Asia Startup Pulse

While Southeast Asia remains one of the hottest markets in the region, South Asia is also catching up, especially with the likes of Bangladesh and Pakistan. The region is also home to some of the fastest-growing tech startups, and today, we venture down south to Bangladesh and talk to the co-founder and CEO of Pathao, Bangladesh's largest tech company which is valued at over $100 million. Pathao is the leading ride-sharing, on-demand logistics, and food delivery platform in Bangladesh. Today, its motorbike and car-hailing vertical alone serves five million riders across five cities in Bangladesh and Kathmandu in Nepal.

How did Pathao come into existence? For a market with typically no culture of motorcycle-taxis, how did you create the need in the market? How did they manage to stand out from the competition even against the likes of Uber? How has their journey been moving from an app to a super app? We talk about all these and more, in today’s episode.

Show Notes

02:20 Introduction to Hussain Elius

03:22 How Pathao came into existence

05:48 What the status quo was before Pathao

08:21 Inspiration behind founding Pathao

11:10 The competitive landscape for Pathao

13:50 The competition against Uber

17:20 Understanding why the “Uber-way” was not the way to go

22:37 Lessons learned from Gojek

25:30 Pathao’s expansion to Nepal

29:05 Evolution of Hussain’s role

32:43 Does mentorship matter?

36:03 Final thoughts

Many thanks to our guests  Hussain Elius; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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In this episode, we are joined by Ilaria Chan, Advisor on Tech & Social Impact for Grab, one of Asia’s most prominent tech unicorns. Having started her career in investment banking with Goldman Sachs, today Ilaria is a global keynote speaker, private investor, and serves on the Board of Trustees of several humanitarian organizations. We talk all about impact investment and socially conscious startups and the investment ecosystem that revolves around them.

SHOW NOTES

03:14 Introduction to Ilaria Chan

07:04 Ilaria’s expertise in Impact Investment

09:32 Understanding the reality of Impact Invest and Difference between East & West

14:50 Impact vs Profitability: The quandary for social entrepreneurs for raising funds

20:09 How Tech Unicorns are making social impact a big of their proposition

26:05 Tangible impact vs Intangible Impact: Is one less important than the other?

30:22 The “green-washing” trend in impact investment

34:41 Flow of innovation from East to the West

43:44 Connect with Ilaria

Many thanks to our guests  Ilaria Chan; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

To subscribe to our newsletter, please visit  www.asiastartuppulse.com

Follow us on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-startup-pulse

Email us: [email protected]

In today’s episode, we invite Ronen Mense, President and Managing Director APAC for AppsFlyer, to help us answer these questions and more. In the last 7 years with AppsFlyer, Ronen has managed to grow the mobile analytics platform from newcomer to market leader in APAC achieving 70% market share, triple digital revenue growth year on year, and building an amazing team of 175+ across 7 offices in the region.

Show Notes:

02:12 Introduction to Ronen

03:13 What is AppsFlyer

05:03 China’s strategic value for AppsFlyer and vice-versa

11:04 AppsFlyer’s value proposition for Chinese startups expanding overseas

14:53 What made AppsFlyer special: The need for independent analytics

20:59 Dealing with competitors: How to create moats?

23:56 Localizing product to suit the China market

27:41 How AppsFlyer stays independent in the Age of Splinternet

34:05 The Success Playbook for AppsFlyer

37:08 Ronen’s Mantra for Success

42:05 How to contact Ronen

Many thanks to our guests  Ronen Mense; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

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Follow us on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-startup-pulse

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Today, we are going to dig deeper into marketplaces again with James Tan, Managing Partner at Quest Ventures. Prior to this, James was co-founder and COO of 55tuan, a NASDAQ listed e-commerce group that grew to more than 200 cities and 5,000 employees across China.

Show notes:

2:10 Introduction to James Tan

3:48 Transition from startup founder to venture capitalist

5:35 Introduction to Quest Ventures

6:50 Most rewarding achievements of running a marketplace

8:40 What James was excited about marketplace

11:50 The advantages that a marketplace has to serve customers

15:08 How to manage or control your marketplace

17:00 The most innovative marketplace models that James has seen

19:22 Is a marketplace in Southeast Asia a regional business?

22:48 The timing for marketplaces to internationalise the business

25:00 How to localise in Indonesia?

30:58 The next market that Indonesian companies expand to

33:40 When should companies reconsider expansion

34:35 How to innovate the marketplace revenue model?

39:38 Does “marketplace” have a higher valuation multiple compared to e-commerce?

Many thanks to our guests  James Tan; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

To subscribe to our newsletter, please visit  www.asiastartuppulse.com

Follow us on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-startup-pulse

Email us: [email protected]

For this special episode, we invite Mia Deng, Partner at Dragonfly Capital and Co-founder of NFT marketplace TR Lab, to dive deeper into the NFT space and also talk more about Dragonfly Capital’s latest $225 million fund, primarily focused on DeFi and NFTs. We also cover topics around the evolution of the crypto industry and the synergies between traditional VCs and crypto VCs.

Show Notes:

1:29 Introduction to Mia Deng

4:12 How the narrative around the crypto industry has evolved

6:48 Introduction to Dragonfly Capital and their unique proposition

9:19 How traditional VCs are working with crypto VCs

11:10 Crypto is Global from Day 1!

13:21 How crypto VCs work with founders

16:17 Understanding the intricacies of Sequoia China as an LP in Dragonfly Capital

21:14 Building in the bear market

24:14 What is NFT?

25:34 Why are NFTs booming now?

28:39 What industries will adapt NFTs?

32:38 The inefficiency in the NFT infrastructure space

35:12 Is NFT the next ICO?

36:35 NFT in China

38:09 How to reach out to Mia

Many thanks to our guests  Mia Deng; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

To subscribe to our newsletter, please visit  www.asiastartuppulse.com

Follow us on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-startup-pulse

Email us: [email protected]

Today, we invite our guest Rui Ma, founder of Tech Buzz China and former Investment Partner at 500 Startups, to discuss these questions in detail on our show. Rui has fifteen years of experience in technology and finance, spanning seed stage to pre-IPO investing spread evenly between the U.S. and China.

Show Notes:

1:51 Introduction to Rui Ma

2:01 The anti-monopoly policy in China

3:28 The reason why Chinese Internet ecosystems don’t collaborate

5:03 Does the regulation help with the competition

8:35 The case of Qihu360 and Tencent

11:10 What triggered the recent regulation

13:29 Public reaction towards the regulation

18:30 The regulation’s impact on entrepreneurs

20:17 Will the fine drive new changes in tech giants

24:50 How China is catching up with other markets

28:45 Will the regulation be detrimental to innovation

33:35 How to contact Rui Ma

Many thanks to our guests Rui Ma; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

To subscribe to our newsletter, please visit  www.asiastartuppulse.com

Follow us on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-startup-pulse

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Victoria Hoang is the Data Partner at Bristol Myers Squibb, where she counsels teams on data privacy and cybersecurity law. In her 20+ years of experience in life sciences and management consulting, she has served on several innovation programs working closely with startups. In today’s talk, she covers one of the most important pre-requisite for startups, which is building trust.

Jack Ren is the Managing Director of Eminence Ventures where he is responsible for the firm’s cloud and IT infrastructure investments. Over the course of his career, he has spearheaded China Mobile’s One NET IoT platform and worked for some of the biggest tech corporations including Samsung and Sony. In today’s talk, Jack shares insights around non-market strategic thinking and how firms should factor it in their decision-making.

Show Notes:

[01:43] Victoria Hoang: How to Build Trust with Customers

[13:41 ] Jack Ren: Non-market Strategical Thinking

Many thanks to our guests Victoria Hoang and Jack Ren; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

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Rui Ma is a former VC-turned independent tech analyst with her experience spanning from seed stage to pre-IPO investing spread between the US and China. She is well versed with the startup ecosystems in the US and China, having previously worked at 500 Startups as an investment partner. In today’s talk, she offers some invaluable insights for startups going across borders and brings light to potential pitfalls that startups must avoid at all costs.

Kal Patel is a seasoned investor and the Resident Advisor at Oxford  Foundry and has led the expansion of Best Buy in Asia in the past. He brings with him a plethora of experience working with and investing in startups from all around the world. Even startups that have the most groundbreaking technology oftentimes fail to generate interest from investors early on and in his talk, he shares insights as to how early-stage startups can become more investible.

Nichapat Ark works extensively with Openspace Venture’s Thailand-based startups as well as startups looking to expand into Thailand. In her talk, she shares insights as to how startups can better leverage their investors, an art that every startup founder must perfect.

Show notes:

02:20 - Rui Ma: Important considerations for Chinese startups going global

13:40 - Kal Patel: How can startups become more "Investible"

24:00 - Nichapat Ark: How to better leverage your investor

Many thanks to our guests Rui Ma, Kal Patel, and Nichapat Ark; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

Follow us on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-startup-pulse

Email us: [email protected]

In today’s episode, we dig deeper into esports as a business in SEA with Allan Phang, the Regional Head of Marketing PR at EVOS Esports and former Head of Esports at AirAsia.

Show Notes:

02:50 Allan Phang’s experience in esports

09:00 Introduction to EVOS Esports

12:21 Debunking common myths about professional esports

14:08 Career lifespan of professional esports players

17:55 The role of game publishers in the industry

20:40 Ramifications of breaching gaming etiquette and rules

22:15 Other players and opportunities in the esports ecosystem

25:37 The relationship between global game publishers and local tournament event organisers

28:29 Southeast Asia’s unique position in the esports industry

33:10 Brands’ attitudes towards esports events

36:40 Different revenue models in esports

38:32 The next big thing in esports in SEA

39:50 How to contact Allan

Many thanks to our guests Allan Phang; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

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Email us: [email protected]

This is a special episode which we recorded live on Clubhouse with our guest Aaron Tan, Founder of Carro, one of the biggest used-car marketplaces in Southeast Asia.

Show Notes:

0:00 -  Introduction to Aaron Tan

1:32 - Aaron’s motivation to founding a startup

6:01 - The supportive ecosystem around Carro

8:19 - The importance of “Trust” in a business

8:50 - The reasons behind starting an automotive marketplace in SEA

13:35 - Inspiration from Chinese business models

19:21 - Understanding the heterogeneity in the markets

21:15 - Aaron’s experience on how copying the same model across SEA doesn’t work

25:39 - How to build and scale a two-side marketplace

30:37 - The role of Carro in the marketplace

35:17 - Carro’s expansion playbook across SEA

44:20 - What the future holds for Carro and Southeast Asia

Many thanks to our guests Aaron Tan; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

Follow us on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-startup-pulse

Email us: [email protected]