Asia Tech Podcast

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Produced by Pikkal & Co - Award Winning Podcast Agency.

[00:05] Welcome Don Phan to Asia Tech Podcast Stories, hosted by Graham D Brown

[00:51] A bit of background about Don Phan and what he does

[02:04] Catching up with Don on what has happened in his life since he was last on the show

[05:20] How did Don decide to give up on one start up, his baby business, to shift to his other start up in education?

[08:26] Don talks about the concept of \'founder market fit\' and how to gauge that objectively

[12:06] How does Don feel now in education compared to a year ago when he was working on his baby business?

[15:52] All about Don\'s education company HillHouse and its role in the Asian education market

[17:03] A comparison between how American and Asian families approach education for their children

[20:41] Don shares anecdotes about expensive private education \'consultants\' that can be currently found in Vietnam

[23:05] The services offered by HillHouse from help with tests to

assisting with applications including personal statements

[25:16] Do education systems in Asia encourage students to develop their personal narrative? Don\'s thoughts on the Asian education system

[26:34] The focus on collective learning found in the Japanese and Asian education system

[28:08] How is Don building Hillhouse? Don\'s method of hiring English teachers for his company and how it distinguishes Hillhouse

from other companies

[32:30] A comparison between online teaching versus other forms of teaching

[35:04] Will online education form the bulk of education for certain age groups in the future?

[39:00] Is HillHouse more focused on the educational agenda of the future of learning or more focused on merely improving test skills?

[41:12] Don\'s views on the future of online education in Asia and how it compares with the US

[44:33] Young Asian parents in their 30s consider the educational gaps they themselves experienced when deciding on how to invest in their children\'s education

[48:05] Will Asia, in some way or form, be a future leader in education? Don\'s opinion on the possible evolution of the Asian education system

[49:40] Don explains the differences between US online education systems and Asian online education systems

[53:41] Go to Hillhouse.us to check out Don\'s education company

Discover more tech podcasts like this: Tech Podcast Asia.

Produced by Pikkal & Co - Award Winning Podcast Agency.

[00:05] FIA4 - Founders in Asia with Ria Lao, founder and CEO of Groupstar, hosted by Jodie Collins

[01:14] Ria talks about her background and how she ended up in Singapore

[03:00] All about Groupstar and how it transforms communication within large companies using video solutions

[06:30] The key question of when to pivot and what to focus on, the curse of the entrepreneur - everything is an opportunity

[09:03] The importance of having a clear vision for your team and not just focusing on the product offering

[12:02] As a founder, is the decision making backed by data points or gut feel? Ria\'s views on this

[14:33] Where does Ria see the greatest opportunities across the region?

[15:47] Ria addresses the perceived challenge of selling technology to less developed markets

[17:52] Examples on how companies use Groupstar to turn internal information into videos

[21:49] Ria shares the lessons she has learnt and the mistakes she has made throughout her journey as a founder

[24:20] Is it necessary to have a co-founder when starting a business? Ria and Jodie share their thoughts

[26:51] Ria dispels the myth that you need investor money up front to get started with a team

[28:28] How various areas of expertise in startups are being handled by other markets abroad like in India or Philippines

[30:23] Where in the region does Ria see the most exciting growth potential for her business? From Indonesia, Japan to Australia

[32:03] The surprising demographic uptake of Groupstar, senior management are more interested in using it than the young millennials

[34:02] Ria\'s number one tip for others who are interested in setting up a business in this region- don\'t quit your day job!

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[00:05] Welcome Dan Itsara to Asia Tech Podcast Stories

[01:25] Why did Dan decide to build Glazziq, an e-commerce brand for prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses?

[03:10] Where did the Glazziq design get its influence from? Also, where did the idea of starting Glazziq come from?

[08:10] Does Dan see his previous work experience for the US Air Force and NASA relevant to building an eyeglass company in the context of what he is doing?

[14:55] Thai people are friendly, don\'t like confrontation and don\'t like saying there\'s a mistake - how does Dan culture that mindset into a group of people who may have been programmed in another way?

[18:20] \"Disagree and commit\" - an example of Korean Airlines in the 1980s

[22:05] A backstory on Dan as an American-Thai, growing up in Northern California and his rationale for going to Thailand

[25:20] Did Thai people - or Dan himself - not know where he fitted in when he moved to Thailand? Also, did that put doubt in his mind?

[28:00] Having experience living in cross-cultural worlds develops empathy - a powerful tool for retail and e-commerce

[30:55] How did Dan grow Glazziq, an e-commerce/retail business, to operational positive within six months?

[34:10] Is it difficult to standardize the process of making prescription eyeglasses or sunglasses? Also, the many mistakes Glazziq made in the process

[38:55] How close is Dan to having the \"ultimate dashboard\" to simplify his business or is it a pipe dream to have?

[42:45] Now that Glazziq is a growing business and operationally positive, does Dan have a clear idea on where he should be focusing?

[45:20] As a mountain climber and an entrepreneur, what is Dan\'s take on the \"never give up\" advice?

[49:35] \"Amateurs practice until they can do it right but professionals practice until they can\'t do it wrong\"

[50:05] Dan\'s experience is a great case study on why it makes sense to not necessarily work for a startup straight out of the gate but to get training first in the corporate world or the military

[52:15] Check out www.glazziq.com or find Dan at LinkedIn.com/DanItsara

Discover more tech podcasts like this: Tech Podcast Asia.

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[00:05] ASH11 - Ashley Talks with Ashley Galina Dudarenok

[00:10] Welcome Case Engelen, CEO of Titoma, to Ashley Talks

[00:35] Case shares his journey into Taiwan and Mainland China and founding Titoma - \"time to market\"

[02:15] What is the difference between manufacturing in Taiwan and manufacturing in Mainland China?

[07:25] Is Taiwan losing its competitive advantage against Mainland China? Is Case moving there from Taiwan?

[11:10] Is Taiwan worse paid than Mainland China in the manufacturing world? Also, what are the pitfalls or dangers that manufacturing firms face now?

[20:30] What are the differences between hardware, software, and firmware? And how fast can people manufacture devices in places like Shenzhen?

[28:35] Does Case see a lot of factories, like traditional OEMs, start to market their own brands? Huawei as an example

[32:00] A lot of people think China is still a nation of copycats and that any partner you work with is potentially gonna stab you in the back, take the product and sell it by him/herself - what is Case\'s take on that?

[38:20] Would Case encourage people to go to platforms like Kickstarter with an idea in order to raise money in order to test the market and move ahead with it?

[40:25] In terms of the manufacturing process itself, what is the technology that gives Case chills and excitement right now?

[44:05] More manufacturing migrating away from Mainland China into Southeast Asia and the rest of the world like Africa - what does Case think about that?

[50:45] What scares Case the most about China are the regulations which are often rather \"fluid\" but Ashley sees the situation getting a lot better

[55:55] What book or movie does Case recommend that gave him critical insight into China, the world or manufacturing?

[56:50] What does Case\'s company, Titoma, do? Get in touch at titoma.com

Discover more tech podcasts like this: Tech Podcast Asia.

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[00:05] Welcome Kineret Karin to Asia Tech Podcast Stories, hosted by Graham D Brown

[01:11] Kineret talks about ImpacTech, a Singapore based accelerator focused on startups that create a positive impact on the environment and the society

[02:02] How ImpacTech has grown and evolved since Kineret\'s last appearance on the show in August last year

[06:03] Are corporate accelerators the future? ImpacTech\'s collaborations with large coorporations like Shell and Singtel

[08:23] Kineret shares the process behind ImpacTech\'s work with Shell

[11:53] The first five start ups selected for the ImpacTech program with Shell - hydrogen batteries for electric scooters, smart meters for utilities, wireless charging for busses and cars, more cost effective solar panels, smart tent for the homeless and energy panels for

different weathers

[14:42] The learning curve working with engineering startups - Kineret\'s background is in the service industry

[17:25] Shell\'s commitments to startups in this batch

[19:07] Why are large corporates like Shell investing resources into startups? What is in it for them?

[20:51] Are large corporates genuinely helping startups or just doing it for PR purposes? How can you tell?

[22:55] Kineret\'s thoughts on the growth of accelerator companies and the startup accelerator model in Singapore

[27:18] Singtel and ImpacTech\'s start up accelerator program \"Future Makers\" and what it involves

[28:25] The challenge of identifying the right startups and Kineret\'s strategy to overcome this

[30:47] The commitments between startups and Singtel for startups in the 4 month \"Future Makers\" program

[32:30] Kineret\'s secret methods of distinguishing a good startup from the rest

[34:12] The double bottom line - measuring the economics of na ImpacTech startup involves measuring the social impact created and the associated financial model associated

[35:14] How does Kineret measure the potential social impact of a startup?

[36:56] Kineret shares future plans for ImpacTech including expansions to Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan

[40:16] What kind of start ups is ImpacTech interested in?

[42:10] When would it be the best time for a start up to contact accelerator companies like ImpacTech?

[44:29] Get in touch with Kineret through her LinkedIn or website

Discover more tech podcasts like this: Tech Podcast Asia.

Produced by Pikkal & Co - Award Winning Podcast Agency.

[00:05] Welcome Blake Larson to Asia Tech Podcast Stories

[00:40] What exactly is Lalamove? How do consumers use this mobile app?

[02:45] In Bangkok, it costs $40 to move a parcel, which is the same price to hire a delivery driver for a day

[05:10] Lalamoves addresses the challenge of redundant inventory

[06:45] How does the trust aspect come into that? The number one thing Lalamove customers value the company for is its reliability

[08:40] Can you train people - from the provinces, who may not have an education or who may not be fully literate - to be great at customer service? Lalamove created a system that incentivises the behaviour the company wants

[12:15] Respect, income, and freedom - the three values Lalamove brings to their drivers. To what extent does driver-to-driver word-of-mouth help the company? Also, is it common for drivers who use Lalamove to use other platforms? One could be better off if it wasn\'t exclusive on both sides

[16:00] A quick look at Lalamove\'s published numbers of where they are right now - US$160 M in funding, 126 cities in 7 countries

[18:15] The dynamic on the ground is very different in each individual city - What is it like to do business in Ho Chi Minh for example? What\'s it like to be a foreign business coming into Vietnam and work with people who may not have a lot of experience working with foreigners? Empathy as an increasingly used approach to building a service business

[23:45] As Lalamove\'s MD International, what does Blake do? Does he force himself to go out there? Also, the idea about the training program conceived by Lalamove to make their culture stronger - making sure that as they grow quickly, they actually keep their feet on the ground

[28:30] How did Blake arrive at the day-to-day approach - his interpretation of strategy - as the right way to do it? Also, spending his first eight weeks for Rocket Internet in Hong Kong standing outside petrol stations handing out flyers to taxi drivers

[31:05] What did Blake learn from doing his market research at the petrol station? People make the internet to be way sexier than it is and it as a good reminder of humility despite his MBA and corporate background

[35:00] As a well-educated, successful and MBA-holding person who went well outside his comfort zone, what are Blake\'s formative experiences? Personal growth is so much more when the world becomes not about you and what you\'re trying to do and his love of feeling \"small\"

[39:50] How does Blake constantly challenge himself considering his position in Lalamove, a high-profile company? The risk gets higher but it\'s even higher if you don\'t do anything

[42:45] Coming from outside of Asia and working for a high-growth startup, is this kind of environment for everybody? What kind of people thrive in a place like Lalamove? The four values of the company - passion, grit, humility and execution

[47:05] Blake\'s advice for people who would interview about joining a startup - go talk to whoever the users or potential customers of a company are

[49:00] The story behind Blake making their new employees build their chairs, which symbolizes why Lalamove are the way they are as a company

Discover more tech podcasts like this: Tech Podcast Asia.

Produced by Pikkal & Co - Award Winning Podcast Agency.

[00:05] ATP640 - Asia Matters with Graham D Brown

[00:20] North Korean president Kim Jong-Un stepped across the parallel and shook hands with South Korean president Moon Jae-In - An image that defines the Asian Century about building bridges and not walls

[03:55] The historic summit between the two Koreas - a long road ahead and it may fail but what if it worked? Its similar implications and parallels with the fall of the Berlin Wall - the beginning of globalisation

[07:05] Growing up in an era where nuclear war was a real threat before the fall of the Berlin Wall blew away the old ways of thinking and shifted to looking at \"The East\" as opportunity

[08:35] It takes somebody to break the mould and push the boundaries - British pop singer Jessie J winning a talent competition in China equivalent to American Idol, the Beatles breaking into the US, Jack Ma taking his Chinese company Alibaba to The West

[14:50] Nobody cuts a red ribbon to open the Asian Century - defining history as a series of events like the Industrial Revolution, digital age, the British Century or American Century

[20:30] Nobody ever names these eras when they\'re happening, like the Reformation - In Germany, Martin Luther nailed his \"95 points\" on the door of a Catholic church who sold repentance, made a lot of money from this and exercised a lot of power, kicking off ideas like self-development, that you could make your life better

[27:05] What will the global media industry look like for kids growing up - what they think of as a music, movie industry is gonna be very different to what we understand

[32:20] If your most innovative people are focussed on trying to find better ways to connect, you\'re building the future - when you have a generation of people growing up where the default is to build connectivity and bridges, then you have the beginning of a new era

[36:40] Media conditioning us with wall-building narratives like the case of Fox News reinforcing its narrative towards Iran. But young people are malleable enough that these narratives don\'t stick - they will see an Asian region which builds bridges emotionally and physically

[41:35] America exercised its soft power in 1915 like what China is doing right now in 2018

[43:00] Who brokered the meeting between the two Koreas? Chinese leader Xi Jinping - China, not USA, is brokering power in Asia, politically reinforcing what is happening economically in the world

[45:10] The North and South Korean meeting is the image that would define the Asian Century - the point at which people\'s mindset shifted far enough that they thought the old way of looking at this old region was changed so far that it was broken

Discover more tech podcasts like this: Tech Podcast Asia.

Produced by Pikkal & Co - Award Winning Podcast Agency.

[00:10] Welcome Dan Waldschmidt of Edgy Conversations - international best-selling author, business strategist, speaker and extreme athlete to Ashley Talks

[01:00] What is the story of Dan? How did he arrive in Asia? The unfair advantage of being raised by strict parents who forced him to learn and be disciplined, reading 3,000 books and learning early on that he was good at growing businesses

[06:20] You have to love to learn with so much information out there - people make the mistake of getting locked in, \"I already know, I don\'t want your advice\", which holds them back from learning. But if you learn, there\'s so much greatness for you and no limit to your capability

[08:40] Business leaders don\'t set aside time to be quiet - take a step back and quietly look at what\'s really going on and also the unfortunate state of the human mind programmed to link several things together that should never be linked together - especially when you\'re having a bad day

[16:45] Giving Value - how do you put out a strategy about giving first but still staying profitable and growing? The example of a major software manufacturer in Silicon Valley giving value that eventually led to $300M in new revenue and how to create the Theater of Success to give value

[22:15] Being human - we\'re great at a lot of stuff, we\'re not robots, we make mistakes - but successful people hack that by using their flaws in humanity to help people achieve a high level of success - disrupting the \"stiffness\" of emails, resumes, by using curse words for people to get the sense that you meant it

[26:10] Who influenced Dan? How has he become so positive and is he always like that? Having that belief that his life was destined for greatness because he was unwilling to quit. Also, Dan using ultra-running as a way to stay in his mind, to be positive and realistic, and continue

[30:30] How did Dan start his blog? How impactful was it for his business and why does he keep going? Shifting his blogging from whatever he wanted to blog about into focusing on just one subject for a whole month to force himself to be disciplined and telling the story of Hollywood action star Sylvester Stallone in their blog

[35:25] How do you know you\'re doing the right thing? - Staying grounded to core principles and \"be, do, have\" as a template for successful people. Also, what are you willing to do to get to where you want to be? Examples of Dan\'s friends moving to the natural gas-rich North Dakota and of another friend who postponed her wedding for one extra year

[42:35] Why are there so few businessmen who are willing to go through those lengths? Because they don\'t need to. But you can create this need for change by having bigger goals than you\'re achieving right now or find yourself in a situation where you\'re forced to change

[44:15] Working across so many countries and continents, does Dan see that people perceive business success, the way these people approach doing business, and taking things to the next level differently? Culturally, we all think of success differently, but we\'re all looking for this feeling of significance. That is universal

[53:15] You can get Dan's book at freeedgybook.com for free,

Discover more tech podcasts like this: Tech Podcast Asia.

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[00:05] Welcome Daniel Fraser to Asia Tech Podcast Stories, hosted by Graham D Brown

[00:53] Daniel\'s first time in Asia in 1995 in a student exhange with the Thai Royal Family

[04:54] Graham\'s experience when he came to Asia in the summer of 1995

[07:17] Being neither expat nor tourist - how Daniel\'s first year in Thailand was a complete immersion in local Thai culture

[10:23] The second coming. Why did Daniel come back to Asia in 1999?

[13:49] Why did Daniel take the risk to build a business based on adventure travel and experience travel back in 1999?

[17:10] Daniel\'s story of coming back to Thailand in 1999 and the first few years, from oddjobs to tourist visa runs

[20:08] Thailand is now derisked compared to what it was. What was it like back then to start a business in Thailand as a foreigner?

[23:33] How did Daniel deal with the \'dark entrepreneurial days\', days when he felt like buying a flight ticket and going home?

[26:08] The fear of failure as a powerful motivator and how publicly stating your intentions will help entrepreneurs

[28:02] Daniel\'s experiences of being a \'white guy\' entrepreneur in Thailand back in 1999, from being in a rare club to living locally

[32:23] The tours initially offered by Daniel\'s adventure travel agency, from unexpectedly popular motorcycle tours to putting millionaires in little guesthouses in Northern Thailand

[37:10] Travel is about bridging worlds. All of the tours offered in the early days of the business came directly from the life Daniel was living at that time

[41:00] The new trend of luxury adventure travel and how it incorporates authentic local experiences

[43:07] Daniel\'s stint on Thai TV, hosting a travel culture documentary series \'Long Rat Yim\' in the Thai language

[47:05] How did Thai people react to a white guy talking about their culture and their country on TV?

[49:34] How Asian countries like Thailand are starting to see themselves from a global perspective

[51:30] All about planning to be lucky and how actually going somewhere would create an energy to seek out opportunities

[54:42] Daniel\'s advice for listeners thinking about coming to Asia. What does it take to be successful when leaving one world and starting in another?

[59:00] Get in touch with Daniel through his travel company Smiling Albino, facebook Daniel B Fraser, or watch him on the Thai TV program \'Long Rat Yim\' on Channel 3SD every Sunday evening at 4.30pm

Discover more tech podcasts like this: Tech Podcast Asia.

Produced by Pikkal & Co - Award Winning Podcast Agency.

[00:05] Welcome Julian Kwan to Asia Tech Podcast Founders in Asia with Jodie Collins

[01:25] How did Julian Kwan get into Asia? A backstory on Julian backpacking in and around Asia, studying in Beijing, then working in Shanghai on different jobs before moving onto real estate development and renovating a prosthetics factory in Shanghai

[06:35] Did Julian have any local partner to work with in the renovation of the prosthetics factory project? Turning it to a hotel, raising money from a big American entrepreneur, opening it, eventually signing up a couple of deals with real estate developers in China then expanding into other parts of Asia

[08:50] Did Julian move to Sri Lanka permanently for a project there? The challenges Julian faced in doing business at Sri Lanka

[12:00] How did Julian Kwan get started in Singapore? It's the best place to start a property tech business. Thinking where the investment comes from is critical

[15:05] What is Investacrowd? A real-estate financing company, a tech platform where global investors can access high-quality commercial real-estate investments - a diversification tool

[17:35] Did Julian develop the Investacrowd technology in Singapore? Expansion plans into adopting the blockchain technology and the shareholdings into the smart contracts instead of old paper contracts

[20:50] How did Julian develop the idea behind Investacrowd? What was his inspiration for starting the business and how did Julian transition from idea to making it happen?

[24:25] The huge sense of belief and 150% conviction that you need to have in starting a business. The dilemma startups face with an idea that's too early for the market (like real estate token exchanges)

[28:20] Does Julian see ICTX (Investacrowd Token), an extension of the Investacrowd business, as a pivot away from what he is doing?

[30:25] As the CEO, how does Julian balance out his team in terms of where their focus is on the existing business versus the new business? And how are the "old-world" real estate companies moving into the blockchain space?

[35:55] Being a business founder now working in an area that is moving at an extremely fast pace, how does Julian manage that from a health and time perspective?

[39:50] Asian companies don't support startups like Western companies do. Raising money from traditional sources is much harder in Asia than in The West - but is this situation changing in recent years?

[42:35] Where are the most interesting markets for property technology in Asia?

[44:30] Julian's tips for founders who are looking to move or are interested in Asia - find and go what's behind the curve; work in an accelerator or VC fund, see all the different things and come up with something of your own; understand the cost space; play the long game otherwise people won't work with you