Analyse Asia with Bernard Leong

Fresh out of the studio and this is an emergency podcast, Shai Oster from The Information discusses the fallout coming from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank over the past weekend, and what it means for the venture capitalists and startups in Asia Pacific. We dived into what happened to Silicon Valley Bank, the aftermath of the intervention of the regulators on 12 March 2023 and what would have happened to the startup ecosystem across China, India and Southeast Asia if the US regulators did not intervene.   Podcast Information: The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).

"What if you could just outsource your disputes to Kleros? Whenever users have a dispute on your platform, Kleros will select a jury to analyze the dispute. They're going to see the evidence, see the agreement between parties, and they're going to make a decision about who is right, and then Kleros informs you of the decision on your platform. And then this is enforced by the smart contract and the money. Let's say Alice wins. So she's reimbursed the money that she would pay Bob for this. So this is one example in the freelancer (space). But imagine all of these platforms that just connect to Kleros through some pipes and send disputes - and Kleros sends back decisions. So this is the vision of what Kleros is going to build. This is why we call it "Decentralized Court" for all of the Web3 ecosystems." - Federico Ast   Fresh out of the studio, Federico Ast, founder of Kleros returned to the podcast to share the story of Kleros over the past few years and where it is heading as a decentralized arbitration service in the web3 and crypto economy. He dived deep into the concept of proof of humanity and how it helps to resolve identity verification and explored the implications of how Kleros has transformed the legal landscape from a landmark case in Mexico resolved by the protocol to advising the United Nations. Last but not least, Federico shared the new use cases relating to tokenized physical assets with Kleros and shared what great looks like for Kleros in the future. Podcast Information: The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).

"The media have been feeding us this fake news story about the death of social media. There is absolutely nothing in the data - regardless of what data points I look at, there's nothing in the data that supports the idea that social media is dying. It's the complete opposite. Social media users are growing. The time that we spend using social media is increasing. There is no evidence of the death of social media. So that was a big surprise in there. When you start looking at things like streaming, there are obviously some really interesting conversations there about the overall time we spend streaming TV content versus how that splits across different companies. So Netflix versus Disney plus versus whatever else. Search behaviours. I'm sure we're gonna unpack that later on, but that is another one that is evolving quite rapidly. And how people find what they're looking for on the internet is evolving rapidly. That's got implications for everybody. It's not just a business conversation. That's anybody that is wanting to reach and influence audiences on the internet." - Simon Kemp   Fresh out of the studio, Simon Kemp returned for the 6th year to break down the key digital, mobile, and social media trends in the annual Digital Report 2023. Simon began with the first surprise that social media is not dying from Meta to Twitter, and debunked the myth propagated by social media on the war between Instagram vs Tik Tok. He highlighted the key trends on how the shift from pandemic to endemic will impact the streaming wars, and the fallout on cryptocurrencies and NFTs after the crypto crash in 2022. In the same conversation, Simon discussed how generative AI inspired by ChatGPT and Midjourney will upend digital advertising and marketing and what it means for brands moving forward. Last but not least, Simon offered what great would look like for the digital report in the next decade.   Podcast Information: The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).

"You're right. Now the US is trying very hard to get TSMC to move to the US and they're throwing money out - TSMC is going to Arizona. The CHIPS Act has been passed. That'll throw a lot of money around, but that won't be enough. In the currently announced plans - just purely what's been announced so far - I ran the numbers and estimated that TSMC's global capacity, only less than 5% would be in the US based on the currently announced plans. Now, I expect those plans to expand and broaden. They seem to have enough land and the possibility of up to four factories instead of two. They could even go to six, who knows? But even if they were to expand to the maximum of what might be possible in Arizona, I think still we'd get maybe 7% of global capacity in the US may be up to 10%. And it won't be the leading edge. The leading edge will still be in Taiwan. And that's not just for protection reasons. I think a lot of people think that all the Taiwanese don't wanna have the best in America because they're trying to hold onto it for themselves - which is true - but it's also an issue of practicality." - Tim Culpan   Fresh out of the studio, Tim Culpan, the Bloomberg columnist, joined us to discuss how the tech giants from China (Huawei, YMTC) and Taiwan (Foxconn, TSMC) are navigating a fragile global supply chain. Starting our conversation, Tim examined how Foxconn and TSMC are making key moves to ensure the resiliency of the global supply chain from contract manufacturing to semiconductors. As we moved on, Tim provided a glimpse into how the Chinese tech giants, Huawei and SMIC are addressing the same challenges and examined the key strategy for China to develop its own semiconductors. Last but not least, Tim broke down the amount of money that Warren Buffett from Berkshire Hathaway had left on the table after retreating from his recent position in TSMC. Podcast Information: The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in the audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).

"So one way to think about crypto is a group of people come together and they have a vision of the future, and they're betting on that fork of the future through collective capital. So some folks think it's going to be L2’s that are going to scale. Some people think it's Solana. Whatever it is, you get to bet on the version of the future that you want with your rest of your community. That's chaotic, it's a zoo of people collectively trying to decide what the future's going to look like. But the good news is at least if the past cycles are anything to go by, almost all reasonable forks of the future get funded, and then it actually goes extreme where. Where crypto dick butts are also getting funded and pictures of like the 18th dog token is getting funded. And so, if anything, those who have been in crypto long enough seem to have benefited; because I have certainly have not – I’m much newer to this industry. But they seemed to have benefited from holding tight on what they believe about the world to be true and sticking to that vision over a sufficiently long period of time - which in crypto is potentially, what, four years I guess. And that has been rewarded, because if they worked on something for four years, the tech is behind them, there's a community behind them that sort of becomes a meme. So, I don’t know how to value them. Maybe it's all relative but it's certainly not an exercise that I either have expertise in or even try to build one in." - Akshay BD   Fresh out of the studio, Akshay BD, Head of International Expansion and advisor to the Solana Foundation, joined us in a conversation to explain why the rumors of Solana's demise are greatly exaggerated and describe the vibrant developer ecosystems globally across the world. Starting from his origin story, Akshay discussed how Solana developer communities are continuing their building journey despite the recent crypto crash and articulated Solana's value proposition for interesting decentralized applications moving ahead. Last but not least, Akshay offered his perspectives in crypto and web3 key topics from tokenomics to valuation and shared what great would look like for Solana internationally. Podcast Information:The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).

"Mapping the world is really an infinite exercise. We're on this journey to create this digital representation of the physical world - buildings, places, things, everything. This is going to be very critical. And that extra precision, that greater resolution as we support businesses to comply with all sorts of things - be it even new regulations ... And then of course, the other key trend is the ongoing rise of AI and automation. And as you have better insights and location, that will support better optimization of supply chains and those smart cities and all sort of stuff that will lean on location technology." - Jason Jameson   Fresh out of the studio, Jason Jameson, general manager, and senior vice president for Asia Pacific in HERE Technologies discussed the company's focus to broaden the location intelligence across the Asia Pacific and talked about the key trends in the digital map-making space. We start off with Jason's background from IBM to HERE Technologies and then dive deep into the current developments in the region. Last but not least, he shares where the digital map-making industry will be heading and how it will impact autonomous driving and smart cities in the future. Podcast Information: The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).

"I think there are three main things. The first is the continuation of the strategic investments that we are making across the regions in the markets that we serve. The second one is an acceleration of our ecosystem, because our partners play such an important part in the success of our customers and also themselves and us as well, and the third one is really innovation. The constant innovation on our platform is critical and there is no sign of that slowing down as we look forward to 2023 and beyond." - Brigid Archibald   Fresh out of the studio, Brigid Archibald, managing director in Asia Pacific and Japan, Qualtrics, joined us in a discussion on the business footprint of the experience management company and the key trends in the region. We started with Brigid's background and her experience in B2B sales and then proceed into how Qualtrics is working with companies to improve their customer experience. Last but not least, she discuss the key trends in the experience management space & advised what the potential call to action are for executives.   Podcast Information: The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).

”I think great looks like a combination of a few things. We always talk about how a startup hits product market fit and then essentially gets a flywheel going in terms of value and everything. So I think 'great' at True Global Ventures from my point of view is us finding that company, that team of serial entrepreneurs and an idea that can essentially change the industry, convincing them that we as a fund can help them to grow exponentially, globally. And us actually helping them to not only close a round with us, but also to grow, and also to close the next round of funding and all subsequent rounds of funding till the ultimate exit. And having that kind of chemistry that maybe after many years later when they come back and look at us they say, 'Hey, thanks for the ride.' We really treasure what you do. And in my new startup, say for example (Because these are serial entrepreneurs that cannot usually sit still, right?) I would love for you True Global Ventures to be our investor again." - Kelly Choo   Fresh out of the studio, Kelly Choo, the founding partner from True Global Ventures shares the backstory of how the fund came together with its investment thesis on investing in repeat serial entrepreneurs. Kelly begins with the story of his career journey as both an entrepreneur and now as an investor, and how he works with his profile companies. Last but not least, he offers his perspectives on the investment outlook for web3 and crypto companies in 2023.   Podcast Information: The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).

"So there's a tremendous amount of friction that exists there because I think we're still at the point where we're. We're using traditional insurance products that have been invented in the 1970s and trying to add this digital layer on top of it. So where InsureTech has struggled, I would say, is unless there is a significant amount of product innovation. It's very hard to really optimize the product. So, becoming a full stack was one of the hypotheses that the InsureTechs pursued, and we've seen those take off quite well in states in China, and now India is another market that's really progressing very well." - George Kesselman   Fresh of the studio, George Kesselman, the president & founder of Insurtech Asia Association, joined us to discuss the intersection of insurance and technology in the Asia Pacific. We began with George's work in the insurtech industry from a start-up co-founder to a corporate executive in a leading Chinese firm within the Asia Pacific region. Then he dived deeper into the challenges, key innovations such as China's famous waterdrop model, use cases and important trends in insurtech that are converging with web3 and crypto. Last but not least, George shared a glimpse into the future of insurtech for the next few years. Full Video: https://youtu.be/k7cHayS0Ccw Podcast Information: The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).

"The vision is to future proof global real estate. Now why real estate? One thinks that it's just one industry, right? Well, it's 300 trillion dollars. There is no asset class, no industry that is remotely as valuable. Not all the treasury bonds in the world, not all the stock exchanges in the world, and not all the real GDP of the economies of the world add up to the value of global land and property assets: 300 trillion dollars. Now, what will any of it be worth tomorrow, one year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now in different places in the world? We used to have a pretty stable answer to these questions. The truth is the valuation model is broken because it's very antiquated, and not only is the appraisal or valuation model broken, it's even more broken because it never took climate change into consideration." - Parag Khanna   Fresh out of the studio, Parag Khanna, founder and CEO of Climate Alpha unveils the story of his new company which leverages artificial intelligence to decipher how real estate will transform amid climate adaptation. Parag offers his observations on the ongoing global issues from the potential resolution of the Ukraine-Russia war to the easing of tensions on the Taiwan straits. Last but not least, he comments on the recent COP27 conference and offers his view on what great looks like for Climate Alpha.   Podcast Information: The show is hosted and produced by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin) and Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin, LinkedIn). Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G.Thomas Craig (@gthomascraig, LinkedIn).