Low Level Barbarians (LLB)

Chong Siong, Principal, from Team Rocket Research happened to be in my neck of the woods. I used him as a guinea pig for testing the new studio equipment. This episode was completely unscripted and off the cuff. It was a good learning experience to improve the format in the future. Team Rocket Research (TRR) is a research outfit specializing in DeFi and GameFi, that also actively does angel investing in the space. In this episode we touch upon the global macro environment and its effect on risk capital. We briefly discuss how AI has taken over the current investing and building narratives. More importantly, we talk about Team Rocket Research’s main focus on creating research around GameFi and Social Fi and some thought processes around early stage investing in this space. Towards the end we discuss where the VCs have gone and when they will come back and where Crypto Regulation is headed. 

 

Last Episode with TRR:

Youtube: https://youtu.be/hZrdP6IDVFE

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5uX3fK6Wiy1XwZYDvqsKJU?si=734ef988caa24bc8

 

Referenced Material:

TRR 2023 Report - Digital Assets Report 2023 by TRR.pdf

https://teamrocket.substack.com/

 

Intro - 00:00:00

Macro Environment - 00:01:16

AI Brief - 00:03:07

GameFi in 2023 - 00:09:02

Investing in GameFi Fundamentals - 00:11:33

GameFi vs Trad Gaming - 00:17:22

DaPPs - 00:22:19

State of NFTs - 00:25:21

SocialFi - 00:26:28

2022 to 2023 in Crypto (CEX, Governance, Centralization) - 00:30:21

Where are the VCs: 00:33:58

State of Crypto Regulation: 00:36:42

Last episode of 2022. In this episode we review all the predictions we made in 2022 and review the topics we discussed. We covered a lot of ground from the Grocery sector, 15 minute delivery, Macroeconomic conditions, Food Tech, Payments in SEA, Quality of VC in SEA, where the money and talent is heading, and the trends of ChatGPT-3. We close out with some loose personal updates. Tune to get updated!

Recorded Nov 30th; late due to end year obligations. A very interesting episode that focuses on a thesis that says Malaysia is the best country to invest in SEA. Along with this sentiment, Jianggan and Alex discuss the big opportunities to build or invest in Southeast Asia that are not related to tech. Did the foodtech platforms have the right investment and execution thesis? Jianggan provides great insights and nuance to the China Covid situation you usually won’t hear from anywhere else. 

 

Intro (00:00:00)

Malaysia vs Singapore - Most Investable Country Malaysia (00:01:25)

Non-Tech Investment Opportunities (00:07:36)

Bubble Tea & Beverages (00:10:54)

Backend Supply Chain Innovation (00:13:27)

Front End F&B Innovation (00:21:30)

FoodTech Platforms (Grab, GoTo, FoodPanda, DeliveryHero) (00:25:37)

Poland vs Indonesia (00:34:05)

Truly Regional Businesses (00:38:46)

China CCP Covid Situation (00:40:44)

Justin Ahn, Co-Founder of Quid.li, is building a startup that sits in a very similar space to FTX. Quidli enables crypto as micro-rewards with top collaborators and community members through Web 2.0 tools such as browsers, email, Slack and Discord. In this episode we cover two important aspects missing from current coverage of the FTX fallout. 1.) We have all heard from experts, but what are the users of crypto concerned about, and what are they asking? 2.) More importantly, can we make the case of “Trust Me Bro!”? In this episode we also cover the silver lining of the FTX fallout, the harsh realities of the current risks to crypto, how Quidli is bridging new users to DeFi, the best use cases of crypto today, what is severely missing in the ecosystem, envisioning decentralized work, the nature of trust, and Quidli raising funds. Tune in to get the details!

 

Topics: Pre-Show Talk (00:00:00) | Intro (00:05:01) | Crypto User Concerns (00:08:43) | The Case For CEX (00:15:03) | Harsh Reality Risks (00:23:43) | Silver Lining (00:34:25) | Bridging DeFi (00:35:27) | Crypto Use Cases (00:39:13) | Decentralized Work (00:53:24) | “Trust Me Bro” (00:57:23) | Quidli Value (01:11:47) | Quidli Fundraising (01:15:39) | Outro (01:20:38)

Description: FTX doom and gloom seems never ending, however Don Phan, crypto researcher, indicates that price action around bitcoin and ethereum possibly signal that fallout and contagion seems contained for now. Realistically, we are all waiting to see what happens. What are the results of the possible contagion, where exactly does the crypto frontier regulation need to be, are some of the topics we explore. The most interesting discussions happen around how ICO’s still hold the promise of the future, and how to think about, build, or invest in the GameFi space.

The FTX drama ensues. In this episode Patrick Ambrus helps break down the Alameda Research and FTT structure and explains why it was wrong. He gives a very clear and succinct timeline of how the crash happened with new and unique insights. I have known Pat since 2006, and he is one of the best critical thinkers I know. His applied work, research, and insights in the crypto space are definitely worth paying attention to if you are interested in this space. Some big insights revolved around the nature of Alameda and FTX and why this was allowed, where we are realistically in crypto currency adoption, what is needed to build the future of crypto, and the possibilities of cohesion vs bifurcation. Overall, despite the doom and gloom, Pat paints a very optimistic future. Tune in to hear it!

 

Topics: Pre-Show (00:00:00) | Show Intro (00:01:13) | Patrick Ambrus (00:02:32) | What Happened With FTX (00:05:40) | Alameda Structure (00:14:55) | The Biggest Problem With FTX Structure (00:18:09) | CEX Bankruns vs Real DeFi (00:21:45) | Coinbase vs FTX structure (00:27:33) | Technologist (00:29:40) | TradFi/Crypto Intersect (00:32:17) | Crypto Infra/App Layers (00:40:24) | Talent/Dear Leaders/Bridging Worlds (00:50:37) | Crypto Fracturing & The Future (00:57:19) | Human Nature/Maximalism Explored (01:05:21)

If you have been lost on the FTX story this podcast is for you. If you want to know more about the background of FTX, what caused the collapse, and the long term consequences tune in. 

 

Follow Team Rocket Research: 

https://twitter.com/rocketresearchx

https://teamrocket.substack.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chongsiong/ 

 

Topics Covered: Intro (00:00:34) | Main Topic - FTX (00:05:35) | Before the Fall - Luna/Celsius (00:06:50) | Systemic Contagion (00:12:29) | On-Chain Fiat? Impact of Retail/Institutional $ (00:15:29) | Why No Bank Run Infrastructure (00:19:02) | Alameda Research Scandal (00:23:03) | Beginning of FTX Fall (00:24:22) | Why Is There Lack of Clarity (00:26:02) | The Crash of FTX (00:27:33) | Crypto Corporate Governance (00:35:52) | Binance Pull Out (00:38:11) | Broad Implications From Fallout (00:51:09) | Generational Appeal to Crypto (00:59:15) | The Future of Crypto into 2023 (01:04:45) | On White Papers (01:08:03) | Regulation & Crypto Winter Coming (01:16:24) | Crypto Regulation/Crypto Fracturing (01:18:18) | Long Term Impacts - Crypto Winter (01:23:55)

This episode is a high level dive into the world of AI, featuring a close LLB friend, Ken (Noppadon Kamolvilassatian), an AI practitioner. Part of the episode broadly covers AI so feel free to skip around to what interests you. We also cover how the AI field is developing, recent developments in the hardware and software powering modern AI, the evolution of Large Language Models (LLMs), and even some fun speculation on AGI unfolding. Overall, if you are unfamiliar with AI, this is a great episode to dip your toes in the water and get some exposure. 

 

Intro (00:01:04) | Introducing AI (00:5:16) | Modern AI (00:09:37) | Symbolic Logic with Neural Networks (00:13:41) | AI Development (00:18:21) | AI vs ML vs NN vs DL (00:23:49) | AI Hardware/Software (00:25:25) | Large Language Models (00:27:33) | AGI Concern (00:30:11) | Data Hardware Limits on AI (00:39:04) | On OpenAI & GPT (00:42:17) | Speculations on AGI (00:47:41) | Closing Thoughts (00:54:19) | Pre-Show Talk (01:05:17)

Time Stamps Below of Each Section. Feel free to skip the short banter section.

This episode starts up with Dave and Alex catching up on Dave’s latest project in Industrial Real Estate in the US (00:00:00) and comparing the space to Asia (00:08:25). When Jianggan finally joins the session, we kick of the episode by discussing the CCP elections (00:22:12) and its 2nd and 3rd order effects (00:25:59) on how they affect founders building in the region and how capital allocators are diversifying beyond Chinese borders. This also leads to a very fruitful discussion on the real nature of how technology companies navigate building and growing their businesses in a CCP dominated world (00:54:17). We end the session with some insights on whether is possible to really learn from other founder stories (1:00:54).

While Dave and Andrew are off hiking in a mountain in Bulgaria together, Jianggan and Alex discuss the Great Singaporean Migration. Will this big talent shift to Singapore be permanent this time? They also discuss some of the changes in the SEA tech landscape, especially in fintech. Jianggan shares some context to the Shopee layoffs and an interesting dynamic of excess funding liquidity relative to the founder talent that can get funded. Lastly Jianggan finally introduces his magnum opus of a book he just released; Seeing The Unseen (Behind Chinese Tech Giants)