Asia Tech Podcast

The Asia Tech Podcast was excited to do have a conversation with a co-Founder of a business in Laos.  Souliyo Vongdala, the co-Founder and CEO of LOCA, was just that person...and we would love to have more Founders from Laos as well.  LOCA is the only "Licensed" Laos-Based Ride-Hailing Service Application in Laos. Some of the topics that Souliyo discussed: Moving to the United States when he was 18 years old Creating the Lao keyboard for the iPhone and getting inundated with eMail Fibbing to his mother about going back to work in Laos Founding Laos' first ride-hailing business even though people said they did not want it The impact of COVID Figuring out the right marketing model Building an entire ecosystem around LOCA's driver partners and their families Other titles we considered for this episode: People Like to Think We Are Killing the Taxis How Can I Make My Decision Right? It Takes Time, Like a Mother Tongue Sustainable Means Sustainable Income I Registered Myself, and I Drive This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

David Case knows about which he speaks. To say that David has a wealth of international, cross-border legal expertise would be an egregious understatement.  As the Founding Attorney at Asia Pacific Advisory, David primarily advises and assists clients in Asia and the U.S. with their venture capital, intellectual property, and commercial transactions. Some of the topics David discussed: Growing up in Silicon Valley The intersection of technology and the law How the law is flexible enough to handle technological change The experience of working as a lawyer in Japan for more than 2 decades The power of fluency in written and spoken Japanese NFTs as a legal framework and an economic paradigm Creating a metaverse with laws Some other titles we considered for this episode: It's Hard to Find a Good Attorney The Law Is Not Simple, It's Just Flexible There Are Going to Be Two Worlds for Sure Everything Was Just Beginning With the Computer Revolution This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

The Asia Tech Podcast was joined by Paul Harapin, the Head of Asia Pacific and Japan at Stripe.  Yes.  That Stripe. Some of the topics Paul covered: The moment in his career when he discovered startups for the first time Working with people with whom he has a deep level of trust Hiring people willing to take the next risk Being comfortable working with ambiguity The challenges of product localization Being in the early days of cryptocurrency in the creator space Having the skillset to build something from 0 to 100 Some other titles we considered of this episode: You Just Keep Pushing and Pushing Working Everything Out as You Go The Customer Is Extracted From All the Complexity The Only Time You Think About It Is if It Breaks It Wasn’t Scary for Me This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

The Asia Tech Podcast was more than excited to have Maaike Doyer and Hester Spiegel-vdSteenhoven, the Founders of Epic Angels on the show.  Epic Angels is a network of female executives and operators who have built and expanded companies in all parts of the world. Some of the topics we discussed: Starting their careers with corporate roles What they learned and why they decided to start their own businesses Female entrepreneurship, and being female in the corporate world The importance of having female role models Democratizing angel investing Expanding the number and impact of female investors Diversity and quality of EA's angels is a key strength Other titles we considered for this episode: I Like Complex Projects The Concept of Hypergrowth Does Not Exist in Corporates Building Diversity From the Start Adding Value at an Early Stage Creating a Community Where Angel Investors Can Learn This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

The Asia Tech Podcast really enjoyed our conversation with Faye Yang, the Founder of Unschul, the movement to liberate art. Some of the topics we discussed with Faye: Born in China but raised in the United States Attending three different high schools and two middle schools Living around the University of Michigan and experiencing one of the biggest street-art fairs in the US Falling in love with art and selling her first piece as a young teenager The impetus to focus on engineering rather than art The belief that art should not be so expensive that it becomes unattainable Fractional art ownership and profitability for more artists Attacking the proximity problem for artists Being inspired Other titles we considered for this episode: Art Is Part of Every Culture Art Belongs to All of Us Our Art Tends to Be Undervalued  I Want to Create a Free Market for Artists Art Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

The Asia Tech Podcast had a fascinating conversation with Phoram Mehta, Senior Director, APAC Chief Security Information Officer at PayPal. Some of the topics Phoram discussed: Studying engineering and going to the United States for graduate school Loving puzzles and solving complex problems The nature of online security and the adversary on the other side The power of a community when working in cybersecurity An Asian perspective Mobile phones and devices brining a lot of first time users onto the internet The growth of gaming in Asia and the impact on cybersecurity Why partnerships are so important Other titles we considered for this episode: Programming Was My Nature It's a Real-life Competition Going On The Competition Is Always Improving Striking the Right Balance Preserving the Trust This episode was expertly produced by Isabelle Goh.

The Asia Tech Podcast was joined by Yu Taniguchi, the Founder and CEO of TableCheck.  TableCheck empowers restaurants with technology to enhance operations, engage guests and optimize business. Some of the topics Yu covered: Moving between Singapore and Japan as a youngster Brought up with a conventional outlook of success But not wanting to live a conventional (business) life Initially working for a credit card company, but getting bored quickly Spent 8 months at a startup, but found out that a large portion was sold to VCs Deciding to start his own company, which felt inevitable TableCheck's (almost) three business models The volume and importance of the data that TableCheck can gather Optimizing the transactional part of the dining experience Sushi being his favorite food The intended future of TableCheck What do お父さん and お母さん think of his business Other titles we considered for this episode: I Never Wanted to Go to High School I Will Help You Just as Long as You Make Me the CEO 95% Of the Restaurants Believed That Bookings Will Stay Offline It Was Clear I Was More Capable World Conquest in 15 Different Languages This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

The Asia Tech Podcast was humbled to have Dayana Yermolayeva join the show.  Dayana is a co-Founder and the CEO of JiPay, an app for families to manage their household spending. Some of the topics we covered included: Being from Ukraine and growing up in the UK Doing a really cool, triple degree program at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Universita Bocconi, and the University of Southern California Having a well-developed worldview as a result of living in many countries Coming from a family of entrepreneurs Consulting or investment banking? Being a pilot and flying over the Grand Canyon Domestic workers saving money for their families Helping them save and invest Does gamification help teach about saving money? $1 MM of top-ups monthly Some other titles we considered for this episode: I Did Not Think I Would Become an Entrepreneur So Early And Yet, the Employers Are Still Pretty Happy Once You Have Something to Say, the Age Thing Kinda Goes Out of the Window I Came to Singapore With No Network, No Connections If I Did It Once, I Could Do It Again This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

Asia Tech Podcast was joined by Dan Bognar, the Group Vice President & General Manager, Asia Pacific & Japan at DocuSign.  We don't need to explain what DocuSign is, right?  Anyway... Some of the topics Dan covered: Consulting for almost 10 years before joining the tech world Taking measured career risks Living at work, not working from home Digitalization and never having to put ink on paper anymore Blockchain's evolution and more efficient ways to sign contracts No-code, low-code in the enterprise Surging demand during the pandemic Working with startups and creating immersive experiences Hybrid document signing Demand for mobile and optimizing for it Other titles we considered for this episode: You're a Young Kid...You'll Figure It Out I Had to Get Involved With All These Dot Coms We’re Not Afraid to Disrupt Ourselves We Want People to Agree From Anywhere Being Able to Do It From Anywhere Is Such a Beautiful Thing This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

The Asia Tech Podcast was joined by Andrew Forman, the Founder and CEO at Givz.com.  Givz is the eCommerce marketing platform that grows sales, creates social impact and reduces discount dependency. Some of the topics that Andrew discussed: Attending Harvard Business School and networking in a multi-college environment How investment banking helped him learn about starting a business The real impact of discounting and customer expectations Customers' response to GroupOn Data analytics and customer behavior How Givz works and the impetus for starting it Changing the Givz model and getting the team to come along for the pivot The online implementation and how Givz works offline as well Creating an infrastructure for brands and charities to work together The normalization of QR codes in the United States Some other titles we considered: The Pandemic Saved the QR Code There Is an Element of Luck Placing Yourself Strategically Is 90% of the Battle It Was the Beginning of the End, I Knew... This episode was expertly produced by Isabelle Goh.