Analyse Asia with Bernard Leong

In our episode 300, our host Bernard Leong will be interviewed on everything under the sun on Analyse Asia. With the interview conducted by Carol Yin, co-producer of the podcast, Bernard started with a couple of major announcements for Analyse Asia. Next, Bernard answered many interesting questions posed from the audience of the show such as: (i) the evolution of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southeast Asia, (ii) who will win the race between Grab and Gojek, (iii) fun and interesting facts about the podcast from how Bernard selects his guest to getting a prominent guest on the show via a business deal. Last but not least, we discuss where the Analyse Asia podcast is going and an upcoming premium content project. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Welcome Carol Yin, the co-producer of the show as the host of Episode 300. [0:37] Major Announcements on Analyse Asia podcast [1:29] We will make a significant change in the title of the podcast from “Analyse Asia with BL” to “Analyse Asia”. We are also dropping the episode number from our title starting from this episode. The title change will take some time as we need to make changes on different sites. Our current host, Bernard Leong will be taking at least 3-6 months break but you will still see every episode from now to the break ends. The reason is that he is currently in personal transition and his family expecting third kid to the family in August 2019. If there are some major news happening from July to Sep 2019, Carol will be stepping in to host on Bernard's behalf.  Our premium content project relating to Tencent and we are likely to do a Kickstarter program. BL and Carol will co-produce the show and the voices for the show will be announced later.  1st Live Show - Wework Singapore on 5 Sep 2019 and need help for Hong Kong live show: We will be charging for the live show and we hope that you can help to bring down some of the costs.  AMA with Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, LinkedIn, personal site) [6:12] (Colin Charles): You’re relatively well travelled. How do your travels shape your lens when it comes to analysing Asia? I will presume travel gives you an edge, but what top 3 things have you noted from travels that permeate from or diffuse to Asia? [6:49] (Uri Wolfovitz) What are the three likely outcomes of the US-China trade war ? Please indicate the winner and loser together with the timeline. [12:30] (JJ Chai): How would one assign weights to the factors that result in startups' success levels? What share is business model vs sector vs founder(s) vs luck (including externalities)? [16:29] (JJ Chai): What patterns do you see in successful founders in terms of personality traits? [19:34] (Hian Goh): Who’s going to win, Grab or Gojek? [20:21] (Arnaud Bonzom) How was the startup ecosystem in Singapore and Southeast Asian when you were involved at SGentrepreneurs.com? (Period is between 2005-2013) [23:03] (Lisa Enckell) Please share a story on how the tech scene had changed in this part of the world since you launched the first episode.  (Period is between 2014-2019) [24:57]  (Arnaud Bonzom): Why did you decide 5 years ago to launch a podcast? [28:33] (Arnaud Bonzom): What’s your secret sauce for shipping one episode each week? [30:10] (Arnaud Bonzom): How do you build your deal flow of guests? [31:37] (Arnaud Bonzom): How do you reach out to them? How do you identify the best channel, time, blurb to convince them to join? [32:00] (Arnaud Bonzom): How do you select them (heuristics and due diligence)? [34:34] (Arnaud Bonzom):  How do you decide if you should invite one more time a guest? [35:51] (Arnaud Bonzom):  Who are the 5 people you wish to have one day on your show? [36:50] (Arnaud Bonzom): Where do you see Analyse Asia in 5 years except releasing the 600th episode? [38:00] (Arnaud Bonzom) Would you like to make your podcast a full-time business? [39:00] (Arnaud Bonzom):  3 fun facts about Analyse Asia? [39:27]  (Arnaud Bonzom): What are the 3 podcasts on startups you love listening? [42:00] BL's recommendation: Acquired Podcast, Startup by Gimlet and Recode Decode, and Carol's recommendation: How I build this?  (Wynthia Goh) Through 5 years of interviewing the insiders, disrupters, innovators, founders and investors, what has changed over the years and what has stayed the same? [42:38] (Wynthia Goh) Which guests left the strongest impression (for better or worse) and why? [43:48] (Wynthia Goh) If you are to summarize what you have learned from all the people you have interviewed, what would it be? [45:00] Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong & weibo) 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 both hosted and edited by Carol Yin, and co-produced by Carol Yin and Bernard Leong.

James Hull, co-host of China Tech Investor podcast and founder of Hullx, joined us to discuss whether we can invest into technology companies from China. We start our conversation with James' background and how he came to China and work in the realm of investments with different funds and capital groups. James explained how he assembled together a portfolio of technology companies and discuss the major misconceptions about investing into Chinese companies. Last but not least, we dig deeper into the Chinese technology companies in the ecommerce category, Luckin Coffee's IPO and Tencent's future prospects in gaming. Editor’s disclaimer: Our discussion pre-dates the ban of Huawei by the US. Further more, our discussion does not constitute as investor advice, and we urge the audience to do their own homework to invest in any companies and be responsible for their own investments. The show is hosted by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong & weibo) 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.

Steve Glaveski, host of Future Squared podcast and founder of Collective campus, returns to our podcast to discuss his latest book "Employee to Entrepreneur:  How to earn your freedom and do work that matters" and offered his thoughts to how the podcasting movement in Asia Pacific is evolving. We dived deep into why and how Steve wrote the book and his thoughts on how one should build the entrepreneurial mindset in his or her career. Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong & weibo) 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.

Jon Russell, reporter from TechCrunch, joined us in a conversation about the continuing war between Gojek and Grab with the dawn of the super app. We started our conversation on Honestbee's recent predicament, the growth in series B-D funding for startups across Southeast Asia and Eduardo Saverin's B-Capital recent raising of 406M for their fund. Then we dived deep into Grab vs Gojek and their narrative from fundraising valuation to the paradigm of super app, and discuss whether each of them can pull it off with their different strategies from Grab's financial services to Gojek's multiple acquisitions in the market. Last but not least, we discuss Uber's recent IPO S1-filing and their implications to Didi, Grab and Ola and what it means for the Asian ecosystem for the long term.   Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong & weibo) 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.

Tim Romero, chief technology officer for TEPCO Ventures and host of "Disrupting Japan" podcast, joined us in a discussion on the entrepreneurial technology ecosystem of Japan. We started with Tim's background and how he built his podcast to discuss startups & innovation in Japan. Subsequently, Tim dived deeper into the current evolution of the Japanese startup ecosystem, highlighting the key verticals from space, robotics and consumer Internet, the cultural changes that have taken place in the past few years and discuss how the small and medium businesses will be the most interesting companies to look out for Japan's next breakout phase in technology and entrepreneurship.  

Cole Sirucek, CEO and co-founder of Docdoc, joined us to discuss the evolution of his digital health startup leading in patient intelligence and shared his perspectives on digital healthcare across Asia. We started from Cole's early career highlights particularly his time with Temasek and subsequently, the backstory to how Grace Park, his wife and he both started Docdoc and how the company transformed both the healthcare and insurance space. Last but not least, Cole discuss the major trends in digital healthcare space and the challenges in building a startup in that space across Asia.

Joyce Yang, founder of Global Coin Research is back on the podcast to share an overview of the regulatory landscape for blockchain technology and cryptocurrency across Asia Pacific with China included. She discuss the major misconceptions on the regulation of cryptocurrency and blockchain by governments across Asia Pacific and how startups and major corporations need to do in order to navigate the ever changing industry with blockchain and cryptocurrency.

Zen Soo, technology reporter from South China Morning Post (SCMP) and host of Inside China Tech, joins us for a conversation on Huawei's recent troubles. We begin with Zen's introduction of her coverage with SCMP, and the interesting story of her podcast. Then Zen dived deep into Huawei's recent troubles which include the arrest of their CFO, Meng Wanzhou in Canada, and the fallout between China and US on 5G with Huawei in the centre, and its implications to the other Chinese technology companies expanding abroad.

Rachel Lau, managing partner of RHL Ventures joined us in a conversation to discuss their newly formed venture capital firm and discuss her perspectives on venture capital trends in Southeast Asia. Rachel began the conversation with her background and how RHL Ventures is formed under a group of well-established family businesses behind them, their investment thesis and the verticals which they are currently focused on. She also offered her perspectives on how one need to think of Southeast Asia as a region of investment and the major technology trends in the region.  

Jeff Nicholson, chief media officer of Vayner Media joined us in a conversation on the expansion of their business footprint in Asia Pacific and discuss the major trends in marketing and advertising across Asia Pacific, splitting between China and the rest of Asia. Jeff discuss the customer centric focus of Vayner Media and how they are working with international brands in Asia Pacific and regional brands on digital marketing. We discuss the effects of the new tri-factor of Google, Facebook and Amazon in advertising and aggregation, and the rise of Tik Tok in international markets.