team dynamics.

Dominic Law, CEO of Neopets and Jeremy Au dive into how a beloved millennial-era game evolved from early internet nostalgia into a modern revival story. They discuss the courage it took to spin Neopets out of its parent company, rebuild trust with long-time fans, and adapt a 25-year-old IP for new generations. Their conversation explores the challenges of updating old technology, the role of community-led development, and how emotional attachment can sustain a brand through decades of change. Dominic also reflects on leadership lessons from managing a turnaround, the balance between nostalgia and innovation, and why staying transparent keeps fans loyal for the long run. 00:45 Rediscovering Neopets sparked a new mission: Dominic found the brand’s hidden potential while restructuring NetDragon’s overseas business and proposed a management buyout to revive it. 03:30 Nostalgia and fandom kept the brand alive: A small but passionate community sustained Neopets through decades of inactivity, proving the power of emotional connection. 06:00 Missing the mobile era hurt growth: Neopets stayed static during key shifts to mobile and social gaming, losing younger audiences and momentum. 10:20 Collecting and trading define Neopets’ core: Digital ownership, customization, and item trading remain the game’s central appeal across generations. 13:45 Turning nostalgia into a family experience: Neopets now aims to become a shared parent–child game, offering safe, creative play and educational value. 26:00 Leadership shaped by transparency: Dominic learned that honesty, realistic timelines, and community dialogue rebuild trust better than overpromising. 38:20 Bravery defined the spinout: Taking the leap to lead Neopets independently was a high-risk, high-conviction move guided by belief in its legacy. Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/dominic-law-rebuilding-neopets #NeopetsRevival #GamingNostalgia #DigitalCollectibles #CommunityLeadership #GameReboot #TransgenerationalPlay #OnlineCommunity #IPTurnaround #NostalgiaEconomics #BRAVEpodcast

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 Million Years of Sameness: Jeremy describes how humans lived by farming, hunting, and foraging for generations, using the same tools and passing down the same skills over time. 02:00 Flat Growth for Centuries: He explains that for hundreds of thousands of years, the global economy grew only about 0.05% per year, with little change in productivity or living standards. 06:40 Francis Bacon’s Utopia: Jeremy shares how in 1626, Francis Bacon imagined a future where humans could create light and see distant or microscopic objects, which were once seen as miracles. 09:00 Three Generations of Technology: He compares the Walkman era, the Nokia phone generation, and today’s iPhone and ChatGPT world, showing how fast technology evolves within three generations. 20:10 Southeast Asia’s Economic Divergence: He highlights how Singapore’s GDP per capita now matches the United States, while Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines remain far lower. Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/future-shock Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Bahasa Indonesia: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Chinese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts #HumanProgress #TechnologyEvolution #FutureShock #EconomicGrowth #InnovationJourney #SoutheastAsia #AIRevolution #GenerationalChange #DigitalTransformation #BRAVEpodcast

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 talent early and why mastering Southeast Asia prepares companies for global expansion. 00:00 Jungle to Highway: Startups begin lost in a jungle, then build a dirt road through early customers, and finally pave a highway once they master product-market fit and scale 02:10 VCs as Recruiters: The best investors act like headhunters, identifying and closing founders before others do, while Southeast Asia’s fragmentation turns inefficiency into opportunity 05:25 Fragmentation as Opportunity: Jeremy explains how logistics and fintech thrive amid Southeast Asia’s complex, inefficient regulations, where “somebody’s inefficiency is my opportunity” 08:10 David vs. Goliath: Startups win by speed and focus, using their “slingshot”—fast execution—to overcome slow, over-armored incumbents 11:45 Oatly’s Rise: The invention of oat milk in 1994 shows how a startup can build a billion-dollar category by rethinking existing markets 13:20 Experimentation Over Scale: Jeremy concludes that small experiments often spark global trends, and founders who navigate Southeast Asia’s “jungle” can later scale worldwide Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Bahasa Indonesia: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Chinese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts #startups #founders #venturecapital #SoutheastAsia #innovation #fragmentedmarkets #scaling #DavidvsGoliath #entrepreneurship #BRAVEpodcast

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 must build meta-skills, why policymakers lack playbooks, and how Southeast Asia can prepare for a future shaped by both singularity and depopulation trends. 00:41 Tech change accelerates beyond generations: Vinge showed how skills like programming quickly became obsolete, leaving workers structurally unemployed. 07:27 Reskilling mirrors today’s digital divide: Characters were pushed back into classrooms, similar to how older workers struggle with cashless systems and SaaS adoption. 11:56 Rogue AI foreshadowed safety debates: Vinge hinted at AI bargaining to survive, connecting to current AI alignment concerns. 13:58 Belief circles resemble online echo chambers: Communities overlapped with reality, much like radicalization on forums and social platforms today. 18:29 Trust collapses with fragile systems: A single broken security certificate caused global chaos, resembling real-world failures like the CrowdStrike outage. 38:19 Singularity defined as break point: Jordan explains the mathematical roots of singularity as the moment when definitions collapse with exponential change. Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/jordan-dea-mattson-rogue-ai-rising Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Bahasa Indonesia: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Chinese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts