French Tech Podcast

David Bensadon is the founder and CEO of We Are Caring, Singapore’s smart and ethical agency for hiring foreign domestic workers.

Foreign Domestic Workers, or “helpers” as they are often called, are common all across Asia Pacific. A helper is live-in maid, whose duties include cleaning, cooking and childcare. These women often leave their home country, and families, behind because of a lack of other well-paid job opportunities. The total number of domestic workers in Asia is hard to estimate, but informal sources claim that they might account for between 2.5 and 10 percent of total employment in the region. The numbers are overwhelming. China alone is estimated to be the home to 20 million helpers, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia.

When a helper leaves their home-country in search for opportunity, they are bound by rules and regulations, and are obliged to call upon the services of third-party agencies to find a foreign employer. These agencies routinely charge up to 6 months of salary for their services, leaving the helper with little or no money to provide for their families back home. David Bensadon, through his agency We Are Caring, is trying to change all this. The first smart and ethical agency in Singapore, We Are Caring refuses to take any money from helpers. Only three years after its creation, the company has risen to the top 1% of Singaporean maid agencies - all through word-of-mouth and organic growth. Their secret? Listen to our conversation to find out.

Learn more about We Are Caring website : https://wearecaring.com/

Nicolas Colin is a thought-provoking voice in the conversation about new institutions in the digital world. He has co-authored several works on technology, including a 2013 Report on Taxation in the Digital Economy, and his articles regularly appear publications such as Foreign Affairs, The Financial Times, and Le Monde.

He has recently published his third book, Hedge, on the current shift towards what he calls the Entrepreneurial age, the instability that shift creates and the urgent need to redesign the social safety nets supporting both households and businesses against the risks brought about by the digital age.

In our conversation with Nicolas, we explore the main thesis of his book Hedge and its implications for the role of Asia on the world stage. We discuss the role of city-states, such as Singapore, in the new economic paradigm and explore what it will take for a nation to flourish as the entrepreneurial age unfolds.

Be sure to get a copy of Nicolas’ latests book Hedge at https://hedgethebook.com/

Learn more about The Family at https://www.thefamily.co/

Cécile Israel is the founder of EasyBachus, a startup based in Shenzhen China, that makes wine easy and fun for everyone. She's also the head of the new French Tech community for the Hongkong-Shenzhen area, as well as president of the "Entrepreneurs Group of South China" with the French Chamber of Commerce.

Who better than Cécile to tell us more about the major efforts currently underway to unite the megalopolis formerly known as Pearl River Delta, consisting of 9 cities and 2 special administrative regions in South China - a region that houses no less than 5% of the Chinese population and represents a GDP of 1.4 trillion USD?

Every French person working in tech in Singapore, is already a member of French Tech Singapore - even if they might not yet realize it! Or so says Julien Condamines - ex-Googler, startuper and founder of the Singapore-based innovation boutique “Co-Creation Lab”.

We sit down with Julien to talk about the value of community when running a business abroad, the power of the pay-it-forward attitude, and about the opportunities that his involvement in French Tech Singapore have generated for him.

But if you’re looking to connect with the the French Tech community in the little red dot, don’t expect to get more out of it than you’re willing to put in, Julien warns. The impact of the network depends entirely on the willingness of its members to provide value to their fellow entrepreneurs. The best way to get involved is to not to passively reach out, but to actively participate - to create value, in whatever way you can.

Find out more about French Tech Singapore at : https://frenchtech.sg/

Learn more about the Co-Creation Lab at : https://cocreationlab.co/

In this episode we quickly introduce ourselves and the French Tech Asia Pacific podcast.

Whether you're looking to get to know the French entrepreneurs that are making an impact here in the APAC region, or want to learn more about the influencers, investors and policy-makers that shape Asia Pacific's startup ecosystem - this is the show for you!

We would love to hear from you, so reach out by sending us an email at [email protected]