Analyse Podcast

Alex Crompton from Entrepreneur First (EF) joined us to discuss the progress of their startup incubator in Singapore and Hong Kong and how they are helping entrepreneurs to build their startup companies by employing a talent first approach. We dived deep into the vision, mission and backstory behind EF and how it operates across the region, and discussed interesting topics from how EF facilitates the interaction between entrepreneurs and steer them towards building companies, and whether the trend of too much incubators create an elitist atmosphere for startup founders out there.

James Crabtree, associate professor in practice at the Lee Kuan Yee School of Public Policy joined us in a conversation to discuss his new book "The Billionaire Raj: A Journey through India's New Gilded Age" and what it means for where India will move in the next decade. We discussed the major themes of the book and the intrinsic links between the political and business ecosystem across the country. As we progressed our conversation from the interesting Ambani family and Reliance Group, we shift our conversation to the current technology ecosystem in India where it is an open economy that are at the crossroads with US & China technology giants. Last but not least, James offered his perspectives to where India is heading for the future.

Magnus Grimeland, founder and CEO of Antler, joined us in a conversation to discuss the new startup incubator focusing on helping founders in building and scaling their own businesses. Magnus shared his early career story in special forces with the military and how his experience to deal with extreme situations of life and death becomes vital with his stints as an entrepreneur in Zalora and Global Fashion Group. We also discussed Antler, the mission and vision and what it means to succeed and differentiate themselves as a startup generator globally.

Matthew Brennan from China Channel and co-host of China Tech Talk joined us to discuss the mobile app Douyin aka Tik Tok (for the rest of the world) by Bytedance and why they are poised to be one of the new leading social media platform not just for China but for the rest of the world. We discussed the mechanics in how Douyin work for content creators and consumers and the monetisation model for the app, and how Douyin are now navigating the regulatory environment in China with their user generated content. Last but not least, we also discussed their ongoing feud with Tencent.  

Tim Culpan from Bloomberg joined us in a conversation on the two technology giants from Taiwan: Foxconn and TSMC and how they have evolved for the past three years since 2015. First, Tim started the discussion with Foxconn and the major milestones in the past three years from the acquisition of Sharp to the recent listing of FIH Mobile and Foxconn's efforts on automation and robotics in manufacturing. Next, Tim discussed the recent leadership transition in TSMC and where they are heading in the next few years.

Matthew Brennan, co-founder of China Channel and host of China Tech Talk, joined us to discuss Pinduoduo, the three year old social ecommerce company backed by Tencent slated for an IPO this year. We discussed the origins of Pinduoduo and why they labelled themselves as the amalgamation of Costco and Disney, their products and services on the mobile app and the business model that powered their rise. We also discussed the backers of the company together with the upcoming IPO of Pinduoduo in NASDAQ.

Tim Culpan, columnist at Bloomberg joined us to discuss the recent Xiaomi IPO and what it means for Chinese technology companies going public. Tim offered his analyses on Xiaomi and break down their media narrative versus what they are really are and where their core businesses and revenue models are structured. Last but not least, Tim discussed how the Chinese companies such as Xiaomi, Baidu and Alibaba might move with the Chinese government's scheme of Chinese depositary receipts (CDRs).

Liza Lin from Wall Street Journal joined us to discuss one of the upstart Internet giants from China: Meituan Dianping with their upcoming IPO and described her recent interview with their charismatic founder, Wang Xing and where the company is heading. We discussed the backstory of the company, Meituan till its merger with Dianping, their focus as the "Amazon of Services" in China, their recent foray into ride-hailing taking on Didi and their shifting alliances from Alibaba to Tencent.  

Rui Ma, founder of Transformative Technology Academy and host of TechBuzz China podcast joined us in a discussion on the recent crisis of the Chinese technology company, ZTE and its implications on the ongoing trade war between US and China. We discussed the major lessons learnt by the Chinese companies from the ZTE fallout in a time where Chinese technology companies are now in the midst of challenging Silicon Valley for dominance in technology and regional expansion across Asia Pacific.

Turochas "T" Fuad, managing director of WeWork, Southeast Asia joined us for a conversation on his journey as a serial entrepreneur and his current role to expand WeWork across Southeast Asia. We started from his early career with Yahoo! and Skype and subsequently with the acquisition of Spacemob to WeWork. We discussed WeWork, their products and services offered to different customers from startups to multi-national corporations and their geographical expansion across Southeast Asia. Last but not least, he also shared his thoughts on how the co-working spaces are evolving across Southeast Asia.