Podcast highlights:

06:35 According to data from the Modern Language Association (MLA) in the United States, since 2016 the number of students at US universities studying Chinese in any form has gone down. How can we explain this given the relevance of China at the moment? -- In Australia the pattern is similar. Historical legacy is part of the reason, there is a shortage of qualified Mandarin teachers. This helps explain the lag in students studying Mandarin. So there are systemic factors at play too and not just purely political ones.

25:48 Tell us a bit about your day job focusing on millennials in China. What's that about? -- CEO and co-found of the China Australia Millennial Project (CAMP). We try to bridge the gap between Chinese and Australian innovators by running an incubator of sorts which puts 50 Chinese and 50 Australians into a 100 day learning program. We challenge them to build the next Uber, or the next Didi. We've had 300 people come through the program so far. It's really cool to see how diversity powers new insights. Each cohort is completely different; but you see commonalities in they all have a curious mindset and a desire to engage digitally.

40:00 In China right now how are young people approaching entrepreneurialism? -- It's important to remember there is not simply one type of Chinese millennial, and things differ a lot depending on geography, class, and even gender. Overall there is a shift where people no longer see government jobs as the ticket. There is still a long way to go before things really change, but you see signs it's beginning.

Podcast notes:

00:05 Welcome Andrea Myles, the #ChinaGeek, also co-founder and CEO of the China Australia Millennial Project to Asia Matters with host Graham Brown.

01:00 How did you earn the moniker #ChinaGeek? -- It's completely self-titled. The story starts in 2002 in New South Wales, Australia. Had never been overseas, so went off to China and backpacked across the country for three months...Beijing to Kashgar. Before this had very little China exposure; didn't speak Mandarin at all. This ended up being the trip of a lifetime considering that since then have gotten two Master's Degrees in Mandarin studies.

06:35 According to data from the Modern Language Association (MLA) in the United States, since 2016 the number of students at US universities studying Chinese in any form has gone down. How can we explain this given the relevance of China at the moment? -- In Australia the pattern is similar. Historical legacy is part of the reason, there is a shortage of qualified Mandarin teachers. This helps explain the lag in students studying Mandarin. So there are systemic factors at play too and not just purely political ones.

09:50 Are universities prepared today to nurture the talent of students who are China-curious? -- Universities are academic institutions and they often miss the practical element of studying a language. Take textbooks as an example, these tend to be extremely boring and fail to truly show what it's like to use Chinese in China. What's needed is to find ways to blend the experiences of Chinese international students with language learners on campus so everyone can benefit from the exposure this generates.

15:15 What's it like talking to people in Australia about your experiences in China? -- Mostly people's reaction when you try to explain modern China and what's going on is they say they didn't realize it was like that. China is endlessly fascinating. Consider there are 415 million millennials in China, if they were a nation unto themselves, they would be the world's third largest and they would be the most digitally engaged. In the next ten years the impact of this will be felt in the West.

22:30 Is there an appetite in China for non-native Chinese key opinion leaders (KOLs)? -- There is. It's certainly seen as something different versus b...

Podcast highlights:

02:40 Let's put this very interesting podcast conversation in the context: William runs an accelerator. Sebastien runs a startup which was part of the accelerator program and now in scale up phase, and me as the podcast host, as well as, accelerator mentor....

10:07 What's the difference between being a founder and entrepreneur? William Bao Bean , General Partner at SOSV, Managing Director at Chinaccelerator and MOX explains why founders have to be entrepreneurs. There can't be one without the other. Most normal people don't put all their eggs in one basket. They don't quit their jobs, use up all their savings to try and do something that has not been done before. Entrepreneurs take risks to try change the world and make a significant difference. They are trying to change the way things are being done.

11:33 Nishtha - "People often ask me if being an entrepreneur is in the DNA or can be learnt". William: "We are part of a long term study. HPDI. Shows how you make decisions. How you make trade offs. People are pre disposed to being risk takers. Opposite of that is like a CTO. We don't take too many risk mitigators in our start ups because working for a start up drives you nuts. We invest in people who are kind of crazy and we use the accelerator program to filter out the insane ones"

13:53 In the Making podcast is a great opportunity to say thank you to many who contributed to your journey and success and how they shaped you. We don't say enough thank you's. This is a great moment to share with the listeners...

23:05 What are the factors that contribute to a successful acceleration of a start up or acceleration of a new service/product?

1. EXPERIMENTATION. The first factor is being open to coaching and experimentation. Other factors include persistence. There might be a lot of failures but still you have to keep smashing your head against the wall over and over again. We try very hard to not tell our companies what to do. But we make a lot of suggestions on what to try. And people who are willing to jump off the cliff and try a bunch of new things, even if in the heart of their hearts they think it might not work, nonetheless they try are often the ones who succeed.

2. NOT GIVING UP. So it takes a certain type of personality to try lots and lots of different things over and over again that don't work, becuase in the end you are trying to solve a problem that hasn't been solved before or isnt being solved properly so you are trying to come up with a better solution.

3. THE RIGHT TEAM. Team is what we look at. It's not always about the product. The founder has to be passionate enough to make these first two factors work

27:09 In the making of any new innovation- product or service is about failures too. Any examples?

Sebastien: The fact that i picked up the set of team that i did at start, was a failure. It didn't let us go through this iterations, adaptations and learn and develop fast enough. It took us 2 years to come to the DNA of where we are now. Ofcourse we learnt a lot in this period. But we lost time. Team was too young and not complimentary enough.

William: My first startup was a pretty low point. I took my own money and couple of friends while i was still at Soft Bank. First mistake - doing a startup without being 100% focussed. Second mistake - the team combo. Third mistake - I was a bad CEO.

33:10 Sebastien Gaudin , CEO & Co-founder at The CareVoice and William share three tips for start ups to totally avoid to fall in the pit of failure. Few -

"Opinions are like noses. Everyone has them. Take opinions under advise-ment. You need to know when to apply and where and use that to drive your experiments. and make decisions based on data as opposed to somebody's opinion"

Podcast highlights:

02:40 Stuart talks about Rock Human Devices, a Singapore-based company building tough, well-designed medical devices - starting with hearing loss

22:10 What was Dyson really all about? Ultra-high performance first before aesthetics. Also, the backstory behind Dyson Supersonic hair dryer

37:35 Stuart says Rock Human Devices will eventually become a software company that has the hardware that the software runs on. Also, he talks about developing a prosthetic limb with machine learning

Podcast notes:

00:05 PIT - Stuart Kerr - Rock Human Devices - The Pitch

01:40 What is the point of The Pitch?

02:40 Stuart talks about Rock Human Devices, a Singapore-based company building tough, well-designed medical devices - starting with hearing loss

08:15 Stuart and Graham have a look at a functioning prototype of the hearing-aid glasses. How much does it cost to make one? Also, will the hearing-aid glasses be regulated and medically certified soon?

14:15 How did Stuart fund the making of the hearing-aid glass prototypes? What were the assumptions challenged when he did the trial with 25 people?

17:05 How light is the prototype? Also, why hasn't this been done already?

18:30 Stuart studied electronic engineering at Strathclyde and robotics in Japan, worked in Japan developing machines used in particle accelerators in CERN and SUPERKEKB, then worked for Singapore-based startup Pirate 3D in launching a 3D printer, then joined Dyson

22:10 What was Dyson really all about? Ultra-high performance first before aesthetics. Also, the backstory behind Dyson Supersonic hair dryer

27:35 Dyson develops core technology that solves very fundamental problems with how people interact with machines. So why wouldn't companies start with that thought - "this is the problem the customer has. What is the best way of solving it?"

33:00 When Stuart was prototyping the hearing aid glasses, how did he keep it lean? Did he consciously not go out and recruit or was he so busy doing the thing?

35:20 After receiving funding, what's next for Stuart and Rock Human Devices? What would be the value of that to another company? Can Rock Human Devices become the Dyson or Apple of the medical device world, or IPO?

37:35 Stuart says Rock Human Devices will eventually become a software company that has the hardware that the software runs on. Also, he talks about developing a prosthetic limb with machine learning

44:40 Contact Stuart on Linkedin here https://sg.linkedin.com/in/stuart-kerr-35a79449

Podcast highlights:

04:55 After you founded WellteQ, is that when you decided to move to Asia? -- Basically yes. In the early feedback we received, we understood we had a good idea but were lacking in the tech department. So we moved to Singapore with the goal of hiring from among the region's best tech minds. My background is not in technology, so we knew we had to go where we could find people to in-source and help us in this regard. Ultimately this led us to Singapore in 2014.

37:00 So then what are some of the challenges you've faced as you built the business? -- Getting talent is not easy, especially when you're operating in a large regional environment. Time pressures may force you to settle on people who are not quite right. Maybe this works out, but it often doesn't. Another big challenge is learning to differentiate between the opportunities you should really spend time on and what are the ones best to say no to.

42:45 Is the business you're doing now the same as what you set out to do four years ago? Or have you pivoted? -- Our overall goal remains the same. We want to connect millions of people to health improvement using technology. The tools we use are not necessarily what we thought we would be using when we started, yet here we are. The only sure thing with any business plan is that you're not going to adhere to it 100%.

Podcast notes:

00:05 Welcome Scott Montgomery, CEO and co-founder at WellteQ to Founders in Asia with Jodie Collins.

00:42 Can you tell the listeners a bit about your backstory? -- Based in Singapore for the past four years with WellteQ, which was founded in 2013 in Perth, Australia. Started in the health sector in the early 2000s in New Zealand and worked there with New Zealand rugby player Tana Umaga. After this worked in the health insurance industry for a year before moving to Australia.

04:55 After you founded WellteQ, is that when you decided to move to Asia? -- Basically yes. In the early feedback we received, we understood we had a good idea but were lacking in the tech department. So we moved to Singapore with the goal of hiring from among the region's best tech minds. My background is not in technology, so we knew we had to go where we could find people to in-source and help us in this regard. Ultimately this led us to Singapore in 2014.

06:55 Is most of your team based in Singapore then? -- The majority is, yes. We are headquartered here and all our global clients are serviced from here. We recognized we needed to be in a location where other major companies had their operations. So between Singapore and Hong Kong, we knew these were the major centers of Asian business. For us the proximity to our original base in Australia led us naturally to choose Singapore for our operations.

12:00 Who tend to be your clients? Are we talking about large regional and multinational conglomerates? -- For us there is a mix. Certainly the low-hanging fruit are the big multinationals. We are starting to see more locally grown and established companies taking interest in ways of managing employee health and wellness. We do a lot of business in Australia, have a growing interest in the Philippines and India, and less so in the China; but we are hoping to open this market as well.

14:27 How much of the growth in business do you think is attributable to rising stress levels across the region? -- Stress is definitely a big one. Some countries are very forward-thinking in terms of promoting employee well-being. In Asia, the culture is still very much centered around the idea employees don't leave before their boss. We do observe changing attitudes, in particular among the younger generations, who are looking to essentially be their own boss. They want to control their own destinies.

18:30 Take us through the process of actually how you got started in Singapore.

Podcast highlights:

04:55 After you founded WellteQ, is that when you decided to move to Asia? -- Basically yes. In the early feedback we received, we understood we had a good idea but were lacking in the tech department. So we moved to Singapore with the goal of hiring from among the region's best tech minds. My background is not in technology, so we knew we had to go where we could find people to in-source and help us in this regard. Ultimately this led us to Singapore in 2014.

37:00 So then what are some of the challenges you've faced as you built the business? -- Getting talent is not easy, especially when you're operating in a large regional environment. Time pressures may force you to settle on people who are not quite right. Maybe this works out, but it often doesn't. Another big challenge is learning to differentiate between the opportunities you should really spend time on and what are the ones best to say no to.

42:45 Is the business you're doing now the same as what you set out to do four years ago? Or have you pivoted? -- Our overall goal remains the same. We want to connect millions of people to health improvement using technology. The tools we use are not necessarily what we thought we would be using when we started, yet here we are. The only sure thing with any business plan is that you're not going to adhere to it 100%.

Podcast notes:

00:05 Welcome Scott Montgomery, CEO and co-founder at WellteQ to Founders in Asia with Jodie Collins.

00:42 Can you tell the listeners a bit about your backstory? -- Based in Singapore for the past four years with WellteQ, which was founded in 2013 in Perth, Australia. Started in the health sector in the early 2000s in New Zealand and worked there with New Zealand rugby player Tana Umaga. After this worked in the health insurance industry for a year before moving to Australia.

04:55 After you founded WellteQ, is that when you decided to move to Asia? -- Basically yes. In the early feedback we received, we understood we had a good idea but were lacking in the tech department. So we moved to Singapore with the goal of hiring from among the region's best tech minds. My background is not in technology, so we knew we had to go where we could find people to in-source and help us in this regard. Ultimately this led us to Singapore in 2014.

06:55 Is most of your team based in Singapore then? -- The majority is, yes. We are headquartered here and all our global clients are serviced from here. We recognized we needed to be in a location where other major companies had their operations. So between Singapore and Hong Kong, we knew these were the major centers of Asian business. For us the proximity to our original base in Australia led us naturally to choose Singapore for our operations.

12:00 Who tend to be your clients? Are we talking about large regional and multinational conglomerates? -- For us there is a mix. Certainly the low-hanging fruit are the big multinationals. We are starting to see more locally grown and established companies taking interest in ways of managing employee health and wellness. We do a lot of business in Australia, have a growing interest in the Philippines and India, and less so in the China; but we are hoping to open this market as well.

14:27 How much of the growth in business do you think is attributable to rising stress levels across the region? -- Stress is definitely a big one. Some countries are very forward-thinking in terms of promoting employee well-being. In Asia, the culture is still very much centered around the idea employees don't leave before their boss. We do observe changing attitudes, in particular among the younger generations, who are looking to essentially be their own boss. They want to control their own destinies.

18:30 Take us through the process of actually how you got started in Singapore.

Podcast highlights:

02:40 Stuart talks about Rock Human Devices, a Singapore-based company building tough, well-designed medical devices - starting with hearing loss

22:10 What was Dyson really all about? Ultra-high performance first before aesthetics. Also, the backstory behind Dyson Supersonic hair dryer

37:35 Stuart says Rock Human Devices will eventually become a software company that has the hardware that the software runs on. Also, he talks about developing a prosthetic limb with machine learning

Podcast notes:

00:05 PIT - Stuart Kerr - Rock Human Devices - The Pitch

01:40 What is the point of The Pitch?

02:40 Stuart talks about Rock Human Devices, a Singapore-based company building tough, well-designed medical devices - starting with hearing loss

08:15 Stuart and Graham have a look at a functioning prototype of the hearing-aid glasses. How much does it cost to make one? Also, will the hearing-aid glasses be regulated and medically certified soon?

14:15 How did Stuart fund the making of the hearing-aid glass prototypes? What were the assumptions challenged when he did the trial with 25 people?

17:05 How light is the prototype? Also, why hasn't this been done already?

18:30 Stuart studied electronic engineering at Strathclyde and robotics in Japan, worked in Japan developing machines used in particle accelerators in CERN and SUPERKEKB, then worked for Singapore-based startup Pirate 3D in launching a 3D printer, then joined Dyson

22:10 What was Dyson really all about? Ultra-high performance first before aesthetics. Also, the backstory behind Dyson Supersonic hair dryer

27:35 Dyson develops core technology that solves very fundamental problems with how people interact with machines. So why wouldn't companies start with that thought - "this is the problem the customer has. What is the best way of solving it?"

33:00 When Stuart was prototyping the hearing aid glasses, how did he keep it lean? Did he consciously not go out and recruit or was he so busy doing the thing?

35:20 After receiving funding, what's next for Stuart and Rock Human Devices? What would be the value of that to another company? Can Rock Human Devices become the Dyson or Apple of the medical device world, or IPO?

37:35 Stuart says Rock Human Devices will eventually become a software company that has the hardware that the software runs on. Also, he talks about developing a prosthetic limb with machine learning

44:40 Contact Stuart at https://sg.linkedin.com/in/stuart-kerr-35a79449

Podcast highlights:

00:55 Tell us more about Makeblock -- Makeblock is a company whose aim is to help people create. Often people have an idea but need help on the mechanical, software, or electronics side of things. What we do is provide a platform to unify these elements and help people create.

12:15 What advice would you offer people in terms of how to get started? What things do you think are necessary to be successful in this field? -- You have to have an interest in what you're doing. Running a business is very very hard, so having that interest is important. Another recommendation is think differently. Many people fail because they just try to copy what someone else is doing and don't bring new ideas and products to market.

51:30 If you can leave listeners with some wisdom, what would it be? -- Do things that help people remain in the physical world. Keep building and creating!

Podcast notes:

NOTE: This episode contains explicit language.

00:05 Welcome Jasen Wang, Founder and CEO of Makeblock to Ashley Talks with Ashley Galina Dudarenok.

00:55 Tell us more about Makeblock -- Makeblock is a company whose aim is to help people create. Often people have an idea but need help on the mechanical, software, or electronics side of things. What we do is provide a platform to unify these elements and help people create.

01:50 The robots people create with Makeblock, can they actually be functional? -- Yes. Our platform has macro-parts that are strong and can be used in many situations. Mostly our robots are used for educational purposes, though.

02:50 Tell us about your personal journey. -- Learned design at university with the dream of becoming an aircraft designer. While doing a Master's degree, developed an interest in robotics. After graduating, moved to Shenzhen for the many opportunities there. Had an interest to start own company doing something with robotics.

06:40 Has your family supported you along the way? Are there other entrepreneurs in your family? -- A very normal family. Parents live in a very small town where they are farmers. There was not much help they could provide in terms of my career. They supported my decisions, however, and allowed me to do what I wanted to do.

08:06 Did you always have success at Makeblock or were there challenging times? -- In the very beginning, things were very hard. In the first three months, you have a lot of passion because you've just started the journey; but after there were problems and difficulties with financing in the first year.

10:55 How long has it taken you to reach your current level at Makeblock? -- Left first job in 2007 to join the incubator HAX. It was in 2012 where the first big steps towards Makeblock occured when we raised US$6 million in our Series A funding cycle. In 2017, we closed a US$30 million round.

12:15 What advice would you offer people in terms of how to get started? What things do you think are necessary to be successful in this field? -- You have to have an interest in what you're doing. Running a business is very very hard, so having that interest is important. Another recommendation is think differently. Many people fail because they just try to copy what someone else is doing and don't bring new ideas and products to market.

15:25 How do you see the market right now embracing your product? -- What we see is that STEM education is really taking off in China. The Chinese Ministry of Education is really putting focus on STEM and also on making. In China alone the market for STEM education is estimated to be worth US$8 trillion. Makeblock is now a leading STEM education company. This is a great opportunity for us. Right now our sales are about 30% within China and 70% outside China. Our other big markets are in America, France, Japan, Germany, and the UK.

19:18 One of the things you do is push your staff to...

Podcast highlights:

01:45 Tony Mai founder of Compliy, elaborates how their AI powered regulatory interpretation platform helps manage financial regulatory change

09:08 What kind of skills are needed in a team? - Tony Mai explains the manpower needed to develop an usable AI product

12:06 Tony Mai shares how he started his journey of being a serial entrepreneur at the age of 19. What did he learn from yo Karaoke business? Tony shares his learning journey and business hacks

Podcast highlights:

00:55 Tell us more about Makeblock -- Makeblock is a company whose aim is to help people create. Often people have an idea but need help on the mechanical, software, or electronics side of things. What we do is provide a platform to unify these elements and help people create.

12:15 What advice would you offer people in terms of how to get started? What things do you think are necessary to be successful in this field? -- You have to have an interest in what you're doing. Running a business is very very hard, so having that interest is important. Another recommendation is think differently. Many people fail because they just try to copy what someone else is doing and don't bring new ideas and products to market.

51:30 If you can leave listeners with some wisdom, what would it be? -- Do things that help people remain in the physical world. Keep building and creating!

Podcast notes:

NOTE: This episode contains explicit language.

00:05 Welcome Jasen Wang, Founder and CEO of Makeblock to Ashley Talks with Ashley Galina Dudarenok.

00:55 Tell us more about Makeblock -- Makeblock is a company whose aim is to help people create. Often people have an idea but need help on the mechanical, software, or electronics side of things. What we do is provide a platform to unify these elements and help people create.

01:50 The robots people create with Makeblock, can they actually be functional? -- Yes. Our platform has macro-parts that are strong and can be used in many situations. Mostly our robots are used for educational purposes, though.

02:50 Tell us about your personal journey. -- Learned design at university with the dream of becoming an aircraft designer. While doing a Master's degree, developed an interest in robotics. After graduating, moved to Shenzhen for the many opportunities there. Had an interest to start own company doing something with robotics.

06:40 Has your family supported you along the way? Are there other entrepreneurs in your family? -- A very normal family. Parents live in a very small town where they are farmers. There was not much help they could provide in terms of my career. They supported my decisions, however, and allowed me to do what I wanted to do.

08:06 Did you always have success at Makeblock or were there challenging times? -- In the very beginning, things were very hard. In the first three months, you have a lot of passion because you've just started the journey; but after there were problems and difficulties with financing in the first year.

10:55 How long has it taken you to reach your current level at Makeblock? -- Left first job in 2007 to join the incubator HAX. It was in 2012 where the first big steps towards Makeblock occured when we raised US$6 million in our Series A funding cycle. In 2017, we closed a US$30 million round.

12:15 What advice would you offer people in terms of how to get started? What things do you think are necessary to be successful in this field? -- You have to have an interest in what you're doing. Running a business is very very hard, so having that interest is important. Another recommendation is think differently. Many people fail because they just try to copy what someone else is doing and don't bring new ideas and products to market.

15:25 How do you see the market right now embracing your product? -- What we see is that STEM education is really taking off in China. The Chinese Ministry of Education is really putting focus on STEM and also on making. In China alone the market for STEM education is estimated to be worth US$8 trillion. Makeblock is now a leading STEM education company. This is a great opportunity for us. Right now our sales are about 30% within China and 70% outside China. Our other big markets are in America, France, Japan, Germany, and the UK.

19:18 One of the things you do is push your staff to...

Podcast highlights:

02:40 Stuart talks about Rock Human Devices, a Singapore-based company building tough, well-designed medical devices - starting with hearing loss

22:10 What was Dyson really all about? Ultra-high performance first before aesthetics. Also, the backstory behind Dyson Supersonic hair dryer

37:35 Stuart says Rock Human Devices will eventually become a software company that has the hardware that the software runs on. Also, he talks about developing a prosthetic limb with machine learning

Podcast notes:

00:05 PIT - Stuart Kerr - Rock Human Devices - The Pitch

01:40 What is the point of The Pitch?

02:40 Stuart talks about Rock Human Devices, a Singapore-based company building tough, well-designed medical devices - starting with hearing loss

08:15 Stuart and Graham have a look at a functioning prototype of the hearing-aid glasses. How much does it cost to make one? Also, will the hearing-aid glasses be regulated and medically certified soon?

14:15 How did Stuart fund the making of the hearing-aid glass prototypes? What were the assumptions challenged when he did the trial with 25 people?

17:05 How light is the prototype? Also, why hasn't this been done already?

18:30 Stuart studied electronic engineering at Strathclyde and robotics in Japan, worked in Japan developing machines used in particle accelerators in CERN and SUPERKEKB, then worked for Singapore-based startup Pirate 3D in launching a 3D printer, then joined Dyson

22:10 What was Dyson really all about? Ultra-high performance first before aesthetics. Also, the backstory behind Dyson Supersonic hair dryer

27:35 Dyson develops core technology that solves very fundamental problems with how people interact with machines. So why wouldn't companies start with that thought - "this is the problem the customer has. What is the best way of solving it?"

33:00 When Stuart was prototyping the hearing aid glasses, how did he keep it lean? Did he consciously not go out and recruit or was he so busy doing the thing?

35:20 After receiving funding, what's next for Stuart and Rock Human Devices? What would be the value of that to another company? Can Rock Human Devices become the Dyson or Apple of the medical device world, or IPO?

37:35 Stuart says Rock Human Devices will eventually become a software company that has the hardware that the software runs on. Also, he talks about developing a prosthetic limb with machine learning

44:40 Contact Stuart at https://sg.linkedin.com/in/stuart-kerr-35a79449