Wayne Farmer is the Managing Partner of a boutique advisory firm and a private-markets professional with fifteen years of originating, leading and structuring pan-Asia investment transactions and selected cross-border / global deals. His focus on the Southeast Asian and China markets gives him a unique perspective on the macro drivers of growth and development in these dynamic markets.

We started our conversation with Simon Dixon back in 2006, when Simon was first introduced to the concepts of Bitcoin. After a few years in the world of investment banking and brokerage, he set out to write a book on the future of money and banking. He was introduced to the concepts of Bitcoin through the writings of Jonathan James Harrison and was immediately convinced that this was the future of money and the store of value. Simon’s knowledge of finance, economics and all things bitcoin come out in this conversation. We had a fascinating look at the ownership of your own money and, among other things how depositing your money in a bank cedes this ownership and allows banks to legally take ownership of its deposits and then do what they will with it. The implications of this are far reaching with one of the consequences being the boom and bust cycles we see in the global economy.

Is Singapore the best startup city in Asia? According to our ATP Vote Singapore is, followed closley by Hong Kong then Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai. In this week’s ATP Graham and Michael discuss what makes Singapore a world leader in tech ecosystems as well as plans to take the radio show to Singapore end of November, early December. Listen in to our latest analysis of the Asian tech ecosystem and tour schedule.

Rina Neoh has more than 20 years of experience in both the corporate and entrepreneurial world. With a solid foundation in BS Computer Science and a keen business sense acquired through an overseas MBA, Rina has delivered multi-million dollar returns from small business enterprises, which she has incubated, coached, invested in or promoted. Rina’s years of investing experience has taught her many things, not the least of which is that the ability to work with someone is paramount. Relationships matter and investing for her and her team is about building a long term working relationship with Founders.

Podcast highlights:

Introduction to muru-D Singapore

What is the role of accelerators like muru-D in Southeast Asia? What value can corporates like Singtel/Telstra add to the accelerator space that's not already being covered by traditional setups?

What makes Singapore an excellent jumping off point for startups who want to go global?

Podcast notes:

Paul Meyers is currently the Head of the Southeast Asian business for muru-D, which is impressive in and of itself. But there is so much more to his story. After moving out to San Francisco post college and building his eponymous media and production company, Paul travelled to Asia in 1995 and has remained ever since. His experience in building and running media properties included animation, live streaming television, music and listing a company on Nasdaq. Paul has worked with or built some of the most well known brands and media properties in the the world. His involvement as a business founder, builder, mentor and advisor is substantial and makes him insanely qualified to lead one of the most forward thinking accelerators in Southeast Asia.

Tony Verb wanted to be the mayor…inspired by Sim City 2000, he was fascinated by urbanization, city building and innovation. He now gets to put all of his interests together as the co-Founder of GreaterBay Ventures & Advisors. Building upon years of experience and research, Tony rightfully believes there is a massive opportunity as the re-branded Pearl River Delta integrates the economies of 9 cities in Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macau…Tony believes that cities should not be built with an individualistic view, but should focus on the overall ecosystem. Tony takes a special interest in the blockchain, autonomous electric vehicles and smart urbanization.

Jasper Donat is tireless. He would have to be to have accomplished what he and his team have done since launching Branded back in 2002. In what seems a lifetime ago, the team was slowly, but surely preparing for and building towards media convergence and 'direct to fan’ interactions. Built on the idea that connections matter, Jasper created the Matters series of events (including the All That Matters festival), It's a Girl Thing and is co-producer of the FanFest. We talked about how branded content allows creators to talk to and interact directly with fans, how to use the influencer model and how this builds and strengthens the relationships between stars, athletes, etc with their fans. In this realm, as in life, consistency and authenticity are key. Jasper also noted that all of the media they create also has a purpose and positive message.

Dana Blouin is a friend and self proclaimed Super Villain. Frankly, I am not sure what that means.

I have known Dana for years and somewhere between his persona and his personality lies an amazing man, deeply intelligent, highly technically skilled and unrelenting in his passionate pursuit of all things media and technology. Dana has been involved in the confluence of online media, digital distribution and deep tech for over 15 years. Oh, did I also mention that he is an MMA referee and has actually stepped into the ring (octagon?) to fight as well? Let’s just say that Dana truly has many talents…and one of those talents that simply can not be overlooked is his innate desire to help others.

Dana and I had a candid conversation about digital media including the use of data to better understand topic selection, production length, distribution channels and methodology and monetization models. Dana knows his stuff and we often try to find ways to collaborate and share ideas. I always enjoy talking with him…new ideas always emerge.

Jim Sailor has almost two decades of experience doing market and marketing research for some of the world's largest brands. Even more interesting is that he has done most of that work and built most of that business in China. Jim studied Mandarin Chinese before it was cool and it has come in handy in his life’s endeavors. Jim has studied Behavioral Science and is applying it to better understand ‘risk perception’ and its application to the adoption of new technologies. Learning how this application helps his clients make better business decisions alone was very interesting, but we covered much more ground than that.

Gang Lu has a MSc and PhD in Wireless Communications and he is a true passionate believer in technology and the internet.  Almost 10 years ago, he started blogging about technology in China and Asia as a hobby and was spending so much time and effort doing so, that he decided to turn his passion into a business.  While still based in the U.K., he began building Mobinode in earnest and turned it into the business we know as technode.com  today.

Technode is the leading technology and internet focused blog in China and is published in both Mandarin and English.  Gang’s vision is to continue to provide a bridge between China’s startups, angel investors, venture capitalists and the entire entrepreneurial community to the rest of the world.  During this conversation Gang shared his experiences, ups and downs and entrepreneurial journey with us.  A fascinating look inside the world of media, partnerships and blogging in China.