Asia Tech Podcast

The Asia Tech Podcast thoroughly enjoyed speaking with James Lewis, a co-Founder and the CEO of learnreel.  learnreel is short-form learning in a simple video-based app. Some of the topics that James and I discussed: The experience of graduating from University months before Lehman Brothers collapsed How his job offer from Citigroup got rescinded Realizing that if he wanted to learn something he could do it himself Online, desktop platforms had made learning on one's own easier When he graduated he did not know the 'startup' career path was a thing Those original online learning platforms were built for long-form learning How learning outcomes are delivered and the time in which they are delivered Completion rates for traditional online learning The growth of short video platforms and their impact on learning Connection-based social media vs. interest-based The creator economy and the redefinition of 'expertise' Survivor bias

The Asia Tech Podcast was joined by Simon Webb, a co-Founder of Tarot Analytics.  Tarot Analytics is a logistics SaaS startup. Their platform, Tarot Routing, is a Route Optimisation and Delivery Management tool for businesses that manage fleets of vehicles that visit multiple destinations daily. Some of the topics that Simon and I discussed: His brothers are doctors From an early age was always interested in business Jesse Treharne's rose delivery story The beginnings of Tarot Analytics Going to Paris for the TechStars Accelerator Understanding logistics' territories and driver preferences The importance of right-sizing vehicles Microfulfillment How logistics efficiency helps sustainability The importance of the final delivery experience The current paradox of electric delivery vehicles Network effects Other titles we considered for this episode: This Sounds Insane Someone's Prepared to Pay Us We Had Half a Platform and No Customers If We Weren’t In the Right Space, We Weren’t Far Off It What Can I Do to Solve That? Why Is IT Forcing These Changes Upon Me?

Asia Tech Podcast was joined by Robin Teurlings, a co-Founder and CEO of The Startup Buddy and a Managing Partner in the Zero Emissions Fund. The Startup Buddy aims to provide startups with the essential support they need, whenever they need it while providing investors with quality investment opportunities. Some of the topics that Robin and I covered: Made his first money when he was 6 years old Years later played his recorder on the street to earn money Working for Accenture and what that taught him First time in Asia was a trip to China in 1997 That trip inspired him to move to Asia Convincing his wife to support his dream to live in Asia and then moving to Singapore together as an adventure Following his entrepreneurial spirit in Singapore Both this brother and his father were running their own businesses Went to Startup Weekend in Singapore and won third prize Worked on a company for two years that ultimately failed The Startup Buddy The Zero Emissions Fund Some other titles we considered for this episode: I Had the Ambition to Become Prime Minister of the Netherlands I Deal Really Badly With Hot Weather For a Six-Year-Old, That Was a Lot of Money Try Googling for Something that You Don’t Know You Should Do A Practical Framework of How To Work With Customers At This Point, We Don’t, But We Will

Asia Tech Podcast had Daniel Nguyen on the show.  Daniel is the CEO at WriterZen, which creates traffic and revenue-generating content. Some of the topics that Daniel discussed: How he decided to go to Vermont for high school The feeling that he had to start his own company when he was 25 Moving to Malaysia to open a chain of Vietnamese restaurants Realizing he was not cut out for the restaurant business Sold the business and returned to Vietnam to build a more scalable business The beginnings of WriterZen and what it strives to accomplish Understanding what Google wants Functionality versus Design How character is more important than skills The power of compounding and the 'horizon of no return' Building to scale Being team-centric Some other titles we considered: I Only Love Eating, I Don’t Love Cooking Where’s Vermont? Maybe I Am Not Very Fit With Corporate Life Design Is Actually What Makes Them Stay Every Product Requires a Really Good Design The Tradeoff for Great Things Is Time

Hsu Ken Ooi and I had such a great conversation, we had to cut it short.  Otherwise, it felt like we could have gone on for hours.  Hsu Ken is a co-Founder and Managing Partner at Iterative.  Iterative's vision is to "Increase the GDP of Southeast Asia through entrepreneurship" with a mission "to build the most vibrant, supportive, and intellectually honest community of founders". Some of the topics that Hsu Ken and I discussed: Born in Penang, Malaysia and traveling back and forth between the United States and Penang as a child His father was Intel's fixer and reported to Andy Grove Moving around as a child and the importance of adaptability Working for a small consultancy right out of college for only 9 months Coding during his free time, loving it, and realizing he wanted to do it full-time Meeting Brian Ma Working with his friends to build a new product every week The building of Decide.com Working with Oren Etzioni, a well-known entrepreneur who had built and sold several ventures including Farecast Thinking about the world probabilistically Translating that company building experience into the way they invest Silicon Valley cardinal sins - Stealth Mode and NDAs How to apply technology and crypto to set incentives in the VC space Some of the other titles we considered for this episode: I Was Making PowerPoints All Day This Thing Is Fun, How Do I Spend All My Time Doing This? I Missed the Boom of My Generation Startups Just Seemed Fun Can My Brother Come? We Thought There Was a Bug Do You Guys Have Any Money Left? The Only Thing You Have to Be OK With Is Looking Silly

Asia Tech Podcast welcomed Kastytis Kemezys - CEO of WhatNot StartUp Studio for a really great face-to-face chat.  Kas is a co-Founder and the CEO of WhatNot, turning it into an idea powerhouse with a commercial interest in big, scalable ideas. Some of the topics that Kas and I discussed: The belief that there is NOT a 10 step process to building a successful startup The rebranding of WhatNot from a corporate venture builder into a startup studio Some of the difficulties of building startups with corporates Trying to formulate a new mission and vision during a trip back to Lithuania Having the courage to admit that you are not what society wants you to be Creating his own empire as a child and having the paperwork to prove it The throughline from his childhood empire to building startups Designers versus artists and imagining how the world should be Caring about the output of your effort Building the 'House of Yes' The three things that Grandpa says matter the most (Spoiler Alert - Adventures, Love, and Being Proud of Your Work) Other titles we considered for this episode: I Did Road Trips With My Grandpa Let's Just Do a Leap of Faith They Read Too Much This Was Harder Than We Expected I Can Tolerate a Lot of Risk The Child In Me Always Loved Playing with Different Ideas I Can't Have Shallow Conversations Building Startups for Nature and Culture

The Asia Tech Podcast welcomed Ming Jie Chua, the CEO at EVYD Technology, to the show.  EVYD optimizes health outcomes at scale, through data intelligence with the goal of making healthcare safer, better, and more accessible. Some of the topics that Ming Jie covered: The genesis of EVYD and its relationship to Yidu Tech The impact of COVID and the need to strengthen regional healthcare systems Role of research and digitalization in shaping public health surveillance: Benefits of using Big Data and Artificial Intelligence in improving policymaking and workflows The pivotal role of collaboration and education amongst key stakeholders in transforming healthcare systems Focusing on regional collaboration, cross-learning, research, and digitalization in empowering scientific policymaking in healthcare Spearhead discussions and strategize viable solutions to build resilient public health systems that can withstand future challenges What is value-based healthcare and how is it safer and more accessible?  What is the accessibility problem now? What is the EVYD Knowledge Hub…does health care literacy matter?

In July of 2021, I had Dr. Elias Willemse, a co-Founder and the CTO of Waste Labs on my DataDriven show to talk specifically about how Waste Labs was using data and technology to help waste management companies make better decisions.  I was waiting for the right time to have the other co-Founder on the show and an announced capital raise did the trick. I was joined by Vladimir Chuchkin, the CEO and co-Founder of Waste Labs to dig deeper into the progress Waste Labs has made on the business side and to learn more about its recently announced funding. Some of the topics Vladimir discussed included: His early experiences in the power generation business Dealing with all manner of energy from nuclear to renewables to waste to energy How renewable and green energy has caught up to traditional energy sources in terms of profitability Developing the artificial intelligence platform for waste management companies and sustainable supply chains How Waste Labs' platform is differentiated The sheer complexity around waste collection and its optimization Waste collection companies are becoming more digital, particularly in commercially competitive markets The idea that consumers are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products Supply chains and how their role is changing in the circular economy The potential for vertical integration How the co-Founders prioritized revenue to determine if they were on the right track ESG and Sustainability was not top-of-mind for VCs in Asia

I was more than impressed by Prerna Jhunjhunwala's commitment to making education accessible to the masses.  Prerna is the Founder of Little Paddington – a highly acclaimed preschool in Singapore and Creative Galileo - a new-age Ed-Tech start-up transforming early learning globally for children from three to ten years.  Creative Galileo aims to accelerate a child's development of early literacy through narrative videos, gamification, and personalised learning journeys. Some of the topics that Prerna discussed: Most of Prerna's childhood was spent in third-tier cities and small villages She was in the factory every day as a 10 to 12-year-old and the workers would ask her to teach their children English and Math How and why educating others became so important to her Realizing at a young age that access to education was a privilege Starting Little Paddington Preschool when she was 24 The reason for founding Creative Galileo Understanding the importance of the teacher for 3 to 10-year-olds Licensing the most popular characters in India and how those characters keep the students engaged The six learning domains Creative Galileo's recently announced capital raise and how she expects to deploy it The CXXO Program at Kalaari Capital Other titles we considered for this episode: It Was Foolish Courage I Enjoy the Execution Bit of It When You See the Things You Imagined Happen Screen Time Is Inevitable Today

Asia Tech Podcast had an interesting conversation with Liat Beng Neo, a co-Founder at Arrow.  Arrow is fundamentally trying to simplify the checkout experience to just one tap. Some of the topics we covered with Neo included: How he initially got involved in the payments space before it was 'a thing' Cash on delivery used to dominate online transactions Working at some of Asia's most iconic startups and tech companies Some of the interesting cultural differences between LAzada, AliBaba, TenCent, and Grab The evolution of the payments space and the increased number of options today The complexity that all of these options create for online commerce The difficulty and beauty of being a first-time founder The genesis of Arrow and what it is trying to accomplish Some other titles we considered for this episode: Payment Paralysis The Whole Concept of Checkout Is Becoming More Complicated