The Borderless Podcast

The Borderless Podcast

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The Borderless Podcast episodes

  • Indonesia VC Perspectives: Jason Pard, Partner at Aksara Ventures

    Today’s guest is Jason Pard, partner at Aksara Ventures, an Indonesian Venture Capital firm. With a large and growing digital savvy population, Indonesia has produced notable startup unicorns like GoJek, Tokopedia, Bukalapa and Traveloka: https://bordersless.com/business/jason-pard-aksara-ventures/

    About Aksara

    Aksara Ventures is on a mission to discover startups with the potential to change the way we function in the future. They look to back the bold ideas and resolute operators at the edge of breaking out, backing startups at the post-product stage until the Series A stage.

    About Jason

    Jason Pard is a partner and cofounder at Aksara Ventures. He was previously an Analyst at Venture Capital firm Monk's Hill Ventures and had prior experience as Product Manager at Gojek and other startups. He graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

    See more here: https://www.aksara.vc/

    Topics & Timestamps

    • 0:00 - Introduction 
    • 0:56 - Jason's intro, why he came back to Indonesia from the US and some thoughts on how hard it is to find jobs as an international student. 
    • 4:20 - How Jason got into VC, his career journey at Gojek, local Indonesian vs overseas graduates. 
    • 7:50 - Why Jason started his own Venture Capital firm (Aksara Ventures), what does Aksara mean, what is their point of differentiation? 
    • 15:20 - Why Indonesia as a place to invest? What are the opportunities and barriers? 
    • 19:20 - How does Jason find startups to invest in? The value of good karma, investing in the team vs numbers.
    • 24:40 - which countries in Southeast Asia is Jason interested in? Which startups & sectors is he excited about? 
    • 28:10 - Is Jason worried about the current market cycle? (low interest rates, increased competition). 
    • 31:10 - are young Indonesians getting into entrepreneurship? Issues around income inequality.
    • 34:48 - can SE Asian startups go global outside of their own region? Are many foreigners coming to Indonesia to work in tech? 
    • 39:20 - thoughts around NFTs, crypto & gaming. 
    • 43:45 - how to get into the Venture Capital industry? What traits make a good VC investor vs associate/analyst? How to contact Jason.
      • 48 min
    • Living in Japan as an Asian-Australian Foreigner (Samantha Low) - Snippet
      Formerly based in Sydney, Samantha Low is a Tokyo based Senior Account Manager at Critical Mass, a digital experience design agency. Find out more about her life on her website, where she regularly blogs about her life in Japan at http://www.samanthawxlow.com/
      This episode appeared on the Professional Development Forum (PDF), an organisation helping diverse young professionals reach their full potential in the workplace and find career fulfillment. To find out more, please visit: https://professionaldevelopmentforum.org/
      Topics covered in this episode:
      · When and why did you come to Japan. How did you get a job?
      · Is Japanese fluency essential?
      · How to build a professional career in Japan (outside of teaching English)?
      · What is working culture like?
      · Thoughts as an Asian-Australian living in Japan
      · Tips & tricks for getting settled
      · Life in Australia vs Japan
      4 min
    • Considering a Career in Asia? - Jason Yat-Sen Li (Vantage Asia) - Snippet
      Full episode & show notes: https://bordersless.com/business/jason-yat-sen-li-interview/
      Note: this is a snippet from the Professional Development Forum (PDF), an organisation that aims to help professionals find career fulfillment. To find out more about about PDF, please visit their website.
      About Jason
      Jason is currently Chairman of investment group Vantage Asia and Managing Director of corporate advisory firm YSA. YSA specialises in complex cross-border, China-related M&A and capital raising mandates.
      Jason is a Fellow of the University of Sydney Senate, a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on China. He was previously a non-executive director of the George Institute for Global Health, Vice Chair of the Australia-China Chamber of Commerce, a Director of the Sydney Institute and a Governing Member of the Smith Family.
      Jason completed an Arts-Law degree at the University of Sydney and a Masters of Law at New York University, where he was Australia's Hauser Global Scholar. He was formerly Head of China Strategy for Insurance Australia Group and Head of Sales & Marketing for IAG's China operations. His work on road safety in China won the China PR Association Silver Medal for Best Campaign in 2005. Jason has also worked as a commercial lawyer for Corrs Chambers Westgarth in Sydney and Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York.
      2 min
    • Diversity & Inclusion in Australia vs Japan: Sarah Liu (The Dream Collective) - Snippet
      Full episode & show notes: https://bordersless.com/business/sarah-liu-the-dream-collective/
      Note: this is a snippet from the Professional Development Forum (PDF), an organisation that aims to help professionals find career fulfillment. To find out more about about PDF, please visit their website.
      About The Dream Collective
      The Dream Collective was founded in 2012 by Sarah Liu, a passionate advocate for women in leadership and furthering diversity and inclusivity practises in corporate culture to transform the way we work.
      Sarah was named one of the "40 under 40: Most Influential Asian-Australians" in the Entrepreneurship category at the 2019 Asian-Australian Leadership Summit.
      The Dream Collective is a global leadership consultancy, helping business across Sydney, Shanghai, Melbourne, Tokyo & Singapore build diverse and inclusive workplaces: https://www.thedreamcollective.com.au/our-story/
      ウェブサイト: https://thedreamcollective.jp/
      12 min
    • Is Australia Utilising Their Asia Capable Talents? - Shelli Trung (REACH ANZ & ASEAN) - Snippet
      Full episode & show notes: https://bordersless.com/business/su-lin-tan-journalist/
      Note: this is a snippet from the Professional Development Forum (PDF), an organisation that aims to help professionals find career fulfillment. To find out more about about PDF, please visit their website.
      About Shelli
      Shelli Trung is the Managing Partner for REACH Australia and Southeast Asia. REACH is a scaleup program for the real estate industry created by Second Century Ventures (SCV), an early-stage technology fund backed by the National Association of Realtors®. SVC is among the largest proptech funds globally with a portfolio of 100+ investments across mortgage, finance, marketing, big data and hardware including success stories such as DocuSign (IPO $6B+), August Home (sold to Assa Abloy), HouseCanary ($63M+ Series C) and Updater ($1B+).
      Prior to this, Shelli was an active proptech angel investor with a global portfolio of startups from New York, Shanghai and Australia. She was the Investment Fund Manager for Queensland University of Technology CEA where she oversaw a portfolio of 30 seed/Series A investments. Shelli has spent 10 years in corporate innovation successfully deploying new technology across the banking, medical and transportation sectors. For more:
      https://nar-reach.com/australia/
      12 min
    • Are Australians Pursuing Entrepreneurship in Asia? - Brad Chan (Haymarket HQ) - Snippet
      Full episode & show notes: https://bordersless.com/business/brad-chan-haymarket-hq/
      Note: this is a snippet from the Professional Development Forum (PDF), an organisation that aims to help professionals find career fulfillment. To find out more about about PDF, please visit their website: http://professionaldevelopmentforum.org/
      About Brad Chan
      "Brad Chan, CEO of the Banna Property Group, is an entrepreneur leading one of Australia's most established third generation family companies across retail, entertainment & commercial property sectors. He is an Angel investor, mentor to startups and an active contributor to community groups with a close association with the Asian Australian community. His vision to establish an Asia Innovation Hub in Chinatown led to the creation of Haymarket HQ."
      He is a self-confessed introvert who is passionate about giving back to the community and paying it forward. Find out more here:
      •Banna Property Group: https://banna.com.au/about/
      •Haymarket HQ: https://www.haymarkethq.com/
      11 min
    • Are Australians Ignorant of Asia? - Su-Lin Tan (SCMP) - Snippet
      Full episode & show notes: https://bordersless.com/business/su-lin-tan-journalist/
      Note: this is a snippet from the Professional Development Forum (PDF), an organisation that aims to help professionals find career fulfillment. To find out more about about PDF, please visit their website.
      About Su-Lin Tan
      "Su-Lin Tan joined the Post in 2020 after the Australian Financial Review where she covered housing and commercial property, Asian business and street talk and investigations. She is a qualified accountant and worked in investment banking and funds management both in London and Sydney before becoming a journalist."
      Find out more here: https://www.scmp.com/author/su-lin-tan
      10 min
    • Why Taiwan for your Startup? - Elisa Chiu (Anchor Taiwan | Anchor Venture Partners) - Snippet
      Full episode & notes: https://bordersless.com/business/elisa-chiu-anchor-taiwan/
      Note: this is a snippet from the Professional Development Forum (PDF), an organisation that aims to help professionals find career fulfillment. To find out more about about PDF, please visit their website.
      About Anchor Taiwan
      Established in 2017, Anchor Taiwan is an Entrepreneurial Residency, Tech Community & Investor Network designed to tackle your soft landing in Asia through Taiwan. In 2019, Elisa Chiu launched Anchor Venture Partners, an early stage cross-border investment platform to combine her passion for startups and her expertise in capital markets. To find out more, please visit: https://www.anchortaiwan.com/about/
      15 min
    • The Business Opportunities in Asia: David Thomas - Snippet
      Full Episode & Notes here: https://bordersless.com/blog/david-thomas-china-expert/
      Note: this is a snippet from the Professional Development Forum (PDF), an organisation that aims to help professionals find career fulfillment. To find out more about about PDF, please visit their website.
      About David Thomas
      Over the last 30 years, David Thomas has inspired, motivated and educated global business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors to pay attention to the massive growth potential offered by modern China and other emerging countries and taken them on a journey to identify and build long-term business and cross-cultural relationships.
      If you're interested in finding more about David, please visit www.theleadershipgroup.com.au and https://davidthomas.asia/bio/
      10 min
    • Improving Employment Outcomes for International Students: Shane Dillon (Founder of Cturtle)
      Show Notes
      https://bordersless.com/business/edtech-cturtle-international-students/
      Key Episode Themes:
      •Lack of university engagement & support for international students.
      •Poor employment outcomes abroad and at home as an international student.
      •The lack of understanding of Asia by Australian businesses & academic leaders.
      •The potential impacts of COVID-19.
      •Vietnam as a destination for founders & startups.
      About Cturtle
      Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Shane Dillon founded Cturtle, an edtech data company and employment network for international graduates in 2016. It is a talent community for companies looking to connect with local candidates who are bi-lingual, cross cultural and educated at top universities in Australia, UK, USA, Canada, Europe and New Zealand.
      With a network of over 1.3 million international alumni who have returned to ASEAN, Greater China and South Asia, Cturtle works with innovative universities to connect their international graduates with over 12,000 hiring managers across Asia. To find out more, please visit https://cturtle.co/ or feel free to add Shane on LinkedIn.
      Episode Quote
      "There's a lot of marketing and messaging around how studying in Australia would help your career, but very little support in actually delivering that promise. So we were overwhelmed by the demand from students and graduates."
      Time Stamps
      0:37 - Introduction to Cturtle & Shane Dillon
      1:11 - Inspiration for starting Cturtle
      2:17 - Why did you base yourself in Vietnam?
      3:00 - Lack of support from Australian universities in regard to international alumni.
      4:40 - Why have the universities been so poor in regards to this?
      6:30 - International student's opinions of Australia as a destination for study.
      7:40 - How does Australia compare to alternative education markets?
      8:30 - What are the major employment barriers for students staying in Australia or returning home?
      10:35 - How much data do you collect? What data do you collect?
      12:05 - Potential Impact of COVID-19.
      14:00 - Thoughts on the over-reliance of international students by Australian universities.
      15:00 - Thoughts on the treatment of these students. Are they treated like cash cows?
      16:15 - What can Australia universities do better?
      18:05 - Lack of Asia understanding by Australians.
      20:45 - Next economic opportunities for Australia: ASEAN.
      21:50 - Australian brain drain, lack of long term planning.
      23:05 - How does Australia rank compared to other markets?
      24:30 - Why do international students get paid less than their counterparts that stayed at home?
      26:00 - If that's the case, why do these students study abroad?
      27:10 - Thoughts on Aussies studying and living abroad.
      28:35 - Thoughts on entrepreneurship in Vietnam and SE Asia.
      34:00 - Current status of Cturtle & UniAdvisor.
      35:15 - What do international students typically study?
      35:50 - Interesting statistics
      37:15 - Thoughts on international student agents / recruiters.
      40:30 - Increased competition from other universities.
      41:20 - Australia should see students as assets rather than cash cows.
      41:50 - How to contact Shane or find out more about Cturtle, final thoughts.
      46 min

    About The Borderless Podcast

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    The Borderless Podcast explores global Asian diaspora stories and perspectives from East & SE Asia, highlighting multicultural individuals who have taken a different path in their careers and…