Hi fellow listeners, thank you so much for the support and love for Season 1. The pilot episode of Season 2 is now live 👏—this time, we’re shifting the lens from Asia Pacific back to North America. And you guessed it: our first stop is the most debated place right now—Silicon Valley.

👉 How did the birthplace of the microchip and the iPhone become a place where $300K salaries can’t buy stability?

👉 Why are Stanford grads coding breakthrough AI by day—and sleeping in cars by night?

👉 What happens when 76% of engineers report burnout while companies preach “mindfulness” during 70-hour weeks?

👉 And can the Valley that exported wealth creation to the world still keep its own people afloat?

The realities are hard to ignore:

⚡ $3M signing bonuses for AI talent—while teachers, nurses, and police are forced out of the city

⚡ $40M in corporate wellness budgets—yet stress, anxiety, and stimulant use keep soaring

⚡ 230,000 tech workers left in just four years—yet the top labs still cling to Palo Alto

⚡ And now, with the most controversial H-1B reforms—favoring only the highest salaries and driving up costs—Silicon Valley’s global talent advantage faces unprecedented pressure

What’s emerging is a Valley defined by paradox and possibility:

🔹 Tech giants investing $1B+ in housing just to keep employees near campus

🔹 Distributed-first companies proving billion-dollar IPOs can succeed without geographic concentration

🔹 Climate tech and global startups attracting people with purpose, balance, and affordability

🔹 A new generation of professionals choosing flexibility, values, and sustainable lifestyles over traditional prestige

Silicon Valley is no longer just a dream factory—it’s a survival test.

The big question: Can it adapt and treat talent better—or will its own success push the best and brightest to Austin, Berlin, and beyond?

The story continues—not just in Palo Alto garages, but in every corner of the world where brilliant people decide to build.

Hi everyone, and welcome back. As of last week, we have officially wrapped up the first season of this new podcast launched about 2 months ago. SCALE UP - Global Talent Strategies Deep Dive. I wanted to take a moment today to share the story, inspirations and anecdotes behind making this season

As many of you know, I’ve spent years covering talent markets across multiple geographic regions. One challenge I often run into is this assumption that people use a one size fits all approach to entire region. Stakeholders sometimes want to copy-paste their Japan strategy into Korea, or assume that Southeast asia is one market with homogeneous challenges. But in reality, every single country (sometimes cities) and culture is extremely different—with its own political context, historical timeline, economic pressures, and language nuances that shape how people work and how companies succeed. That was really the spark for this season.

So we dedicated 8 episodes to this season 1 focusing on the Asia-Pacific region, each about 18–20 minutes long (so whether you are on your morning run, commuting to work or winding down in the evening with a cup of wine, we made sure it’s an enjoyable listening experience, focusing on: China, Japan, Korea, Greater China (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau) , ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), Southeast Asia (Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore), and India.

The flow of each episode is very intentional. We start with a talent overview—what the workforce looks like, what’s changing. Here, we also bring in data-focused insights such as unemployment rates, salary benchmarks, average workforce age, and demographic shifts, so the picture is grounded in real evidence. Then we talk about the challenges companies face, and the solutions they’re testing. We weave in case studies, and of course, look at the financial dimension: venture capital, money markets, and the economic shifts that influence hiring. Finally, we pull the lens wider, connecting to the historical timeline and the political and cultural intelligence that makes each market so different.

But beyond the structure, what really matters is the tone. Each episode is crafted to be compelling storytelling—using vivid, real-world examples and narratives that make complex markets easier to grasp. We wanted this to be easy to read and easy to listen to, so whether you’re a global HR/business leader, an investor, or just someone curious about how different countries/cultures intersect, you can follow along without jargon weighing you down.

And yes—there’s also a newsletter behind the podcast, now available not only in English but also in Japanese and Chinese. This has been important because sometimes language itself becomes the biggest barrier: if you don’t speak Chinese or Japanese, you might never really get what’s happening in those markets. They can feel like entire universes, completely separate from the English-speaking world. Just take a look at our top 3 most popular episodes so far

* From Crazy Rich Asians to Midnight Coders: Why One-Size-Fits-All is Talent Suicide in Southeast Asia's $1 Trillion Tech Gold Rush

* Still Waters Run Deep: The Zen Art of Harmonizing Japan's Workforce

* The Little Red Book of China's Talent Maze: From Labubu Collectors to AI Engineers

Some of you have written in with feedback—one listener said: “I didn’t realize how Japan’s startup scene is now challenging lifetime employment traditions.” Another said: “Your Southeast Asia episode finally helped me understand why VC money is flowing so quickly into the region.” Comments like these are exactly why we made this show.

Behind the scenes, there were also some fun moments. For the Japan episode, we actually had too much history packed in, and ended up cutting half of it in a midnight editing session. And when we were putting together the Southeast Asia story, the Vietnam coder case study stood out so much that we rebuilt the entire flow of that episode around it.

Looking ahead—Season 2 is already in the works. We’ll be taking a similar but slightly different approach, this time exploring North America: the United States, Canada, Mexico, and how their talent dynamics compare and contrast. Just like APAC, North America has incredible diversity across its regional markets, and we’ll be unpacking that country by country.

So thank you again for being part of Season 1. Whether you’re listening, reading the newsletter, or joining us in Japanese—we’re building a community that goes beyond borders, languages, and assumptions. I’d love to hear your comments on what surprised you most, and what you’d like us to cover next.

Season 1 has been an incredible journey, and I can’t wait to see you in Season 2.

How can three territories within 90 minutes of flight time redefine the future of work?🔹 Why is Taiwan’s semiconductor mastery becoming the backbone of Gen Z’s AI ambitions?🔹 How does Hong Kong’s colonial legal legacy give its young workforce an edge in cross-border finance and Web3 regulation?🔹 And why is Macau’s service DNA, shaped by Portuguese heritage, now powering AI-driven luxury experiences for a new generation of global consumers?

The numbers show how fast this ecosystem compounds:💻 Taiwan controls over 60% of global semiconductor capacity💰 Hong Kong remains Asia’s leading IPO gateway🎰 Macau draws 40M+ annual visitors, making it a real-time lab for predictive customer analytics

Yet most global strategies miss the point—treating these markets as interchangeable. Colonial histories shaped distinct institutions. Gen Z is now rewriting them with AI and digital fluency. Together, they form complementary ecosystems:

* 🇹🇼 Taiwan → Hardware & semiconductor pipelines

* 🇭🇰 Hong Kong → Regulatory navigation & cross-border finance

* 🇲🇴 Macau → Service innovation & predictive hospitality

The companies that win will stop chasing a one-size-fits-all model and instead design integrated talent strategies that connect history, culture, and Gen Z innovation into compound competitive advantage.

👉 Why does Korea 🇰🇷—with 2.1M engineers—still feel like the hardest place on earth to hire?👉 When will we stop grouping Korea 🇰🇷 and Japan 🇯🇵 together—when Korea’s workforce is 10 years younger, 2x more global, and far more mobile?👉 What happens when Samsung alumni fuel unicorns like Toss & Krafton—and Coupang discovers every top engineer already has 3–5 competing offers?

It’s a landscape that feels part K-drama—loyalty, intensity, high-stakes relationships—and part survival game—salary bidding wars, reneging rates above 40%, and Gen Z rewriting the rules of work.

But out of this paradox came Korea’s own “Chaebol Mafia.” Samsung-trained veterans seeded startups like Krafton, Toss, and Dunamu. Coupang’s IPO sprint proved money alone couldn’t buy loyalty. And now a new generation is rising—global in outlook, flat in hierarchy, impatient for impact.

✨ What’s emerging is a market defined by paradox and possibility:

⚡ 94% of engineers stay not for higher pay—but for cultural authenticity⚡ 85% remain 3+ years when team culture fits⚡ AI salaries grow 35% annually—yet remain 60% below Silicon Valley⚡ Gen Z expects English-friendly teams, portfolio-style careers, and global relevance—only 18% believe in lifelong employment

🔥 The employers winning in Korea aren’t competing on salary—they’re competing on meaning:

🔹 Turning jeong (정) into a retention strategy—relationship as infrastructure🔹 Blending chaebol discipline with startup agility—systems thinking + speed🔹 Reframing Gen Z’s ambition—not disloyalty, but a global-first mindset seeking mastery and meaning

Korea has moved beyond chaebol vs. startup—it’s now a relationship-driven ecosystem shaping the next decade of global tech.

🔹 WHY do so many outsiders assume Australians and New Zealanders lack ambition—just because they knock off at 5 PM?🔹 HOW did Australia and New Zealand start producing more unicorns per capita than anywhere else on Earth?🔹 With $6.2B in Aussie VC and 400% NZ funding growth… is the “Southern Silicon Rush” just getting started?

Beneath the surfboards and flat whites lies a storm:

⚡ Australia needs 650,000 extra tech workers by 2030—but can only train 400k⚡ New Zealand startups are raising at higher valuations per employee than their Aussie peers⚡ 96% of ANZ businesses expect skills gaps to disrupt growth⚡ Engineers in Sydney juggle 6 offers at once—reneging rates hit 40%⚡ AI now drives 35% of all new funding rounds across both countries

Winning here isn’t about copying Silicon Valley—it’s about embracing what makes ANZ different:

1️⃣ Integration, not balance — world-class products get built and teams make it to Friday barbies2️⃣ Equity-first thinking — professionals who evaluate offers like investors3️⃣ Decoding modesty — when an Australian or New Zealander says they “just helped out,” it often means they architected a system saving millions4️⃣ Diversity as fuel — LGBTQ+ inclusion drives retention, while Indigenous wisdom shapes innovation frameworks thousands of years old5️⃣ Local roots, global scale — teams deeply invested in their community and the world

🌏 The Southern Silicon Rush is showing the world: ambition thrives where life, culture, and work coexist.

🔹 WHY did Google’s 40% pay hikes fail to lure Sony’s PlayStation engineers?🔹 WHY do Japan’s top professionals return to their old companies—even after landing “dream” jobs abroad?🔹 20% of Japan’s workforce will be gone by 2040. With the oldest labor force in the world (avg age 48) and the longest tenure (12.1 years vs. 4.2 in the U.S.)… what comes next?Beneath the calm surface of 2% unemployment lies turbulence: ⚡ 1.46M hikikomori (social recluses who have withdrawn from society and employment for extended periods) —a hidden workforce in retreat ⚡ A shortage of 250,000 AI/data professionals by 2030 ⚡ Record ¥850B (~$6B) in VC fueling a startup talent war ⚡ Shinsotsu (new graduate) hiring locks in top talent 12–18 months before graduation ⚡ And the looming cliff: 1 in 5 workers gone within 15 yearsWinning here isn’t about outbidding with cash—it’s about cultural synthesis:1️⃣ Think long-term: Build trust through multiple interactions before making offers2️⃣ Go beyond LinkedIn: Use the platforms where serious candidates are active3️⃣ Lead with stability: Emphasize career development and clear progression, not just salary4️⃣ Respect the culture: Communicate thoughtfully, with patience, and involve families when appropriate5️⃣ Invest in bridges: Target bilingual, internationally experienced professionals—they’re the most critical segment

Hi there, ⁠SCALE UP podcast⁠ global listeners — thank you so much for being part of this journey with us. Our original format featured interviews with leaders and practitioners, but many of you asked for something deeper: “Not just companies, but entire markets.”

That’s how this new series was born: SCALE UP – Global Talent Strategies Deep Dive.

Here, we’ll go country by country to uncover the dynamics, challenges, and opportunities shaping talent worldwide. Think about it: India produces 4 million STEM graduates each year, yet nearly half remain unemployed a year later. China adds 11.8 million new graduates annually, driving the world’s largest but most volatile job market. And Southeast Asia, once seen as “cheap labor,” is now racing toward a $1 trillion digital economy by 2030.

From the glamour of Crazy Rich Asians’ Singapore to Vietnam’s midnight coders, from Labubu collectibles sparking billion-dollar trends in China to the Flipkart mafia rewriting India’s tech playbook — we’ll show how culture, politics, history, and economies collide to shape the future of work.

This podcast is for anyone curious about talent and people. Whether you’re an HR professional exploring global markets, a CEO searching for answers to tough workforce challenges, or simply fascinated by the history and customs of different countries — you’ll find a home here.

Each episode, your hosts Colin and Nicole will dissect one of my newsletter pieces, bringing the stories and data to life — and surfacing practical insights you can apply right away. If you prefer reading, the full articles are also on ⁠Substack.

Please remember there is a 2 weeks free-reading window, afterwards all content will be turned into subscription only.

So join us, and discover the patterns, surprises, and strategies driving the world’s most fascinating talent markets.

👉 How can a country producing 4M STEM graduates every year still see 45% unemployed after 12 months?👉 Why do companies receive 2,000+ applications per role yet lose half their hires before day one?👉 And most importantly—how do you build leaders in a system where “Senior Managers” often have title but not true succession readiness?It’s a landscape that feels part Bollywood blockbuster—high drama, huge casts, spectacular exits—and part Hunger Games—fierce competition, multiple offers, and constant churn.But out of this chaos came India’s own PayPal Mafia. Flipkart alumni went on to build Razorpay, PhonePe, Udaan, and dozens of unicorns. At the same time, Indian-born CEOs now helm nearly 40% of America’s most valuable tech companies—Satya Nadella at Microsoft, Sundar Pichai at Google, Arvind Krishna at IBM, Shantanu Narayen at Adobe. From Bangalore startups to Silicon Valley boardrooms, India’s talent is shaping global tech leadership.The bigger picture is clear: 💰 VC funding exploded from $200M in 2000 → $42B in 2021 🚀 108 unicorns worth $340B+ now call India home🧑‍🎓 Median age of the population: just 28 years—making India one of the youngest workforces on earth 🔄 Job tenures have collapsed to 1.8 years, forcing companies into constant recruitment mode ⚠️ A leadership gap persists—accelerated promotions create titles without readiness, leaving fragile succession pipelinesThe companies breaking the cycle aren’t just paying more. They’re:🔹 Building multi-city hubs to tap specialized pools (Hyderabad for cloud, Pune for enterprise, Chennai for hardware)🔹 Redesigning hiring around engagement, not transactionsInvesting heavily in leadership development and mentorship, ensuring tomorrow’s CXOs are truly equipped, not just promoted fast🔹 Bridging a multi-generational workforce—balancing Gen Z’s hunger for portfolio careers with the stability expectations of older cohortsIndia has moved beyond cost advantage—it’s now a capability hub powering global innovation. No wonder OpenAI has chosen India for its new tech hub. The world’s AI future will be written where the talent density is unmatched.

How did COVID trigger a $25B remote work revolution that rewrote six nations’ talent playbooks?🔹 Why do 85% of regional teams fail, while only 15% find the formula for long-term retention?🔹 And what separates companies burning $2M+ on failed hires from those achieving 85%+ retention in Southeast Asia’s hypercompetitive market?When Crazy Rich Asians gave the world its champagne-soaked view of Marina Bay Sands, it glamorized Southeast Asia. But the real story is far more contrasting. In Ho Chi Minh City, midnight coders debug AI systems over bubble tea. In Jakarta, motorbike drivers weave through traffic to power billion-dollar e-commerce networks. In Manila, young professionals juggle U.S. client calls while building TikTok side hustles that often outpace their day jobs.The numbers behind this transformation are staggering:💰 $87B in venture capital over the past decade🚀 32 unicorns since 2014📈 A digital economy on track to hit $1 trillion by 2030Yet most global companies continue to make the same mistake—treating Southeast Asia as a single market. A one-size-fits-all playbook here is talent suicide:- 🇸🇬 Singapore’s fast-switching career racers won’t behave like 🇹🇭 Thailand’s hierarchy-respecting teams- 🇻🇳 Vietnam’s credential-driven engineers think differently from 🇮🇩 Indonesia’s consensus builders- 🇵🇭 The Philippines’ American-influenced workplaces are nothing like 🇲🇾 Malaysia’s multicultural balancing actThe companies that succeed do things differently. They build cultural intelligence into their strategy from day one, design for retention over recruitment, invest in AI and tech development hubs, partner early with governments and universities, and see Southeast Asia not as cheap labor but as a launchpad for leadership and innovation.

Many have asked me to write sth on the AIGC frenzy happening in China since my last post. So here it is, this time I am telling it like a story. When ChatGPT dropped in late 2022, Silicon Valley 🇺🇸 looked like Goliath—$5B+ poured into training GPT-4, a handful of fortress-like labs guarded by prestige PhDs. China 🇨🇳, meanwhile, seemed like David, locked out behind the Great Firewall. But then the dragon awakened: instead of waiting, China built hundreds of its own models—and the story flipped.Here’s what’s fascinating: two completely different playbooks for the same revolution.🔹 The Fortress (U.S.)- 3–5 dominant labs.- Training costs: $100M–$5B per model.- Release cycle: 12–18 months.- Talent: PhD pipelines from Stanford/MIT, 5–7 years to leadership roles, avg. comp skewed to salary + big tech stock. 🐉 The Swarm (China)- 200+ serious LLM contenders launched in 24 months.- Training costs: DeepSeek R1 at <$6M (≈16:1 cost advantage).- Release cycle: monthly iterations.- Talent: 11.8M annual university grads feeding the ecosystem, recruiters camping outside Tsinghua/PKU, equity offers of 0.5–2% even for senior engineers, promotions in 12–18 months.And it’s not just about AI models—it’s about talent philosophy (Knights in armor VS. Agile warriors)

1️⃣ Velocity vs. Prestige – do you prize speed of impact or brand credibility? 2️⃣ Scale vs. Resilience – one fortress or many agile units? 3️⃣ Career Promise vs. Career Acceleration – longevity or fast-track growth?As the AIGC race unfolds, the question isn’t just who builds the best models. It’s this: will the future of talent look more like fortresses… or swarms?