Asia Tech Podcast

By Michael Waitze Media

All Things Asia, All Things Tech... more

· Technology

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FAQs about Asia Tech Podcast:

How many episodes does Asia Tech Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 405 episodes available.

Asia Tech Podcast episodes:

March 01, 2022EP 182 - Dylan Ng - CEO of LionsBot - Let's Make Cleaning Robots
The Asia Tech Podcast spoke to Dylan Ng, the CEO of LionsBot International. LionsBot grew out of the realization that there was a need for better and more powerful cleaning robots.
Some of the topics that Dyland and I discussed:
Founding his first company, SuperSteam Asia Pacific with his wife, Michelle Seow

Snowballed into the largest cleaning equipment distributor in Singapore

As time passed, fewer people wanted to do cleaning work

Was initially against using robots to clean

How he and Michelle changed their minds about robots

Traveled all over the world looking for the best robots to import

Being underwhelmed with what he found - too big and too expensive

Getting a call from Professor Rajesh Elara Mohan from Singapore University of Technology and Design

Professor Mohan had already taken one of their cleaning machines and added robotics to it

Quickly decided to start a robotics company together and build cleaning robots

Started with 5 engineers and will likely have almost 300 by year-end 2022

The reaction to the robots from the human cleaners was surprising

Who is the competition
Other titles we considered for this episode:
What If This Could Be Automated?

You Have So Many Tomorrows

All Roads Led To the Same Destination, Robots

The First Reaction Is Exhaustion

Humans Are Best for Creative Tasks
...more
36min
February 22, 2022EP 181 - Ewan Davis - Partner at Quadria Capital - Southeast Asia Is Just Compelling as a Region
The Asia Tech Podcast was joined by Ewan Davis, a Partner at Quadria Capital. If you are in the Healthcare space in South and Southeast Asia, you should get to know the team at Quadria. Quadria Capital has more than $2BN of assets under management and focuses on partnering with promising healthcare companies to help them grow into regional leaders.
Some of the topics that Ewan covered:
Studying Engineering at Oxford as part of a larger plan

Joining the investment banking ranks for 10 years

Leaving his job without much of a plan

Joining Quadria Capital and investing in healthcare companies across Southeast Asia

The importance of mentors and mentoring

Investing in growth while also managing through the growth of Quadria

Having empathy for Quadria's portfolio companies

Healthcare Services, Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences, Medical Devices and Technology, and Associated Healthcare Services

Being large investors in hospitals and having a front-row view on the impact of COVID

The acceleration of telemedicine

Solving the problem of healthcare accessibility across the region

Quadria's investment into Con Cung in Vietnam
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
I Wouldn’t Go Back

At Best I’ve Considered One of Those Three

The Grey-Haired Wizards

HealthCare Is a Vast Sector

The Easy Part Is Spending the Money
...more
38min
February 19, 2022EP 180 - William Li - CEO of Akulaku - They're Punished Because They're Poor
The Asia Tech Podcast hosted William Li, the CEO of Akulaku, which recently announced a $100MM investment from Thailand's Siam Commercial Bank. Akulaku is a digital finance platform that includes credit and e-commerce, wealth management, and digital banking (via Bank Neo Commerce).
Some of the topics that William covered:
The founding of Akulaku as an outgrowth of a remittance business in Hong Kong

Built the remittance business for the overseas workers of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh

Training as a lawyer

Getting a Master's Degree at Washington and Lee

Getting exposure to many businesses as part of the investment team at Ping An

Entrepreneurship was not a natural path

The vision of Akulaku and how it evolved

The realization that affordable and accessible financial services can help a lot of people

Pivoting from a remittance business to a lending business when they had very little cash left

Acquiring a bank in Indonesia and completely restructuring it

Lebron James or Steph Curry as a model for business
Other titles we considered for this episode:
It's Really a Giant Leap

Go Deep Also Means Go Big

People Who Believe In Data and Machine Learning Finally Win
...more
33min
February 15, 2022EP 179 - Jakob Angele - CEO APAC at foodpanda - It’s Such a Complicated Optimization Problem
The Asia Tech Podcast really appreciated the conversation we had with Jakob Angele, the CEO APAC at foodpanda. Jakob has been with foodpanda since its earliest days and his insights reflect a deeply embedded knowledge of the company. You can tell in his voice that he really cares about this company and its mission.
Some of the topics Jakob discussed:
Studying physics at university

Working at McKinsey & Company and what it taught him about management

Decision Making, Stakeholder Management, Conceptual Frameworks, Perfectionism, and Clean Communication

The pros and cons of moving to a startup from a consulting company

Joining foodpanda during its earliest days (when no investor wanted to invest)

How the foodpanda business model is very technology-intensive

Business growth was slow at the beginning as consumers and restaurants did not see the value

Getting purchased by Delivery Hero in 2016

Managing through hyper-growth

Southeast Asia's regional diversity and market inconsistencies

Hyper-localization in Asia and hyper-decentralized management
Other titles we considered for this episode:
It's Like a Very Fragile System

The First Thing You Always Do Is Prioritize

You Have a Fire In the Opposite Corner of the Room

We Can Still Run Lightning Fast

The Willingness To Make Decisions Fast

How Can We Help Develop the Ecosystem?

Everybody Consumes Food 120 Times Per Month
...more
34min
February 11, 2022EP 178 - Denise Kee - CEO at Xtremax - The Reporter and the Salesperson Are Quite Similar
Denise Kee seems to look at life through a very positive lens. The conversation Asia Tech Podcast had with her was no different. We smiled a lot during our chat...and I got the sense that her positive attitude also spills over into the culture that has been built at Xtremax, where Denise is the CEO.
Some of the topics that Denise discussed:
Worked as a journalist for Reuters and Bloomberg

Earned a Master's Degree in Journalism from Northwestern University

Xtremax was founded by her now-husband, James Leong, in 2003

Innovative ways to solve tech-talent hiring in Singapore

Finally joining James at Xtremax as Creative Director

Initially focused on usability and user experience

Her sales philosophy

The team's first experience with AWS - a playground to build things in the cloud

Solving a large and complicated problem for the Government of Singapore

Throwing away their own servers and moving everything to the cloud
Other titles we considered for this episode:
We Like to Fact-check

Life Is Really About Experience

What Is the Core Problem They Are Trying to Solve?

I Know How to Ask Questions

Everyone's Going to the Cloud

Feeling the Vibrations Before Everyone Else

The Whole Cloud Is API-Driven

When It’s API-Driven, Magic Can Happen

Rainy Days Are My Favorite
...more
39min
February 08, 2022EP 177 - Wouter Delbaere - CEO at Mangtas - Our Vendors Are Our Product
Wouter Delbaere, a co-Founder and the CEO at Mangtas, was such a great guest. With a world of experience and a very unique background, it was a pleasure to have him as a guest on the Asia Tech Podcast. As a business services platform, Mangtas aims to make business outsourcing available for all.
Some of the topics that Wouter and I discussed:
Being born in Congo and growing up in 10 different countries

Witnessing genocide in Rwanda

How playing team sports can help one integrate into almost any geography

His most formative years were on Negros Island in the Philippines

Being fluent in Cebuano

Starting Mangtas in the middle of the pandemic

Making Mangtas an equal-opportunity platform and why this is important

The necessity of having reviews linked to specific project deliverables

Outsourcing via strategic partnerships for the long-term

Gathering data to help service providers and clients make better decisions
Some things I got wrong or could not remember during this episode:
Shenzen's population growth statistics

The league in which the New York Cosmos played
Some other titles we considered:
It's a Universal Language

There Are Several Layers To This

A Lot of Projects Fail Because the Clients Are Not Ready

We Set Ourselves Up as an Ecosystem

We Love Nothing More Than Third-Party Integration
...more
43min
February 01, 2022EP 176 - Geir Windsvoll - co-Founder Panya Studios - How Will These Economies Start to Interact?
The Asia Tech Podcast really appreciated having Geir Windsvoll sit with us in the studio at True Digital Park. Geir is a Founding Partner of Santora Nakama and a co-Founder and the CEO of Panya Studios. Panya Studios is a Web 3.0 studio building P2P Games, Live Shopping for the metaverse, and other projects leveraging unique assets. Geir is also one of the most thoughtful entrepreneurs that I have met.
Some of the topics that we covered:
Raising funds while in an apartment and then from the beach during the early part of the pandemic

Actually going back to the same island where he originally lived in Thailand 14 years ago

Finally moving back to Koh Pha Ngan

The island has become very international with a big blockchain emphasis

Why he believes there is a huge opportunity for Thailand to build remote ecosystems

ICOs, CryptoKitties and the birth of NFTs

The rise and fall of Panya's original trivia show

Using gamification to pivot to live shopping

Diving deeper into Non-Fungible Tokens and how they change the game for Web 3.0

Cultural literacy and cultural inclusion

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)
Other titles we considered for this episode:
Fast and Painful Years

You Don’t Need to Have That On Your Bucket List

I Feel Like I Am Home Again

We Thought It Would Be Easy

Am I Really That Bad At Explaining Things?

Content Is Still King

Can We Just Change the Strategy?
...more
1h 2min
January 29, 2022EP 175 - Christina Sok - Founder and CEO of ClassBubs - It Was Motherhood That Led Me to ClassBubs
The Asia Tech Podcast was joined by Christina Sok, the Founder, and CEO of ClassBubs. ClassBubs helps parents to discover, book and review kids' extracurricular classes.
Some of the topics that Christina discussed:
Born in South Korea but growing up all over the world

Finished her secondary schooling at UWC in Singapore

Knowing as a teenager that she was not built to work for anybody else

What she learned from her art gallery internship

Always wanted to challenge the status quo

How her parents were non-traditional in their approach to her education

Learning as something enjoyable and fun

The discipline she developed while being self-employed helped in the startup world

Was searching for activities for her daughter and realized just how fragmented that market was

The opportunity to talk about the holistic development of kids

The development of ClassBubs and the potential for creating in-house content and programs

The kind of role model she wants to be for her daughter
Other titles we considered for this episode:
Tuesday to Thursday Was Just a Blur

It’s About Building a Life

You Don’t Just Land at the Top

Dots Do Connect Looking Back

North or South Korea?

How Do You Get the “Me Time” Without the “Mom Guilt”?
...more
44min
January 25, 2022EP 174 - Upasna Dash - Founder & CEO of Jajabor Brand Consultancy - I Fell In Love With the Chaos
The Asia Tech Podcast had so much fun talking to Upasna Dash, the Founder, and CEO of Jajabor Brand Consultancy and the VP of Startup India Advisory Services.
Some of the topics that Upasna covered:
Bringing out stories and having an impact

Employing stories and storytelling to help founders meet their business needs

Great ideas and innovations are not epiphanies

The name of her company was inspired by her grandfather's favorite song

Born into a non-English speaking city, struggled to keep up at school

Her grandfather inspired her to learn English by reading her Shakespeare

Remembers specifically the day she fell in love with startups

Following the audience and story wherever it takes you

Why authenticity matters

From idea to execution, so much can change

The similarities between great founders and great athletes

Understanding the value of great teams

The intensely competitive nature of the Indian startup space
Other titles we considered for this episode:
I Am a Storyteller at Heart

I Sang About It and Transported You There

I Grew Up with the Startup Ecosystem in India

You Can’t Put India In a Box

The Journey Is as Enjoyable as the Destination

Small Micro-habits Actually Make a Huge Difference

We Should Meet In Immigration Lines More Often
...more
38min
January 18, 2022EP 173 - Jostein Aksnes - CEO Seven Peaks Software - Sell From Day One
The Asia Tech Podcast was visited by Jostein Aksnes, the CEO of Seven Peaks Software and the CEO of Property Flow. Like a lot of my expatriate friends, Jostein agreed to a one-year assignment and shows no signs of leaving Thailand.
Some of the topics Jostein covered:
Studied computer engineering

Got his first job as a software developer at a broadcast technology company

Managed and built real-time graphics and production systems

Getting promoted and expatriated to Thailand

Has now lived in Thailand since 2010

Building and managing remote or extension teams

Some of the challenges and solutions when the head office is on another continent

Building FindYourSpace which morphed into Property Flow

Diving deep into Seven Peaks

The evolution of software development

Microservices and the Cloud

The validated learning loop

Building great user experiences

Selling solutions to problems
Other titles we considered for this episode:
I Want to Build a Website

Trying to Build What They Need, Not What They Want

The Commercial Model Is Not Agile

Don’t Spend Two Years Building a Product

Nobody Buys a Product
...more
40min

FAQs about Asia Tech Podcast:

How many episodes does Asia Tech Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 405 episodes available.