On Call with Insignia Ventures: Recent Episodes
Insignia Business Review
New 30 min calls every Monday! In Southeast Asia's fast-growing technology market, the founders of billion-dollar tech companies and investors pouring millions into the region are just a call away. Join Insignia Ventures' resident storyteller Paulo Joquino on calls with the likes of Southeast Asia's unicorn founders, Dianping.com's founder, the founding partner of Brazil's first VC firm, and more! We talk origin stories, impact they're creating for the internet's next billion users in the region, and unique approaches to leadership. Art by apnationvn.com
Launched in May 2020, Intellect today counts 3.5 million users globally, with services available in 30 languages and comprehensive local networks of mental healthcare providers across 60 countries worldwide. Its enterprise solution has been rolled out for multinational companies including Singtel, Shell, Merck, Schroders, as well as institutions like NTU, NUS, and the Singapore government.
A key driver of Intellect’s global expansion has been its ability to “build the market”, especially in a space that demands varying levels of education depending on the market. Unlocking these opportunities to “build the market” is its Partnerships & Solutions team led by VP Cassandra Loh (Cass).
We go on call with Cass to learn more about Intellect’s approach to global expansion, taking case studies in Singapore, Japan, and the US. How do they navigate the specific nuances of different markets? How do they prioritize hyperlocalization to deliver a world-class solution?
We also get a sneak peek behind how Cass’s own career led to a key piece in Intellect’s ongoing global expansion, their strategic partnership with IHH Healthcare.
Timestamps
(00:05) Highlights;
(01:17) Introduction;
(03:13) Driving Partnerships for Asia’s Leading Mental Health Care Platform;
(07:57) Partnerships in Intellect’s Global Presence: Singapore, Japan, and the US;
(18:21) The Backbone of Intellect’s Global Partnerships Strategy;
(21:57) Bringing Mental Health into Primary Care: Intellect's First Offline Clinic;
(25:14) Realizing Intellect’s Global Impact;
(27:53) Stay tuned for Part 2;
About our guest
Trained academically in communications, with a strong interest and solid experience in Healthcare and Wellness, Cassandra Loh is an advocate of demystifying healthcare and making healthcare accessible for all. She has been working in the healthcare and wellness space for the last decade.
As the VP of Partnerships & Solutions at Intellect, she builds and maintains Intellect's strategic and distribution partnerships regionally, builds Intellect's regional expansion markets' growth strategy, oversees Intellect's consulting and solutioning arm, and oversees Intellect's chain of clinics. She was Health and Wellness Lead at Cigna Singapore, and before that Manager of Innovation and Growth at Parkway Pantai Limited, under IHH Healthcare.
She received her Bachelors’ in Communication from the University of Buffalo, her Master’s in Communications Management from Singapore Management University, and her postgraduate diploma in Counseling Psychology from the College of Allied Educators.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
Lending is not for the faint of heart. But when Trasy Lou Walsh found the right partners to embark with on her first startup venture, she took the leap and started Fluid. With Fluid, she is working to bring consumer-level payment experiences to B2B ecommerce transactions, starting with handling buyer payments to suppliers (i.e., buy now pay later for B2B).Trasy goes on call with us to talk about what makes BNPL for B2B different from B2C (even across industries), how they have navigated the early challenges of building a lending business model (e.g., bringing a CFO on board, securing MNC clients like Coca Cola, etc.), and how building Fluid as its CEO has impacted her own perspective on entrepreneurship and motherhood. Timestamps(00:05) Highlights;(00:36) Becoming a founder;(06:12) Fluid’s first client and first VC;(11:58) Bringing consumer-level fluidity to B2B payment experiences;(20:58) The culture and talent needed to revolutionize B2B payments(24:59) Reflections on the future and the past;(30:00) Rapid Fire Round;About our guestTrasy Lou Walsh is CEO and Co-founder of Fluid. Prior to Fluid, she was Regional General Manager at BNPL startup Atome. Before that she was Head of Restaurant Operations at Uber Eats Asia Pacific. She received her MBA from HKUST Business School as well as an executive education at Harvard Business School. Follow Trasy on LinkedIn for more updates on FluidFollow us on LinkedIn for more updatesCheck out Insignia Business Review for more insightsSubscribe to our monthly newsletter for all the news and resourcesThe content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
More than two decades into his career in risk and compliance roles across PayPal, EY, ING, Rapyd, etc., David decides to not settle but go the other way -- start a company to bring “sexy” back to treasury. Timestamps(00:04) Highlights;(00:38) Everyone has a treasury problem;(04:07) Why is there a treasury problem and what recent bank runs have to do with it;(09:53) How it helps to have the grandfather of PayPal in Asia, and licenses too;(16:23) Are you sure you want to do this (so late in your career)?;(20:36) How global companies are bringing on the next generation of fintechs like Finmo;(25:36) Finmo’s modularized approach to solving the treasury problem;(34:04) Bringing sexy back to treasury by tackling the problem in reverse;(37:59) Rapid Fire Round;About our guestDavid Hanna is CEO and Co-founder of Finmo. He has had more than a 20-year career in risk and compliance leadership roles. Prior to Finmo, he was Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Rapyd, spent more than six years as Regional Director for Enterprise Risk and Compliance at Paypal, and more than six years as Senior Manager of Compliance and Regulatory at EY. He graduated from La Trobe University with a degree in Business Management.Follow David on LinkedIn for more updates on Finmo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paymentnerd/Follow us on LinkedIn for more updates: https://www.linkedin.com/company/insignia-ventures/Check out Insignia Business Review for more insights: https://review.insignia.vc/Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for all the news and resources: https://review.insignia.vc/The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
We’re back with Nadira Zahiruddin and Gisella Tjoanda, VP of Innovation and VP of Business Development, respectively, at SuperApp (Super), the leading social commerce platform in Indonesia, innovating the future of retail in underserved areas in the country.
In Part 1, we got caught up on Super’s business, how it's developed and evolved over the last year, especially when it comes to developing its portfolio of private label and exclusivity brands that contribute significantly to the business’s path to profitability.
In Part 2, we focus more on how Nadira and Gisella have grown as leaders since we last talked to them, and the most challenging and fulfilling parts of working at Super.
Timestamps
Timestamps
(03:13) Highlights;
(04:02) Introduction;
(05:23) The Latest on SuperApp’s Path to Profitability: Private Label;
(09:09) Growing Private Label and Exclusivity Brands;
(16:21) Evolving Consumer Retail Behavior in Rural Indonesia;
(19:08) How Much Closer To Becoming the Store-Less Walmart of Indonesia?;
(23:12) Stay Tuned for Part 2 Next Week;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
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SuperApp VP of Innovation Nadira Zahiruddin and VP of Business Develompent & Strategy Gisella Tjoanda return to On Call with Insignia to give us the latest on Super’s growing portfolio of 36 private label and exclusivity brands, covering a wide variety from skincare products to mineral water.
They share how SuperApp’s social commerce network of 48,000 agents is innovating the way these brands are developed/partnered, priced, and distributed across rural Indonesia, transforming everyday goods retail for communities from East Java to South Sulawesi.
They also share how these brand development and partnerships are critical to SuperApp's monetization and path to profitability as a leading social commerce and retail innovation company in Indonesia.
Timestamps
(03:13) Highlights;
(04:02) Introduction;
(05:23) The Latest on SuperApp’s Path to Profitability: Private Label;
(09:09) Growing Private Label and Exclusivity Brands;
(16:21) Evolving Consumer Retail Behavior in Rural Indonesia;
(19:08) How Much Closer To Becoming the Store-Less Walmart of Indonesia?;
(23:12) Stay Tuned for Part 2 Next Week;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
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Our conversation with Mark Hew continues in this episode. The Chief of Staff and Head of Payments and Agents Business for regional fintech group Fazz spends part 2 sharing with us his approach to leadership and sustaining an underdog / David vs Goliath culture (find out what SOS means) in an organization as diverse and as mature as Fazz’s.
Revisit part 1 where he talks about Fazz’s evolution from agent network for financial services to payments infrastructure companyTimestamps
(00:00) Missed Part One? Check it out first;
(00:07) Highlights;
(01:03) From Head of People to Chief of St(u)ff: Professionalizing Fazz;
(07:04) Keeping the Underdog Mindset Alive;
(15:39) What Keeps Mark Going Fazz;
(18:02) Rapid Fire Round;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
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We've been able to document the journey of fintech Fazz all the way back since our podcast started in 2020 with the CEO and co-founder, Hendra Kwik’s origin story. We've followed their evolution into what is now a regional FinTech group through a merger with Xfers.
We also got to talk to Tianwei Liu, co-founder of Xfers, who is now the group deputy CEO of Fazz, about different topics from his journey building Xfers and joining forces with Payfazz (2022) to the future of payments in the region with blockchain technology and compliant stablecoins (2024).
Today, we're joined by another leader from Fazz, Mark Hew, the Business Unit head for Payments and Agent Network in Indonesia, as well as Chief of Staff of the company.
In part one of our conversation with him, he talks about Fazz’s evolution into a payment infrastructure company, his evolving role in the company, and how the company has weathered the tech boom and bust in recent years.
Timestamps
(00:49) Introducing Mark Hew;
(02:42) The Fast Track to Fazz;
(05:39) Leadership Evolving with Fazz;
(12:01) Building a Payment Infrastructure Leader, from Agent Networks for Rural Indonesia to Blockchain Technology for Web3;
(16:47) Make or Break Corner;
(19:13) Stay tuned for part 2 next week!
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
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Welcome back to our continuing conversation with Shilpa Gautam, CFO of supply chain digitization and purchase financing platform AwanTunai.
In the last episode, we talk about the recent progress AwanTunai has made with its Series B and what that means for its business. We also hear from Shilpa’s perspective as CFO how AwanTunai develops cost-effective risk management and scale.
In part two, we delve deeper into Shilpa's journey as a CFO, from joining the company at the forefront of the tech winter to winning awards at Davos, and her own mindset and approach to various aspects of building a company's finance function, from hiring to controls and fundraising.
Timestamps
(00:03) Highlights;
(00:56) Growing as a Leader in AwanTunai;
(07:33) CFO’s Approach to Hiring, Controls, and Fundraising;
(14:04) In the Orange Corner;
(16:53) What Keeps Shilpa Going;
(18:46) Rapid Fire Round;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
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On Call with Insignia returns with a new guest, Shilpa Gautam, the CFO of AwanTunai! AwanTunai is a company digitizing the traditional FMCG supply chain in Indonesia to enable low-cost, equitable financing for MSMEs, a market opportunity worth US$300B in this segment alone.Over the years, we’ve heard plenty from CEO Dino Setiawan on the journey of AwanTunai (its origins, growth amidst the pandemic-hit lending space, and its appless, proprietary approach to embedded financing). This time we get to hear from Shilpa’s point of view as CFO: how her joining AwanTunai was a full circle moment in a decade-long career across lending, audit, M&A, banking, how she approached becoming the company’s first CFO amidst the onset of the tech funding winter and the company’s next fundraise, and how her role fits into AwanTunai’s big picture “building the next wave of financial inclusion in Indonesia”, and a “textbook example for financial inclusion” globally.Timestamps(01:15) Introducing Shilpa Gautam, AwanTunai CFO;(06:44) Scaling a Lending Business with the Capital Efficiency and the Right Investors;(13:50) The Value and Cost of Solving for Risk Before Scale;(20:45) Solving for Scale in a US$300B Market Opportunity;(25:01) Make or Break Corner: From Raising Series B Amidst the Tech Winter to Presenting at Davos;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
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Part 2 of our chat with Leon Yip, former Singaporean firefighter, Insignia Ventures Academy VC Accelerator Cohort 2 alumnus, and now working with deep tech startups at Hatch.Part 1 was all about Leon sharing his journey from the Singapore Civil Defense Force to IVA and finally to Hatch: https://youtu.be/p7w42vX2x_0More episodes with IVA mentors and alumni on Academy Afterthoughts: https://review.insignia.vc/category/podcasts/iva-afterthoughts/ Insignia Ventures Academy’s Certificate in Venture Capital course is open for applications to its 7th (March) and 8th (June) cohorts! Talk to our program manager Jiaway Koh and learn more here: http://www.insignia.vc/u/callivaTimestamps(00:00) How Leon’s time at IVA impacted his career and his work at Hatch;(06:30) Use cases of deep tech in public safety and security;(09:51) Advice for founders working with government as customers; (15:50) How IVA impacted the way Leon engages with founders;(18:38) Rapid Fire Round;About our guestLeon Yip is an alumnus of Cohort 2 of Insignia Ventures Academy’s Certificate in Venture Capital course. Prior to IVA he had built a career in the Singapore Civil Defense Force, from frontline responder to part of the headquarters’ innovation development team. From IVA he was exposed to philanthropic capital at Plans and Development of the Temasek Foundation. Currently he bridges the gap between lifesaving and the startup ecosystem at the Home Team Science and Technology Agency’s Hatch, which curates and accelerates impactful deep tech innovations to thrive in the public safety and security domain.The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
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We are back with another Academy Afterthoughts episode, where we go on call with alumni and mentors of Insignia Ventures Academy’s programs, primarily the Certificate in Venture Capital course which is open for applications to its 7th (March) and 8th (June) cohorts! Talk to our program manager Jiaway Koh and learn more here: http://www.insignia.vc/u/calliva
In this episode we have Leon Yip from Cohort 2, whose career spans firefighting to now working with startups as they develop solutions for public safety and security.
In Part 1 of our conversation, he shares about his time at the Singapore Civil Defense Force, going from the frontlines to innovation development at headquarters. Then we talk about his experiences and takeaways from his 12 weeks at Insignia Ventures Academy, and how that impacted his personal and professional development.
Stay tuned for Part 2 next Monday, where we talk more about deep tech solutions for public safety and security across various use cases, especially in light of Singapore’s greater push for more global activity to find its place in the country, from Asia stopovers for global artists like Taylor Swift to becoming a hub for more digital asset transactions in the region.
Timestamps
(00:00) Introduction;
(02:36) Leon’s days at the Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF);
(06:29) Leon’s Insignia Ventures Academy experience;
(15:50) How Leon’s IVA experience impacted his career post-program, leading up to his work with deep tech startups at Hatch;
About our guest
Leon Yip is an alumnus of Cohort 2 of Insignia Ventures Academy’s Certificate in Venture Capital course. Prior to IVA he had built a career in the Singapore Civil Defense Force, from frontline responder to part of the headquarters’ innovation development team. From IVA he was exposed to philanthropic capital at Plans and Development of the Temasek Foundation. Currently he bridges the gap between lifesaving and the startup ecosystem at the Home Team Science and Technology Agency’s Hatch, which curates and accelerates impactful deep tech innovations to thrive in the public safety and security domain.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.
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Our conversation continues with Todd Schweitzer, CEO and co-founder of open finance solutions platform Brankas. After getting a fresh introduction to how Brankas and open finance works as well as developments in the open finance revolution in Southeast Asia, Todd takes us across the world to the Middle East and what Brankas has been doing to meet the banking transformation needs of markets in the region. But first, he shares learnings from selling software to banks and working with us at Insignia Ventures. A quick recap, in case you’re not familiar: how does Brankas work? As Todd puts it simply, “We work with tech companies, consumer and SME apps that are looking to have financial services integrations. We also work with the banks themselves to become suppliers of these products. That creates a marketplace where you have the institutions on one side and the tech companies on the other. Brankas is making it much easier for those two groups to connect.”They provide services across Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. In 2023, they expanded into MENA, particularly Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, which we talk about more in this episode!Timestamps(00:00) Make or Break Corner: Patience and Partnerships in Open Finance; (00:05) Catch up to part 1 here: https://youtu.be/mcmazgnBmw0(02:50) In the Orange Corner: Finding Partners to Expand Ambition; (04:40) Brankas’s Approach to the MENA Opportunity for Open Finance(11:14) Brankas’s Approach to AI Tooling;(13:57) Rapid Fire Round;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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In this week’s episode of On Call with Insignia, Brankas CEO and co-founder Todd Schweitzer returns after two years (check out our first conversation with him here) with the latest insights on open finance and Brankas’ progress in driving this transformation in the region.
But first, in case you’re not familiar: how does Brankas work?
As Todd puts it simply, “We work with tech companies, consumer and SME apps that are looking to have financial services integrations. We also work with the banks themselves to become suppliers of these products. That creates a marketplace where you have the institutions on one side and the tech companies on the other. Brankas is making it much easier for those two groups to connect.”
They provide services across Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. In 2023, they expanded into MENA, particularly Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, which we talk about more in part 2, coming out next week!
Timestamps
(00:00) Todd and Brankas’ Introduction;
(05:47) Opportunities for Open Finance in Southeast Asia: SME and Migrant Worker Banking;
(13:38) The Tradeoffs for Tech Companies Integrating Financial Services;
(18:04) Maturing Banking Experiences in Southeast Asia;
(22:08) Southeast Asia’s Developing Open Finance Regulation;
(25:26) Stay tuned for part 2 next week;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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This week’s episode, we continue our call with Qing Gui Huang, CEO of Thailand’s leading online beauty retail company.
As a beauty retailer, Konvy supports thousands of brands with a combined portfolio of more than 25,000 SKUs, through various channels, from their app to ecommerce platforms, TikTok, and offline stores. Konvy kicked off 2024 with the announcement of their latest funding round as they look to expand regionally, starting in the Philippines.
In part 1 of our conversation, Gui shares more about Konvy’s expansion into offline retail and TikTok Shop in 2023, as well as stories behind their decision to go beyond Thailand and take a big brand campaign to become the top of mind beauty retailer in Thailand. See the full part 1 episodeIn part 2, Gui talks about all things trends. From trends in beauty products and consumption, to trends in beauty brand expansion across Asia, to trends in beauty retail experiences, he paints a picture of the industry Konvy is leading into the futureTimestamps(00:00) Catch up on part one(00:15) Private Label Thesis and Beauty Brand Trends in Southeast Asia; (02:36) Trends across Beauty Markets in Asia;(07:34) Future of Beauty Retail;(10:08) Rapid Fire Round;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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This week’s episode, we go on call with Qing Gui Huang, CEO of Thailand’s leading online beauty retail company Konvy. As a beauty retailer, Konvy supports thousands of brands with a combined portfolio of more than 25,000 SKUs, through various channels, from their app to ecommerce platforms, TikTok, and offline stores. Konvy kicked off 2024 with the announcement of their latest funding round as they look to expand regionally, starting in the Philippines.In part 1 of our conversation, Gui shares more about Konvy’s expansion into offline retail and TikTok Shop in 2023, as well as stories behind their decision to go beyond Thailand and take a big brand campaign to become the top of mind beauty retailer in Thailand. Timestamps(00:00) Highlights(02:49) Introduction(05:21) How going offline unlocked a whole new segment;(12:47) Why TikTok as a channel is best leveraged at scale;(18:43) Expanding regionally, Philippines first;(23:55) Making a Bet on Branding;(27:22) Working with a VC;(30:56) Stay tuned for part two next Wednesday!The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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fintech #entrepreneur #podcastOur call continues with Tianwei Liu, Deputy CEO of Southeast Asia fintech group Fazz, the company behind stablecoin issuer StraitsX. In 2023’s Singapore Fintech Festival, StraitsX received in-principle approval by the MAS for the issuance of XSGD and XUSD, opening up opportunities we covered in the first half of our call with the seasoned fintech entrepreneur. This second half goes more into his learnings developing regulatory and compliance maturity from more than seven years pioneering fintech infrastructure solutions out of Singapore and more than ten years of entrepreneurship. Timestamps(00:00) Catch up on episode one(01:25) Next Generation Cross-Border Payments with XUSD; (04:19) Learnings on Building a Compliant Fintech;(15:46) Reflections on a Decade-Long Entrepreneurial Career;(21:12) Rapid Fire Round; The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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This week’s episode has returning guest Tianwei Liu, Deputy CEO of Southeast Asia fintech group Fazz, the company behind stablecoin issuer StraitsX. In 2023’s Singapore Fintech Festival, StraitsX received in-principle approval by the MAS for the issuance of XSGD and XUSD, opening up opportunities we cover in this first half of our call with the seasoned fintech entrepreneur. Timestamps(00:00) Highlights(02:14) Introduction; (05:06) Impact on StraitsX;(08:43) Impact on Singapore and ASEAN Economies;(12:24) Impact on Merchants and Business Finance;(21:54) Impact on Embedded Finance;(26:04) Subscribe and stay tuned for part 2;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Our conversation from last week continues with Flip VP of Product Sourabh Gupta on evolving product-market fit (PMF). After getting context on Flip’s latest developments in its product journey last episode, we dive into a discussion on the practical implications of PMF evolution -- leveraging B2C advantages in B2B sales, orchestrating product development with problem statement-driven teams, and the hidden costs of product experimentation, maintenance and scale. Timestamps(00:00) Catch up on episode one(01:13) B2C Advantage in B2B Fintech; (05:14) Streamlining Cross-Functional Productivity; (07:40) Managing the Cost of Monetization;(09:23) Redefining Product Market Fit;(12:46) Rapid Fire Round; The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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With over 13 million users, Flip has become part of Indonesia's maturing fintech culture. But while the company started out in 2016 with a product centered around free money transfers, their product-market fit has had to evolve over the years. Flip's VP of Product & Design, Sourabh Gupta, walks us through the latest developments in Flip's product-market fit journey, with lessons for the startup PM and entrepreneur. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this conversation by subscribing to our channel!Timestamps(00:00) Introduction;(01:32) The Latest on Flip's Product Journey;(03:41) The Value of Bottom-Up Cost Management;(05:53) Deep Diving into Flip's Product-Market Fit Evolution;(09:45) Evolving Product Market Fit for a Consumer Fintech;(14:37) Indonesian Fintech Industry and Competitive Trends;(19:18) Catch Part 2 next week;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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We start the year 2024 with a recap of the journey of Shipper, an Indonesian technology company simplifying logistics and supply chain for all types of businesses from ecommerce to offline retail, helping them across a range of services from first-mile to warehousing and inventory management.With the significant developments in Indonesia’s ecommerce landscape this past year, we take a look at how this company has been maturing logistics and supply chain management in Indonesia, and it has a lot to do with the people behind this company.Check out the full calls with them and other Shipper content over the years: https://review.insignia.vc/tag/shipper/Footage from @shipperindonesia The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us on this call led by host Paulo Joquino, as he is joined by management and HR leaders to talk about global expansion into and across Southeast Asia: Karen Ng, Deel Expansion Leader for ASEAN, India, NASIA, Thomas Jeng, Aspire General Manager Singapore, and Olly Riches, Michael Page Senior Managing Director Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Page Executive SEA.Timestamps(00:00) Highlights;(01:33) Growing and managing a lean startup's HR function;(12:30) Scaling operations across diverse, multiple markets in Southeast Asia;(17:30) The understated opportunities in Southeast Asia;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us on this call led by host Paulo Joquino, as he is joined by management and HR leaders to talk about global expansion into and across Southeast Asia: Karen Ng, Deel Expansion Leader for ASEAN, India, NASIA, Thomas Jeng, Aspire General Manager Singapore, and Olly Riches, Michael Page Senior Managing Director Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Page Executive SEA.Timestamps(00:00) Highlights;(01:35) Introductions;(06:18) The #1 challenge when expanding across Southeast Asia; (12:33) Attracting talent creatively;(16:52) The admin/compliance and incentives side of setting up teams across Southeast Asia;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us on this call led by Insignia Ventures Partners Vice President Shefali Dodani, as she is joined by ecommerce and supply chain founders shaping the way brands are built and scaled from Indonesia to the US: Patrick Cao, one of the co-founders of GoTo Group, JJ Chai, Co-Founder and CEO of Rainforest, and Phil Opamuratawongse, Co-Founder and CEO of Shipper.
Timestamps
(00:00) Highlights;
(01:18) Introductions;
(07:39) Two Trends to look out for in Indonesia’s Brand Competitive Landscape;
(11:22) Developing Distribution with Indonesia’s Maturing Infrastructure from the Greater Jakarta Area to the Rest of the Country;
(16:20) What Separates an Enduring Brand from the Rest;
(20:11) From Scaling Enablers to Managing Inventory Loss: Underrated Opportunities in Supply Chain Innovation;
(26:17) What Makes a Great Supply Chain Leader;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us on this call led by Insignia Ventures Partners venture partner Timothy Lee, which features an exploration into the realities, possibilities, and limitations of integrating AI in various consumer experiences from buying cars, to buying homes, from buying FMCGs and cosmetics to buying stocks. With him are the CEOs of leading consumer platforms in the region: Carro CEO and co-founder Aaron Tan, Ajaib CEO and co-founder Anderson Sumarli, Pinhome CEO and co-founder Dayu Dara Permata, and Super CEO and co-founder Steven Wongsoredjo.
Timestamps
Highlights;
(02:20) Mis-Introductions (by Claude, ChatGPT, Bing, Bard);
(06:54) Carro was initially an AI company for testing sound engines? And how it’s still an AI company today;
(11:25) Real estate pain points that can be solved by AI and Pinhome’s cost reduction with AI;
(16:35) What AI means to rural Indonesia and Super’s approach to digital adoption;
(20:48) AI reducing cost to serve and the value of still having humans in the process for Indonesia’s largest digital investment platform Ajaib;
(25:29) Where have you tried to apply AI and it hasn’t panned out as expected?;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us on this call led by Insignia Ventures Partners principal Yongcheng Ong, tapping into the minds of innovative entrepreneurs who are at the forefront of building the AI transformation infrastructure for enterprise, Appier CEO and co-founder Chih Han Yu, WIZ.AI CEO and co-founder Jennifer Zhang, and Bluesheets CEO and co-founder Christian Schneider. Timestamps(00:00) Highlights;(02:12) Introductions;(07:46) What Does AI Transformation Really Mean;(17:53) Leading The Third Phase of AI Adoption;(21:28) Commercializing AI for Enterprise;(23:56) AI Transformation Means Data Transformation;(27:40) Advantages of Being Global AI Companies with Roots in ASEAN;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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In this episode, we recap the journey of Carro, the tech company behind Southeast Asia's largest used car marketplace and end-to-end auto retail platform.
Since the start of the podcast in 2020 we have covered their journey, and with eight years under their belt, we highlight sharings from Carro's leaders on the podcast over the past four years.
Check out the full calls with them over the years:
2020 with Aaron Tan
2020 with Ernest Chew
2021 with Aaron Tan
2022 with Bryan Tan
2022 with Aaron Tan
2023 with Ernest Chew
Follow to stay tuned for future calls with these leaders!
Footage from @TechinAsia , @TheBusinessTimes , and @amazonwebservices
Music from @janettes and @WONNIETHEWORLD
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Singapore’s rise over the past few decades into the port-of-call for innovation and business growth into the APAC and ASEAN region has been nothing short of a marvel. But building up and sustaining that over the years and into the future is founded on innovating the way enterprise and government work together to push forward solutions and technologies in such a way that it is safe, sustainable, and viable for business. Our founding managing partner Yinglan Tan goes on call with Liu Chen, Director of Enterprise Development at Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and long-time Singaporean civil service professional, to talk about one institution in particular that has been instrumental in Singapore’s startup and venture capital ecosystem: the Pro-Enterprise Panel (PEP). It is an institution that Yinglan himself has had experience with, having served on the PEP as well.Timestamps and Highlights(01:06) Introducing Liu Chen and Singapore’s Pro-Enterprise Panel;(10:05) Singapore’s Regulatory Innovation with the Green Economy;(13:29) Role of PPPs in Singapore Innovation;(16:28) Advice for Founders on Working with the Singapore Government;(22:11) Rapid Fire Round;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Our call continues with Dayu Dara Permata and Ahmed Aljunied, founders of Pinhome, Southeast Asia’s leading end-to-end #property transaction platform for first-time home buyers. Catch up on part 1We dive into how Pinhome uses embedded #finance to improve transactions across the entire real estate industry and how Pinhome views the confluence of various market indicators leading to the rise of #Proptech 3.0 in #Indonesia. Finally, Dara and Ahmed reflect on their thesis from three years ago and how far they have come. Timestamps(00:00) Highlights;(01:58) Introduction;(02:34) Pinhome's Fintech Business;(06:12) Proptech 3.0 in Indonesia; (10:59) Pinhome’s Path to Profitability; (13:04) Rapid Fire Round;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join part 1 of our call with Dayu Dara Permata and Ahmed Aljunied, founders of Pinhome, Southeast Asia’s leading end-to-end property transaction platform for first-time home buyers.
As the CEO and CTO respectively of Pinhome return to the show this year, they share with us the latest on Pinhome’s growth, path to profitability, strategic partnerships, as well as their views on the wider property landscape in Indonesia.
We also dive into how Pinhome has changed the lives of the underbanked home buyers and how Gen AI could further shape consumer experiences.
Timestamps
(00:00) Highlights;
(00:45) Introduction;
(01:39) Pinhome’s 2023 Numbers Update: Globally The Most Comprehensive Service Offering for Everything Home;
(04:25) Indonesia’s Property Markets: Between Opportunity and Uncertainty;
(06:53) Pinhome’s Path to Profitability;
(10:30) Pinhome’s Approach to Strategic Partnerships;
(12:52) The Marketer, Content Creator, and Traditional Seller: Three Stories of Lives Changed by Pinhome;
(16:41) Gen AI Impact on the Indonesian Home Buyer’s Experience;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Ahead of a new call next week with returning guests Dayu Dara Permata and Ahmed Aljunied, founders of Pinhome, we're recapping three years of calls with the entrepreneurs leading what is now Indonesia's leading end-to-end property transaction platform and globally one of the most comprehensive platforms for all things home.
Check out the full calls with them over the years, in 2020, in 2021, and in 2022
Follow us to stay tuned for 2023!
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Our call with Greg Krasnov, CEO and Founder of Philippine digital bank Tonik, continues in this episode. He shares more on his views on global fintech in today's bear market, Tonik's thesis on digital banking in the Philippines, the impact of automation on their organization. He also gives a quick masterclass on credit monetization. Check out last week's episode going behind the scenes of Tonik's approach to scaling a balanced loan portfolioTimestamps(00:00) Highlights;(01:29) Introduction;(01:50) Trends in fintech in Southeast Asia in today's bear markets;(04:28) Reflecting on Greg's 2020 thesis for Tonik;(07:29) Growing and maturing Tonik's organization and where is Tonik hiring?;(12:34) Greg's masterclass on credit monetization;(15:04) A memorable customer story;(16:04) Rapid Fire Round;The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join part 1 of our call with Greg Krasnov, CEO and Founder of Tonik, a Philippine digital bank that hit record user and deposit growth months after launch in early 2021, and over the past year has been focused on building up a balanced, scalable loan portfolio. Greg also shares his thoughts on generative AI and how this technology will change banking.
Subscribe and stay tuned for Part 2 next week!
Timestamps
(00:00) Highlights;
(00:58) Building a diversified, balanced loan portfolio for scale and profitability;
(07:39) Scaling Tonik's loan business in the Philippines' 2023 market conditions;
(10:56) Repayment experience from the Tonik perspective;
(12:52) Learnings from scaling a bank and the impact of generative AI on banking;
(19:14) Catch part 2 next week!
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Go on call with Anthony Chow, CEO and Co-Founder of igloo, a global smart access solutions company that recently celebrated eight years, securing more than 300K door assets with more than 10M digital keys issued across 100 countries.
To celebrate their eight year anniversary and highlight the product launch of their latest enterprise smart padlock, they sent eight models into space! Anthony returns to On Call to give us the behind the scenes on the "out of this world" experiment, learnings from eight years of growing a global company out of Singapore, and views on the future of smart access technologies.
Watch the full launch video
This episode is a cut down version of the full call. Sign up for our newsletter and get a special link in our next monthly edition.
Timestamps
(00:00) Call Highlights;
(02:31) igloo milestones since June 2021;
(04:38) How igloo sent a smart padlock into space;
(12:24) How igloo overcame three key challenges in its past eight years;
(18:43) igloo's view on the future of smart access technologies;
(21:36) Rapid Fire Round;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Our call with Ernest Chew, CFO of AI-driven used car online platform Carro, continues in this episode. He shares his thoughts on EVs, unlearnings from two years as CFO, advice for finance professionals venturing into startups, and much more.
Check out last week's episode going behind the scenes of Carro's balance of growth and profitability.
Timestamps
(01:00) Ernest's views on EVs and other emerging trends around cars;
(02:18) Ernest's unlearnings from two years as CFO of Carro;
(05:21) Managing a cross-border organization;
(07:15) Ernest's advice for finance professionals venturing into startups;
(08:14) Rapid Fire Round;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Go on call with Ernest Chew, CFO of Carro, a company leading the way in reshaping the used car industry with its AI-driven car buying experience.
They recently announced record profitability in Q1 for FY 2024 (3x the entire last full year), the latest achievement in the company's journey becoming now one of very high-growth tech start-up that is profitable across all metrics, with growth driven interestingly by their ancillary businesses in financing, insurance, aftersales and mobility (60% of their gross profit).
More on the announcement here.
Timestamps
(01:50) Carro's record quarterly profitability;
(04:57) Carro's ecosystem approach to balance growth and profitability;
(11:03) Carro's approach to unlocking greater ecosystem growth through strategic partnerships;
(14:39) Catch part 2 next week!
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or
security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Our conversation with Reuters #Asia #Technology Correspondent Fanny Potkin continues in this episode, where we tackle a new topic: #AI. From Generative AI #regulation developments to existing Data Privacy laws, #GenerativeAI memorization issues, and AI in #media, join us in this week's call! #podcast
Watch part one where we talk all about semiconductor supply chains and influx of global companies into ASEAN
Timestamps (01:43) AI Regulation: A Global Review (06:58) The Link Between Generative AI and Data Privacy Regulation; (17:18) Minute Masterclass: Media Relations for Startups; (21:25) Rapid Fire Round;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/oncallinsignia/message
Global companies setting up HQs in Singapore and shifting factories and R&D offices from China to Vietnam. Semiconductor supply chains diversifying with chip nationalism. Macroeconomic headwinds posing challenges for startup fundraising. What do these mean for Southeast Asia startups and ASEANnovation?
Paulo goes on call with Fanny Potkin, Asia Technology Correspondent at Reuters to talk about these emerging trends and industry evolutions and their implications for startup opportunities in Southeast Asia.
Timestamps (02:01) A longtime business and tech journalist's POV on Southeast Asia's startup opportunities; (10:44) Navigating the influx of global companies and big tech to Southeast Asia; (15:15) The future of semiconductor supply chains and Southeast Asia's role in this;
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/oncallinsignia/message
How can your company leverage generative AI to become more operationally efficient? What are the opportunities for engineering talent in Vietnam? How do you approach organizational development from early-stage to growth?
One of Vietnam's leading startup CEOs, Huy Nghiem, shares his takes from experience growing Finhay from an idea in 2017 into an organization now employing 160 Vietnamese building the future of investing for more than 3 million of their fellow countrymen. A great listen for those looking to make their organization AI-ready, interested in hiring Vietnamese tech talent, and looking for inspiration from a growth-stage CEO.
This conversation continues from the previous episode
Timestamps
(01:31) How to approach generative AI integration into business operations;
(05:04) How the software engineering talent pool in Vietnam has evolved since 2017;
(07:41) Why you need a strong company culture before becoming a growth company;
(11:04) Minute Masterclass: Team Formation and Company Culture for Early and Growth Stage Startups;
(15:09) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Huy Nghiem is the founder and CEO of Finhay as well as Chairman of Vina Securities. Prior to Finhay, Huy built his expertise and experience in the financial markets as a financial advisor at AMP in Australia. He also co-founded and led tech companies and business initiatives during his time in Australia. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Marketing. He was part of the 2020 Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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On call with us this week is Huy Nghiem, CEO and Founder of smart investment platform Finhay. A year after his last conversation with Paulo, he returns with updates and learnings from the fintech's growth, now serving more than 3 million users. He also brings with him insights and stats painting a picture of Vietnam's economic resilience, an uptick in stock market activity in Q2, and the continued rapid development of its digital economy. A must-listen conversation for anyone looking for an update into Vietnam's macro outlook, or insights on how to navigate one of ASEAN's fastest growing digital economies amidst market uncertainties.
Timestamps
(01:31) An Update on Finhay;
(05:01) Learnings from becoming a Smart Investment Platform for more than 3 million Vietnamese;
(10:56) How Vietnam's economic resilience led to product growth for a smart investment platform;
(16:24) How Vietnam's Digital Economy has evolved and Finhay's place in it;
About our guest
Huy Nghiem is the founder and CEO of Finhay as well as Chairman of Vina Securities. Prior to Finhay, Huy built his expertise and experience in the financial markets as a financial advisor at AMP in Australia. He also co-founded and led tech companies and business initiatives during his time in Australia. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Marketing. He was part of the 2020 Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/oncallinsignia/message
Indonesian agritech for farmers Elevarm's CTO and co-founder Febi Agil Ifdillah and CPO Bayu Adi Persada share how Elevarm approach to digitalizing farming in Indonesia impacts the kind of engineers and operators they hire, Elevarm's path to profitability and place in future agritech industry, and their own leadership styles.
In last week's episode, Febi and Bayu shared their stories getting into agritech, Elevarm's ecosystem approach to an agritech business, and key learnings from their recently published sustainability report.
Timestamps:
(02:24) Misconceptions about Indonesian agritech;
(07:17) Views on the evolution of Indonesia's agritech competitive landscape and Elevarm's place in the future of farming and food;
(14:27) How Febi's and Bayu's leadership has grown since starting / joining Elevarm;
(19:27) #MinuteMasterclass: Commercializing Technology-Based Innovation for Indonesia's Farmers;
(22:34) #RapidFireRound;
About our guests
Febi Agil Ifdillah is co-founder and CTO of Elevarm. Growing up in a remote village in Bogor, Indonesia, Febi is a first-generation college graduate. He studied under full scholarship from the Indonesian Government to pursue a degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science/Informatics from (ITB) Bandung Institute of Technology’s School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics. He was a Machine Learning engineer before jumping into the agritech space.
Bayu Adi Persada is CPO of Elevarm. He has had more than seven years as a product manager, head of product, and CPO for several companies in Indonesia, including Bukalapak and Grab. He received his Bachelors' from the Bandung Institute of Technology in Informatics Engineering and his Masters in ICTs for Development from The University of Manchester.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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In this call, Febi Agil Ifdillah (co-founder and CTO) and Bayu Adi Persada (CPO) dial in from Indonesia. They are tech leaders at Elevarm, a digitally-enabled ecosystem to uplift the lives of 15 million smallholder farmers in their country's fragmented agriculture industry and ultimately contribute to the world's food and environmental sustainability. Their call with Paulo comes as they just launched their first sustainability and impact report, which is a great introduction not just to Elevarm, but also Indonesian agriculture.
Timestamps
(01:15) Introducing Elevarm and our guests;
(02:56) How a tech founder and a seasoned unicorn senior product manager found their mission in agriculture;
(10:13) Elevarm’s outside-in, holistic ecosystem approach to uplifting farmers;
(22:43) Launching Elevarm’s first sustainability and impact report and key insights into Indonesian agriculture;
About our guests
Febi Agil Ifdillah is co-founder and CTO of Elevarm. Growing up in a remote village in Bogor, Indonesia, Febi is a first-generation college graduate. He studied under full scholarship from the Indonesian Government to pursue a degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science/Informatics from (ITB) Bandung Institute of Technology’s School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics. He was a Machine Learning engineer before jumping into the agritech space.
Bayu Adi Persada is CPO of Elevarm. He has had more than seven years as a product manager, head of product, and CPO for several companies in Indonesia, including Bukalapak and Grab. He received his Bachelors' from the Bandung Institute of Technology in Informatics Engineering and his Masters in ICTs for Development from The University of Manchester.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us on call with Jason Tan, CFO and Co-Founder of Rainforest, an ecommerce house of brands buying and growing brands for parenting and kids categories. Q1 this year the company marked its first profitable quarter and now with 16 brands in its portfolio, looks to expand their acquisitions beyond Amazon brands and build up their post-acquisition capabilities (they are hiring!). Jason goes down memory lane with learnings from his 20+ year career in finance from banking in CIMB to startup CFO (ex-OVO, Fave), deep dives into what being a CFO means in the context of Rainforest’s business, and shares advice on fundraising, making the jump into startups, and ensuring cash is king for your business.
Are you a finance professional looking to make a career shift into startups? We're here to help you take those first steps. Check out Insignia Ventures Academy's StartCFO program, an 8 week program for aspiring startup finance leaders to get a sense of what it will take to lead finance teams for innovative, fast-growing companies.
Timestamps
(02:32) A 20+ Year Career from Banking to Fintech Founding CFO to CFO of an Ecommerce House of Brands;
(13:25) Buying and Building the Best Ecommerce Brands for Parents and Babies as a Profitable Business: The CFO Perspective;
(20:08) Building a Finance Team on the Foundations of Trust;
(23:07) Advice on Fundraising and Jumping into Startups as a Finance Professional;
(26:07) #MinuteMasterclass: How to Make Sure Cash is King as An Entrepreneur;
(27:48) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Jason Tan is CFO and Co-Founder of Rainforest, a house of brands based out of Singapore buying and building the ecommerce brands of the future. Prior to Rainforest he was CFO of Fave and OVO before that. Before getting into the tech sector, he had a more than a decade career at CIMB which saw him become Director of Group Strategy and Strategic investments at the bank.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/oncallinsignia/message
As we navigate through the midpoint of 2023, it is essential to reflect on the significant innovation trends shaping Southeast Asia’s landscape. These innovations are not just transforming the region’s business and economic environments but are also moulding the future career opportunities for the next decade. Here, we have extracted wisdom from several leaders on Season 5 of the On Call with Insignia podcast, drawing their experiences and perspectives to shape a clearer picture of these exciting trends.
This episode is an audio version of this article. Let us know in the poll if you'd like to hear the rest of this article and more audio articles like this!
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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SaaS operator and Salesforce alum Jeraldine Phneah goes on call with host Paulo J in this episode of Academy Afterthoughts to walk down memory lane on her Insignia Ventures Academy VC accelerator experience, how she was able to leverage the VC perspective she gained in her SaaS career, how content creation and her career come together, as well as dive into her learnings on GTM and sales engines for startups. The VC accelerator is now recruiting for its 6th cohort! Level up your career in Southeast Asia's startup ecosystems with the venture capital perspective. To apply, check out the VC Accelerator program page or reach out to our program lead Jiaway Koh!
Timestamps
(01:02) Insignia Ventures Academy is not just for aspiring VCs, but career SaaS operators too;
(11:00) Learnings on Finding Your Ideal Customer Profile from Salesforce;
(13:11) Content Creation as a SaaS Operator and for SaaS businesses;
(17:12) How to Build a Sustainable Company by Thinking in Recurring Revenues and Big Problems;
(19:31) #MinuteMasterclass: How to Find the Right People to Execute on GTM Strategies for SaaS startups;
(21:17) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Jeraldine Phneah is a SaaS Account Executive with a track record of helping growth stage companies expand in Southeast Asia, having worked with the likes of Salesforce, Euromonitor, Workato, and more in growth, BD, and AE roles. She is also a content creator, who shares her learnings on accelerating one’s growth while achieving balance and giving back to the community. She has been featured on Forbes, The Straits Times, among other publiations. I have also spoken at events such as the Seedly Personal Finance Festival 2021 and YWLC/Grab's Future Women Leaders Forum 2022. She has also been a LinkedIn Top Voices. She is an alumnus of Insignia Ventures Academy's 4th Cohort.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Ecommerce operator and former Lazada growth exec Geraldine Se goes on call with host Paulo J in this episode of Academy Afterthoughts to walk down memory lane on her Insignia Ventures Academy VC accelerator experience in the pioneering cohort in 2021, share how the program impacted her career as a tech leader and angel investor, as well as dive into her own approach to early-stage investing. The VC accelerator is now recruiting for its 6th cohort! Level up your career in Southeast Asia's startup ecosystems with the venture capital perspective. To apply, check out the VC Accelerator program page or reach out to our program lead Jiaway Koh!
Timestamps
(01:03) A Former Lazada Exec’s Experience of Insignia Ventures Academy;
(13:11) Perks and Purpose of Investing in Early Stage Startups as a Growth Stage Tech Exec with a Finance and Consulting Background;
(22:48) #MinuteMasterclass: Navigating Chaos and Change Agility for Product Market Fit;
(28:30) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Geraldine Se started her career in investment banking first with PWC then Macquarie, and lived for a year in Melbourne with Macquarie. She then pivoted into eCommerce first with a company called aCommerce then Lazada where she held a variety of roles including heading up account management teams, regional strategy and planning, chief of staff to the group co-president and category director of health and beauty in Singapore. She has most recently been country manager of Thailand and Indonesia of a series C Edutech company providing language services to children. Some of the achievements she has been proud of are being brought into difficult country transformation situations in Indonesia and Thailand where she has been able to turn both units' contribution margins positive from negative positions because she really enjoys making an impact on businesses. She is also an angel investor and is a Cohort 1 alumnus of Insignia Ventures Academy's venture capital accelerator.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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The ability of a company to unlock value from its own data is at the heart of many business transformation trends today, from generative AI to ESG reporting, the future of work to more adaptive financial management. Two business automation founders who have made it their mission to help companies build better data sets go on call with Paulo to talk about how to unlock this value and more. bluesheets’ CEO Christian Schneider and COO Clare Leighton return to the show to not just share updates on the impact they have had on their customers but also what they’re excited about with use cases like ESG reporting and generative AI as they position themselves to be the data infrastructure layer for these applications. See open roles at bluesheets and check out our first call with them!
Timestamps
(02:24) Bluesheets a year on: more workflows, more man-hours saved, more cost savings, and their mobile app launch;
(08:31) Learnings from enabling digital transformation for a multinational insurance company;
(14:17) How to leverage data sets processed and data ops enabled by bluesheets: ESG reporting and Generative AI use cases;
(22:23) Pioneering the orchestration layer for enterprise Large Language Models;
(33:50) #MinuteMasterclass: Digital Transformation for Enterprise Leaders 101;
(36:39) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Christian Schneider, bluesheets CEO and co-founder, started his career in investment banking and consulting in Europe then venture building with Rocket Internet in Singapore, managing business intelligence for foodpanda, then co-founding Singapore-based foodtech startup DishDash.co, where he began working with Clare as it expanded to Australia.
Clare Leighton is the bluesheets COO and co-founder. Before first working with Christian as country manager of DishDash.co, she was previously part of the launch team of UberEats in Australia then later the head of Uber’s APAC People Operations.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Insignia Ventures founding managing partner, Yinglan Tan, returns to host this episode as we go on call with Shinji Asada, Co-Founder & CEO, General Partner of One Capital. As a 20+ year veteran in the SaaS and venture capital space in Japan (formerly ITOCHU Ventures, Salesforce Ventures), Shinji shares his decades of experience in investing and building software companies across Japan and the US.
In this episode, Shinji and Yinglan cover a range of topics, including Shinji's approach to investing in market-transforming software companies from the likes of Mercari to Visional, One Capital's digital transformation initiatives for their LPs, and their incubation of SaaS benchmarking and business modeling platform, Projection-ai. They also discuss valuable insights on the Japanese SaaS market, advice for founders looking to expand to Japan and go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and what the future of SaaS companies will be with AI.
Timestamps
(01:04) From ITOCHU to Salesforce to One Capital: Shinji Asada’s 20+ years of growing and investing in SaaS companies from the US to Japan;
(06:20) Digital Transformation for LPs, Projection-ai, Visional: Stories from a SaaS VC’s Approach to Transforming Japan;
(13:07) Language Barriers, Tokyo Stock Exchange, 10 Billion VC Market, and The Evolving Japanese Entrepreneur: Advice on Cracking the Japanese Market for Founders and Investors;
(20:02) Topical Discussions: Navigating Sales for SaaS in Tight Spending and Cost-Cutting Market, Implications of Generative AI for SaaS Building;
(23:05) #MinuteMasterclass: Metrics to Benchmark for SaaS Companies;
(24:58) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Shinji Asada is the Co-Founder & CEO, and General Partner of One Capital, a Tokyo-based early-stage enterprise software-focused VC fund. The debut fund reached $170 million, the largest first-time VC fund in Japan's history (source: Preqin). The firm also has an incubation arm and recently launched Projection-ai and db to help entrepreneurs build financial projections in seconds and also have instant access to relevant SaaS metrics.
Previously, Shinji was the Japan Head of Salesforce Ventures. Portfolio companies then include Sansan(TYO:4443), Teamspirit(TYO:4397), free(TYO:4478), Goodpatch(TYO: 7351), Yappli(TYO: 4168), Visional(TYO:4194), Flect(TYO: 4414), Andpad, Studist, Toreta, PhoneAppli(acquired by NTT Communications), and more. He invested in 7 of Forbes Japan's Top 10 Cloud companies in both 2018 and 2019.
Shinji has over 20 years of extensive business development/operation and investment experience in the technology industry in Japan and in the U.S. During his days at ITOCHU Technology Ventures, Shinji invested in Mercari (TYO:4385), Uzabase (TYO:3396), Muse & Co.(Acquired by Mixi), Box (NYSE:Box), and WHILL. Also at ITOCHU, he invested in Aruba Networks(IPO, acquired by HP), Starent Networks (acquired by Cisco) and Cast Iron Systems (acquired by IBM). He earned an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a BE in Economics from Keio University.
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join Paulo on call with Dino Setiawan, CEO and Co-founder of AwanTunai, Indonesia's leading supply chain financing and ERP platform. AwanTunai is at the intersection of fintech and software, enabling MSMEs and unlocking growth in the massive more than US$100B FMCG industry in Indonesia.
Dino returns to the show after two years to talk about how AwanTunai has evolved over that time. He shares about the value of optimizing for a sustainable business model versus top line growth, his app-less approach to building tech for the tech illiterate, scaling risk management with the right data sets and engines, and what it takes to win over world-class technical talent, among other experiences and learnings. Check out our past conversations with Dino on the origins of AwanTunai (in 2021 and in 2020).
Timestamps
(00:37) Dino’s back for the third time and gives us an update in three numbers;
(04:15) Evolution of Dino as a leader and MSME digitalization in Indonesia;
(09:36) Serendipity of Growing a Financing Business on Top of App-less Supply Chain ERP Infrastructure;
(18:38) Scaling Risk Management with World Class Talent;
(29:28) #MinuteMasterclass: Winning Over World-Class Talent;
(34:59) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Dino Setiawan is the CEO and co-founder of AwanTunai. He is a finance veteran with more than a decade of experience spanning several countries which includes a tenure as VP for Investments at Morgan Stanley among other roles at major financial institutions. After finishing his Master’s at the Stanford Business School in 2011, he started off his entrepreneurial journey by running his own fintech venture in Silicon Valley, SimpleFi, before returning to Indonesia as a regional fintech consultant. Together with ex-Gojek execs Rama Notowidigdo and Windy Natriavi, he later co-founded AwanTunai, an Indonesian fintech startup providing accessible financing to micro-merchants by digitizing the FMCG supply chain.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Insignia Ventures Academy Cohort 1 alumnus Jui Takle shares with Paulo her journey after joining the first-of-its-kind venture capital accelerator program and how she started to lead strategic development at the Philippines' pioneering digital bank Tonik. Get insights into Jui's experiences in the fintech industry from 12 years in fintech and credit rating agencies, particularly in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, and her approach to assessing blue oceans markets and M&A and partnership opportunities for fintechs like Tonik.
Timestamps
(01:29) Introducing Jui Takle;
(04:32) Jui’s Insignia Ventures Academy Afterthoughts;
(12:07) Finding Tonik and Returning to a Mentor;
(17:31) Assessing Blue Oceans and Opportunities in Fintech;
(27:47) #MinuteMasterclass: Filtering Opportunities for M&A and Partnerships;
(30:16) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Jui Takle is currently handling Strategic Development at the first digital bank in the Philippines, Tonik Digital Bank, where she is involved in strategic partnerships and M&A deals. She has 12+ years of experience in Southeast Asia and India including her stint in Tonik Digital Bank, a fintech venture builder, and credit rating agencies - S&P's subsidiary (CRISIL Ltd) and Infospectrum. She analyzed various companies by performing deep due diligence and conducting market and industry research as well as assisted in building fintech startups from zero to one with their fundraising, financial and legal requirements, market research and business structuring including M&A.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us on call with Frank Ng, Head of Marketing at Intellect, Asia's leading mental healthcare company. With a wealth of experience in growth marketing at companies like Skyscanner and Uber, Frank shares invaluable insights into his journey as a marketing leader, the frameworks and heuristics behind his approach to marketing mental healthcare solutions, and developing a marketing function for a growth-stage company like Intellect.
Discover the marketing perspective on how Intellect has evolved from a consumer app to a go-to platform for businesses seeking to proactively integrate mental healthcare services for their employees. Don't miss out on this episode to learn from a thought leader and digital marketing instructor who has played a key role in driving Intellect's rapid growth.
Learn more about Intellect’s story from zero to one straight from CEO and Founder Theodoric Chew.
Transcript | YouTube
Timestamps
(00:20) A Marketing Leaders Journey: Finding Intellect, Levelling Up Mental Health Festival;
(09:09) In and Outs of Marketing Mental Health Solutions: Enterprise and Consumer Business Dynamic, Demand Generation, Localization, Managing Spend, Communicating ROI;
(19:05) Maturing a Startup’s Marketing Function: Goal-Oriented Hiring, Aligning on the Right Incentives;
(23:09) #MinuteMasterclass: Cost-Effective Digital Marketing;
(25:28) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Frank Ng is the Head of Marketing at Intellect, Asia's leading mental healthcare company. As a growth marketing expert, he has an impressive track record in the industry, having worked with notable companies such as Skyscanner and Uber. Frank is not only a seasoned marketing professional but also an active thought leader, sharing his expertise on LinkedIn and providing valuable insights for marketers. Additionally, Frank is a dedicated digital marketing instructor, conducting courses and sessions to help educate other marketers in the industry. With a rich background in various marketing roles, Frank brings a unique perspective to the rapidly growing Intellect team.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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From managing enterprise sales teams to adapting to Indonesia’s regulatory landscape and ensuring organizational maturity to secure ISO and AI-technology certifications, Vivi Mandasari, COO of Verihubs, has had to grow herself as much as she has helped grow the company since joining in 2019. She shares learnings from her journey thus far in this episode with specific focus on selling AI solutions for business in Indonesia.
Learn more about Verihubs from CEO Rick Firnando and CTO Williem Williem in our conversations with them over the past two years.
Transcript | YouTube
Timestamps
(01:08) What has Vivi’s journey been like from joining Verihubs in 2019 to becoming COO?
(05:09) How is Identity Verification and AI for Business in Indonesia evolving post-pandemic?
(09:39) What is the value and the experience like of receiving global certification for AI technologies?
(12:25) What are some of Vivi’s learnings as a business leader on fraud risk management, leveraging customer insights, and managing BD and sales teams?
(15:46) #MinuteMasterclass: How to best approach selling software to enterprise and institutions?
(17:41) #RapidFireRound;
Vivi Mandasari is COO of Verihubs. She joined the company in 2019 as business development manager. She built her career through digital marketing and business development roles at various companies before joining Verihubs.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Is community building really valuable to a fast-growing business? How do you ensure they contribute both to the company and the ecosystem’s bottom lines as well? Joel Leong, co-founder and CMO of Aspire, an all-in-one finance operating software for businesses, shares more about Entrepreneurs of SEA and CFO Connect, two community initiatives he has been leading, to answer these questions and share learnings on what it takes to bring value to communities as a B2B company.
He also shares learnings from four years as a leader with the company, from its early days to now having raised a US$100 million Series C in a bear market, being one of the top 10 fastest growing companies in Singapore, ranking as one of the top 50 high growth companies in APAC, two-time LinkedIn Top Startups listee (2021 and 2022), and most importantly serving more than 15,000 businesses in the region.
Follow us on LinkedIn for related content to this podcast and updates on new calls!
Transcript | YouTube
Timestamps
(01:46) Building Startups in a Startup for Startups;
(07:18) B2B Community Case Study 1: Entrepreneurs of SEA;
(13:31) B2B Community Case Study 2: CFO Connect;
(18:29) Managing Community Initiatives;
(22:04) The Future of Aspire’s Communities;
(23:00) #MinuteMasterclass: Building Communities for B2B;
(24:08) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Joel Leong is a serial entrepreneur, having built an online marketplace for creators and group buying community in Singapore before joining Aspire, where he is co-founder and CMO.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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More than twelve years ago, the co-founder and COO then CFO, Hernan Kazah, together with the former CFO, Nicholas Szekasy, of now Latin American technology giant Mercado Libre decided to build a “true venture capital firm for Latin America,” one where entrepreneurs and former operators are partnering with founders rather than just investors deploying capital.
114+ ventures, 275+ entrepreneurs, and 7 funds later, co-founder and managing partner Hernan Kazah goes on call with Insignia Ventures’ Yinglan Tan to talk about learnings from his 25+ year career from P&G to Mercado Libre to Kaszek Ventures, what it has taken to build this “true venture capital firm” for the region, the opportunities for Southeast Asia companies in Latin America and vice versa, as well as a mini-masterclass on maturing your startup’s finance function.
Transcript | YouTube
Timestamps
(00:27) Learnings from an Operator VC’s 25+ Year Career: From P&G to Stanford MBA, Founding Mercado Libre to Founding Kaszek Ventures;
(11:04) The New Style of Venture Capital in Latin America;
(17:50) The Latin America-Southeast Asia Emerging Markets Dynamic;
(23:12) 114 Ventures, 275 Entrepreneurs, 7 Funds: What’s in the Next Five Years;
(24:58) #MinuteMasterclass: Building a Finance Function from Mercado Libre’s former CFO and Kaszek Managing Partner;
(26:22) #RapidFireRound;
About our guestHernan Kazah is co-founder and managing partner of Kaszek Ventures, a venture capital firm partnering with extraordinary technology founders in Latin America, founders behind companies like Nubank, Kavak, Creditas, Gympass, Loggi, and many more. He co-founded Kaszek with Mercado Libre’s former CFO Nicholas Szekasy in 2011 after 12 years with the Latin American technology giant, serving initially as COO and then CFO after Nicholas left. Hernan co-founded Mercado Libre with Marcos Galperin, whom he met while taking his MBA at Stanford. He took this MBA after more than three years as a brand manager in P&G where he started his career.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Gita Prihanto is the COO of Flip, an innovator and pioneer company in Indonesia’s financial technology space, with now more than 10 million users across the country and beyond doing all types of money transfers from remittances to invoices for micropreneurs. She goes on call with us to share how she has helped the company mature in its approach to organizational prioritization, product scaling, and committing to day-one values, with learnings for any entrepreneur or leader managing a growing organization.
Check out our previous call with Rafi Putra Arriyan, CEO and Co-Founder of Flip
Transcript | YouTube
Timestamps
(01:19) Why Gita Became COO of Flip: Market Opportunity and Founder Mindset;
(04:38) 1 to 10, 0 to 1, and 1: Numbers to Describe the COO Role at Flip;
(08:11) Unpacking the Flip Ecosystem: Remittances, New Prime Segment, and Micropreneurs;
(12:38) The Art of Organizational Prioritization;
(19:47) The Former-Grab exec, Flip COO Indonesian Angel Synergies;
(27:46) The Time for Innovation in Monetization;
(28:33) #MinuteMasterclass: Risk Management 101 for Fintechs;
(31:43) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Gita Prihanto is the COO of Flip. She has had more than a decade career in tech consulting and all that. She started out in McKinsey, then went on to become Senior Director of Indonesia at Grab (Two-Wheel Transport), and then in 2021 she joined Flip. She's also an angel investor, and part of the global XA network.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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When it comes to agritech, what often comes to mind is the farmer or producer of the goods, as well as the end-consumer and the process of shortening the journey from farm to table. But industries like Indonesian fisheries are more than just about the fishermen or the end-consumers -- there is an entire, complex supply chain of businesses delivering, storing, and processing fishery products from their raw material state to markets across the globe. We go on call with returning guest Bayu Anggara, CEO and Co-Founder of FishLog, to talk about Indonesia’s fisheries supply chain (US$14B in captured fish and aquaculture) and the importance of redefining standards (see their recently launched real-time marketplace), capital access, and infrastructure access to unlock its potential in the global economy (US$6B in exports).
Check out our first call with Bayu last year! While we focused more on local distribution and broad industry pain points last year, this year we dive deeper into supply chain pain points (e.g., financing, logistics for cold storage) and improving the industries' global export growth.
Check out FishLog's 2022 impact report!
Transcript | YouTube
Timestamps(00:34) FishLog’s 2022 in 3 numbers;
(01:53) Macro (Global Exports) and Micro (Inflation) Drivers for Indonesia Fisheries;
(12:11) The Iron Triangle of Fisheries: Increasing Supply Chain Utility through Asset-Light Cold Chain Enablement, Financing Support, and Industry Standardization;
(16:20) FishLog’s Stories of Sustainable Impact;
(21:46) Scaling an Organization for Indonesian Fisheries;
(26:11) #MinuteMasterclass: Leveraging data, human capital, and standards of government and national institutions;
(28:50) #RapidFireRound;
About our guest
Bayu Anggara is the CEO and co-founder of Indonesian B2B fisheries cold chain platform FishLog. Prior to FishLog, he was in the seafood products and trading food business and has had years of experience in the local fisheries industry. He graduated from Bogor Agricultural University with a Bachelors' in Fisheries and Marine Technology.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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What makes a pivot meaningful for a business? Pivots are part and parcel of a startup’s journey but some are more effective than others. Go behind the scenes of how a business evolved by following the data and their customers in this call with Bakool founders Ivan Darmawan (CEO) and Stephanie Wongsoredjo (COO). Not only do they share learnings from their company’s pivot from quick commerce to social commerce for fresh produce, but how their current approach is increasing household productivity for tier-two and tier-three cities in Indonesia. More recently Bakool announced raising an undisclosed seed round from Kleiner Perkins, Goodwater, Insignia Ventures, Global Brain, former minister of Indonesia Mari Elka Pangestu, and others.
Timestamps
(00:43) Ivan and Stephanie introduce themselves;
(03:19) What’s in a Pivot: How Radius evolved into Bakool;
(05:56) Perks of Building Outside of Tier-One Cities (Competition, Market Opportunity, Margins);
(08:55) How Group Buying for Fresh Produce Increases Household Productivity;
(10:36) How Data Makes Pivots Meaningful;
(14:00) #MinuteMasterclass: Making Meaningful Pivots;
(15:40) #RapidFireRound;
About our guestsIvan Darmawan and Stephanie Wongsoredjo have been friends for more than 15 years. They went to junior high school and studied abroad together and came back here to Indonesia with one vision: increasing the productivity of rural Indonesia. Both of their families came from tier-two cities, so they know how painful it is for people living in these areas to buy their grocery needs, and saw that they could improve the productivity of these people and also improve their quality of life.
Ivan Darmawan is the CEO of Bakool. Ivan previously graduated from the University of Southern California with a major in Industrial and Systems Engineering, with a focus on supply chain and logistics management. He also has 15 plus years of experience in farming, retail and tech, and previously worked in Southeast Asia unicorns handling the growth of three different markets.
Stephanie Wongsoredjo is the COO of Bakool. graduated from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Growing up she had been helping her family retail businesses for more than 15 years. They had been doing this family business focusing on rural areas across Indonesia, managing more than 150 retail stores. She used to manage and expand large-scale teams and operations and also experienced running a huge supply chain across Indonesia.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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At the turn of the millennium, a Chinese American still fresh into his career and working at the time for the San Francisco County made a fateful decision to fly to Hangzhou and become the first American to join a small company of around 50 other people to build a then little known business marketplace called Alibaba.com.
More than twenty years later, Brian Wong, former longtime executive, assistant to Jack Ma, and founder of the Alibaba Global Initiatives division and executive director of Alibaba Global Leadership Academy, pens learnings from his tenure at the global technology group and how it has impacted his own worldview and life as an entrepreneur and investor in the book: Tao of Alibaba.
In this call, Brian not only gives a rundown of the book, but also shares how the management ethos and principles of Alibaba have been applied and can apply to a variety of areas of leadership and life, from crisis management to corporate governance, hiring leaders to writing a book.
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:47) Tao of Alibaba: The TLDR Version;
The Tao of Alibaba in Action:
(07:38) in Crisis Management;
(11:12) in Organizational Maturity, Financial Discipline, and Corporate Governance;
(17:39) in Building in SEA vs China;
(21:23) in Leadership Hiring;
(25:08) in Building in Bear Markets;
(27:23) in Writing a Book;
(29:39) in ESG (#MinuteMasterclass);
(32:31) #RapidFireRound;
About our guestBrian A. Wong is a Chinese American entrepreneur and investor. He was the first American and only the fifty-second employee to join Alibaba Group, where he contributed to the company’s early globalization efforts and served as Jack Ma’s special assistant for international affairs. During his sixteen-year tenure, Wong helped expand Alibaba’s business presence in the US, Europe, India and Asia, established the Alibaba Global Initiatives (AGI) division and was the founder and executive director of the Alibaba Global Leadership Academy. Wong remains an adviser to the AGI team and regularly teaches courses on China’s digital economy and the Tao of Alibaba management principles. Wong is also founder and chairman of RADII, a digital media company.
Wong earned his bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College, a master’s certificate from the Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)–Nanjing University Center for US and China Studies, and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2015, is a China Fellow with Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and is a member of the Committee of 100. He is based in Shanghai, China.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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“As a marketer, we’re not selling products, we’re selling aspirations...and creating stories," says the Chief Marketing Officer of Indonesian e-commerce enabler Shipper: Jessica Hendrawidjaja on this episode of On Call with Insignia. She shares from a global career spanning more than a decade in marketing what it means to sell aspirations. She also talks about how Shipper’s collaboration and education-focused approach to marketing is bridging innovation possibilities between legacy and e-commerce brands (with initiatives like the upcoming Legendary Brand Festival). We also talk about how her work as a marketer and angel investor is investing in entrepreneurial stories that are shaping the Indonesian economy, from those of 62 million SMEs in Indonesia to startup founders she invests in.
Learn more about the Legendary Brand Festival
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:17) From M&A hire to three years in the blink of an eye: Jess’s Shipper journey;
(03:56) What it Means to Be CMO with a Mission to Enable 62 million SMEs and Beyond;
(07:17) A Legendary Approach to Bridging Innovation Between Legacy and E-commerce Brands: The Legendary Brand Festival;
(12:17) How Offline Engagements and Events are Win-Win For Shipper and the Indonesian Economy;
(17:56) Jess the leader and angel investor;
(20:50) #MinuteMasterclass: What Early-Stage Founders and Marketers Should Keep in Mind as the Marketing Function Scales;
(22:09) #RapidFireRound;
About our guestJessica Hendrawidjaja is the Chief Marketing Officer of Shipper. Prior to Shipper, she was co-founder and CMO of logistics startup Porter acquired by Shipper in 2020. She has had more than a decade of experience in marketing, from PwC to NIFTIT. She received a BBA from the University of Washington and a Bachelor in International Marketing from Harvard University. She is also an angel investor.
Video Clips:
Dialog Inspirasi Pahlawan Ekonomi: Road To Legendary Brand Festival 2023
Kolaborasi Shipper dengan Kementerian Koperasi dan Usaha Kecil Menengah
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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A masterclass on launching private label brands in rural Indonesia. Hardwon lessons on finding product-market fit in East Java. Stories on thriving as leaders in charge of growth and profitability for rural Indonesia’s leading social commerce platform. Welcoming you back to Season 5 of On Call with Insignia with two women in tech shaping the way everyday goods reach Indonesians, from rice to cosmetics: Aplikasi Super’s Nadira Zahiruddin, Head of Innovation Strategy, and Gisella Tjoanda, Head of Business Development. Check out open roles with Super on LinkedIn!
Join our call!
Timestamps
(01:18) Adjusting to the (Super) fast pace of a growth stage startup from consulting and banking;
(04:15) What BD has to do with expanding inorganic revenue growth and Innovation Strategy with paving the way to profitability;
(06:20) A Masterclass on Launching Private Label in Rural Indonesia (Thought Process, Learnings, and Misconceptions);
(13:26) Demands of Rural Indonesia’s Complexity (Localization and Product Customizations);
(19:37) Creating Impact (Defining Success) and Being Impacted (Un-Learnings);
(24:49) #MinuteMasterclass: Finding PMF and Monetizing in Rural Indonesia;
(29:43) #RapidFireRound;
About our guests
After graduating from Babson College, Nadira Zahiruddin started her career at BCG, then continued to lead the CEO Office and BD team at a Series A startup prior to joining Super. She has also been exposed to the FMCG industry through her family business since she was young. After looking at Super’s mission and success story in the industry, she knew she wanted to join and make a meaningful impact in growing the business.
Gisella Tjoanda graduated from Kelley School of Business in 2016. She then worked at Youtube and Whatsapp in Silicon Valley before going back to Indonesia for good. She continued her career at Citibank through the management associate program before joining Super. She is currently the head of BD at Super, and she's very excited to make a significant contribution to the company in growing the business and making a positive impact on society, especially in East Indonesia.
Music:
Neo Soul Hip Hop by Infraction
Trash Taste Background Music (Extended)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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In this episode, join us in the sixth and final installment of our fifth-year anniversary summit recaps where we feature fireside chats with thought leaders and founders across industries sharing their insights on various sectors and trends shaping the future of ASEANnovation.
While global macroeconomic situations have dampened venture funding, the growth-stage companies we have represented on today’s panel have managed to close major funding rounds. In this conversation, we learned how they have weathered the storm so far, what underlying opportunities they are looking to tap into, and advice they have for fellow entrepreneurs navigating today’s fundraising environment, given that, at the end of the day, they are all building to last.
Hear from Aaron Tan, CEO and Co-Founder of Southeast Asia’s leading auto retail platform Carro, Anderson Sumarli, CEO and Co-Founder of Indonesian retail investment super app Ajaib, and Hendra Kwik, CEO and Co-Founder of regional digital financial services ecosystem for businesses Fazz. The conversation was moderated by Insignia Ventures founding managing partner Yinglan Tan and took place on September 23, 2022, and both the episode and transcript have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:42) Lessons learned and what keeps growth-stage CEOs up at night;
(11:41) Opportunities to build to last;
(15:18) One-liner on what founders need to focus on in this environment;
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us in the fifth installment of our fifth-year anniversary summit recaps where we feature fireside chats with thought leaders and founders across industries sharing their insights on various sectors and trends shaping the future of ASEANnovation.
Historically, the rise in massive value creation in Southeast Asia’s digital economy has been mainly driven by massive funding into horizontal ecommerce, fintech and logistics platforms. Unlike the US, we haven’t seen any full-scale regional B2B enterprise plays yet. But so far, we have seen the early innings of companies targeting this segment that have all raised significant funding rounds in recent months. Why are we seeing such companies raise significant funding during this next wave of innovation in the region? Is this the right time?
We tackle these questions and more with Jianfeng Lu, Chairman and Co-Founder of pioneering voice AI solutions platform WIZ.AI, Todd Schweitzer, CEO and Co-Founder of leading open finance platform in Southeast Asia Brankas, and Theodoric Chew, CEO and Co-Founder of Asia’s leading mental healthcare company Intellect. The conversation was moderated by Shefali Dodani from Insignia Ventures’ investment team and took place on September 23, 2022 and both the episode and transcript have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:50) Drivers of the Rise of Enterprise in Southeast Asia;
(09:42) Evolution of Voice AI Adoption By Enterprise Globally;
(13:40) Education and Expansion for Southeast Asia’s Open Finance Leader;
(18:51) Localization vs Globalization for A Leading Mental Health Care Platform;
(24:33) Illustrating Impact for Enterprise Customers;
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us in the fourth installment of our fifth-year anniversary summit recaps! This conversation features the increasingly complex ecommerce industry in Southeast Asia, which has gone beyond the horizontal ecommerce marketplaces many are familiar with. Changing consumer preferences on top of ecommerce convenience and tech stack giving rise to a new generation of digital-first D2C brands, new forms of distribution in the post-pandemic world, and increasingly sophisticated ecommerce enablers building the tech stack and operating software for even more businesses and brands to participate in the region’s ecommerce landscape. How will ecommerce in the region mature and contribute to the growing economies of Southeast Asia, especially amidst the uncertainties around consumer spending and global supply chains?
We tackle these questions and more with QingGui Huang CEO and Founder of Thailand’s leading online beauty retailer Konvy (check out our Season 4 conversation with QingGui), Junkai Ng, CEO and Co-founder of Southeast Asia cross-border logistics tech platform Janio, and Steven Wongsoredjo, CEO and Co-founder of Indonesia social commerce platform for tier-2, tier-3, and rural cities Super. The conversation was moderated by Insignia Ventures principal Yongcheng Ong and took place on September 23, 2022 and both the episode and transcript have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Timestamps
(01:39) Introductions;
(02:54) Maturing Southeast Asia’s Ecommerce through Social Commerce, Beauty Retail, and Shipping;
(08:38) Insights into Thailand’s Consumer Landscape;
(11:20) Opportunities and Challenges of Building a Cross-Border Logistics Platform in Southeast Asia;
(17:16) Building the Walmart of Indonesia with a Scalable Hyperlocal Supply Chain;
(22:04) How Commerce Platforms and Enablers are Unlocking Economic Impact in Southeast Asia;
Music: Energetic and Upbeat Rock Background Music For Videos and Workouts
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Join us in the third installment of our fifth-year anniversary summit recaps (see the first on Women in Tech and second on Web3). This third conversation features the digital finance opportunity in Southeast Asia, which, while having seen an inflection in terms of the number of fintech startups being funded in the region, still remains in Day 1 with 70% of the adult population in the region still either underbanked or unbanked. On the panel, we have Greg Krasnov, founder and CEO of Philippines’ first and leading fully digital bank Tonik (revisit our Season 4 episode with Greg), Huy Nghiem, founder and CEO of Vietnam’s leading wealth management and retail investment platform Finhay (revisit our Season 4 episode with Huy), and Tianwei Liu, Deputy CEO of regional B2B fintech group Fazz, which operates in Singapore and Indonesia (revisit our Season 4 episode with Tianwei). The conversation was moderated by Tim Lee.
This conversation took place on September 23, 2022, and both the episode and transcript have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Timestamps
(01:09) A tour of fintech in the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam;
(12:38) Navigating Financial Services Licenses in Southeast Asia;
(16:38) Mitigating Risks in Consumer Lending;
(18:45) A Tale of Two Fintechs and their M&A
(22:15) Blockchain for Day-to-Day Life;
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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We're back with an Insignia Ventures Academy Afterthoughts episode, where we're joined by either the alumni and mentors of Southeast Asia’s first venture capital accelerator program. For this particular IVA Afterthoughts, we have with us an alumnus from the third cohort, of our program, Fannie Soubiele, currently Head of Startup Success at Google Cloud JAPAC and an active angel investor. Fannie has had a career in entrepreneurship and enabling entrepreneurs that has lined up with the evolution of Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystems, learnings from which we cover in this call plus her own experience at Insignia Academy.
Timestamps
(00:28) Introducing Fannie;
(01:39) Evolving with Southeast Asia’s Startup Ecosystem;
(07:26) Cloud as an Accelerator for Startup Building;
(11:46) How the Capital Pool Has Widened Over the Years;
(14:21) Widening the Hiring Pool to Build a Sustainable Company;
(18:30) Serendipity of Connections in Insignia Academy;
(24:13) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Fannie Soubiele is currently Head of Startup Success at Google Cloud JAPAC. She has had more than a decade career as an entrepreneur, enabler for entrepreneurs, and more recently angel investor with Epic Angels. Her involvement in Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystems goes back to becoming GM then COO of startup incubator and venture builder JFDI Asia, then BD at AWS before moving to Google Cloud. She is an alumni of Insignia Ventures Academy’s VC Accelerator Program Cohort 3.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Over 2022, Insignia Ventures has had the privilege of partnering with entrepreneurs for the first time from a diverse array of industries, and we’ve had the privilege of going On Call with some of these entrepreneurs on the podcast.
What ties the work of many of these companies Insignia has welcomed this year to its growing community of founders is a focus on sustainability -- and while the environment comes to mind, as well as climate tech and green technologies, when it comes to the word “sustainability,” what we’re referring to encompasses a far wider definition.
From enabling the sustainable development of new digital technologies and enterprise digitalization through open finance API “supermarkets”, Web2.5 and Web3 infrastructure platforms, and workflow automation solutions, to unlocking long-term labor sustainability in traditional industries in Indonesia like fisheries and textiles, and even filling in gaps in population sustainability through parenting and early childcare platforms…
And on this On Call with Insignia podcast episode, there are some key patterns we can pick up in terms of where Southeast Asia’s digital economy is headed by revisiting some of these conversations with this context of sustainability.
Timestamps
(01:30) Building infrastructure for operational sustainability of emerging digital ventures meeting demands of open finance, automation, and Web3 revolutions;
(22:20) Building tools and platforms for labor sustainability of traditional Indonesian industries;
(29:08) Building the partner for Indonesian parents to improve the country's human capital/population sustainability;
(32:17) Building a sustainable business;
About our guests
Brankas CEO Todd Schweitzer;
Bluesheets CEO Christian Schneider and COO Clare Leighton;
TripleA CEO Eric Barbier;
Headquarters CEO Sharon Lourdes Paul;
FishLog CEO Bayu Anggara;
Wifkain CEO Sara Sofyan;
Tentang Anak Founders Dr Mesty Ariotedjo and Garri Juanda;
Konvy CEO QingGui Huang;
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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In this episode, join us in a new series on our show as we recap fireside chats held at our fifth-year anniversary summit where we featured several thought leaders and founders across industries sharing their insights on various sectors and trends shaping the future of ASEANnovation. And this second part of our series, we're covering the future of Web3 mass adoption in a panel featuring Chin Tah Ang, General Manager of Singapore at Crypto.com and Sharon Lourdes Paul, CEO and Co-Founder of Headquarters (hq.xyz) building the finance dashboard for Web3 teams. This panel was moderated by Jaeson Ma, Co-CEO of NFT platform OP3N, serial entrepreneur, artist & media executive.
This conversation took place on September 23, 2022, and both the episode and transcript have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Timestamps (Transcript)
(03:09) Chin Tah’s and Sharon’s Journeys into Web3;
(08:03) Challenges to Web3 Mass Adoption;
(11:24) Building the Foundations of Compliant and Financially Disciplined Web3 Business Infrastructure;
(14:22) NFTs Beyond the Profile Pictures;
(16:11) Talent Key to Driving Web3 Mass Adoption;
About our guests
Sharon Lourdes Paul is the CEO and Co-founder of Headquarters (hq.xyz), a finance dashboard for Web3 teams to manage financial operations (also referred to as ‘treasury flows’) and reporting for more responsible accounting practices industry-wide. Its mission is to groom a generation of responsible Web3 operators by giving teams the tools they need for better visibility and control over their internal finances. A serial founder and operator with more than a decade in tech, Sharon was most recently the Head of Payments at Fazz.com and was part of StraitsX’s founding team, the leading payments infrastructure for digital assets in Southeast Asia who is the creator of $XSGD, Singapore’s first compliant SGD stablecoin. She is also an angel investor in seed-stage companies.
Chin Tah Ang is General Manager, Singapore at Crypto.com. He was previously Executive Director and Head of Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), and before that Infocommunications and Media Director at Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB). He received his Masters' in Philosophy, Bioscience Enterprise from Cambridge University and Bachelors' in Economics, Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California Berkeley.
Jaeson Ma is a serial entrepreneur, artist & media executive. He is the founder and partner of multiple companies focused on accessing the Asian market through entertainment, media, and technology, including Stampede Ventures, 88rising, and East West Ventures (EWV). Currently, Mr. Ma is a Senior Advisor to KKFarm Fund. He is also a senior advisor to private equity funds advised by Courage Capital Management, LLC that invest in music rights. Mr. Ma is also a venture partner with GoodWater Capital, a consumer tech-focused venture capital firm in Silicon Valley.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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In this episode, join us in a new series on our show as we recap fireside chats held at our fifth-year anniversary summit where we featured several thought leaders and founders across industries sharing their insights on various sectors and trends shaping the future of ASEANnovation. We’re starting things off with our Women in Tech panel featuring two growth-stage CEOs, WIZ.AI’s Jennifer Zhang in the AI enterprise space and Pinhome’s Dayu Dara Permata in the Indonesian proptech and fintech space. The panel was moderated by Trang Bui from the investments team at Insignia Ventures Partners.
Timestamps
(01:04) Panel and Panelist Introduction;
(04:21) Jennifer's and Dara's Entrepreneurial Journeys;
(09:02) Jennifer's view on evolving opportunities for Women in Tech across borders;
(12:14) Dara's view on Indonesia's unicorn cycle creating opportunities for Women in Tech;
(17:30) One thing Jennifer and Dara would tell their younger selves before they started on their entrepreneurial journeys;
About our guests
Jennifer Zhang is the CEO and co-founder of WIZ.AI. Prior to WIZ.AI, she has been a VC across both sides of the Pacific, as Managing Partner of GCC Capital in Beijing and General Partner of Cybernaut Zfounder Ventures. Before that she covered cross-border entrepreneurship resources and content. She received her Masters in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.
Prior to Pinhome, Dayu Dara Permata was a Senior Vice President at Go-Jek where she led Gojek expansion to 100+ cities as SVP Regional Growth, co-founded and scaled Go-Life from concept into 15M users in 80+ cities in Indonesia & was responsible for Commerce Product Group in Gojek like Gomart & Goshop. She was also formerly a consultant at McKinsey before joining Go-Jek. Dara graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Bandung Institute of Technology, and was an honor student and full scholar.
Trang Bui is a senior investment analyst at Insignia Ventures Partners. Trang was previously an investment associate at Vietnam private equity firm Mekong Capital where she was involved in investments into consumer businesses including Pizza 4Ps and Marou Chocolate. She graduated from Bucknell University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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In this episode, join us on our call with Qing Gui Huang, CEO and co-founder of Thailand's leading ecommerce platform for beauty brands Konvy. With 1,000+ brands representing an SKU selection of more than 20,000 on its platform, with the likes L’Oréal, Shiseido, Sulwhasoo, Eucerin, La Roche-Posay and many more on their portfolio, we pick the brains of Qing Gui on the evolution of Thailand's ecommerce and beauty spaces, the role of omnichannel innovation in ecommerce, internationalization, as well as developing adaptability as a Chinese entrepreneur building a capital-efficient technology business in Thailand over the past 10 years -- he also shares his skincare routine.
Konvy is hiring! Check out open roles here.
Timestamps
(01:42) Perks of Being a First Mover in a Foreign Land;
(06:59) What Innovation Means to the Preferred Partner for Beauty Brands in Thailand;
(15:36) Enabling Beauty Brands to Expand, from Thailand to the Rest of the World;
(19:48) Unlocking Omnichannel and its Ties to Cost-Efficiency;
(24:54) What Adaptability Means for Leadership;
(30:38) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guests
Qing Gui Huang is CEO and co-founder of Thailand ecommerce beauty brand platform Konvy. He is a US-educated Chinese serial entrepreneur who, after building online fashion businesses in Beijing, in 2011 he moved to Thailand spotting the opportunity to start an ecommerce platform for beauty brands which he did in 2012 with his co-founders through Konvy. He received his Bachelors’ in Management and International Business from Purdue University.
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In August 2022, Fazz Financial, the Southeast Asia group formed out of the merger of rural Indonesia fintech Payfazz and payments infrastructure fintech Xfers back in 2019, rebranded to Fazz, bringing together access to their ecosystem's various entities into one business account offering, and later announced raising US$100 million in Series C to build on this next step for the fintech group. We go on call with Fazz Business heads Zack Yap (Singapore) and Hendoko Kwik (Indonesia) to talk about this evolution, what it means for their customers across Singapore and Indonesia, how this fits into the emerging wave of fintech stacks for businesses in a challenging market for financial management, as well as how they have evolved as leaders having been founding team members of Xfers and Modal Rakyat (P2P lending) respectively.
Check out our previous calls with other Fazz leaders, and find out how you can join their growing team.
Transcript
Timestamps
(02:13) Joining and Growing in the Fazz Family;
(06:10) Fazz on the Fast Lane: Implications of a “House of Fintech”s Rebranding Under One Focus;
(14:31) Singapore and Indonesia Parallels on the Fintech for Business Landscape;
(19:03) From Founding Team to Growth Stage Management: Professional Growth in Hypergrowth Venture-Backed Companies;
(22:29) Future of Financial Services for Businesses;
(26:48) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guests
Zack Yap is an experienced product manager and engineer with more than a decade's career in tech companies. He was Xfers' first product manager then eventually became Head Product Manager and now leads Fazz Business in Singapore.
Hendoko Kwik has a decade of experience in SME banking in various Indonesia banks before co-founding P2P lending business Modal Rakyat. He became CEO of Modal Rakyat and now also leads Fazz Business in Indonesia. He is also a co-founder and commissioner at Verihubs.
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A Southeast Asia pioneer in building a full-stack, closed-loop property transaction platform for first-time home buyers and Indonesia's largest in the market, Pinhome, makes its second comeback with CEO Dara Dayu Permata and CTO Ahmed Aljunied returning on call with us. This time we break down highlights of Pinhome's growth in the past year, as they expanded data-driven automated valuation capabilities, covered more of the mortgage supply chain, and continued to build up the property agent tech stack. We also get views on Indonesia's property market, the role of relentless prioritization to balancing scale and profitability, and learnings for the growth-stage tech leader.
Check out our first call with the Pinhome founders and our second one as well! Join the Pinhome team.
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:19) Elements of a Southeast Asia Pioneer for a Full-Stack, Closed-Loop Property Transaction Platform for First Time Home Buyers: Data, FinTech, Agents;
(12:00) Scale for a Property Platform Amidst Global Market Uncertainty and Indonesia’s Economic Resilience;
(16:33) Learnings for Growth-Stage Scale-up Management;
(21:24) Keeping the North Star With Relentless Prioritization and Extreme Cash Preservation;
(25:14) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guests
Prior to Pinhome, Dara was a Senior Vice President at Go-Jek where she led Gojek expansion to 100+ cities as SVP Regional Growth, co-founded and scaled Go-Life from concept into 15M users in 80+ cities in Indonesia & was responsible for Commerce Product Group in Gojek like Gomart & Goshop. She was also formerly a consultant at McKinsey before joining Go-Jek. Dara graduated with a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the Bandung Institute of Technology, and was an honor student and full scholar.
Ahmed is a veteran CTO with over 14 years of technical experience. He is well-versed in product development and building systems, and was previously VP of Engineering and Product at Go-Jek before starting Pinhome. He has also led engineering and product teams at startups like Jualo (acquired by Carro) and started a couple of startups in Singapore and Jakarta. Ahmed is a graduate of Computer Engineering at NUS and received his Masters degree in Computer Science from Stanford University.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Built to Last. Unlocking Economic Impact. Inspiration Innovation. Leading Opportunity Creation. Dedication to Growth. And amidst today’s turbulent times, now is the time to build great companies. We believe there are many more opportunities for unstoppable founders to emerge in Southeast Asia. And we certainly hope to be their partner of choice in building great companies the Insignia Way.
We're resuming our weekly programming celebrating 100 episodes and Insignia Ventures' 5th Year Anniversary with this podcast essay on the "Insignia Way" featuring snippets from calls with Carro's Aaron Tan, Ajaib's Yada Piyajomkwan, Shipper's Budi Handoko, Super's Steven Wongsoredjo, Rainforest's JJ Chai, Flip's Rafi Putra Arriyan, Finhay's Huy Nghiem, Tonik's Greg Krasnov, Intellect's Theodoric Chew, Fazz's Tianwei Liu, WIZ.AI's Jennifer Zhang, Brankas's Todd Schweitzer, Pinhome's Dara Dayu Permata and Ahmed Aljunied, FishLog's Bayu Anggara, Medici's Duc Anh Ngo, Wifkain's Dayu Dara Permata, AwanTunai's Dino Setiawan, and Tentang Anak's Garri Juanda, all of which you can find full versions of in this show!
Stay tuned for the video version!
Music
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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Since we first introduced Singapore-based femtech startup Ease Healthcare and founders Guadalupe Lazaro and Rio Hoe back in this Season 3 episode last year, they have grown in more ways than one on their mission to democratize women's healthcare: launching private label products, expanding to the Philippines, evolving their app experience, and driving adoption through enterprise. They talk about all this and more on today's call, recorded 17 August 2022.
Full Transcript
Timestamps
(00:57) Paulo’s re-intro to Ease Healthcare and founders Guada and Rio’s update on Ease;
(03:08) Rolling out Private Label Products and their Role in Ease’s Business;
(06:32) Expanding into the Philippines;
(09:51) Evolving App Experience, Driving Adoption through Enterprise, and the Reality of Women’s Health Issues;
(13:59) Developing Ease Healthcare’s Leadership and Future Impact;
(17:13) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guests
Guadalupe Lazaro is a co-founder of Ease Healthcare. She is a serial entrepreneur and sexual and reproductive health rights advocate. Prior to Ease Guada worked in business development and consulting from the UK to Singapore. She grew up working for women’s health and women’s rights, being involved with the likes of Red Cross and Amnesty International, and now she’s married her passion for women’s health and skills in UX/UI design, marketing, and brand strategy at Ease.
Rio Hoe is a co-founder of Ease Healthcare. He is a lawyer-turned-founder, holding a law degree from the University of Oxford and graduated as the university’s top student in Medical Law. Prior to Ease he had co-founded a socio-political media outlet in Singapore and worked at leading global law firm Clifford Chance. His entrepreneurship and law genes now come into play at Ease where he manages its finance and operations.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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On Call with us this episode is Jennifer Zhang, CEO and co-founder of WIZ.AI, a conversational AI solutions company that has been leading its adoption across use cases and markets starting from Southeast Asia. Beyond WIZ.AI's growth over the pandemic, we also talk about how WIZ.AI has been pioneering AI tech in this field with their team of experts and slew of patents. Jennifer also shares her learnings growing and leading a cross-border company, going from VC to founder, and thinking about the future of voice AI applications. What's more is that we have don't just have Jennifer on the show -- catch WIZ.AI's talkbot at the end of the call!
Timestamps
(01:12) Paulo introduces Jennifer;
(01:53) Driving Conversational AI Adoption Across Southeast Asia and Beyond;
(13:22) Pioneering Conversational AI Development at Scale
(21:23) Leadership Approach Behind WIZ.AI’s Global Growth;
(28:58) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Jennifer Zhang is the CEO and co-founder of WIZ.AI. Prior to WIZ.AI, she has been a VC across both sides of the Pacific, as Managing Partner of GCC Capital in Beijing and General Partner of Cybernaut Zfounder Ventures. Before that she covered cross-border entrepreneurship resources and content. She received her Masters in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
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We go on call with Indonesian F&B brand enabler Dishserve CEO and co-founder Rishabh Singhi. After sharing with us last year how a series of events led the former Reddoorz COO back to Jakarta to start a dark kitchen, last-mile distribution network for F&B brands, he returns for Season 4 to update us on how Dishserve has evolved and grown over the past year, now shaping up to be an all-around, omnichannel enabler for F&B brands in Indonesia.
Timestamps
(01:11) Re-introduction to Dishserve and CEO Rishabh;
(01:41) Rundown of Dishserve’s growth the past year;
(03:08) Becoming an All-Around F&B Enabler;
(14:01) Indonesia’s Evolving F&B and F&B Enabler Landscape;
(19:21) Leadership at Dishserve;
(21:51) Mapping out Dishserve’s Scale Story;
(24:04) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
In this episode, we have Rishabh Singhi, the CEO and co-founder of Dishserve. Prior to Dishserve, he was previously COO and Head of Products at Reddoorz. And prior to that, he had already been working in a couple of different technology-enabled and based companies, across different regions, starting from India all the way across APAC, and in various industries as well, in education, financial services, talent development, career development.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We’re back with another Insignia Ventures Academy Afterthoughts episode where bring on alumni or mentors from the 12-week VC accelerator program. For this episode, we have another alumnus with us from Cohort One, the inaugural cohort of IVA, Harsh Rungta, who goes on call with us to talk about his transition from a decade-plus long career in banking to family office CEO, learnings from angel investing, and of course his experience at IVA.
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:14) Intro to Harsh;
(05:48) Rise of Southeast Asia Focused Family Offices from an Indian family office perspective;
(17:06) From Israel to Insignia Ventures Academy: Learnings from Angel Investing;
(22:44) Insignia Ventures Academy Afterthoughts;
(29:31) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Harsh Vardhan Rungta is CEO of Carbon Graphite Advisors, a Singapore-based Indian family office. Harsh built his career in banking from Citibank to spending more than a decade at the Bank of Singapore as Managing Director, working with a lot of ultra-high net worth clients across South and Southeast Asia. Harsh is an angel investor with investments in startups across the globe and he is an alumnus of Cohort One of Insignia Ventures Academy's VC Accelerator.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
With our US$516 million fundraise doubling down on our long-term dedication to building great companies in Southeast Asia (full press release), this is as good a time as any for us to have back on call our founding managing partner Yinglan Tan, who shares more about the big ideas, heuristics, and initiatives around Insignia Ventures' approach to uncovering ASEANnovation. Like the first time Yinglan came on the show as a guest back on Season 1 in 2020, we only have three questions:
(01:25) 1. What are the long-term drivers of Southeast Asia innovation amidst global uncertainties? What will keep drawing capital into the region?
(04:25) 2. How do we find market leaders and creators in Southeast Asia? What makes “great companies” great?
(22:46) 3. How do we think about finding early movers in “next decade sunrise sectors” that are still nascent and developing in the region?
Transcript
Join the Insignia Ventures team!
Building the next decade's tech market creators and leaders? Get in touch with Insignia!
About our guest
Prior to founding Insignia Ventures, Yinglan was Sequoia Capital’s first hire and Venture Partner in Southeast Asia. He sourced multiple investment opportunities for Sequoia including Tokopedia, Go-jek, Traveloka, Carousell and Appier. Yinglan had also been a member of the Singapore Administrative Service, where he served in a variety of positions in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Defence. Yinglan was also the founding Director of 3i Venturelab China, a joint-venture between private equity firm 3i (LSE:III) and INSEAD.
He currently serves on the International Board of Stars – Leaders of the Next Generation, the Singapore Government’s Pro Enterprise Panel and the Committee on the Future Economy's Sub-Committee on Future Corporate Capabilities and Innovation. He is also a Board Member at Hwa Chong Institution and Adjunct Associate Professor at National University of Singapore. He is the co-author of 4 books - The Way Of the VC (Wiley, 2009), Chinnovation (Wiley 2010) and textbook New Venture Creation - An Asian Perspective (Mcgraw Hill 2011) and Navigating ASEANnovation (World Scientific, 2020). Yinglan was educated at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and completed executive programs at Harvard and Oxford.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Generalist Software Engineer. Tech Lead. Cloud Advocate. Podcast Host. Thought Leader. Henry Suryawirawan, VP of Engineering at Indonesia's largest and leading money movement platform (with more than 10 million users) Flip, goes on call with us to share his journey from startup to big tech and now scale up, his leadership approach as VP of Engineering at Flip, how his growth at Flip has impacted his own career and views, as well as his deep interest in Cloud and work as host of the Tech Lead Journal podcast.
Join Henry at Flip in shaping the Indonesian financial culture and building the fairest tech company in the world! See open roles across departments.
Timestamps
(01:43) Paulo introduces Henry;
(02:47) Venturing into Flip as a Scale Up;
(07:37) Bringing Flip’s Culture of Fairness to Fully Remote Engineering Teams;
(14:01) How Flip Fosters Engineering Careers and Impact;
(20:21) A Cloud Advocate’s Perspective on the Impact of Cloud on Digitalization and Cybersecurity;
(24:54) A Dev Podcast Host’s Learnings;
About our guest
Henry Suryawirawan is a generalist software engineer, tech lead, cloud advocate, thought leader, and avid personal growth learner. He is the host of Tech Lead Journal, a podcast about technical leadership and excellence. He is also the creator of Apache Beam Katas, a learning platform for people to learn about Apache Beam. Henry's career spans across multiple industries—insurance, banking, startup, consulting, government, cloud—which includes companies like Great Eastern, Barclays, JP Morgan, Einsights, ThoughtWorks, Singapore GovTech, Google Cloud, and currently Flip.
Henry also has deep interests in cloud technology, software architecture, technical practices, building tech products, and forming high performing engineering teams. He is highly experienced in Agile, DevOps, and CI/CD. Henry has delivered talks on multiple occasions, ranging from Google Cloud Next, Google Cloud Summits, webinars, and community meetups. Henry holds a Master of IT in Business (Financial Services track) from Singapore Management University. He also holds 5 GCP certifications, plus the CKAD and CKA certifications.
During his spare time, Henry loves to read books, listening to podcasts, learning personal growth, running, and playing with his kids. Fun fact, Henry has finished Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 7 times.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this call, we’re back with another leader from Indonesia’s leading logistics-first ecommerce enabler Shipper. In past episodes, we’ve had the pleasure of going on call with CEO Phil Opamuratawongse, then COO Budi Handoko, and most recently CTO Marvin Arif and VP of Engineering Agus Daud. Now we’re introducing a retail, supply chain, commerce veteran who has just joined Shipper in the past few months and has taken up the helm of Chief Customer Officer, Craig Wheeler. He shares on call what he’s bringing to the table for Shipper, his own views on Shipper’s growth trajectory and the rapidly evolving Indonesian ecommerce market, and his approach to leadership and customer service.
Timestamps
(01:04) Paulo introduces Craig Wheeler;
(02:01) Bringing 20+ years of retail and commerce expertise into Shipper customer-centric business;
(09:50) Maturing “Need for Speed” Ecommerce Market in Indonesia;
(15:28) Commerce Digitalization from On the Ground Listening to Full Stack Tooling;
(20:44) Beyond enabling better logistics to enabling better long-term business growth;
(25:52) Navigating Leadership in Indonesia;
(27:55) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Craig Wheeler is the Chief Customer Officer at Shipper. Prior to Shipper, Craig was Group VP of Digital and OmniChannel at leading Indonesian omnichannel retailer Kanmo Group. Prior to coming to Indonesia, Craig had more than two decades career as an operations director in multiple global companies enabling retail, supply chain, distribution, and ecommerce, including Rakuten Europe, QVC, Matrox. His experience has made him an expert in delivering digital, organizational, and operational change within Omnichannel and Multinational organizations, and through that, he has driven change in many SME and startup organizations, with direct experience of growing startups in phase 1 or phase 2 of their growth regardless of backing.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We go on call with Christian Schneider (CEO) and Clare Leighton (COO), co-founders of Singapore-HQ'ed data processing and workflow automation platform bluesheets. They talk about how bluesheets is changing the way businesses globally process and manage data, with the global data integration software market size on track to reach $29 billion by 2029 according to Fortune Business Insights forecasts. But while they've found a longstanding gap in the automation market and have made early progress, it's going to take a lot more work. We dive into the nuances of improving underlying technologies like AI, ML, NLP, driving adoption across use cases from offline SMEs to enterprise, as well as leading the team enabling fundamental infrastructure for the digital economy.
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:21) Bluesheets Origins and Targeting the Financial Data Use Case for Workflow Automation;
(02:23) Ripple Effects of Changing the Way any Business Deals with Data;
(08:45) Perks of Expanding AI SaaS from Southeast Asia to the Rest of the World;
(14:18) Unlearnings from Big Tech and Corporate and Impact of bluesheets on their Leadership;
(25:21) Leading the Workflow Automation Competitive Landscape Forward;
(31:52) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Christian Schneider, bluesheets CEO and co-founder, started his career in investment banking and consulting in Europe then venture building with Rocket Internet in Singapore, managing business intelligence for foodpanda, then co-founding Singapore-based foodtech startup DishDash.co, where he began working with Clare as it expanded to Australia.
Clare Leighton is the bluesheets COO and co-founder. Before first working with Christian as country manager of DishDash.co, she was previously part of the launch team of UberEats in Australia then later the head of Uber’s APAC People Operations.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We go on call with a returning guest, Huy Nghiem, CEO and Founder of Vietnam's leading digital investment platform Finhay. Fresh from announcing their acquisition of VinaSecurities to launch their stock trading product, then a US$25M Series B round co-led by Openspace Ventures and VIG, he's back on the how to talk about the ecosystem of investment products they now offer which contributed to 150% user over 2021, driving long-term adoption amidst market volatility, and Finhay’s impact on Vietnamese people, public markets, and economy. Join Huy at Finhay. This call was recorded March 2022.
Timestamps
(00:14) Paulo introduces Finhay and Huy;
(03:06) Finhay’s Expansion into Stock Trading;
(13:10) Driving Long-Term Adoption of Digital Investment Platforms Amidst Market Volatility;
(19:05) Finhay’s Impact on Vietnam’s People, Public Markets, and Economy;
(27:15) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Huy Nghiem is the founder and CEO of Finhay. Prior to Finhay, Huy built his expertise and experience in the financial markets as a financial advisor at AMP in Australia. He also co-founded and led tech companies and business initiatives during his time in Australia. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor degree in Accounting and Marketing. He was part of the 2020 Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We went On Call with Eric Barbier, the CEO and founder of TripleA, B2B crypto payments solutions company headquartered out of Singapore, that helps businesses globally increase their revenue by enabling crypto payments and payouts. In this jampacked call, we do not only talk about crypto and TripleA’s work in pioneering business payments use cases, but also Eric’s entrepreneurial journey, being a serial fintech founder scaling companies amidst challenging market conditions like the turn of the millennium dotcom boom and crash, then the global financial crisis, as well as driving payments adoption and use cases from web2 to now web3 with TripleA.
Eric and TripleA are also the first investee of Insignia Ventures Partners' Moonshot Fellowship (see full press release), bringing together a network and community of web3 founders and talent building important infrastructures and laying the foundations for the still-nascent web3 ecosystem.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:23) Paulo introduces TripleA and Eric;
(02:26) The Entrepreneurial Pioneer Journey from Mobile Messaging to Mobile Payments to Crypto Payments for Business;
(06:16) Building for Crypto’s Mainstream Adoption through B2B Payments Solutions;
(11:12) Advantages of Building Crypto Solutions in Singapore;
(14:51) Assorted Topics: Un-Learnings from Web2, Starting Companies in Fundraising Winters, Local Stablecoins, Bridging Web2 Fintechs to Web3;
(21:25) Future of Global Crypto Payments;
(23:41) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
TripleA is founded by Eric Barbier, a repeat FinTech entrepreneur with a proven track record of building successful payments companies. He co-founded Mobile 365 back in 1999, a mobile messaging hub that reached a subscriber base of over 400 million. It was acquired by Sybase (now SAP) for $425M. He then founded TransferTo (now Thunes) in 2006 on the idea that transferring money should be as easy as sending a text message. Today, Thunes has raised over $60M and is now the largest payment network connected to mobile wallets. With partners like Paypal and M-Pesa in its network, Thunes supports 60+ currencies, enables payments to 110+ countries, and helps businesses accept 285+ payment methods. He is also an investor and board member in global fintech companies, including the first digital bank in Saudi Arabia.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
For this week's call, we're debuting a new format, where show host Paulo will be narrating most read articles on Insignia Business Review as well as sections from the book Navigating ASEANnovation. The narration features relevant snippets from past calls on the show, to bring more life to the ideas and insights in these articles. If you miss our regular programming -- don't worry, a new call's coming next Monday!
For this pilot, we're reading part of: "The Rise of Counter Position Companies: Indonesia's Next Chapter from a Venture Capitalist's Perspective" written by Insignia Ventures Partners Head of Indonesia William Gozali and published on 25th March 2022 and currently in the top 5 most read articles this year. Featuring calls with:
- Payfazz CEO and co-founder Hendra Kwik
- Super CEO and co-founder Steven Wongsoredjo,
- AwanTunai CEO and co-founder Dino Setiawan, and
- Radius co-founder Ivan Darmawan.
Transcript (i.e. the full article)
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Meet a new set of non-founder tech startup leaders in the second compilation of our spinoff, social media series "A Leader A Minute."
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:52) Introductions to Leaders and their Roles;
(10:09) Company cultures and how the company has shaped its leaders;
(17:26) What excites these leaders about the future of their company and their role in it;
About our guests
See openings: Nabil Ishak is Head of Human Resources at Aplikasi Super. Prior to joining Super, he was a Talent Business Partner (HRBP) at Bukalapak. He received his Masters of Science in Human Resource Management and Organizational Analysis from King’s College London. (Full Interview)
See openings: Bryan Tan is Chief Data Scientist at Carro. Prior to Carro, he was a research fellow at the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative, where he had also completed his PhD in Earth Science (Machine Learning and Computational Physics) at Cambridge University. (Full Interview)
See openings: Agus Daud is Shipper’s VP of Engineering and Product. He began and built his more than a decade career in engineering in Australia then moved to Seattle where he worked at Amazon on their external payment system before returning to Indonesia and joining Shipper. He received his Bachelors and Masters in Computer Science from UNSW. (Full Interview)
See openings: Marolop Leonardo David Siagian is Group Product Manager at leading open finance platform for Southeast Asia Brankas. Marolop had built more than seven years-career in product management, working with the likes of Jualo, HappyFresh, TunaiKita, Xendit before joining Brankas. He graduated from the Universitas Kristen Maranatha Bandung with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. (Full Interview)
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
From running a small fisheries SME to founding a startup to enable an entire US$14 billion+ industry. From enabling B2B cold chain transactions to building the operating software for Indonesian fisheries. From working in an industry facing the threats of supply chain and labor sustainability to leading the way for a powerful industry of value and job creation to emerge. Join us on our call with FishLog CEO and co-founder Bayu Anggara as he talks about all these and more. Check out open roles in Fishlog here.
Timestamps
(00:57) Paulo introduces Bayu;
(01:37) Diving into Indonesia’s Fisheries: From Building an SME to Enabling SMEs;
(06:10) Indonesia’s Fisheries Industry 101;
(10:07) From B2B Cold Chain Platform to OS for Fisheries;
(17:39) Long-term food sustainability and labor sustainability for fisheries;
(23:23) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Bayu Anggara is the CEO and co-founder of Indonesian B2B fisheries cold chain platform FishLog. Prior to FishLog, he was in the seafood products and trading food business and has had years of experience in the local fisheries industry. He graduated from Bogor Agricultural University with a Bachelors' in Fisheries and Marine Technology.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Quick commerce. E-groceries. Sectors that saw investors pouring millions in 2021, but for Ivan Darmawan and his team at Radius Groceries (YC W22), building quick commerce for rural Indonesia amidst the pandemic is about more than just riding on a bandwagon. It’s about solving long-standing economic development gaps in second-tier and third-tier cities worsened by the pandemic. The CEO and co-founder of Radius goes on call with us to talk about balancing sustainability and hypergrowth, Radius’s Y Combinator experience, and more.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:43) Paulo introduces Ivan;
(01:20) Long-Standing Pain Points Leading to Radius’s Quick Commerce Opportunity (Meeting co-founder Stephanie, meeting Insignia, and what makes Indonesia rural quick commerce different);
(05:02) Y Combinator Afterthoughts;
(06:36) Balancing Hypergrowth and Sustainability (Learnings from Grab and Traveloka, Building Radius’s Leadership);
(10:52) Beyond Convenience: Long-Term Impact of Quick Commerce;
(13:53) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Ivan Darmawan is the CEO and co-founder of Radius (YC W22). Before he co-founded Radius, he was previously an operations and business development leader with well-established unicorns in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. He was country business manager at Traveloka and business development strategy at Grab. He received his Bachelors in Industrial Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
What does bringing Indonesian ecommerce logistics to Amazon-level efficiency look like from the tech perspective? How do tech leaders think about investing in engineering talent? What does it mean to leverage software and data to level the playing field for SME digitalization? We answer these questions on our latest call with Shipper CTO Marvinus Kokoh Arif and VP of Engineering Agus Daud, leaders behind the tech stack and engineering teams powering the fast-growing logistics-first ecommerce enabler in Indonesia. Join Marvin and Agus in Shipper in various tech roles here.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:47) Paulo introducing Marvin and Agus;
(01:58) Boarding Shipper with Tech Leaders Marvin and Agus;
(09:00) Tech Perspective on Building the OS for Indonesian logistics;
(13:32) People Behind the Code Behind Shipper;
(18:11) Future of Shipper in a Globalizing Workforce and Indonesia’s Maturing Ecommerce Logistics Industry;
(21:43) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guests
Marvinus Kokoh Arif or Marvin is the CTO of Shipper. He has built his career and expertise in leading engineering and tech teams across various industries from ecommerce logistics to fisheries and workspaces, in companies including Tokopedia and EV Hive. He received his Bachelors in Mechatronics Engineering from the Swiss-German University.
Agus Daud is Shipper’s VP of Engineering and Product. He began and built his more than a decade career in engineering in Australia then moved to Seattle where he worked at Amazon on their external payment system before returning to Indonesia and joining Shipper. He received his Bachelor's and Masters in Computer Science from UNSW.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Learning. That's the keyword and theme of this new episode in partnership with Insignia Ventures Academy. We went on call with Cohort 1 alumnus and angel investor Hester Spiegel-van den Steenhoven. Hester gives us a sneak peek into the Edtech in Singapore and Southeast Asia report she put together commissioned by the Dutch Embassy of Singapore, shares her story going from consultant in the UK to edtech entrepreneur in Germany to angel investor in Singapore, and her Insignia Ventures Academy journey.
Timestamps
(00:21) Paulo introduces Hester;
(03:16) Learning to Learn: From consultant in the UK to edtech entrepreneur in Germany to angel investor in Singapore;
(10:53) Learnings on Learning in Singapore and Southeast Asia;
(19:55) Learning to Invest (and helping other women to do the same);
(23:22) Learning from Founders;
(27:08) Rapid Fire Round;
(29:17) Bonus: Learning to Work;
About our guest
Hester Spiegel-van den Steenhoven is a Dutch management consultant-turned-education-entrepreneur-turned-investor living in Singapore. She is a venture partner at Kaizenvest and co-founder of Asia's largest female-owned angel network Epic Angels. After a 15+ year international career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and then as Director at Deutsche Bank as Director in Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt, she became Germany’s first country manager for modern education system and coding school “42”, raising funding from Volkswagen and the foundation of Lidl-founder Dieter Schwarz to launch two campuses. Since moving to Singapore in 2020, she continues to work with and invest in founders in the EdTech and Future of Learning and Work space in Southeast Asia. She is the mother of two young boys and a speaker in both Europe and Southeast Asia on the topics of Future of Learning, Start-ups and Investing, Career Pivots, and Education Technology. She is also an alumnus of Insignia Ventures Academy Cohort 1.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
No-code platforms. DAOs. Malaysia's startup ecosystem. Just some of the topics we cover in this call with Jason Chew, founder of Southeast Asia no-code accelerator Codeless, on this Insignia Ventures Academy episode, as the Cohort 2 alumnus shares the intersections of his work in these areas as a startup founder and operator. Check out Jason's latest (ad)ventures in Web3 as Founder of KopiDAO on Twitter.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:48) Paulo introduces Jason Chew;
(02:36) No-Code Perspective on Driving Web3 Adoption;
(09:16) Democratizing Digital Creation through No Code;
(13:21) Implications of No Code for End-Users and Investors;
(19:25) Increasing Visibility into Malaysia’s Startup Ecosystem;
(24:16) Out of the Comfort Zone with Insignia Ventures Academy;
(26:51) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Jason Chew is a serial entrepreneur and he is the founder of Codeless, a Southeast Asia-focused no-code accelerator. With extensive experience as a startup ecosystem builder, he is building no-code and Web3 communities that are focused on creating opportunities for founders. Jason’s latest venture is KopiDAO, a learning community DAO accelerating Web3 adoption.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
What happens when you take the chicken out of the egg? Find out on this call with Vinita Choolani, CEO and founder of Float Foods, the Singapore-based foodtech company that just commercially launched this Earth Day the OnlyEg brand, Asia’s first, award-winning, plant-based whole egg (white + yolk) and the brand’s first product: OnlyEg Shreds. We talk about unlocking the unmatched ecosystem support in Singapore, what makes OnlyEg the “egg for all”, going global, and leadership at a fast-growing deep tech startup.
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:20) Paulo introduces Vinita;
(02:00) Genesis of Float Foods;
(04:39) 2020 Plant-Based Landscape in Singapore and Float Food’s opportunity;
(06:09) Leveraging Singapore’s unmatched resources;
(07:51) How Vinita met Yinglan;
(08:58) What is it about OnlyEg?;
(10:03) Optimizing the experimentation process;
(11:29) Biggest misconception about plant-based consumer adoption;
(12:34) The importance of reaching price parity for eggs;
(13:22) Navigating global supply chain challenges to scale;
(14:35) Branding OnlyEg as the “egg for all”;
(15:40) Teambuilding at Float Foods;
(17:10) Leadership learnings from scaling a biotech company to seven markets in two years;
(18:00) OnlyEg white winning global awards;
(19:29) Rise of plug-and-play set-ups for foodtech startups;
(21:07) Profitability in foodtech;
(22:48) Float Foods in the next five years;
(23:25) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest Vinita Choolani is the Founder and CEO of Float Foods. She is also the Director of FINEX Holdings, a majority shareholder in INEX Innovate, a leading women's healthcare company based in Singapore. Vinita helped build INEX Innovate from the ground up to become one of Asia's leading women's innovation healthcare companies. Vinita has had more than a decade experience and specializes in establishing distribution networks and commercialization for products across, not just Asia, but globally as well. Vinita is also the co-founder and board member of Project Smile, which is a not-for-profit initiative offering financial assistance to women in Singapore.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In a startup landscape where AI is often hyped up as a product moat, it pays to have the ability to “AI-bend” or not only innovate how it’s used but the very technology itself to make the end-products more developer-friendly, scalable, and applicable to a wide range of applications.
That’s what Indonesian all-in-one verification platform Verihubs CTO and co-founder Williem Williem brings to the table. He talks about that and more in this call, along with (1) his approach to building tech teams, (2) his PhD research that unlocked Verihubs’ liveness detection advantage, and (3) how AI is driving not only Verihubs’ product, but also the company’s scale and profitability trajectory.
Join Williem at Verihubs
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:30) Paulo introduces Williem Williem;
(01:48) Mindset shift from academe to startup;
(02:54) Applying PhD research into scalable startup products;
(04:13) Verihubs’ origins from Williem’s perspective;
(05:29) From improving technology to making it useful;
(06:41) Focusing on simplicity for client user and developer experience;
(07:51) The role of AI in product-market fit, scale and profitability for Verihubs;
(10:39) Building generic solutions that still meet a diverse array of use cases;
(12:43) Williem’s Key Learning from Y Combinator;
(14:06) Williem’s Approach to Hiring and Retaining Tech Talent in indonesia;
(16:47) Biggest gap in Indonesia’s tech talent capabilities;
(18:06) Future of Verification Tech in the next five years;
(19:43) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Williem Williem is the CTO and co-founder of Verihubs. Prior to Verihubs, he was an artificial intelligence and computer vision researcher. He received his PhD focused on Information and Communication Engineering from Inha University, where his research topics covered computer vision, computational photography, and image processing. He has been published in top journals and conferences in computer vision, and has done several industry projects including mobile augmented reality for SKT Telecom, image quality enhancement for smartphones and parallel processing for linear algebra algorithms at Samsung Electronics.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Indonesia's fashion industry has one of the strongest manufacturing hubs in the world with a long history, but an opaque and fragmented supply chain has disconnected the booming upstream from the local downstream merchants and brands. On this call, Indonesia's pioneering B2B textile trading platform Wifkain co-founder and CEO Sara Sofyan shares how her team is weaving this disjointed supply chain together. She also talks about her experience as one of the alumni of the inaugural cohort of Insignia Ventures Academy.
Join the Wifkain team
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:14) Paulo introduces Sara;
(02:02) Transitioning from HSBC to entrepreneur and Wifkain’s origins in B2C;
(05:25) Indonesia’s textile and fashion industry 101;
(06:56) Finding their CTO co-founder and their approach to digitalization;
(09:12) Where is Wifkain now;
(09:48) Why does the textile industry need its own digital enablers like Wifkain;
(11:50) Supporting textile merchants’ business and access to credit;
(13:38) Building Wifkain’s company culture and learnings on leadership from HSBC;
(15:39) Why an ex-banker and serial entrepreneur joined Insignia Ventures Academy (IVA);
(17:10) The highlight of Sara’s IVA experience;
(18:11) Advice for current and future IVA venture fellows;
(18:50) Data-first Playbook to Drive Digitalization in Indonesia’s Fashion Industry;
(21:24) Looking to Baidu for What’s Beyond Textiles;
(22:32) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Sara Sofyan is the CEO and co-founder of Wifkain, a pioneering Indonesian B2B marketplace platform for the country’s fashion supply chain. Prior to Wifkain, she was a B2C fashion entrepreneur through which she found the inefficiencies in Indonesia’s textile supply chain. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Sara spent nearly five years at HSBC where she became AVP for Global Banking and Markets. She received her Bachelors in Business Management from King’s College London.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Meet some of these leaders in this special episode compiling the first four features of our spinoff, social media series "A Leader A Minute."
Transcript
About our guests
See openings: Sourabh Gupta is VP of Product Management at Flip. With more than 14 years supporting the growth of very large organizations and bootstrapped startups across Product Management, Consulting, and Engineering roles, he brings to Flip his expertise in leading cross-functional teams consisting of product managers, analysts, and engineers across India and Southeast Asia as he leads Flip’s product and design functions. He was previously Head of Product International Expansion and then VP of Payments Platform at Gojek before joining Flip. (Full Interview)
See openings: Lius Widjaja is a business leader with more than a decade of experience spanning growth marketing, business development, venture capital, country management and operations. Prior to joining Brankas, he had co-founded and grew several pioneering ventures from lifestyle and tourism companies to B2B tech solutions and the Indonesian Blockchain Network. (Full Interview)
See openings: Eelen Lim is a financial services professional with more than a decade of experience. She grew her career at OCBC leading teams in various functions before transitioning to the world of fintech at Aspire where she now leads partnerships.(Full Interview)
See openings: Oliver Suendermann is a UK-trained Clinical Psychologist, Cognitive Behavioural Therapist, educator, supervisor and researcher. He was a Scientific Advisor to Intellect before joining full-time as Clinical Director. Prior to joining Intellect, he was Deputy Director of the NUS Masters Program in Psychology. (Full Interview)
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Insignia Ventures Academy (IVA) kicked off its third Cohort this month, and on the podcast, we're also kicking off this season's special episodes with alumni and mentors from Asia's first venture capital accelerator. First up is Cohort 2 alumnus, angel investor, and current Gojek head of the business merchants, Hoang-Ky Vu, who shares stories of accidentally ending up in Indonesia, how friends got him into angel investing, leading a post-merger integration completely remotely, winning Demo Day on IVA, and more.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:39) Paulo introduces Hoang Ky Vu;
(01:43) What excites Ky about Southeast Asia as an angel investor;
(02:40) Joining Rocket Internet;
(03:55) The Move to Indonesia and Acclimatizing to the Country;
(06:32) Lessons from Driving SME Digitalization in Indonesia;
(10:30) Behind the scenes of an acquisition;
(13:17) Becoming an angel;
(15:04) Value-add as an operator angel;
(18:17) Most common piece of advice given to founders;
(19:20) Getting the Pitch from IVA;
(20:09) Making the Most out of IVA;
(21:49) How IVA impacted Ky’s angel investing;
(22:35) Biggest gaps in Indonesia’s tech ecosystem today;
(23:45) Advice for operators looking to foray into angel investing;
(25:15) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Hoang-Ky Vu is an alumnus from Cohort 2 of Insignia Ventures Academy, and a mentor for Cohort 3. Currently, he's head of business merchants at Gojek. Prior to that, he held leadership positions at several startups, including Moka, which was acquired by Gojek. He was also an early member of Rocket Internet as well, coming from Germany apart from being in Go-Jek. He's also a pretty active angel investor, focusing especially on SaaS, commerce, and fintech in Southeast Asia.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
With Indonesia's SMEs sector getting wave after wave of digital solutions, it's important to have focus and direction, and disruption isn't always the answer. Gabriel Frans, the CEO and co-founder of Credibook, goes on call to answer: why enablement through software for financial and operational management, why digital bookkeeping as the go-to-market product, why the focus on wholesale retailer SMEs, why build the Faire for Indonesia through Credimart, why Y Combinator, among many other why's.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:59) Paulo introduces Gabriel;
(01:41) Credibook’s origins;
(02:58) Why bookkeeping?;
(04:11) How has bookkeeping as an entry point built up Credibook’s momentum?;
(05:02) Why did Credibook venture into B2B wholesale solutions through Credimart?;
(06:56) How does Credimart impact Credibook’s product trajectory and growth?;
(07:43) Why the YC admission process is already valuable for founders and Gabriel’s biggest learning from the program;
(09:19) Gabriel’s advice for founders looking to get into YC;
(10:04) What is Credibook’s impact on the Indonesian economy?;
(12:03) How Credibook stands apart from other Indonesian SME enablers;
(13:15) How and why Credibook works with Fazz Financial;
(14:24) Credimart as the Faire of Indonesia;
(15:30) What makes an effective leader at Credibook;
(16:34) What are the biggest gaps for wholesaler SMEs that have yet to be filled?;
(17:58) Credibook’s role in driving Indonesian SMEs into the future;
(19:12) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Gabriel Frans is CEO and co-founder of Credibook (YC W22). He built his career in product management in tech companies including Traveloka and Kudo, leading multifunctional teams, managing entire product line life cycles, and driving product expansion. He received his Bachelors in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from ITB.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
A digital banking license, an app launch, US$130M in consumer deposits, and a US$131M Series B round since our first conversation in July 2020, Greg Krasnov, the CEO and founder of the Philippines’ first fully digital bank Tonik, returns on call with us.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:13) Paulo recaps Greg’s last call;
(02:38) Paulo re-introduces Greg;
(03:27) The latest on Tonik’s growth story;
(05:34) The 4Ps that drove Tonik’s record breaking deposit growth and user acquisition;
(09:48) What Tonik’s deposit records mean globally;
(12:29) What neobanks from other markets can learn from Tonik;
(14:35) Redefining scalability for consumer loans;
(18:39) How Tonik is able to learn from global comps;
(20:50) The future of bank fintech partnerships;
(23:14) The Fifth P;
(26:51) The Sixth P;
(29:07) Thoughts on crypto and DeFi;
(30:40) The future of consumer banking in the Philippines;
(32:12) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Greg Krasnov is a serial fintech entrepreneur with a storied career in the financial services space spanning Europe and Southeast Asia. Prior to founding Tonik, he co-founded and chaired four other successful fintech startups in Asia, including Credolab and AsiaKredit. Before coming to Southeast Asia, he was the founder and CEO of one of the top private equity-backed success stories in consumer lending in Eastern Europe, Platinum Bank in Ukraine, which exited in 2013 for US$150 million. Before blazing a trail of fintech success stories, he spent 10 years in private equity at Bank of America in London and Innova Capital in Warsaw.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Fazz Financial Group Deputy CEO and Xfers CEO and co-founder Tianwei Liu, an engineer by training, founder by experience, and angel on the side, goes on call to share how gifting Kindles and a LinkedIn search led him to return to Southeast Asia to pioneer fintech infrastructure through Xfers, how a Slack message from fellow Y Combinator alum Hendra Kwik led to the formation of regional fintech group Fazz Financial, and how being early adopters of crypto led Xfers to building Singapore's first stablecoin.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:12) Paulo recaps the Fazz Financial Group evolution through the podcast;
(02:53) Paulo introduces Tianwei;
(03:57) What excites Tianwei about Southeast Asia;
(05:46) How Tianwei decided to return from Silicon Valley to start Xfers in 2015, 2016;
(10:05) Driving the evolution of fintech in Southeast Asia through payment infrastructure;
(13:49) Three reasons why Xfers joined forces with Payfazz to form Fazz Financial Group;
(18:13) How the evolution into Fazz Financial has shaped Tianwei as a leader;
(20:08) How Xfers works to support Payfazz agents and users;
(21:35) Why Xfers ventured into developing Singapore’s first stablecoin through StraitsX;
(24:45) The value of localized ventures in crypto;
(27:13) What the future of crypto and payments infrastructure is in Southeast Asia;
(29:20) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Tianwei Liu is the CEO and Co-founder of Xfers, and Deputy CEO of Fazz Financial Group. Along with the management of Xfers in Singapore, he is currently driving Xfers’ expansion into Indonesia and engages closely with Xfers‘ banking and merchant partners to accelerate the growth of fintech and digital businesses in the region. After his receiving his Bachelors in Computer Engineering in 2011 from the National University of Singapore, Tianwei returned to Silicon Valley (having studied at Stanford University under the NUS Overseas College (NOC) Programme) as a Software Engineer working on developer tools at WIMM Labs, a start-up that built the world’s first Android-based smartwatches. His team at WIMM Labs laid the foundation for Google’s WearOs™ that powers its smartwatches (WIMM Labs was acquired by Google in late 2012). After WIMM Labs’ acquisition, Tianwei worked at Amazon Lab126 from May 2012 to June 2015, when he and his team built the big data ingestion infrastructure that allows for real-time processing and analytics of the health status of all Kindles devices used daily by Amazon’s customers.
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The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
What happens when an Indonesian pediatrician having her first kid in the midst of a pandemic and her Tokopedia alum, seasoned product and growth leader husband join forces to build a startup? Find out on our call with Tentang Anak founders Dr. Mesty Ariotedjo and Garri Juanda.
Transcript
Timestamps
(01:11) Why should you know Mesty Ariotedjo and Garri Juanda?
(01:57) How did Mesty and Garri meet Insignia?
(03:20) How did they start Tentang Anak?
(06:08) Why did they start Tentang Anak?
(08:58) How has Mesty’s background as a doctor influenced her approach to Tentang Anak?
(10:17) Why pediatricians and child care experts are attracted to Tentang Anak’s platform?
(13:27) What's in the Tentang Anak app?
(14:56) How is Tentang Anak flipping the script on scaling commerce platforms?
(17:02) How has Garri’s background as a tech leader influenced his approach to Tentang Anak?
(19:05) What attracts talent to join Tentang Anak?
(20:33) How does raising a family together impact their synergy as co-founders and vice-versa?
(22:57) What drives Tentang Anak’s product roadmap?
(25:21) Tentang Anak’s focus in the next five years;
(27:23) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Tentang Anak, which translates to “About Children”, was founded in 2020 by pediatrician Dr. Mesty Ariotedjo and Tokopedia alum Garri Juanda. Mesty is currently a graduate student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the recipient of Harvard T.H. Chan Fellowship Award. She was also included in Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 and a member of the World Economic Forum. While Mesty brings her medical expertise and network to Tentang Anak and Garri brings his 11 years of tech experience in product, growth, and M&A to the table. He previously oversaw Tokopedia’s marketplace, adtech, and logistics business verticals; and was one of Rakuten Japan’s first non-Japanese product managers. Garri earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology, finance, fintech
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
On Call with Insignia is back with a new season of conversations with founders, investors, and operators leading the development of Southeast Asia's innovation landscape and digital economy, or as we like to call, ASEANnovation.
What better way to kick off our season four than with Brankas, Southeast Asia's leading and pioneering open finance tech company. We've just welcomed them to the Insignia family officially at the start of 2022 with the announcement of a 20 million series B round which we had the privilege of leading.
To talk about, not just Brankas, but also this whole wave of demand for more robust and scalable fintech infrastructure, we have really an open finance pioneer and an expert here to talk about all of that, none other than the CEO and co-founder of Brankas, Todd Schweitzer.
Join Brankas's remote-first team by checking out open roles on the company’s career page and LinkedIn.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:28) Paulo introduces Brankas and Todd;
(02:24) Todd talks about how he connected with Insignia;
(03:04) Going from management consulting in the US to starting Brankas in Southeast Asia;
(08:33) Why open finance is compelling and exciting for emerging markets;
(12:25) How Brankas’s API menu approach stands out;
(15:22) Working with regulators and institutions in Southeast Asia;
(19:42) Four use cases for open finance;
(24:18) Approach to regional expansion;
(25:37) How building out a remote-first team has led to finding great engineering talent;
(28:09) Open Finance for DeFi;
(31:09) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Todd Schweitzer is co-founder and CEO at Brankas, the leading Open Banking technology provider in Southeast Asia. Todd has held senior roles in private equity and management consulting, spanning technology, the public sector, and financial services. Todd and co-founder Kenneth Shaw launched Brankas in 2016 to address the technology gaps that hindered fintech-bank partnerships. Launching first in Indonesia, Brankas provides Open Banking technology to banks, insurers, mobile wallets, alternative lenders, and other suppliers and users of financial services APIs. He holds dual Bachelor's degrees with honors in Economics and International Studies from the University of California, Irvine, and a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government with a focus on economic development policy.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology, finance, fintech
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Something new we tried for Season 3 of On Call with Insignia Ventures in 2021 was to go on call with more startup and venture investors, from angels to the Southeast Asia investment leads of global investment firms to the founding partners of VC firms in other emerging markets.
Throughout these conversations, we not only got to see the perspectives of these investors on various markets and sectors, but also got a peek into their mindsets and approach when it comes to investing in startup founders and fast-growing tech companies.
In this podcast episode, we compiled their answers to two questions: “What are the top three traits / skills of a great VC / angel investor?” and “What’s your advice for aspiring VCs / angel investors?” and just like our compilation of founders’ fundraising advice, piece apart 5 key themes across their shared insights.
Timestamps
(01:42) (1) Good investors invest in companies, but great investors work with and learn from founders.
(06:12) (2) It’s not just about finding the best company but being the right investor for a company.
(07:29) (3) There’s no one path, but the best paths build startup and founder exposure.
(10:28) (4) Investing is an education in itself; it requires constantly opening up to what’s new.
(13:37) (5) Great investors are grounded and driven by a clear understanding of motivation -- why do you invest?
Are you looking to build a career backing unstoppable founders and building great companies in Southeast Asia? Send us an email to join the team at Insignia Ventures.
On the other hand, if you're looking to learn the ropes, grow your network and gain a track record of investing in Southeast Asia, Cohort 3 of Asia's first experiential venture capital accelerator, Insignia Academy, is still accepting applications!
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
2021 was a record year of fundraising for startups in Southeast Asia, and even on our podcast, we made sure to ask our founder-CEO guests, all of whom have raised at least one institutional round where Insignia Ventures participated, about how they approached fundraising and their advice for fellow founders who are just about to raise for the first time.
2022 is expected to be an even greater year for startup investing in the region. With more emerging venture backable verticals, there will be more founders looking to raise venture capital, and so we compiled a list of all their fundraising advice: 18 in all.
From what they’ve shared we’ve also identified a few common themes:
- Fundraising is a two-way street. It’s not just about getting capital or value-add from investors, but also investors looking at how they can win with your company’s growth.
- Investors invest in people who do and the stories that come out of what they do.
- Do you know what you are selling? It’s important to know the ins and outs around the market, business metrics, as well as motivations of customers and employees.
- Find the right partners who understand your vision, align with what you want to build, and have the capability to support you throughout the ups and downs.
- It may be the first round, but there are long-term implications.
If you’d like us to join your next round of funding, let us know what you’re building on our website. We also have tools on our website to help founders and investors with funding:
- Captable Calculator
- SAFE Note Generator
- Term Sheet Generator
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we're back with a returning guest, Flip CEO and co-founder Rafi Putra Arriyan. Fresh from announcing their US$48M Series B round, co-led by Insight Partners, Insignia Ventures, and also Sequoia Capital, Rafi, or Ari as he is called, goes on call to catch us up on what has happened since last year, give us some updates on how Flip has grown their ecosystem since then that has led to this last round. As a leader of one of Indonesia’s earliest fintechs, Ari also shares his views on the evolution of fintech user behavior, infrastructure, and regulation over the past few years.
They serve over 7 million users across Indonesia with their money transfer app, and their business solutions cater to hundreds of companies from SMEs to much larger businesses, across disbursement, payroll, supplier payments, etc. They have been recently ramping up their hiring with new initiatives in the pipeline, from business operations to product and engineering roles. Check out Flip's career page and LinkedIn for open positions.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:28) Paulo introduces Flip and Rafi Putra Arriyan (Ari);
(02:38) Expanding interoperability of Flip’s money movement platform over the past year;
(03:45) The culture of money transfer in Indonesia;
(05:22) Listening to users and maturing fintech infrastructure;
(06:41) How Flip and Rafi gain insight into their 7M+ users;
(08:12) Evolution of fintech-bank partnerships in Indonesia;
(10:03) Evolution of fintech regulation in Indonesia;
(11:27) Evolution of fintech infrastructure in Indonesia;
(13:58) How Flip is leveraging its latest round of funding;
(15:04) Culture of fairness and remote working;
(17:56) Best practices on remote working;
(21:12) Attracting unicorn and top tech talents;
(21:53) Rafi’s biggest lesson from leading Flip in the last five years;
(23:53) Biggest gap in Indonesia’s fintech landscape;
(25:25) Next five years for Flip;
(26:36) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Rafi Putra Arriyan started Flip after he and his co-founders spotted an inefficiency in the interbank fund transfers segment in Indonesia. Ari holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Universitas Indonesia (UI), one of the most prestigious universities in Indonesia.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We're back with another episode in partnership with Insignia Ventures Academy (IVA), Asia's first experiential VC accelerator! We went on call with Andy Hwang, former Google and Facebook go-to-market leader, now angel investor and startup advisor in Southeast Asia. He’s also an alumnus of IVA, and more recently has been a mentor for the second cohort of the program. We talk not just about the program with him in this episode, but also learn more about his career transition into becoming a full-time angel investor after many years in various big tech companies, and also get his thoughts on some of these emerging technologies from working with founders. Join him and other seasoned investors and operators in Insignia Ventures Academy's growing community and apply for Cohort 3 coming this Feb 2022!
We're also happy to share with our listeners a promo package from Aspire, the all-in-one finance operating system built for fast-growing startups. They're offering the Insignia community an exclusive welcome offer for a limited period of 31st December, 2021. Startups will get a $250 cash reward when they open a new business account and make their first card purchase with qualifying merchants with the Aspire card, minimum of $5. Redeem the offer here.
Transcript
Timestamps
(00:51) Paulo introduces Andy Hwang;
(01:45) What wakes Andy up in the morning;
(02:45) How growing up in the Valley’s tech optimism drew Andy to Southeast Asia;
(05:03) Going international at Google and Facebook;
(06:29) Go-To-Market learnings from "mistakes" made at Facebook;
(11:05) Becoming an angel investor and spending a year at Stripe;
(13:58) Positioning oneself as an angel investor in Southeast Asia;
(15:34) Day in the life of Andy Hwang the angel investor;
(16:54) Finding product-market fit as an angel investor;
(19:32) Common pitfalls of early-stage startups;
(22:15) Developing investment rigor and discipline at Insignia Ventures Academy;
(26:58) Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Andy Hwang is a full-time angel investor and startup advisor, but prior to that, he spent a decade in Facebook, doing a lot of go-to-market in APAC, leading Facebook's entry and into east Asia, especially, and then prior to that, he was at Google doing a lot of, marketing work there as well in some of these emerging markets like Latin America. He took his MBA at Wharton and was a graduate of UC Berkeley.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode we went on call with Chang Zi Qian, the CEO and co-founder of Intelllex, a legaltech startup that specializes in organizing legal and regulatory information using proprietary algorithms and platforms. Chang comes on call to talk about their recent launch of the legal knowledge platform called finreg.sg. So it's a platform for anybody who wants to explore the regulations in Singapore when it comes to fintech, especially payments and crypto, as well as for fund managers who are looking to set up shop in Singapore and learn more about the regulations when it comes to fund management. We deep dive into the platform itself, the trends that influenced its creation, and how it can evolve in the next few years.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:16 Paulo introduces Chang Zi Qian;
01:56 Trends and tailwinds that led to the creation of finreg.sg;
03:13 How finreg.sg builds upon Intelllex’s existing products for legal knowledge management;
04:43 Use cases and user journey for finreg.sg;
06:32 Chang’s thoughts on the evolution of Singapore’s fintech regulation;
08:10 The struggle to legally define new innovations and technologies;
09:55 Chang’s perspective on how legal definitions of virtual assets will arise;
10:55 Chang’s thoughts on family office influx in Singapore and pressure for VC funds to go from early-stage to IPO;
12:45 finreg.sg as a targeted distribution platform for lawyers’ thought leadership;
14:38 Future plans for finreg.sg;
17:33 finreg.sg as a platform matching regtechs / KYC, AML fintechs with customers;
19:19 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Chang Zi Qian is an entrepreneur with years of law experience. He previously worked in the Singapore Prime Minister's office and law firm Rajah and Tann. From there, he saw a lot of pain points as a lawyer and decided to start his own legal tech startup Intelllex. He is also a member of the Singapore Committee for Future Economy. He was named twice as one of the 100 Leaders of Tomorrow at the St. Gallen’s Symposium, and once as the Dragon 100 Young Leaders in Hong Kong.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We're back with another episode in partnership with Insignia Ventures Academy. We went on call with another mentor who not only has been helping out with the program, but has also been a participant of the first cohort: startup advisor, angel investor, ex-Bukalapak and Amazon engineering leader Mohammed Alabsi. We talk about his journey from Seattle driving cloud services and microservices for AWS in the late 2010s to leading engineering at Bukalapak and now angel investing. He shares highlights from his experience at Insignia Ventures Academy, advice for aspiring angel investors, and his views on tech due diligence and hot tech topics including AI, cybersecurity, no-code platforms, and DeFi.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:27 Paulo introduces Mohammed Alabsi;
01:21 The multiple hats of Mohammed;
02:27 How the emergence of cloud and microservices led him to AWS’s early days in Seattle and then Bukalapak in Indonesia;
05:34 Biggest challenges and contributions as VP of Engineering at Bukalapak;
07:41 Becoming a full-time startup advisor and angel investor;
09:07 A day in the life of Mohammed as angel investor;
10:07 Mohammed value-add as an angel investor;
11:36 Most common pitfall of early-stage startup teams from a tech POV;
12:54 Highlights of Mohammed’s experience in Insignia Ventures Academy;
14:32 How the Academy influenced Mohammed’s investing;
15:17 Sneak peek into Mohammed’s Tech DD session;
17:19 What Mohammed is excited for 2022 Southeast Asia tech;
18:08 Mohammed’s thoughts on AI adoption in Southeast Asia;
19:26 Cybersecurity for early-stage startups;
21:47 Advice for engineers and tech operators becoming angel investors;
22:52 Investing in Dishserve;
23:59 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Mohammed Alabsi is a technology leader and angel investor active across both sides of the Pacific, based out of both the East Coast and Jakarta, an advisor to several startups here in Southeast Asia, and part of the XA Network. Previously he was Senior VP of Engineering at Bukalapak, and a Senior Software Development Manager at Amazon in Seattle. He is an alumnus of Insignia Ventures Academy’s first cohort and also helps the program as a mentor.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we're going to do a deep dive back into the edtech or education scene in Indonesia, and to guide us on that journey we have with us returning guest Syarif Rousyan Fikri, who is the CEO and co-founder of Pahamify. So to our longtime listeners, you may remember from our episode back in season one last year, where he had a chat with Yinglan on introducing Pahamify, talking about how they're changing K-12 education for Indonesian students and especially when it comes to test preparation.
In this episode, we're going to catch up with him, learn more about how the education scene has developed, especially, with the pandemic and the lockdowns and how things have progressed over in Indonesia, and also learn more about how they've grown their company from a culture perspective and also a product perspective as well.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:13 Paulo introduces Fikri;
02:02 Catching up on Pahamify;
02:30 How edtechs can sustain growth post-pandemic;
04:05 Where live streaming fits into Pahamify’s user experience;
06:03 The philosophy and cultural nuance behind live streaming;
08:11 Dealing with impact of pandemic-induced learning loss on schools and teachers;
10:12 Long-term effects of social media engagements;
11:48 How Pahamify changed the life of Fariq;
13:51 The role of customer service for Pahamify;
15:30 Pahamify’s culture;
17:35 How Pahamify’s culture has impacted their product;
19:10 How Pahamify’s culture has evolved with Indonesia’s edtech landscape;
20:40 The next five years for Pahamify and Indonesia edtech;
22:14 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Prior to Pahamify, Syarif Rousyan Fikri was the writer and host of an award-winning Indonesian educational video series on YouTube which now has over 373,000 subscribers. The series received the YouTube Next Up 2017 award from YouTube and collaborated with Google to produce Learning How to Learn Course—the book version of this course was just published recently with a top publisher in Indonesia. Syarif graduated with a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), one of Indonesia’s top universities, at only 19 years old and was also a former PhD candidate at the Electrical and Electronics Engineering department of Nanyang Technological University.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Over this season, apart from our portfolio founders, we've been able to talk to a couple of interesting venture capitalists from different parts of the world like Brazil and Canada and hear their thoughts about Southeast Asia. In this episode, we're back with another venture capitalist, and now doing this in conjunction with Insignia Ventures Academy, Asia’s first experiential VC accelerator. You can expect to have more episodes with mentors and alumni from the 12 week-program as well.
One of them is Mark Sng, Vice President of Gentree Fund, the venture capital fund of the Sy family office, the family behind one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines. He talks about his career going from private equity to corporate development to venture capitalist as well as the evolution of the Philippines’ startup ecosystem and what’s exciting in the market these days.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:46 Paulo introduces Mark Sng, VP of Investments at Gentree;
01:44 Philippines’ Startup Ecosystem Rising;
02:57 Mark’s Career Part 1: TAEL Partners (PE Fund);
04:58 Mark’s Career Part 2: Gojek Corporate Development;
06:34 Mark’s Career Part 3: Go-Ventures;
08:24 Mark’s Career Part 4: Gentree Fund;
11:20 Impact of more family offices and corporates setting up funds in Southeast Asia;
14:30 Comparing PE, Corp Dev, and VC from skill sets POV;
17:04 Value of regulatory clarity in attracting investors;
19:45 Thinking beyond the Philippines for market;
20:47 Rise of elephants and unicorns in the Philippines;
22:41 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Mark Sng is the Vice President of Gentree Fund, the venture capital fund of the Sy family office, the family behind one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines. Mark previously spearheaded the Singapore office launch for Go-Ventures and supported the ventures team as Head of Singapore and Vietnam Coverage. Before Go-Ventures, he was with Gojek’s Corporate Development Team, where he was part of the team that led the acquisition of Coins.ph in the Philippines. He also supported growth equity transactions into family-run businesses at TAEL Partners: a SEA growth equity fund with a focus on the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia markets.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We've seen how ecommerce has taken over the region in the last few years, and now we have companies emerging in this space that are enabling a lot more brands and a lot more entrepreneurs to be able to dive in and take advantage of this whole ecommerce boom in the region and in greater Asia. One of them is ecommerce brand aggregator Rainforest and in this episode, CEO and co-founder JJ Chai joins us on call to talk about why now is the best time for solo/micro-entrepreneurs to build their own ecommerce consumer brands, how Rainforest supports them towards successful business exits and beyond with the skill sets and empathy needed to engage with ecommerce entrepreneurs, and the company's ultimate goal of building a digital-first house of consumer brands in Asia.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:13 Paulo introduces JJ Chai;
01:35 Biggest learning since launching Rainforest in May 2021;
03:02 The well-thought out process behind Rainforest’s founding;
05:39 The fundamental denominator for brands the Rainforest acquires;
07:34 Impact of supply chain diversification in Asia on ecommerce brand explosion;
09:12 Rainforest’s end-to-end process working with brands and entrepreneurs and the importance of understanding motivation;
11:43 JJ’s advice for ecommerce brands to get from 0 to 1;
15:02 Acquisition scenarios for Rainforest;
16:20 Hiring leadership in Rainforest and building a team that understands ecommerce sellers;
18:38 Ecommerce aggregators impact on ecommerce growth in Southeast Asia;
19:44 Ecommerce aggregators impact on consumers in Southeast Asia;
20:58 Building a digital-first house of ecommerce brands in Asia;
22:15 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
JJ Chai is the co-founder and CEO of Rainforest, Asia’s leading ecommerce brand aggregator. Rainforest acquires consumer ecommerce brands, providing entrepreneurs a healthy exit, and invests into the acquired brands to grow them globally. Prior to founding Rainforest, JJ advised startups founders in the scale-up stage, as xto10x’s SE-Asia’s Chief Executive. He previously worked with the founders at Carousell to scale up from a pre-revenue startup to become SE-Asia’s largest online classifieds platform. At Carousell he led up various portfolios across international expansion, revenue, growth and strategy. Before joining Carousell, JJ was the SE-Asia Managing Director for Airbnb. JJ joined as the first Airbnb employee in Southeast Asia and helped chart Airbnb’s rapid growth in Asia. JJ was also a former junior partner at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Today in this episode, we have a very special guest: Budi Handoko, co-founder and COO of Shipper, which celebrates its 4th year anniversary this week! Through his and co-founder and CEO Phil Opamuratawongse’s leadership, the company has become a juggernaut in Indonesia logistics with the largest tech-enabled logistics network composed of warehouses, micro-fulfillment centers, and agents all across the country, all powered through Shipper’s proprietary technology. We had the pleasure of talking to Phil in Season 1, and today we get to hear Budi’s perspective as a former ecommerce seller, software engineer, serial entrepreneur, and COO on Shipper’s tremendous growth and the impact they are making for Indonesia’s logistics.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:26 Paulo introduces Budi;
01:24 Indonesian logistics in 2016 and why Budi started Shipper;
03:37 Impact of Shipper on Indonesian logistics;
06:38 Biggest learning as Shipper celebrates its 4th year anniversary;
07:23 The evolution of Shipper’s network;
09:37 The logistics needs of smaller sellers versus larger businesses;
11:08 Story of a small business growing with Shipper;
12:17 Behind the acquisitions of Pakde and Porter;
13:27 Thoughts on M&A in Indonesia’s ecommerce logistics;
14:14 Evolution of Shipper’s tech stack;
15:40 Biggest barriers in Indonesia’s ecommerce logistics today;
17:06 Influence of Budi’s past ventures on Shipper;
19:05 Shipper’s next five years;
20:03 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Budi Handoko is a serial entrepreneur, having founded and exited several fintech, consumer, and commerce startups over the past 10 years prior to founding Shipper in 2016. He is also an engineer by profession, having worked at several early internet companies before starting his entrepreneurial career. He is also an Alibaba eFounders Fellow and most recently joined the Gen T Asia list for his contributions to Indonesian logistics.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In today’s episode we have a chat with the CEO and co-founder of AI-driven data verification platform Verihubs, Rick Firnando, fresh from joining Y Combinator’s 2021 Summer cohort and subsequently announcing Verihubs’ seed round US$2.8 million which we were privileged to lead. We’re excited for Rick to share more about his story building Verihubs, the incredible progress they’ve been making, and what the potential is for AI-driven verification solutions in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:27 Paulo introduces Rick Firnando, CEO and co-founder of Verihubs;
01:36 Rick on meeting Insignia through Y Combinator;
02:07 How an incident with Rick’s family led to the start of Verihubs;
04:35 Finding the first product-market fit with Payfazz and BCA;
05:23 The four solutions Verihubs offers currently;
06:40 The biggest challenge partnering with banks and financial institutions;
07:37 Driving financial inclusion in Indonesia by becoming a fintech enabler in the country;
10:49 Learnings from Verihubs’ YC experience;
11:41 Hiring AI talent in Indonesia;
12:29 Gaps that need to be filled to drive open banking adoption in Indonesia;
13:38 How Rick’s diverse industry experience has shaped him as a CEO;
14:26 Verihubs’ role in driving the future of fintech in Indonesia;
15:15 Fintech infrastructure layers beyond verification;
15:54 The Benefits of Working with Payfazz;
16:34 Applications of Verihubs solutions beyond financial services;
17:07 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Rick Firnando is a serial entrepreneur, having built, run, and grown a variety of businesses from the energy sector to trading to pharmaceuticals to media and coworking, prior to starting Verihubs with his co-founder and CTO Williem Williem, a PhD in computer vision and artificial intelligence expert.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we have fast-growing Vietnamese edtech Edmicro CEO and co-founder Linh Dang Bao, and we talk about the K-12 education market in Vietnam, the challenges in this space, and how Edmicro is trying to innovate and address these issues.
What's really been interesting with Edmicro is that they've been able to really maximize the opportunity presented by the pandemic over the past year and really grow their platform and moving into 2021, they've achieved 4x growth in their users, with more than 400,000 organic new installations of their platform without any marketing or ads. Edmicro has also built a really solid ecosystem of support from schools and government driving digital transformation for education, becoming the official assessment platform by the Department of Education in multiple provinces in Vietnam for students preparing for the national exams. Learn straight from their CEO Linh Dang how they've been able to do that, how it started, how they are continuing to double down on the growth in 2021 and what's their outlook in the coming years.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:29 Paulo introduces Edmicro and its CEO and co-founder Linh Dang Bao;
02:22 Linh shares how he and his co-founders founded Edmicro;
04:54 The three long-standing challenges for Vietnam’s edtech market;
07:37 How COVID-19 changed the game for Vietnam edtech and Edmicro;
09:59 The key to retaining users coming out of lockdown and the edtech boom;
11:58 Edmicro’s platform Onluyen.vn and its personalized self-study environment and competency mapping for students;
13:51 The key advantage for teachers using Onluyen.vn;
14:56 How Edmicro held one of the first mass online exams for Hanoi through Onluyen in 2020;
17:48 Edmicro’s partnership approach to customer acquisition and retention;
19:06 Schools as distribution to students and Edmicro’s value proposition for schools;
20:44 Linh’s thoughts on the future of Vietnam’s edtech landscape and internet economy;
22:47 Edmicro in the next three years;
23:38 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Linh Dang Bao is the CEO and co-founder of Edmicro. He is a seasoned operator in Vietnam’s education sector, having worked several years driving adoption of Intel Vietnam’s edtech solutions across the country through partnerships with government agencies and schools, prior to starting Edmicro. He took up his PhD in the Netherlands before he returned to Vietnam.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we'll be deep-diving into the world of women's healthcare and to guide us are the co-founders of Ease Healthcare, Guadalupe Lazaro and Rio Hoe. Ease is a Singapore-based healthcare startup focused on revolutionizing access to women's health by making it more convenient, affordable, and discreet. From contraception delivery and at-home STD tests to sexual health consultations, they enable users to manage their sexual and reproductive health from the comfort of their homes. A little more than a year after launching mid-2020, they've already built a community of over 20,000 members, and are on track for 15% monthly revenue growth. They’ve recently announced their seed round with us and launched their mobile app expanding their services for women’s healthcare.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:33 Paulo introduces Ease Healthcare and its founders Guadalupe and Rio;
02:27 How personal experiences in Singapore motivated Guadalupe and Rio to start Ease;
04:02 Realizing the greater demand for specialized platforms catering to women’s healthcare needs;
05:28 Three core factors putting the spotlight on FemTech in Asia;
08:18 Building the comprehensive app for women's health in Asia;
11:11 How Ease’s network built over the past year comes together on their mobile app;
12:15 Ease’s value proposition to clinics, hospitals, and pharmaceuticals;
13:24 The importance of community building and education for Ease’s business;
15:23 Ease’s approach to building its team;
16:55 How Rio and Guada’s skill sets and backgrounds come together in Ease;
18:29 Next Five Years for FemTech and Ease’s role in the industry;
20:32 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guests
Guadalupe Lazaro is a co-founder of Ease Healthcare. She is a serial entrepreneur and sexual and reproductive health rights advocate. Prior to Ease Guada worked in business development and consulting from the UK to Singapore. She grew up working for women’s health and women’s rights, being involved with the likes of Red Cross and Amnesty International, and now she’s married her passion for women’s health and skills in UX/UI design, marketing, and brand strategy at Ease.
Rio Hoe is a co-founder of Ease healthcare. He is a lawyer-turned-founder, holding a law degree from the University of Oxford and graduated as the university’s top student in Medical Law. Prior to Ease he had co-founded a socio-political media outlet in Singapore and worked at leading global law firm Clifford Chance. His entrepreneurship and law genes now come into play at Ease where he manages its finance and operations.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we have Theodoric Chew, CEO and founder of mental health company Intellect, who’s become somewhat a regular of the show. He went on our podcast earlier this year in January, and had a pretty interesting conversation with Samir, our principal, and then we had a Clubhouse session with him and a couple of our other founders, which is also on our podcast.
Even if it's our third conversation with him already this year, there’s still a lot to unpack as Intellect has been up to a lot lately. Since our first round with them we've since doubled down in their latest round following their graduation from the Y Combinator program Summer 2021 cohort. They've also launched and fully rolled out their digital therapy program for enterprise, now used by more than 20 Fortune 500 companies and tech giants, including ShopBack and Carousell, and their app, which at the time in January was already downloaded or used by a million people in the first six months since launch, it’s now doubled to more than 2.5 million users.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:26 Re-introducing Intellect's Theodoric Chew!
01:27 The YC Experience: Biggest Learnings, Challenges, and Advice for Founders;
05:44 B2C Business: Intellect’s top-rated consumer app as a growth channel for their B2B core business, and learnings from reading customer reviews;
09:40 B2B Business: Driving adoption through hyper localization and delivering impact for multinational organizations;
14:55 The science behind Intellect: Scaling programs with on par efficacy to face-to-face intervention;
16:51 Navigating the nuances and increasing competition of being a global mental health care company;
19:55 Updating January 2021’s predictions on the future of mental health care and the role of Intellect;
21:58 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Theodoric Chew is a serial entrepreneur and startup leader. Prior to founding Intellect, he was with Entrepreneur First where he led marketing and growth, and before this, he was with Rakuten as well, after they acquired, the startup Voyagin. The first startup he founded was a digital media platform existisgreat.com which was acquired two years later.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we had the pleasure of having Chih-Han Yu, CEO and co-founder of Appier, a leading global AI company in digital marketing and business intelligence. Appier is one of the very first unicorns in our portfolio, and went public earlier this year. We covered their journey in this short case study, but in this podcast, we dive deeper into Chih-Han’s perspective on the company’s growth from a group of academics developing AI solutions to a now public, global AI company, developing AI-as-a-service for various applications, and his approach as CEO to building a world-class engineering team and scaling across markets.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:48 Yinglan introduces Chih-Han Yu;
01:11 Appier’s first two quarters on the public markets;
03:41 Mindset and thought process behind listing in TSE and the timing of the IPO;
06:17 Key milestones that made Appier the company it is today;
09:22 Shift in mindset needed to go public;
11:25 Benefits of going public;
12:49 Appier’s view on AI applications in enhancing business intelligence and their recent acquisition of BotBonnie;
16:15 Building the “Autopilot for Digital Marketing”;
17:39 Why Asia presents a compelling opportunity for AI-as-a-Service;
20:25 How Chih-Han has balanced building both a world-class engineering team and leading go-to-market expansion for Appier;
23:12 Chih-Han’s view on Appier’s next ten years;
24:41 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest Chih-Han Yu is CEO and co-founder of Appier, a technology company for businesses to use artificial intelligence to grow and succeed in a cross-screen world. Under his leadership, Appier has grown from a five-person startup to a rapidly growing company with employees throughout 11 countries in Asia. Appier has raised 30 million USD in total funding and is the first investment Sequoia Capital made in Southeastern Asia.
Before founding Appier, Yu founded and ran Plaxie, an independent game studio focused on developing intelligent mobile and social games. Chih-Han Yu graduated from the information engineering department at National Taiwan University, and has a master's degree in computer science from Stanford University and a doctorate in computer science from Harvard University. He also served as a researcher in Harvard's AI laboratory. Yu has authored dozens of research articles in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and machine learning, and has been awarded two US patents.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode we are deep-diving into the Vietnam startup ecosystem and specifically the healthcare and insurance market in Vietnam with Duc Anh Ngo, the CEO and Founder of Medici, which is a digital healthtech and insurtech startup with footprints and more than 30 provinces in Vietnam. Most recently, they became the first healthtech company in Vietnam to secure an insurance brokerage license from the Ministry of Finance, a new addition to the ecosystem they are building around digital health access for Vietnamese people, which includes telemedicine, health screenings, and a marketplace for drugs and supplements.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:28 Paulo introduces Duc Anh;
01:42 Opportunity in Vietnam’s healthtech landscape and the origins of Medici;
04:23 Vietnam healthcare issues in doctor-to-patient ratio, self-medication, fragmented market data, and insurance under-penetration;
08:18 Medici’s B2B2C2F model and the story of a Vietnamese employee;
10:53 Building trust is the key to scaling in healthcare;
13:57 Behind Medici’s first-mover entry into the insurance space as a healthtech company;
16:08 Value proposition for Medici’s corporate and insurance partners;
18:16 The role of technology and data in Medici’s ecosystem;
20:01 Advantages and challenges of being a local Vietnam founder;
22:11 How Anh brought together a management team of former tech unicorn execs and corporate leaders;
23:36 Vietnam’s healthcare industry and Medici in the next five years;
25:34 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Duc Anh Ngo is the CEO and Founder of Medici, a Vietnamese digital health startup with footprints in more than 30 provinces in Vietnam. Prior to Medici, Duc Anh co-founded and ran his own media company - one of the leading creative media companies in Vietnam. Before that, he had worked closely with drivers and transportation companies on the ground at Grab Vietnam. He completed his MBA at George Washington University under Fulbright Scholarship, granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, United States of America.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we deep dive into the exciting developments of Southeast Asia B2B sales tech company Nektar.ai, which recently raised their second seed round, bringing their total seed capital to US$8.1M in one of the largest seed rounds raised from a SaaS in Asia. Their co-founder and CEO Abhijeet Vijayvergiya comes on the show to share with us the inner workings of a next-generation sales tech coming from Southeast Asia with plans to expand to the US as they launch their product in 2022. In the meantime, they’re in closed beta but you can also sign up for their waitlist here.
He’s also an advisor for SaaS startups and a thought leader in the SaaS space in Asia, regularly sharing his thoughts on Linkedin and Clubhouse, so he also shares his thoughts on the evolution of sales tech from the customer, business, and technology standpoints.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:27 Paulo introduces Abhijeet;
02:00 How Abhi and Aravind came together to start Nektar.ai to improve sales processes for B2B sales teams;
05:06 Why the pandemic was the perfect time to start Nektar;
08:24 The impact of inefficient and unproductive sales playbooks;
11:57 Building sales tools for the user rather than the buyer;
14:00 UI-less user experience for more productive execution of playbooks and sales operations;
16:18 Where Nektar’s US$8.1M seed round is going;
18:09 Opportunity in the US B2B SaaS market;
20:19 The Decade of SalesTech;
24:55 Abhi’s advice for SaaS companies in Southeast Asia;
26:36 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Abhijeet Vijayvergiya, co-founder and CEO of B2B sales tech startup Nektar.ai, has more than a decade of experience in the SaaS industry. With venture-backed SaaS company Capillary Technologies, Abhijeet started in customer success, transitioned into account executive, and grew into a sales leader before venturing to set up his own SaaS company to solve the pain points he faced in his work at scale. He’s also an advisor to several B2B SaaS startups in Asia and an angel investor as well.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we have Garret Jeremy Koeswandi, the Vice President for Finance and Operations of social commerce company Super. In our last season, we got to talk to Steven Wongsoredjo, the co-founder and CEO of Super who gave us the whole narrative about how they are building a social commerce company and the things that they're learning from the likes of Pinduoduo and what it's like to build in rural Indonesia.
Following this whole theme of inviting not just the CEOs and the founders, but also some of the company executives who have been with these companies since day one, seeing it go from zero to one and leading the different aspects of making these companies, we’ve now also invited Garret to give us a more on-the-ground perspective on what it takes to build hyperlocal logistics for social commerce in Indonesia.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:28 Paulo introduces Garret, VP FinOps of Super;
02:02 Garret shares how ran an angel-backed startup at 16 with his mentor Rendy (co-founder of Nusantara Technology), and how Rendy brought Garret back to Super after his studies in the Netherlands;
07:02 Garret on balancing the finance and operations perspective in decision making at his job;
10:21 Super’s logistics backbone approach to social commerce;
13:47 How go-to-market approach and customer retention varies across different cities in Indonesia;
16:52 The value proposition of Super’s hyper-localized supply chain for FMCGs and the role data plays in social commerce;
21:37 Impact of pandemic lockdowns on Super’s sales, logistics, and team;
24:46 How Super stays lean with its finances by leveraging existing infrastructure for the short-term;
30:41 What Garret is excited about for Super in the next five years;
31:35 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Garret Jeremy Koeswandi is the vice president for finance and operations of Super. He joined Super as CEO Steven’s Chief of Staff back in 2019 and began leading finance and operations of Super that same year. Prior to that, he was also doing consulting for tech companies, and at the age of 16 co-founded a venture-backed startup with Michael Rendy, co-founder and CPO of Super. He took up his bachelor's and MBA in the Netherlands.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we have another special guest as we continue our series of inviting over venture capitalists on the show to document the increasing global interest in Southeast Asia. Sanjay Zimmermann, Principal at White Star Capital, comes on the show to share his insights on Southeast Asia having co-led the firm’s expansion into APAC, learnings from business models in North America and Europe across fintech, commerce, and SaaS, and his own experiences as a career venture capitalist.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:27 Paulo introduces Sanjay;
02:49 Sanjay introduces White Star Capital and how they decided to deploy capital into Southeast Asia;
07:15 Value-adds of a global investment firm like White Star Capital;
10:10 Nailing unit economics and the demographic shift for fintechs;
13:12 Future of consumer e-commerce with enablers, D2C, and non-dilutive financing;
15:50 Future of Work through SaaS solutions;
18:53 Uber as the Grab for North America and what the West is learning from Asia;
21:20 Thoughts on more SEA companies going global from day one;
23:23 Exit landscape in Southeast Asia: IPOs, M&As, SPACs, and secondaries;
26:29 Learnings from the “Defining Entrepreneurship Around the World” project with Babson College;
28:49 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Sanjay Zimmerman is a Principal at White Star Capital, where he focuses on Canadian and Southeast Asian opportunities for the fund. Prior to joining White Star Capital in 2017, he spent a few years working in Investment Banking at Rothschild & Co in London working on cross-border M&A with the TMT team. Prior to banking, he produced a video series called ‘Defining Entrepreneurship’ in which he interviewed over 60 entrepreneurs across the world.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we have Rajive Keshup, Investment Director at Cathay Innovation, a multi-stage venture capital platform affiliated to Cathay Capital, a US$4.5 billion global investment firm. He comes on our show to talk about the golden age of Southeast Asia startup and venture capital, Cathay Innovation’s approach to this gold rush as a global investment firm, and his own experience and learnings as a venture capitalist, board member on several insurtech and SaaS companies, and startup operator in Southeast Asia. Our call was recorded on 7 July 2021.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:27 Introducing Cathay Innovation and what Rajive is excited about as a VC in Southeast Asia;
04:17 How startups can go global from Southeast Asia;
08:02 How Rajive ended up in Cathay Innovation;
09:56 How Rajive’s operator and banking experience as influenced his VC approach;
11:05 Opportunities in Southeast Asia’s insurtech landscape;
13:50 The emerging dichotomy of SaaS companies from Southeast Asia;
17:06 Deploying capital in Southeast Asia as a global investment firm;
18:55 Future of exits in Southeast Asia;
20:27 The Golden Age of Southeast Asia and Cathay Innovation’s approach to the gold rush;
22:45 Learnings from running “Unpacking the VC” Clubhouse series;
24:15 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Rajive is an Investment Director at Cathay Innovation, based out of the Singapore office. Prior to joining Cathay, Rajive played instrumental roles in scaling a number of Southeast Asian startups. Before moving to Singapore, Rajive was a Managing Director at PwC Strategy (formerly Booz & Co.) in New York City where he led the TMT sector for the firm’s Private Equity practice. Rajive started his career at AT&T doing corporate strategy & development in Dallas, Texas. He is also a former founder having built, scaled, and successfully exited a US-based startup in the pet services space. Rajive earned an MBA from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and a Bachelor of Science from Bentley University in Waltham, MA.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Latin America is several time zones and an ocean away from Southeast Asia, but there’s a lot more to learn from this similarly exciting emerging market than one might expect. In this episode, Yinglan talks about all that and more with none other than the prolific venture capitalist Eric Acher, founder and managing general partner of Brazil’s first homegrown venture capital firm monashees. Through monashees, Eric has led investments in many of Latin America’s top tech startups, including 99 (LatAm's first unicorn, acquired by Didi for US$1B), Meliuz (first VC-backed tech IPO in Brazil), Rappi, Loft, and Madeira Madeira. He does not only share his experiences leading the development of Latin America’s tech ecosystem as a VC, but also the parallels and synergies with Southeast Asia as well.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:27 Eric introduces himself and monashees;
03:34 Brief history of Latin America’s tech ecosystem from the dotcom bubble to today;
07:27 99, Latin America’s first venture-backed tech unicorn and monashees’ first exit;
10:42 Fintech trends in Latin America and Meliuz, Brazil’s first venture-backed tech IPO;
13:22 LatAm companies inspired by China and US models and uniquely LatAm companies;
17:35 Influence of the US and China tech capital on Latin America;
20:38 The entry of Sea (Shopee) into Latin America and synergies between Southeast Asia companies and Latin American companies;
22:55 The two “Indonesias” of Latin America;
26:28 Challenges of being a tech entrepreneur in Latin America;
29:18 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Eric Acher is the founder and managing general partner of monashees, Brazil’s first homegrown venture capital firm. Eric has always believed that the power of entrepreneurship, technology, and venture capital, together, can change Brazil. In 2005, alongside Fabio Igel, he created monashees, the first Brazilian Venture Capital platform inspired by the best funds in Silicon Valley. Today he leads the investment strategy and is responsible for portfolio management. Prior to monashees, he worked with Venture Capital at General Atlantic and with Strategic Consulting at McKinsey. Eric holds an MBA from Kellogg and a degree in Communications from ESPM, with a specialization in Administration from FGV.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode we have on-call Daniel Hazman, the CEO and co-founder of Nimbly Technologies a SaaS company developing mobile solutions for automating and improving operational efficiency for enterprise. We’ve invited him on to talk about building a SaaS company in Southeast Asia and driving digitalization for frontline operations or last-mile execution of enterprise.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:27 Paulo introduces Daniel;
01:39 How Daniel met his co-founder Jonathan and started Nimbly;
04:16 How Daniel zero-ed in on process automation as go-to-market for Nimbly;
06:26 How Nimbly got its first customer and expanded into a hundred more;
08:38 What enterprise has been looking for with digitalization post-COVID;
10:53 Changing of the old guard for conglomerates in emerging markets and the impact on SaaS adoption;
11:59 Defining SaaS through Nimbly and how customer success accounts for nuances across customer segments;
13:00 Nimbly’s three core value propositions;
14:30 Case study of how Nimbly impacts operational efficiency and end consumers;
16:38 The role of data in Nimbly’s product growth;
17:53 Aligning marketing, sales, and CS to drive SaaS adoption;
19:23 Daniel on competition posed by conglomerate IT teams;
20:32 What Daniel brings into Nimbly from his past experience at Fortune 500 companies;
21:53Daniel’s next five years for Nimbly;
22:20 Rapid Fire Round;
Nimbly also recently launched a customer feedback product to get organic and deeper insights across customer segments, especially for retail and F&B. You can book a consult here to learn more: https://hellonimbly.ac-page.com/book-a-consult
About our guests
Daniel Hazman is the CEO and co-founder of Nimbly Technologies, a SaaS company developing mobile solutions for automating and improving operational efficiency for enterprises. A seasoned executive, he's had over 20 years of experience in retail, supply chain management and sustainability, FMCGs, and tech startups across 30 countries, including Walmart and General Mills. He established the Indonesia country office for Clinton's Global Health Initiative and is a Fulbright MBA scholar.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, instead of our usual lineup of founder-CEOs, we are back with an interesting set of guests -- Jasper Yap, CTO and co-founder as well as Shawn Seet, the chief commercial officer of Eezee, a B2B marketplace based in Singapore supporting the digitalization of procurement for government, corporates, and SMEs not just in Singapore, but across the region as well. The beauty of having both the CTO and CCO on this episode is that we don't only get to see other dimensions of building a tech company, but also the synergies between tech and sales in driving digital adoption for enterprise and building a strong team across functions.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:00 Paulo introduces Jasper and Shawn from Eezee;
02:09 How CTO Jasper and CCO Shawn found Eezee;
05:34 How Shawn’s first role in Eezee managing HR and culture helps him in his current role as CCO;
06:23 Eezee’s latest initiatives with the Singapore government;
07:30 What enterprise companies look for in software applications;
10:21 How the enterprise approach to digitalization has shifted in 2020 to 2021;
14:01 Jasper explains Eezee's ecosystem from tech perspective;
16:42 Shawn’s advice for MNCs on digitalization;
19:08 Leadership approaches of Eezee’s CTO and CCO;
21:52 How Jasper builds and develops Eezee’s tech team;
23:46 Eezee’s CTO and CCO on the next five years of the company;
25:32 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guests
Jasper Yap is the CTO and co-founder at Eezee. Prior to Eezee, he was developing and engineering products for SMEs, through fintech and aerospace applications. He's also part of the Forbes 30 under 30 retail and e-commerce category alongside his co-founder Terrence. Reach out Jasper at jasper@eezee.com.sg.
Shawn Seet is currently the chief commercial officer of Eezee. Prior to Eezee, he had built his career around management consulting, more than six years supporting enterprises across various industries in APAC, helping businesses go digital and improving consumer experiences. In Eezee, he joined as head of strategy and towards the end of last year, he took on his new role as chief commercial officer. Reach out Shawn at shawn.seet@eezee.com.sg.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we have back on the show, Anthony Chow, CEO, and co-founder of igloocompany. In his last episode with us, igloocompany (then igloohome) was just celebrating its five-year anniversary, and holding its first distributor conference, iglooCon, remotely. He shared with Yinglan the company's journey in the past five years, how they expanded into enterprise solutions through iglooworks, and exciting prospects amidst the impact of the pandemic. Ten months later, he's back to share how igloocompany has refocused its energies on developed markets, interesting new use cases of their smart access solutions (from durians to vaccines!), and how they're leveraging their Singapore advantage as they deepen their global expansion.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:20 Anthony brings us up to speed on igloocompany's past 10-12 months;
03:39 Underlying factors behind igloocompany's focus on the US market;
05:26 Why developed markets over developing markets for smart access solutions;
07:11 The edge of being a global company based in Singapore;
09:55 Advice for founders looking to go global from day one;
12:01 Interesting new use cases of iglooworks across markets;
15:12 Building and sustaining a global distribution network for igloocompany;
17:58 igloocompany's advantage and how it has developed over the past five years;
20:53 The next five years for igloocompany;
23:39 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Prior to co-founding igloocompany, Anthony Chow led data science teams in developing proprietary personalization engines for Singtel's Group Digital Life unit. This extensive data science experience and expertise has been critical to Igloohome’s engineering and data-driven approach to growth across 100 countries globally.
Anthony holds an Electrical and Electronics Engineering degree from Imperial College London and a Master's in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. He was also an Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore scholar.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we have Rishabh Singhi, the CEO and co-founder of Indonesian ghost-kitchen network Dishserve. In this episode, he shares how he and his co-founders came together in the midst of the pandemic to rethink F&B distribution, what makes Dishserve different from the traditional cloud kitchens, and how their asset-light model creates a win-win situation for Dishserve, home kitchens, and F&B brands.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:31 Introduction of Rishabh
01:19 How Rishabh met Yinglan and Insignia;
02:09 How Rishabh came to starting Dishserve in the midst of the pandemic;
05:59 How Rishabh gathered his co-founders;
09:59 Cloud kitchen space in Indonesia and where Dishserve fits into the picture;
14:09 Coming up with the Dishserve model;
15:01 How Dishserve recruits and onboards home kitchens to their ghost kitchen network;
16:23 Ensuring QA of Dishserve's home kitchens;
18:31 Creating a win-win scenario for F&B brands and home kitchens;
20:10 Scaling Dishserve model beyond Jakarta;
22:22 How Rishabh sees cloud kitchen and Dishserve models evolving moving forward;
24:11 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Prior to co-founding and becoming CEO of Dishserve, Rishabh Singhi was previously COO and Head of Products at Reddoorz. And prior to that, he had already been working for the past five years in a couple of different technology-enabled and based companies, across India and APAC, and in various industries from education to financial services and career development.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we continue our conversation with Paul Schulte from the previous episode, a veteran equity researcher in the financial services industry. He's also a government policy advisor and a prolific author. His latest book is “The Digital Transformation of Property in Greater China". For the past few episodes we've been having founders and investors on the show and he's going to be our first guest who is more on the research side, but has had a really wide and deep scope in terms of looking at markets, looking at technology, and everything that's been happening at least in the last 30 years. This episode in particular covers Paul's thoughts on fintech regulation, driving blockchain adoption, proptech, and some more personal questions in the Rapid Fire Round.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:29 Paul Schulte intro;
01:53 Regulation in the US and China vs Southeast Asia;
04:09 Banking Innovation in Southeast Asia;
05:25 Creating Fintech Super Agencies;
09:46 Gaps in the BSN;
10:32 Property as go-to-market for next wave of fintech;
12:27 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
For the past 30 years, Paul Schulte has worked in global equity or bond research in emerging markets. And more recently he has been working with some of the largest sovereign pension, mutual, and hedge funds globally as founder and editor of Schulte Research. So they provide research on banks, financial technology, and bank and credit algorithms. He's also authored three books on fintech and digitalization in China. The newest one was published just this year. So congratulations Paul on that one, the digital transformation of property in greater China, which we'll be talking about in this podcast. So he has also taught nearly two decades of MBA and graduate programs from Tufts University to HKUST, to Zhejiang University in China, and is a regular source for publications like Wall Street, New York Times, Financial Times, and The Economist. He's also served as an advisor to financial institutions across Southeast Asia, including the Thailand SEC, Indonesia's OJK, and Bank Indonesia.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode we have with us Paul Schulte, a veteran equity researcher in the financial services industry. He's also a government policy advisor and a prolific author. His latest book is “The Digital Transformation of Property in Greater China". For the past few episodes we've been having founders and investors on the show and he's going to be our first guest who is more on the research side, but has had a really wide and deep scope in terms of looking at markets, looking at technology, and everything that's been happening at least in the last 30 years. This episode in particular covers Paul's book and his thoughts on fintech in Southeast Asia and the impact of US-China tensions on tech in Southeast Asia. To catch the next part of our conversation, check it out here.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:29 Paul Schulte intro;
01:57 Why Paul Schulte’s latest book on fintech is about proptech;
04:22 Formulas of yesterday and formulas of tomorrow for fintech;
05:21 Why the book focuses on China’s tech ecosystem;
07:46 An era of financial services consolidation in Southeast Asia
11:21 The unbanked challenge and finding the Linklogis of Southeast Asia;
13:45 US-China tensions and China’s lead on edge technology;
15:47 Impact of China lead on edge tech on Southeast Asia;
About our guest
For the past 30 years, Paul Schulte has worked in global equity or bond research in emerging markets. And more recently he has been working with some of the largest sovereign pension, mutual, and hedge funds globally as founder and editor of Schulte Research. So they provide research on banks, financial technology, and bank and credit algorithms. He's also authored three books on fintech and digitalization in China. The newest one was published just this year. So congratulations Paul on that one, the digital transformation of property in greater China, which we'll be talking about in this podcast. So he has also taught nearly two decades of MBA and graduate programs from Tufts University to HKUST, to Zhejiang University in China, and is a regular source for publications like Wall Street, New York Times, Financial Times, and The Economist. He's also served as an advisor to financial institutions across Southeast Asia, including the Thailand SEC, Indonesia's OJK, and Bank Indonesia.
Music: Cool Upbeat Background Music For Videos by MorningLightMusic
Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode we have on-call Hasbi Asyadiq, founder and CEO of Assemblr, an Indonesian augmented reality platform with a global user base, one of the leaders in this space in Southeast Asia, and also often called the Canva for augmented reality in Southeast Asia. So we've invited Hasbi today to go on call with us as Assemblr is just fresh off the Techstars program. And we wanted to learn more about their experience in this globally renowned accelerator and also for them to share with our listeners about the company and the moves that they have been making in the augmented reality and education space in the past four years.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:30 Introducing Assemblr;
03:04 All about Hasbi's Techstars experience;
05:14 Advice on how to get into Techstars;
06:25 Role of Techstars and Facebook Accelerator in growth of Assemblr;
08:05 Introducing Assembler's ecosystem;
11:00 How Assembler adoption has changed during the pandemic;
13:19 Exploring use cases for AR in Indonesia beyond education;
15:23 Working with corporations and big companies to drive AR adoption;
17:25 Case Studies working with one of Indonesia's big banks and Ducati;
19:08 Future of Assemblr in the next 5 years;
20:00 Hasbi's Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Hasbi Asyadiq is the founder and CEO of Assemblr. Prior to Assemblr, he was co-founder and CTO of Octagon Studio, a tech startup specializing in AR and VR products and solutions. He is currently an alumnus of the Techstars Program, having joined it this year, and an alumnus of the Facebook Accelerator program in Singapore from the 2020 cohort. He has had a decade experience engineering and designing 3D, AR, and VR solutions and applications, hence his deep involvement in the space in Indonesia.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we have on call with us Adrit Raha, co-CEO and co-founder of Symbo Insurance, Singapore-based platform offering digital, market-ready solutions for Southeast Asia and India’s insurance providers, brands, affinity and end customers. Following Symbo’s Series A and acquisition of digital healthcare solutions platform Vivant -- where Adrit is CEO -- we’ve invited him to come on the show to talk more about digitalization in the insurance industry in Southeast Asia, especially from the incumbents or traditional players’ point-of-view. This Zoom call was recorded April 14th, 2021.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:17 Introduction to Symbo;
01:52 Behind the acquisition of healthcare platform enabler Vivant;
02:59 Working with insurers beyond healthcare;
04:10 Insurance-as-a-service;
05:59 Point-of-need micro-insurance distribution;
07:09 Enabling traditional players to break into micro-insurance;
08:21 The benefits of operating both in India and Southeast Asia;
09:37 Symbo playbook for enabling insurance-as-a-service;
11:33 End-customer response to point-of-need distribution and future of attachment approach to insurance;
14:06 API integration enabling seamless, no-touch user experience;
15:26 Future of Symbo;
17:53 Adrit's Rapid Fire Round;
About our guest
Adrit Raha is co-CEO and co-founder of Symbo Insurance. He was also CEO of Vivant, which was acquired by Symbo, a fellow AJ Capital incubatee. Prior to leading Symbo and Vivant, Adrit has had more than a decade of experience working at leadership positions with leading global insurance organizations AIG and RSA and financial institutions like Wells Fargo Financial. He completed his Bachelors in Arts at Knox College and received his MBA from the University of Strathclyde.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Back in March we set up our first Clubhouse session with founder-CEOs from three of our portfolio companies that experienced a huge boost in growth over 2020 and talked to them about how they plan on sustaining that growth this year. We got a lot of great insights and we’re sharing them on this episode. So in this episode, we have Giacomo Ficari, CEO of Lifepal, Indonesia’s leading online insurance marketplace, Theodoric Chew, CEO of Intellect, a Singapore-based mental health technology company with an app that hit a million downloads in its first six months, and Huy Nghiem, CEO of Finhay, Vietnam’s leading wealth management platform. This is the second part of the Clubhouse session. For the first part, check out Episode 5.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:33 Lessons for Lifepal on Managing Hypergrowth from Lazada;
05:55 Building Intellect's mission-driven global team for global scale;
11:23 Finhay's secret sauce and expanding into stock investment;
14:42 What excites the founders and Yinglan about Southeast Asia;
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Back in March we set up our first Clubhouse session with founder-CEOs from three of our portfolio companies that experienced a huge boost in growth over 2020 and talked to them about how they plan on sustaining that growth this year. We got a lot of great insights and we’re sharing them on this episode. So in this episode, we have Giacomo Ficari, CEO of Lifepal, Indonesia’s leading online insurance marketplace, Theodoric Chew, CEO of Intellect, a Singapore-based mental health technology company with an app that hit a million downloads in its first six months, and Huy Nghiem, CEO of Finhay, Vietnam’s leading wealth management platform. This is the first part of the Clubhouse session. For the second part, check out Episode 6.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:23 Factors of growth apart from the pandemic in 2020:
07:00 Strategies for sustaining growth from 2020 coming into 2021;
13:04 How fast-growth influenced leadership approach for CEOs;
17:56 Challenges in finding the next product-market fits;
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We're back with a returning guest, one of our very first, whom we had the pleasure of calling a little more than a year ago, the CEO and co-founder of Indonesian supply chain financing startup AwanTunai, Dino Setiawan. A year ago, AwanTunai was in the midst of dealing with the initial onset of COVID-19 and Indonesia, despite the difficulties of operating in the lending and financing industry, which was hit with high NPLs, Dino and his team managed to adapt quickly to the situation and turn it into a source of growth, launching several new products, extending financing to their suppliers all while keeping their NPLs low. Recorded via Zoom on April 7, 2021.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:38 Dino updates on AwanTunai's 2021 Q1;
03:41 Dino on speeding ahead their SaaS product development in 2020;
05:44 How AwanTunai prioritizes its product development and business lines;
09:20 AwanTunai's outlook for the rest of 2021 and their relationship with banks;
12:08 Dino on sustaining high repayment rates through 2021;
14:00 Dino on lending as key to unlocking SaaS adoption for SMEs in rural Indonesia;
16:37 AwanTunai's research on micro-farm financing;
18:08 Dino on staying true to the vision for AwanTunai's next five years;
20:04 Rapid Fire Round;
About our guests
Dino Setiawan is the CEO and co-founder of AwanTunai. He is a finance veteran with more than a decade of experience spanning several countries which includes a tenure as VP for Investments at Morgan Stanley among other roles at major financial institutions. After finishing his Master's at the Stanford Business School in 2011, he started off his entrepreneurial journey running his own fintech venture in Silicon Valley, SimpleFi, before returning to Indonesia as a regional fintech consultant. Together with ex-Gojek execs Rama Notowidigdo and Windy Natriavi, he later co-founded AwanTunai, an Indonesian fintech startup providing accessible financing to micro-merchants by digitizing the FMCG supply chain.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Today we have on-call Dayu Dara Permata and Ahmed Aljunied, CEO and CTO of Pinhome, Indonesia’s largest property transaction platform. They are both Gojek alumni, and have been on our show last Season. Last time, they introduced Pinhome and lessons from Gojek they’ve brought into the business.
Now Pinhome has grown into Indonesia’s largest property marketplace and expanded into other related services as well. This time around, they’re going to share a bit more about the company’s phenomenal growth over the past few months, Indonesia’s property market, and their thoughts on the exciting developments in Indonesia’s tech startup scene this year.
Let’s dial into their call with our founding managing partner Yinglan. This Zoom call was recorded March 24, 2021.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:05 Dara and Ahmed reintroduce Pinhome and share outlook on Indonesian economy and property market recovery;
04:39 Dara shares the mechanics of their AVM Pinvalue and Ahmed compares it to Zillow's Zestimate;
08:41 Dara and Ahmed on impact of pandemic on consumer behavior around property;
11:48 Dara shares Pinhome user story and the importance of property financing;
15:57 Ahmed on things he wish he knew building Pinhome;
17:03 Dara on the next five years of Pinhome;
18:25 Rapid Fire Round;
21:23 Misconception people have about Indonesia's property sector;
23:13 Why Insignia invested in Pinhome pre-product and pre-revenue;
About our guests
Prior to Pinhome, Dara was a Senior Vice President at Go-Jek where she led Gojek expansion to 100+ cities as SVP Regional Growth, co-founded and scaled Go-Life from concept into 15M users in 80+ cities in Indonesia & was responsible for Commerce Product Group in Gojek like Gomart & Goshop. She was also formerly a consultant at McKinsey before joining Go-Jek. Dara graduated with a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the Bandung Institute of Technology, and was an honor student and full scholar.
Ahmed is a veteran CTO with over 14 years of technical experience. He is well-versed in product development and building systems, and was previously VP of Engineering and Product at Go-Jek before starting Pinhome. He has also led engineering and product teams at startups like Jualo (acquired by Carro) and started a couple of startups in Singapore and Jakarta. Ahmed is a graduate of Computer Engineering at NUS and received his Masters degree in Computer Science from Stanford University.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
On this episode, we have on call Aaron Tan, CEO and co-founder of Carro, Southeast Asia’s leading car marketplace. Aaron has been on the show before on a panel to share learnings from steering Carro through the early onset of the pandemic. We’ve also had the opportunity to talk to the leaders of Carro from their Head of Tech to CMO and CFO. This time around, however, we’ve invited Aaron back to share his perspective at the helm of Singapore’s fastest-growing company into the future. This call was recorded March 24, 2021.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:00 Updates on Carro's past quarter;
03:00 Role of AI and machine learning in Carro's business;
07:32 Prioritizing AI and machine learning use cases;
10:10 Building an effective B2C sales organization;
12:24 Hiring for C-suite and leadership positions;
15:09 Learnings from the past five years and vision for the next five;
20:20 Rapid Fire Round;
20:34 Thoughts on EV adoption in SEA;
22:45 Aaron asks Yinglan about SPACs;
About our guest
Aaron is CEO and co-founder of Carro, Southeast Asia's largest and leading auto retail marketplace, which has recently been featured as Singapore's fastest-growing company in 2021 according to Straits Times and APAC's top high growth company from the 2021 list by Nikkei Asia and Financial Times. He is a programmer by training and a venture capitalist by profession. Prior to Carro, Aaron joined SEA’s leading venture fund - Singtel Innov8 ventures. Aaron was instrumental in the starting of Blk71 – Singapore’s largest startup ecosystem - as well as setting up the firm’s San Francisco operations. He graduated summa cum laude with a double degree, BSc and MSc from Singapore Management University School of Information Systems and Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science.
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Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we have returning guest Hendra Kwik, CEO and co-founder of Payfazz. The last time Hendra was on the show last year, he and Yinglan talked about building the Google Play for fintech apps in Indonesia. Since then, Payfazz surpassed more than US$2 billion worth of transactions processed last year. The company also recently announced the formation of Fazz Financial Group with their investment into Xfers, a Singapore API fintech, as Payfazz builds on regional growth and becomes what Hendra calls the “Alphabet” for fintech in Southeast Asia.
Dial in Hendra’s catchup call with our founding managing partner Yinglan as they chat about Payfazz’s regional ambitions through Fazz Financial and how Hendra’s own leadership and mindset have evolved with the company’s rapid growth. This call was recorded March 23, 2021.
Transcript
Timestamps
00:53 Hendra gives a company update;
01:48 Approach behind Xfers investment;
04:16 Factors behind formation of Fazz Financial;
05:52 Change in leadership approach as company goes regional;
07:49 Advice for founders as companies scale;
09:21 Impact of increased interest in financial services by regional giants on Fazz Financial;
11:20 Lessons from the last five years of Payfazz and outlook for the next five years;
13:14 Hendra's perspective on the richness of the Payfazz ecosystem;
15:20 Rapid Fire Round;
16:33 Hendra's advice for early stage founders;
18:02 Hendra asks Yinglan about his role as a board of director;
About our guest Hendra is Group CEO of Fazz Financial and co-founder CEO of Payfazz. Payfazz is the first Indonesian startup to graduate from the Y Combinator program and have been part of YC's "Top 100 companies of all time" list for two years running. In 2019 the company was also named as one of "Indonesia's best company to work for in Asia" and were recipients of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association's "Deal of the Year" along with Insignia Ventures Partners.
Prior to starting Payfazz, Hendra was the Head of Growth at Kudo (acquired by Grab), where he engineered the growth of the company's offline-to-online agent network. Hendra holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Institute Teknologi Bandung (ITB), one of the most prestigious universities in Indonesia, where he was awarded the University Most Outstanding Student and graduated as a valedictorian in 2012.
Music: Cool Upbeat Background Music For Videos by MorningLightMusic
Tags: startup, Southeast Asia, founder, entrepreneurship, business, technology
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
On Call with Insignia Ventures is back with another season. Your hosts Yinglan Tan, founding managing partner of Insignia Ventures, and your truly, Paulo Joquino, get back to going on calls with founders and investors in South East Asia, catching up on the latest developments with their company, industry insights, and lessons and what it takes to build a great company.
Stay on the line for fresh conversations with returning guests, experts on the latest trends and developments in the regions tech scene and a new segment where our guests ask the questions. Follow us on Spotify, Apple podcasts, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
This past season we expanded our guest list beyond CEOs and founders and rang up other C-suite founders and execs, so for this remix we’ve grouped insights from our guests this season into eight themes or perspectives that have been quite important or impactful for Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem over the past year and moving into 2021: lean marketing, remote work and employee mental health, Singapore as the hub of Asia, incumbent and institutional partnerships with fintechs, the Gojek mafia, misconceptions on Indonesia tech and startup talent, securing debt financing, and hiring for hypergrowth.
Timestamps
00:48 Lean Marketing;
03:40 Remote work and employee mental health;
08:49 Singapore as hub of Asia;
09:58 incumbent and institutional partnerships with fintechs;
13:16 Gojek mafia;
18:04 misconceptions on Indonesia tech and startup talent;
21:29 securing Debt Financing;
22:50 hiring for Hypergrowth;
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We began Season 2 of On Call with Insignia with the aim of showcasing more startup founders and leaders from Southeast Asia, specifically those in non-CEO roles, to shed light on their perspectives on growth and their respective industries. Over the course of the past 16 episodes, we’ve had the pleasure of featuring CMOs, COOs, CPOs, heads of marketing and strategy, and CTOs alongside our usual lineup of CEO founders.
For our final interview this season, we rang up Yada Piyajomkwan, co-founder and CPO of Ajaib, Indonesia’s leading digital investment platform -- Indonesia’s own Robinhood. The reason we’ve called Yada on the show is because of Ajaib’s stellar growth in the last six months as it drove product adoption of its digital stock brokerage -- a first in the country -- to become fourth-largest in terms of trades, just below incumbents Mirae Asset, Mandiri, and Indo Premier (as of our call on 12 Jan 2021). Who better to talk to about the product and marketing approach behind this milestone than the woman behind the product herself?
Transcript
Timestamps
02:17 How Yada co-founded Ajaib and took on product and marketing leadership;
04:02 Lessons from launching Indonesia's first digital stock brokerage to becoming the fourth largest in terms of trades in 6 months;
07:30 Linking company culture and product development at Ajaib
09:42 Trends in investor behavior in Indonesia's public markets;
10:51 Product-first marketing at Ajaib;
12:29 Misconceptions about retail investment in Indonesia;
14:24 Thought process behind signing on Korean actor Kim Seon Ho as Ajaib's first ambassador;
15:50 Misconceptions about Indonesia's stock markets and tech ecosystem;
18:29 Ajaib in 2021 from the product perspective;
19:13 Rapid Fire Round: Yada's top 3 CPO skills, learnings from YC, leader she looks up to, etc.
About our guest
Yada is currently the Chief Product Officer at Ajaib (YC S'18), where she also leads up the company's marketing efforts. Prior to co-founding Ajaib during her Stanford MBA, she has worked on financial inclusion with various governments in Southeast Asia, did brand management at Unilever, and consulting at McKinsey. She was recently included in the Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list alongside her co-founder Anderson Sumarli. She's hiring for various roles at Ajaib and also accepts product feedback at yada@ajaib.co.id.
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
2020 has been a year of greater awareness around health, and over the past year, we saw not only increased demand for online health services -- like mental health company Intellect, whose CEO we talked to the previous week -- but also insurance products as well. However, even with this interest in insurance products, buying insurance still remains a difficult and even painful experience in emerging markets like Indonesia, where only 2% of the population is covered.
So in this episode, we rang up Giacomo Ficari, CEO and co-founder of Lifepal, Indonesia's leading marketplace for insurance. They closed one of the biggest rounds for insurtech in Indonesia and since January last year have been growing 30-40% every month. Giacomo shares with us how they've been leveraging the online-to-offline, PolicyBazaar-type insurance distribution model for Indonesia to be a "reliable friend" for consumers looking for insurance.
Transcript
Timestamps (Responses)
00:44 Samir introduces Giacomo;
02:11 Traditional insurance journey for Indonesians;
05:17 Three models of disruption in insurance distribution;
09:07 Cracking the O2O, PolicyBazaar model in Indonesia;
11:31 Impact of COVID19 on insurance industry;
12:42 Relationship of Indonesians with universal public insurance;
13:36 Lifepal's 3 principles;
15:05 Applying Lifepal's 3 principles amidst fast growth;
16:11 Lifepal in 2025;
17:28 Rapid-fire Round: Takeaways from YC, Lazada, and leading Lifepal
About our guest
Giacomo Ficari is the CEO and co-founder of Lifepal. So Giacomo was previously co-founder of Aspire, which is a Southeast Asia SME challenger neobank, and also an Insignia portfolio company. Prior to venturing into FinTech he has built leadership experience in Asia's e-commerce space with companies like Lazada, leading up Lazada Malaysia, and Groupon, where he was the CEO of Japan and Malaysia. He's also a Y Combinator and Rocket Internet alumni.
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
To kick off another year of calls, we’re going to start by talking about a topic that has been getting increasing attention recently -- mental health. With people stuck at home and the stigma associated with availing of mental health care especially in Asia, apps and online platforms have emerged to serve as tools for people to better understand their mental well-being and connect with the right professionals.
So to better help us understand the mental health care space, in Asia especially, and how the winds are changing when it comes to the adoption of mental health care services, we're delighted to have oncall mental health company Intellect CEO and founder Theodoric Chew. Intellect is behind the app of the same name that was picked up by Google as one of the best personal growth apps for 2020, and recently reached a million downloads since launching just a few months ago.
Download the app on Google Play or the App Store.
Transcript
Timestamps
01:19 Theo's entrepreneurial journey before Intellect;
03:29 Main challenges of mental health space in Asia;
05:07 Status quo in accessing mental health care in Asia;
06:34 Motivation for starting Intellect;
07:34 Early adopters of Intellect;
08:51 What users are getting out of Intellect that they aren't anywhere else;
09:51 Role of technology for Intellect;
11:05 Backing the science behind Intellect;
12:14 Long-term target users;
13:06 Typical user journey on Intellect app;
14:24 Surprising insights from Intellect app users;
15:36 Mental health care pain points of enterprises and employees;
17:09 Difference between Intellect's enterprise solution and EAPs;
18:37 Adoption of Intellect's enterprise solution;
20:20 Intellect's plans to keep mental health TOM of employers in 2021
21:51 Mental health and Intellect in the next five years;
23:07 Rapid-fire question round;
About our guest
Theodoric Chew is a serial entrepreneur and startup leader. Prior to founding Intellect, he was with Entrepreneur First where he led marketing and growth, and before this, he was with Rakuten as well, after they acquired, the startup Voyagin. The first startup he founded was a digital media platform existisgreat.com which was acquired two years later.
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
From 2020, we have seen many inspiring stories of resilience have emerged in what has been an unprecedented year, and to close it off, we tell one such story from our portfolio.
Despite the negative impact of COVID on lending and financing businesses in Indonesia, AwanTunai has been able to grow their loan book 2x, secure an OJK lending license and raise a $20 million debt facility all while keeping their NPLs below 1%. They also leveraged on the COVID opportunity to digitize more services for SMEs, introducing new products like AwanToko and AwanGrosir. They were also recently awarded first in the ASEAN Fintech category for the MAS Fintech Awards 2020.
And who better to get on-call from AwanTuani than a leader who’s been driving this growth on-the-ground? Windy Natriavi, AwanTunai’s chief product officer and co-founder, shares with us the ingredients for AwanTunai’s resilience.
This is part two of our two-part series on AwanTunai's story of resilience. The second part covers the second factor of building resilience, according to Windy, which is product focus. This call was recorded 26th of November, 2020.
View the transcript
Timestamps
01:51 Finding product-market fit with AwanTempo;
04:49 Product discovery process (AwanGrosir + AwanToko);
09:36 The link between company culture and product development;
10:50 Advice for product and growth professionals;
11:34 Advice for founders hiring product talent;
13:27 Rapid-fire round: Top 3 CPO skills, Recommend Books, Activities to De-Stress, Travel destination in Indonesia;
About our guest
Windy Natriavi is the Chief Product Officer and a co-founder of AwanTunai. before AwanTunai, she was part of Go-Jek's early management team co-founding and becoming VP of GoLife, and then VP of Growth, the team behind Go-Jek's first promo engine, referral engine, and cross sell voucher systems.
Previously, she was an analyst at McKinsey and she graduated from the prestigious University of Indonesia with a degree in finance. And as you mentioned earlier, aside from leading product and growth from one to nine these days, she is also co-founder and CEO of, WomenWorks, a women-first connection marketplace in Southeast Asia.
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
2020 has been an unimaginably challenging year for tech startups. Even with the digitalization opportunities opened up by the impact of COVID19, founders navigated uncharted territory when it came to managing remote teams, acquiring and retaining clients, and fundraising in the new normal. From their experiences many inspiring stories of resilience have emerged, and to close 2020 we tell one such story from our portfolio.
Despite the negative impact of COVID on lending and financing businesses in Indonesia, AwanTunai has been able to grow their loan book 2x, secure an OJK lending license and raise a $20 million debt facility all while keeping their NPLs below 1%. They also leveraged on the COVID opportunity to digitize more services for SMEs, introducing new products like AwanToko and AwanGrosir.
And who better to get on-call from AwanTuani than a leader who's been driving this growth on-the-ground? Windy Natriavi, AwanTunai's chief product officer and co-founder, shares with us the ingredients for AwanTunai's resilience. This call was recorded 26th of November, 2020. Read the transcript here.
Timestamps
00:59 Windy's 2020 and Intro;
02:44 What are the key factors that enabled AwanTunai to be resilient?;
04:17 AwanTunai's company culture;
07:46 How Windy's Gojek career influenced her AwanTunai leadership;
09:49 How to embrace a culture of radical candor;
12:45 Windy's approach to hiring product roles;
About our guest
Windy Natriavi is the Chief Product Officer and a co-founder of AwanTunai. before AwanTunai, she was part of Go-Jek's early management team co-founding and becoming VP of GoLife, and then VP of Growth, the team behind Go-Jek's first promo engine, referral engine, and cross sell voucher systems.
Previously, she was an analyst at McKinsey and she graduated from the prestigious University of Indonesia with a degree in finance. And as you mentioned earlier, aside from leading product and growth from one to nine these days, she is also co-founder and CEO of, WomenWorks, a women-first connection marketplace in Southeast Asia.
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Joining us on call from Singapore is Ernest Chew, Chief Financial Officer (or Chief Future Officer, as he would consider it) at Carro Group, the largest and leading automobile marketplace in Southeast Asia. Ernest is the first CFO on our show, and he shares his journey from HSBC exec to tech company CFO, a rundown of the biggest financial developments in Carro since joining the company earlier this year, and his thoughts on how to think about startup growth from the CFO perspective. This call was recorded 12 November 2020.
Transcript
Timestamps
1:42 Ernest's story from HSBC exec to Carro CFO;
4:06 Lessons on corporate to startup transition;
7:44 First Day as Carro CFO;
10:58 How Carro stayed EBITDA positive in the past nine months;
11:53 Thought process behind Carro raising debt financing;
13:49 Will the used car market growth last post-pandemic?;
15:43 Advice for building ecosystems / flywheeling marketplaces;
16:29 Advice on balancing risks with spending;
17:32 Reaching billion dollar run rate by 2022;
18:22 Carro's exit options;
19:29 Rapid Fire Round: 3 skills of CFOs, recommended books, places to travel, etc.;
About our guest
Ernest Chew is Chief Financial Officer at Carro Group. Before joining Carro, he spent more than a decade working at HSBC, where he rose through the ranks to become Head of the Capital Goods and Automotive Investment in Asia Pacific. He received his bachelors from the University of Nottingham and his masters in Engineering from Cambridge University. He now brings his broad experience in capital raising, financing and M&A advisory to Carro.
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We've shared the stories of many founders and companies that thrived on having local DNA. In this episode, we flip the script and hear from a Singaporean who went on the ground in Indonesia to tap into the market's social commerce opportunity.
Albert Ho, Chief Strategy Officer at RateS, the cross-border social commerce platform enabling Indonesians to thrive as resellers and microentrepreneurs, talks about what it's like to build an SG headquartered and Indonesia focused company and develop that company culture on the ground in a relatively unfamiliar market.
This call was recorded 3rd of November 2020.
Timestamps 1:21 Outlining Albert's role as Head of Strategy at RateS;
3:17 Initial experience having to expand operations to Indonesia;
4:34 Biggest learning from exploring Indonesia startup landscape;
6:03 Developing culture in Indonesian team;
8:07 Hiring and talent retention best practices in Indonesia;
11:04 Advice for foreign founders looking to set up in Indonesia;
14:35 Advantage being a foreign founder focusing on Indonesia;
16:41 Rapid-fire Questions: Recommended books, ways to learn Bahasa Indonesia, place to travel in Southeast Asia, etc.;
About our guest Albert Ho is Chief Strategy Officer at RateS, the cross-border social commerce platform enabling Indonesians to thrive as resellers and microentrepreneurs. His past professional experiences lie in consulting, venture capital, and startups in New York, Singapore, and Jakarta. Thanks to these experiences, he is also an active thought leader on startup growth and e-commerce. Nowadays he has been driving growth for RateS in Indonesia, and personally also has been diving deeper into the local market and culture.
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
To mark 30 episodes of On Call with Insignia, we're prepared this special edition featuring the best insights from our past conversations with fintech founders on what it takes to scale a fintech in Southeast Asia. From MSME financing to wealth management to digital banking, get a preview into different business models and strategies for growth. In this playlist we've featured (in order of appearance):
Dino Setiawan, co-founder and CEO of AwanTunai (S01 Ep 4);
Anderson Sumarli, co-founder and CEO of Ajaib (S01 Ep 14);
Rafi Putra Arriyan, co-founder and CEO of Flip (S01 Ep 15);
Hendra Kwik, co-founder and CEO of Payfazz (S01 Ep 20);
Greg Krasnov, founder and CEO of TONIK (S01 Ep 18);
Huy Nghiem, founder and CEO of Finhay (S02 Ep 7);
Andrea Baronchelli, co-founder and CEO of Aspire (S02 Ep 5);
Check out our show for the full conversations with these founder CEOs!
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
This episode is part two of our conversation with Nathaniel Yim, co-founder and head of marketing at Janio Asia, leading Southeast Asia logistics technology platform. While in part one Nathan shared how Janio's content marketing strategy has contributed to commercial success for the company, this time he dishes out practical advice on handling speaking engagements, press releases, and ads, as well as how he built Janio's Marketing team and how they're looking at the future of marketing at the company.
Timestamps
00:51 Nathan's tips on handling speaking engagements;
02:39 Nathan's tips on managing press releases;
04:19 Nathan on timing press releases;
05:40 Common misconceptions founders have when it comes to B2B marketing for startups;
08:39 Nathan's approach to building Janio's marketing team;
11:03 The future of marketing at Janio;
13:21 Nathan's favorite books, movie, apps, travel destination, and recommendations;
Transcript
About our guest
Nathaniel Yim joined the founding team at Janio in 2018 after graduating and pursuing several branding and marketing roles at consulting firms the year prior. He has since taken the lead of Janio's marketing efforts across Southeast Asia, building the marketing team and new brand from scratch, covering areas like PR, lead generation, website development, account-based marketing, sales enablement, SEO, as well as representing the company at public speaking engagements and podcasts like this one for branding amongst others.
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, we're back with another two-part series with a marketing leader in our portfolio, this time from leading Southeast Asia logistics technology platform Janio Asia. Janio co-founder and Head of Marketing Nathaniel Yim shares in this first part the origins of the Janio brand and how they leveraged on thought leadership and content strategy to build a credible and trustworthy brand for an emerging startup in a traditional sector like logistics.
Timestamps
01:35 How Nathaniel co-founded Janio;
03:42 Thought process behind developing the Janio brand;
06:22 Janio's content marketing strategy and how it links to commercial success;
10:49 Examples of benefits of content marketing for Janio clients;
12:52 Engaging entire company in marketing efforts;
14:52 Engaging ecosystem partners in marketing efforts;
Transcript
About our guest
Nathaniel Yim joined the founding team at Janio in 2018 after graduating and pursuing several branding and marketing roles at consulting firms the year prior. He has since taken the lead of Janio's marketing efforts across Southeast Asia, building the marketing team and new brand from scratch, covering areas like PR, lead generation, website development, account-based marketing, sales enablement, SEO, as well as representing the company at public speaking engagements and podcasts like this one for branding amongst others.
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing economies. And this year in spite of the current economic situation, it has become the only Asian economy apart from China set to see GDP growth this year. But for small to medium investors investing in this economic growth can be quite difficult and expensive, especially for younger millennial consumers who comprise the majority of Vietnam's population.
This is where Finhay stepped in three years ago to make investing more accessible to the youth. Since then they've become Vietnam's leading platform for small and medium investment. And thanks to more consumers now demanding online platforms for financial transactions, Finhay is riding a new wave of growth and today to talk about Finhay's new wave of growth, we're calling founder and CEO, Huy Nghiem, from Finhay's busy office. This call was recorded on October 1st.
Timestamps
01:18 Joolin introduces Huy;
02:17 Why Huy returned to Vietnam and started Finhay;
04:12 Financial markets in Vietnam back in 2017/2018;
05:10 How Finhay scaled and found product-market fit;
06:31 Thought process behind rolling out multiple wealth management products;
08:08 How Finhay approaches partnerships with traditional financial players;
09:45 Story of how customers benefit from Finhay;
11:19 Similar businesses Huy admires from other markets (Acorns, Yuebao, Toss);
13:26 Impact on COVID on Finhay's growth;
14:21 Outlook on Vietnam's financial markets and wealth management space in next 3-5 years;
15:47 Huy's favorite activities to de-stress and go-to travel spots in Asia;
About our guestHuy Nghiem is the founder and CEO of Finhay. Prior to Finhay, Huy built his expertise and experience in the financial markets as a financial advisor at AMP in Australia. He also co-founded and led tech companies and business initiatives during his time in Australia. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor degree in Accounting and Marketing. He is currently part of the 2020 Forbes Asia 20 under 20 list.
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We’ve seen how many first wave Southeast Asian founders worked at unicorns and big tech companies in the US or China before returning to start their own. More recently we’re seeing alumni of Southeast Asian unicorns and tech companies found their own startups to solve more problems at scale.
And today, we went on call with founders who have done just that: Indonesia property marketplace Pinhome CEO Dayu Dara Permata and CTO Ahmed Aljunied. They have gone on from successful leadership stints at Go-Jek to build Pinhome, a platform enabling seamless discovery, interactions, and transactions for property buyers and sellers in Indonesia. In this episode, they share their biggest takeaways from their time at Gojek and how it has shaped their leadership approach at Pinhome.
Timestamps
00:37 Yinglan introduces Dara and Ahmed;
02:11 Thought process behind starting Pinhome;
05:15 Lessons from time at Gojek;
08:03 Advantages as a founder coming from tech unicorn leadership role;
10:06 Hiring for both tech and industry expertise;
10:49 Pillars of Pinhome culture;
13:07 What will set Pinhome apart as a property marketplace;
13:51 Dara and Ahmed’s recommends;
Transcript
About our guests
Prior to Pinhome, Dara was a Senior Vice President at Go-Jek where she led Gojek expansion to 100+ cities as SVP Regional Growth, co-founded and scaled Go-Life from concept into 15M users in 80+ cities in Indonesia & was responsible for Commerce Product Group in Gojek like Gomart & Goshop. She was also formerly a consultant at McKinsey before joining Go-Jek. Dara graduated with a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the Bandung Institute of Technology, and was an honor student and full scholar.
Ahmed is a veteran CTO with over 14 years of technical experience. He is well-versed in product development and building systems, and was previously VP of Engineering and Product at Go-Jek before starting Pinhome. He has also led engineering and product teams at startups like Jualo (acquired by Carro) and started a couple of startups in Singapore and Jakarta. Ahmed is a graduate of Computer Engineering at NUS and received his Masters degree in Computer Science from Stanford University.
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In this episode, to help us better understand what it takes to build a neobank in Southeast Asia, we called Andrea Baronchelli, CEO and co-founder of Aspire (Y Combinator Winter Cohort 2018). We talked about how Aspire is becoming the banking platform of choice for SMEs in the region, from the pain points and risks of the neobanking trajectory to forging partnerships and a path to profitability. Andrea also shares lessons from his years as a Lazada co-founder and executive.
Timestamps
00:04 Introducing Andrea Baronchelli;
00:50 Check-in on how Aspire is operating remotely;
01:14 Origins of Aspire's neobanking trajectory;
02:29 Unique aspects of building a neobank in Southeast Asia;
03:41 Infrastructure risk of building a neobank in Southeast Asia;
04:21 How Aspire has been addressing pain points of SMEs for financial services (with examples);
06:34 Aspire 2.0;
08:05 Proposition for banks;
10:27 Approach to partnerships (with the likes of Visa, Nium, TransferWise);
11:54 How Aspire operates in four markets;
12:58 What will set Aspire apart moving forward;
14:38 Lessons from Lazada and why Andrea chose to go into SME banking;
16:00 What to expect from Aspire moving forward;
16:50 Rapid-fire Recommendations from Andrea;
Read the transcript
About our guest
Prior to Aspire, Andrea Baronchelli was the CMO for Lazada in Singapore. He was part of the Lazada founding team and spent 6 years building the #1 e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia across Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. He also held several leadership positions within Lazada and Alibaba Group including regional EVP and CEO for the Vietnam business. Andrea is a Y-Combinator & Rocket Internet Alum. Before joining Lazada Group, Andrea was based in London in Investment Banking with Jefferies and Societe Generale.
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We're bringing you into the world of smart cities, and to guide us on our journey we had to call Anthony Chow, CEO and co-founder smart access solutions company igloohome. Fresh from igloohome's fifth year anniversary and first virtual iglooCon, Anthony and Yinglan take a trip down memory lane, from the competition where they first met pre-igloohome days to now a company with 130 employees in 13 locations with over 100K smart locks sold. Then Anthony takes us on a global tour of smart access projects they’ve been working with large-scale infrastructure, shares the latest on the impact of COVID19 on distribution, and explains how the smart nation Singapore has been pivotal to igloohome’s growth as a smart access company. This call was recorded September 8.
Timestamps
00:58 How Yinglan and Anthony met;
03:10 reception at igloohome conference for distributors 2019 and 2020;
07:17 major milestones of igloohome in the last five years;
09:18 the genesis of iglooworks and four case studies;
16:23 outlook on iglooworks and their enterprise distribution approach;
20:46 data collection and importance of data to clients;
25:45 the impact of COVID on their various markets;
28:08 how Singapore's smart city initiatives have been pivotal to their growth;
31:55 Anthony's favorite books, apps, and igloohome product;
About our guest
Prior to co-founding igloohome, Anthony Chow led data science teams in developing proprietary personalization engines for Singtel's Group Digital Life unit. This extensive data science experience and expertise has been critical to Igloohome’s engineering and data-driven approach to growth across 100 countries globally.
Anthony holds an Electrical and Electronics Engineering degree from Imperial College London and a Master's in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. He was also an Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore scholar.
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Manhattan by Dyalla c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Remote work has rapidly transformed from optionality into reality for tech companies around the globe. COVID19 aside, the wheels for remote work adoption have been turning for a while now. More tools are available to facilitate remote work, and there's an increasing preference to explore remote work or work-from-home arrangements among millennials and Gen-Z.
But transitioning to a remote-first culture or becoming remote-ready as a tech company takes more than just Zoom meetings and a Slack workspace. To explore what it really takes to maximize productivity for remote teams, we talked to three experienced leaders of remote engineering teams in our portfolio: Carro co-founder and technology team lead Kelvin Chng, WIZ.AI co-founder and chairman Jianfeng Lu, and Insignia Ventures partner and head of technology Ridy Lie. As an event in partnership with Huawei Cloud, we were also joined by Leo Jiang, Chief Digital Officer at Huawei, who shared his insights on the future of remote work in Asia.
Timeline
00:27 Paulo introduces Ridy;
1:03 Ridy introduces Jianfeng Lu;
2:47 Ridy introduces Kelvin Chng;
19:59 How do you ensure productivity for a remote team?;
21:48 How should companies ensure that they don't overload their staff?;
24:07 Has remote working truly become the new normal, or just an expedited normal?;
29:56 Ridy and Jianfeng talk about open positions in Insignia Ventures' portfolio companies and WIZ.AI for engineers;
For the full transcript, click here.
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Giant iPhone by RAGE c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We continue our conversation with Manisha Seewal, Group CMO of Carro and CEO of Jualo (acquired by Carro in 2019). After tracing her journey from corporate to startup and understanding her marketing philosophy in the first episode, we now talked about the future -- the future of marketing amidst changing consumer behavior, the future of marketing technology, and the future of Carro and Jualo under her leadership. We also talk about how marketing and culture are inseparable in shaping a company's growth. Our call was recorded 21 July 2020.
Timestamps
1:06 How brands can adjust to changing consumer behavior and stay lean;
6:10 How COVID is affecting marketing technology and the way marketing teams operate;
8:31 Manisha on her new role as CEO of Jualo and Carro's initiatives in Indonesia;
11:48 Manisha on the importance of culture in marketing and vice-versa;
13:02 Manisha's recommended books, TV series, music, apps, and spots in Southeast Asia;
About our guest
Manisha is a leader in the marketing technology space and a firm believer in simplifying technology to answer customer's needs. She has led several “Singapore’s first” technological innovations, which includes Singapore’s first “Netflix for Cars”- a car subscription-based service, Singapore’s first ChatBot from a life insurer and Singapore's first usage-based insurance.
She has been featured in top media like Channel News Asia and Straits Times, a highly sought-after speaker at leading Marketing & Tech conferences and top academic institutions like INSEAD, NUS, and SMU to deliver keynote sessions on Women in Tech, Innovation, Diversity and Digital Transformation. Manisha is listed amongst one of the world’s 100 Most Influential CMOs and Top 50 Women leaders in Asia.
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Giant iPhone by RAGE c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
For our first episode of On Call with Insignia Season 2, we had a chat with Manisha Seewal, Group Chief Marketing Officer of CARRO, Southeast Asia's leading car marketplace. Our call was quite jampacked so we split it into two episodes -- this first one covers her journey from corporate to tech startup, her philosophy when it comes to leveraging technology for marketing, and a case study on CARRO's most recent initiative as Singapore's first contactless car service. Our call was recorded 21 July 2020.
Timestamps
1:00 Manisha Intro;
2:09 Manisha introduces Carro;
4:23 Manisha talks about her journey from corporate to startup;
11:07 Manisha talks about adjusting to startup culture (and budgets);
14:22 Manisha shares her philosophy when it comes to technology and marketing;
17:12 Manisha talks about launching Singapore's first contactless car service;
About our guest
Manisha is a leader in the marketing technology space and a firm believer in simplifying technology to answer customer's needs. She has led several “Singapore’s first” technological innovations, which includes Singapore’s first “Netflix for Cars”- a car subscription-based service, Singapore’s first ChatBot from a life insurer and Singapore's first usage-based insurance.
She has been featured in top media like Channel News Asia and Straits Times, a highly sought-after speaker at leading Marketing & Tech conferences and top academic institutions like INSEAD, NUS, and SMU to deliver keynote sessions on Women in Tech, Innovation, Diversity and Digital Transformation. Manisha is listed amongst one of the world’s 100 Most Influential CMOs and Top 50 Women leaders in Asia.
Music
Six O'Clock Rush by TrackTribe c/o Youtube Studio
Giant iPhone by RAGE c/o Youtube Studio
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
20 calls. 20 guests. 20 conversations. To recap the past twenty episodes, we put together a playlist of the best advice from the twenty technology leaders, investors, and founders we had on call. Stay on the line and connected with us as we gear up for season two with more conversations with Southeast Asia's founders and technology startup leaders!
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In our 20th episode and season finale, we called the inspirational and unstoppable Hendra Kwik, CEO and co-founder of Indonesian fintech company Payfazz. Fresh off their Series B round led by B Capital and Insignia Ventures Partners, and as the company closes in on profitability, Hendra shares his story, from growing up in rural Indonesia to building what he calls the Google Play for fintech apps in Indonesia's rural economy. He also gives his take on Indonesia's "banking the unbanked" trajectory, heartwarming stories of Payfazz users, and leadership advice for founders.
Timestamps
00:28 Yinglan's intro of Hendra and how they met;
02:15 Personal experiences that motivated Hendra to start Payfazz;
06:24 Indonesia's fintech space in 2016 and how Payfazz built their agent network;
08:45 Hendra's learnings from the YC experience;
10:38 Indonesia's "banking the unbanked" trajectory;
13:12 Thought process behind Payfazz's trajectory from bill payments to fintech ecosystem;
16:08 Stories of Payfazz's impact on its agents and users;
21:16 Culture-building in Payfazz;
25:50 Hendra's advice for founders;
27:40 Fast Talk corner with Hendra's favorites;
About Hendra Kwik Hendra, together with his co-Founders Jefriyanto and Ricky, were most recently featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2019 list. Payfazz is also the first Indonesian startup to graduate from the Y Combinator program and were also recently part of YC's "Top 100 companies of all time" list. Last year the company was also named as the one of "Indonesia's best company to work for in Asia." They were also recipients of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association's 2019 "Deal of the Year" along with Insignia Ventures Partners.
Prior to starting Payfazz, Hendra was the Head of Growth at Kudo (acquired by Grab), where he engineered the growth of the company's offline-to-online agent network. Hendra holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Institute Teknologi Bandung (ITB), one of the most prestigious universities in Indonesia, where he was awarded the University Most Outstanding Student and graduated as a valedictorian in 2012.
Music
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
For this episode, we rang up our good friend Phil Opumuratawongse, CEO and co-founder of Shipper. Yinglan and Phil talk about Phil's journey from venture capital in Silicon Valley to becoming CEO of an Indonesian startup, the state of Indonesia's e-commerce logistics market and where it's headed, and how a bottom-up culture enabled them to grow 4-5x through this COVID period.
Timestamps:
00:14 Yinglan's introduction of Phil;
1:29 Phil's experiences as an analyst and VC in Silicon Valley;
3:59 Phil's return to Southeast Asia to start Shipper;
6:05 State of Indonesian logistics market and Shipper's entry point;
9:09 Where the Indonesian logistics market is headed;
10:11 Shipper's agent network of couriers and fulfillment hubs;
11:19 Creating an "asset-light and flexible" shipping experience for small sellers;
12:51 Growing 4-5x in COVID with a bottom-up approach;
14:40 Building culture as a first-time CEO;
16:13 Things Phil wish he knew before starting Shipper;
17:10 Phil's favorite books, tv shows, music, and more;
About our guest:
Prior to Shipper, Phil was the Chief of Staff at Floodgate, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, where he was involved in early-stage investments in technology startups. Before that Phil was previously a consultant from McKinsey & Company. Phil holds a Master of Science (MS) from Columbia University (City of New York) and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Mathematical and Computational Science from Stanford University.
Music:
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
In today's episode we talk to our favourite serial fintech entrepreneur, Greg Krasnov, CEO and founder of tonik. He shares insights from his storied career setting up a leading digital bank in Europe and multiple fintech ventures in Asia, illustrates the opportunity and obstacles for digital banking in Southeast Asia, and explains his approach to building a profitable and scalable digital-only banking proposition for the Philippines.
Timeline
00:16 Yinglan introduction of Greg;
1:18 Greg's journey from Europe to Southeast Asia;
3:20 Building blocks of a digital bank;
5:49 Building a digital bank in the Philippines vs other parts of the world;
8:33 Obstacles for digital banking in Southeast Asia;
12:54 Digital banking from regulators' perspective;
15:23 Why tonik's digital banking proposition is superior to other fintech models;
18:27 Launch of tonik;
19:17 Greg's advice for founders;
20:24 Fast Talk corner;
About our guest
Greg is a serial fintech entrepreneur with a storied career in the financial space spanning Europe and Southeast Asia. Prior to founding tonik, he co-founded and chaired four other successful fintech startups in Asia, including Credolab and AsiaKredit. Before coming to Southeast Asia, he was the founder and CEO of one of the top private equity-backed success stories in consumer lending in Eastern Europe, Platinum Bank in Ukraine, which exited in 2013 for US$150 million. Before blazing a trail of fintech success stories, he spent 10 years in private equity at Bank of America in London and Innova Capital in Warsaw.
Music:
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Where we see crises, that's where we see true leaders emerge. In this episode, we ring up one such leader -- Steven Wongsoredjo, CEO and co-founder of Indonesian social commerce platform Super. Yinglan and Steven chat about social commerce paving the road for e-commerce in Indonesia's rural economy, a unique supply chain approach that sets Super apart, and Steven's approach to growth and crisis leadership in COVID19. This episode was recorded on Zoom, 14 May 2020.
Timeline
0:22 Yinglan's intro of Steven;
1:23 Steven's story behind Super;
3:00 Opportunity for e-commerce in Indonesia's rural economy;
5:19 Unique pain points for e-commerce in of Indonesia's rural economy;
6:56 Reselling/agent-centric model of Super;
8:12 What sets social commerce (and Super) apart from traditional retailers and distributors;
10:52 Overcoming challenges of logistics and payments in rural areas;
13:27 Impact of COVID19 on Super;
16:04 Steven's take on growing Super in the short-term and long-term;
19:36 Steven's recommended books for seed, Series A, and post-Series founders;
About the guest
Steven is the CEO and co-founder of Super, the first Indonesian social commerce startup to have graduated from Y Combinator. He was featured on last year’s Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list for his achievements in the start-up field in Indonesia, and is a Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum. He brings to the table his expertise building and mobilizing communities, having led campaigns that raised thousands of dollars for social causes with organizations like UNICEF. Steven holds a Master's degree from Columbia University and graduated Magna Cum Laude from John Hopkins University.
Music:
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
We catch up with one of our favourite technical, product-centric founders, Rafi Putra Arriyan (or Ari), CEO and co-founder of interbank transfer platform Flip. In 2015, Ari and his college friends tackled the long-standing issue of high interbank transfer fees in Indonesia. With Ari's product-focus and technical expertise they have since grown the platform to serve 1.7 million Indonesians today. He calls from West Java's Depok City and we talk about, among other things:
- the classic story of how he and his college friends built an MVP with a Google Form and found PMF in three weeks;
- Flip's approach to product development as the company aims to go from interbank transfer app to digital bank for Indonesia;
- his advice for fellow technical founders.
This episode was recorded on Zoom, 25 June 2020.
Timeline
00:17 Yinglan introduces Ari;
1:20 How Ari met Insignia;
2:15 Why Ari and his college friends started Flip;
4:04 How Ari and his college friends found PMF with a Google Form MVP;
5:32 How Flip has evolved with Indonesia’s financial services sector over the past five years;
6:53 How COVID19 has affected activity and operations on Flip;
9:20 How Flip operates with a digitalising banking sector;
9:56 Flip’s approach to product development;
10:54 Ari’s thoughts on cross-border financial services and transfers;
12:17 One of Flip’s more recent experiments: Flip Instant;
13:38 Ari’s take on upcoming use cases in fintech;
15:06 Ari’s advice for technical founders;
About the guest
Ari started Flip after he and his co-founders spotted an inefficiency in the interbank fund transfers segment in Indonesia. With his product-centric focus and technical background, he has grown Flip to be a platform serving 1.7 million Indonesians today. He believes in using technology to automate manual banking processes and reduce the administrative costs of wire transfer. Ari holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Universitas Indonesia (UI), one of the most prestigious universities in Indonesia.
Music:
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
"The beauty of B2B is that it is in such an infancy stage, where the future technology is actually first being implemented on the consumer front."
About the episode
Many founders become founders because of the pain points they experience firsthand. Logan Tan is no different. His experience as head of procurement for a construction firm drove him to pursue an idea which has now become Singapore's first and largest online B2B marketplace for maintenance, repair, and operations supplies. In this episode, Eezee CEO and co-founder Logan Tan shares with us:
- how COVID19 became an inflection point for their business
- how Eezee works with enterprise software companies like SAP and Coupa to bring the seamlessness of the B2C e-commerce experience to B2B procurement
- their upcoming initiatives, including connecting Singapore SMEs to more than four million Chinese businesses as part of the Singapore-Shenzhen Smart City Initiative
This episode was recorded on Zoom, 20 June 2020.
Timeline
00:51 How did Logan start Eezee?;
1:49 What was the initial reaction of the market to Eezee?;
5:05 What was the inflection point for businesses to become customers?;
6:38 What has the changed dynamic during COVID19 crisis meant for Eezee as a platform?;
12:02 How will the procurement experience change post-crisis?; 13:24 How is Eezee scaling the accessibility of their marketplace?;
17:19 What's under the hood for Eezee in the next five years?; 20:13 What does the Singapore-Shenzhen Smart City Initiative mean for their businesses?;
23:01 What is Logan's take on the future of Southeast Asia's procurement space five to ten years down the road?;
About the guest
Logan co-founded Eezee with a mission to solve inefficiencies that he experienced firsthand in the B2B supply chain and procurement space in Southeast Asia, having been headhunted to improve supply chain management processes at a local firm. He was previously a corporate banker at DBS Bank and had worked closely with SME owners, managing a loan portfolio of S$60M annually. Logan received a Bachelor's degree from the University of London in Banking and Finance.
Music:
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
On the heels of investment platform Ajaib becoming the first digital brokerage in Indonesia, CEO and co-founder Anderson Sumarli goes on a call with Insignia Ventures' Samir Chaibi to share:
- the opportunities for capital markets in Indonesia, vis-a-vis markets like India and Brazil where Zerodha and XP have emerged
- Ajaib's approach to building an attractive product for first-time investors and millennials
- what Ajaib has the under the hood as they drive investment penetration in Indonesia
This episode was recorded on Zoom, 10 June 2020.
Timestamps
0:40 Introduction to Anderson by Yinglan Tan;
2:20 How Anderson first met Yinglan;
2:46 What does the acquisition of Primasia Sekuritas mean for Ajaib?;
3:49 What are the opportunities in the Indonesian market for retail investment?;
5:06 What are the parallels between Indonesia and markets like India and Brazil where the likes of Zerodha and XP have emerged?;
6:59 What are the early signs in Indonesia of the so-called "generational buying moments" into stocks?;
8:31 How does Ajaib's user experience make things easier for the first-time investor?;
9:51 What should users expect to see in the next few months from a product perspective?;
10:50 What are some success stories of users that touched Anderson?;
12:52 How democratized can stock investing be in Indonesia through Ajaib?;
14:13 Ajaib is not just a one-country platform right?;
14:41 What would be your top investment advice for first-time investors?;
16:41 Where does Ajaib want to be in the next five years?;
17:26 What message do you want to leave with our listeners?;
About our guest
Anderson Sumarli is the co-founder and CEO of Indonesian online brokerage platform Ajaib. Prior to Ajaib, he was an associate with BCG and part of the Chief Analytics Office at IBM. Anderson holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Finance degree in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University. Anderson was most recently part of the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2020 list along with his co-founder and COO Yada. Ajaib graduated from YC in 2018, and launched their app in 2019. Since then they’ve been bringing more and more Indonesians into investing, with 25% of new investors in Indonesia coming through their app.
Music:
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
"At the end of the day, an edtech startup should put education first."
About the episode
Edtech platforms are seeing greater adoption across a world under lockdown as schools, teachers, and students. Rousyan Fikri, CEO and co-founder of Indonesian edtech Pahamify, shares what this shift to online platforms has been like in Indonesia, trends on where edtech is going in the country, and his approach to building an edtech platform.
Timestamps
1:49 How Pahamify was founded;
3:19 Impact of COVID19 on Indonesia's education system;
4:59 Feedback on Pahamify;
6:54 Managing user experience quality at scale;
8:12 Short-term trends on edtech platform usage;
9:15 Long-term trends on edtech platform innovation;
10:31 Impact of COVID19 on career outlook;
11:37 Book recommendations for founders and operators in the edtech space;
12:40 Favorite type of video content to create;
About our guest
Rousyan Fikri is the CEO and a co-founder of Pahamify. Prior to Pahamify, Fikri was the writer and host of an award-winning Indonesian educational video series on YouTube which now has over 373,000 subscribers. The series received the YouTube Next Up 2017 award from YouTube and collaborated with Google to produce Learning How to Learn Course—the book version of this course was just published recently with a top publisher in Indonesia. Syarif graduated with a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), one of Indonesia’s top universities, at only 19 years old and was also a former PhD candidate at the Electrical and Electronics Engineering department of Nanyang Technological University.
Music:
Business As Usual by Causmic
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
"The most enduring companies are able to essentially create a reservoir for their users..."
About the episode
For our tenth episode this season, we go back to the first we recorded for our podcast with our founding managing partner Yinglan Tan. His pursuit of the unstoppable founder has led him to where he is today: at the helm of an early-stage technology venture fund focusing on Southeast Asia, with a portfolio including technology market leaders in the region like Carro, Payfazz, Janio, and LOGIVAN. Having supported many successful companies throughout his career, he shares the six characteristics of successful early-stage tech companies and explains the mechanics of building a sustainable technology platform business. This interview was recorded January this year.
Timestamps
00:36 Six characteristics of successful early-stage tech companies;
6:04 Basics of building a platform business;
8:40 Developing a self-sustaining platform;
Music
Podcast Intro by Tim Beek (2019)
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund
Farm-to-table, while offering a more convenient and economic solution for farmers and consumers, takes a lot more than cutting off middlemen. Sayurbox CEO and Founder Amanda Susanti breaks down how they've grown a farm-to-table platform in Indonesia. This call was recorded 9 March, 2020.
Timestamps
00:35 Introduction of Amanda;
01:41 How Amanda transitioned from running a farm to running an agritech startup;
03:45 Indonesia vs China/India;
05:26 Approach to hiring in agritech;
06:49 Driving farm-to-table adoption among farmers;
08:11 Adapting to consumer behavior;
09:22 How COVID19 has affected their business;
10:22 Maintaining quality control;
11:25 Sayurbox in the next five years;
12:40 How avocados became one of their best-selling items;
About our guest
Amanda Susanti is co-founder and CEO of Sayurbox, an ecommerce platform for farm-to-table fresh produce in Indonesia. We’ve been privileged to partner with Amanda since a while back, and we’ve been impressed by the company’s efforts to tackle inefficiencies in Indonesia's food supply chain, and they’ve done a good job to improve the country's agricultural sector. So the company has also garnered acclaim from government institutions in Indonesia as well as startup programs like Grab Ventures Velocity and Seedstars. Prior to co-founding Sayurbox, Amanda built a deep understanding and expertise in farm operations running her family farm, Amantani Farms. She was a recipient of Forbes 30 under 30 2019 list and is also a fellow of the Alibaba e-Founders program.
Music:
Podcast Intro by Tim Beek (2019)
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
"[Supply chain diversification] is going to impact positively on the logistics sector of Vietnam over the next couple of years and in the long-term."
About the episode
It was 2017. A former Goldman Sachs tech analyst in the UK had returned to her family business in Vietnam when she decided to start her own venture. Three years later she is at the helm of a rising technology company in Vietnam, leading the digitalisation of the country's trucking sector. She shares her story as a founder, what LOGIVAN has been up to in the last three years and what the future holds for the industry. This call was recorded on 11 March 2020.
Timestamps to answers
00:17 Introduction of Linh Pham
1:40 How Linh started LOGIVAN
3:34 Overcoming challenges of starting up
4:59 Determining pain points of truckers
6:28 Unique aspects of operating in Vietnam and trucking sector
8:06 Driving adoption of shippers (SMEs and corporates) and truckers
12:25 APPLE and other tech solutions
15:53 Impact of supply chain diversification on Vietnam
17:04 Evolving leadership in a fast-growing startup
About our guest
A former Goldman Sachs technology analyst and graduate of Cambridge University, Linh Pham founded LOGIVAN after observing the inefficiencies in the trucking industry while working at her family's fertilizer business. With her firsthand on-the-ground experience working with the trucking industry, she has managed to grow LOGIVAN into a pioneering logistics company that connects tens of thousands of truckers and shippers across the country. She has won prestigious awards ranging from the best start-up at RISE Conference and the Pitch@Palace Global 2018, and appeared in more than 50 TV and media appearances, including Forbes, Tech in Asia, E27, VTV and Business Insider.
Music:
Podcast Intro by Tim Beek (2019)
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
"Whoever survives will become great, but you need to survive." - Zhang Tao, Dianping.com Founder and CEO
About this episode
Many talk about the “new normal” in the wake of COVID19, but what is this new normal for innovation and technology startups? How can founders in Southeast Asia truly embrace this, avoid getting left behind, and come out of this ahead of the pack? This is the first of two parts of a Zoom webinar held on 17th April, 2020, and moderated by our founding managing partner Yinglan Tan.
Timestamps
0:25 Guest introduction by Yinglan Tan;
2:54 Lessons from the ‘03 and ‘08 (Zhang Tao and Chih Cheung);
12:15 Zooming into trends in this new normal (Chih Cheung);
19:02 Predictions for the post-COVID world (Zhang Tao);
23:50 Balancing growth with caution (Zhang Tao);
26:20 Tapping into post-crisis consumption demand and other opportunities (Zhang Tao);
About our guests
Zhang Tao is the founder and CEO of restaurant review site Dianping. In 2015, Dianping merged with Groupon-like Meituan. He currently holds a stake in the combined business, which went public in Hong Kong in 2018. Zhang received an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2002, and returned to China in 2003, when he set up Dianping.
Chih Cheung is the co-founder and co-chairman of JAMM Active Limited, a leading global producer of innovative performance fabrics for active apparel. He is also the managing partner of C2 Capital Limited, a private investment company. Chih also serves on the board of Wheels Up Partners Holdings LLC and Talent First Limited.
Previously, Chih was the non-executive chairman of RSI Apparel (China) Limited, a director of RSI Apparel Limited, the non-executive chairman of Yucheng Technologies Limited, the managing partner of Staples Asia Investments Limited, a director of The Taiwan Fund, Inc., the co-founder and chief executive officer of HelloAsia Corporation, the chief executive officer of Crimson Solutions and an analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York and Hong Kong.
Chih holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School, a Master of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University.
Music:
Podcast Intro by Tim Beek (2019)
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
"There is incredible opportunity in a lot of different industries, particularly traditional industries that may need to be digitized, and might have a new way of selling." - Chih Cheung, co-founder and co-chairman of JAMM Active Limited
About this episode
Many talk about the “new normal” in the wake of COVID19, but what is this new normal for innovation and technology startups? How can founders in Southeast Asia truly embrace this and avoid getting left behind? This is the second part of a Zoom webinar held on 17th April, 2020, and moderated by our founding managing partner Yinglan Tan.
Timestamps
0:32 Fundraising during a crisis, lessons from Dianping (Zhang Tao);
4:26 Supply chain opportunities (Chih Cheung);
5:52 Capturing opportunities while managing burn rates, leaner headcount (Chih Cheung);
8:25 Impact of COVID on M&A and consolidation (Chih Cheung);
10:21 Industries that will bounce back post-lockdown (Zhang Tao & Chih Cheung);
14:56 Advice for twenty year-old self in 2020 (Zhang Tao & Chih Cheung);
About our guests
Zhang Tao is the founder and CEO of restaurant review site Dianping. In 2015, Dianping merged with Groupon-like Meituan. He currently holds a stake in the combined business, which went public in Hong Kong in 2018. Zhang received an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2002, and returned to China in 2003, when he set up Dianping.
Chih Cheung is the co-founder and co-chairman of JAMM Active Limited, a leading global producer of innovative performance fabrics for active apparel. He is also the managing partner of C2 Capital Limited, a private investment company. Chih also serves on the board of Wheels Up Partners Holdings LLC and Talent First Limited.
Previously, Chih was the non-executive chairman of RSI Apparel (China) Limited, a director of RSI Apparel Limited, the non-executive chairman of Yucheng Technologies Limited, the managing partner of Staples Asia Investments Limited, a director of The Taiwan Fund, Inc., the co-founder and chief executive officer of HelloAsia Corporation, the chief executive officer of Crimson Solutions and an analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York and Hong Kong.
Chih holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School, a Master of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University.
Music:
Podcast Intro by Tim Beek (2019)
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
Data and Discipline. It takes two to make well-informed business decisions, especially when you're driving digital transformation in the offline market. Listen to AwanTunai co-founder and CEO Dino Setiawan on embedding this approach early on, and how this enabled them to address the long standing financial needs of unbanked and underbanked MSMEs.
Timestamps
2:02 - How Dino became co-founder of AwanTunai;
5:17 - Early days of AwanTunai and their focus on data and discipline;
8:13 - Approach to working with Indonesia's micromerchants;
12:08 - Market opportunity of banking the unbanked in Indonesia;
14:39 - Driving digitalisation of downstream supply chain;
16:48 - Future of supply chain digitalisation;
19:34 - Working with financial institutions;
22:15 - COVID19 response;
26:41 - Meditation for founders;
Transcript
About our guest
Dino Setiawan is the CEO and co-founder of AwanTunai. He is a finance veteran with more than a decade of experience spanning several countries which includes a tenure as VP for Investments at Morgan Stanley among other roles at major financial institutions.
After finishing his Master's at the Stanford Business School in 2011, he started off his entrepreneurial journey running his own fintech venture in Silicon Valley, SimpleFi, before returning to Indonesia as a regional fintech consultant. Together with ex-Gojek execs Rama Notowidigdo and Windy Natriavi, he later co-founded AwanTunai, an Indonesian fintech startup providing accessible financing to micro-merchants by digitizing the FMCG supply chain.
Music:
Podcast Intro by Tim Beek (2019)
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
"You want to make sure that you are prepared for the upturn when it comes."
About this episode
Our pilot episode is the third and final part in a three part recording of Insignia Ventures' first ever webinar, "COVID-19 Strategies for Startups in Southeast Asia" held 3rd of April, 2020. The webinar features insights, firsthand experiences and practical advice from Linh Thai, Aaron Tan, and Yinglan Tan on how Southeast Asia's startups can become COVID-proof and post-COVID ready. This part covers concrete fundraising advice for founders, approaches to managing teams and employees, and post-COVID outlooks.
00:35 How should founders approach pitching to investors and the whole process of fundraising these days? (answered by Yinglan and Linh)
06:58 What has the experience been like, from the time that this outbreak came on the news and a lot of government started happening on it? And how have you been managing sort of the work from different countries? (answered by Aaron and Yinglan)
14:58 What is your outlook like for the next few months? (answered by Linh and Yinglan)
About our guests
Linh Thai
Linh has over 20 years of experience in finance, marketing, and operations. Her prior roles include CEO of Vingroup Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund; Head of Strategy and Operations at VinaCapital, one of the leading asset managers in Vietnam; and Director of Investments at DFJ VinaCapital, one of Vietnam’s first venture capital funds. Prior to joining the dark side, Linh has held marketing and operational roles at internet start-ups, both as a founder and as an early employee. Linh is also one of the main “sharks” during seasons 1 and 2 on the Vietnamese version of Shark Tank.
Aaron Tan
A programmer by training and a venture capitalist by profession, Aaron is currently the co-founder and CEO of Carro, a venture backed used car marketplace. Aaron was most recently awarded the ITMA Future IT Leader Award. Prior to Carro, Aaron joined SEA’s leading venture fund - Singtel Innov8 ventures. Aaron was instrumental in the starting of Blk71 – Singapore’s largest startup ecosystem - as well as setting up the firm’s San Francisco operations. He graduated summa cum laude with a double degree, BSc and MSc from Singapore Management University School of Information Systems and Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science.
Yinglan Tan
Yinglan founded Insignia Ventures Partners in 2017. Insignia Ventures Partners is an early stage technology venture fund focusing on Southeast Asia and manages more than US$350 million from sovereign wealth funds, foundations, university endowments and renowned family offices. Insignia Ventures Partners is the recipient of two back-to-back "VC Deal of Year" awards for Payfazz (2019) and Carro (2018) from the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association and its portfolio include many other technology leaders in Southeast Asia. He also serves on the International Board of Stars – Leaders of the Next Generation, the Singapore Government’s Pro Enterprise Panel and is a Board Member at Hwa Chong Institution.
Music:
Podcast Intro by Tim Beek (2019)
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
"Time to show you know your stuff."
About this episode
Our pilot episode is the second part in a three part recording of Insignia Ventures' first ever webinar, "COVID-19 Strategies for Startups in Southeast Asia" held 3rd of April, 2020. The webinar features insights, firsthand experiences and practical advice from Linh Thai, Aaron Tan, and Yinglan Tan on how Southeast Asia's startups can become COVID-proof and post-COVID ready. This second part covers creative cost-cutting strategies, questions on ecommerce and B2B sales, as well as navigating the various markets in Southeast Asia.
00:42 What are your thoughts on cost cutting and sort of how founders should approach staying lean during this during this time? (answered by Linh)
6:13 What is your general advice for commerce startups? (answered by Linh, Aaron)
11:00 What would be the consideration startups should have, especially if they're looking to drive more adoption and retention these days, considering you have different markets with undergoing different situations and different customer behavior? (answered by Yinglan)
15:56 What is your take on B2B startups in Southeast Asia that are looking to expand internationally? (answered by Linh)
About our guests
Linh Thai
Linh has over 20 years of experience in finance, marketing, and operations. Her prior roles include CEO of Vingroup Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund; Head of Strategy and Operations at VinaCapital, one of the leading asset managers in Vietnam; and Director of Investments at DFJ VinaCapital, one of Vietnam’s first venture capital funds. Prior to joining the dark side, Linh has held marketing and operational roles at internet start-ups, both as a founder and as an early employee. Linh is also one of the main “sharks” during seasons 1 and 2 on the Vietnamese version of Shark Tank.
Aaron Tan
A programmer by training and a venture capitalist by profession, Aaron is currently the co-founder and CEO of Carro, a venture backed used car marketplace. Aaron was most recently awarded the ITMA Future IT Leader Award. Prior to Carro, Aaron joined SEA’s leading venture fund - Singtel Innov8 ventures. Aaron was instrumental in the starting of Blk71 – Singapore’s largest startup ecosystem - as well as setting up the firm’s San Francisco operations. He graduated summa cum laude with a double degree, BSc and MSc from Singapore Management University School of Information Systems and Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science.
Yinglan Tan
Yinglan founded Insignia Ventures Partners in 2017. Insignia Ventures Partners is an early stage technology venture fund focusing on Southeast Asia and manages more than US$350 million from sovereign wealth funds, foundations, university endowments and renowned family offices. Insignia Ventures Partners is the recipient of two back-to-back "VC Deal of Year" awards for Payfazz (2019) and Carro (2018) from the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association and its portfolio include many other technology leaders in Southeast Asia. He also serves on the International Board of Stars – Leaders of the Next Generation, the Singapore Government’s Pro Enterprise Panel and is a Board Member at Hwa Chong Institution.
Music:
Podcast Intro by Tim Beek (2019)
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.
**"Be on the lookout for opportunity."
About this episode**
Our pilot episode is the first part in a three part recording of Insignia Ventures' first ever webinar, "COVID-19 Strategies for Startups in Southeast Asia" held 3rd of April, 2020. The webinar features insights, firsthand experiences and practical advice from Linh Thai, Aaron Tan, and Yinglan Tan on how Southeast Asia's startups can become COVID-proof and post-COVID ready. This first part covers their introduction and their takes on Southeast Asia's fundraising landscape in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.
1:15 Linh Thai Introduction
1:54 Yinglan Tan Introduction
2:56 Aaron Tan Introduction
4:33 From your perspective, how have investor appetites in the region changed in terms of (1) industry focus and (2) what investors look for in companies? (answers from Linh, Aaron, and Yinglan)
About our guests
Linh Thai
Linh has over 20 years of experience in finance, marketing, and operations. Her prior roles include CEO of Vingroup Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund; Head of Strategy and Operations at VinaCapital, one of the leading asset managers in Vietnam; and Director of Investments at DFJ VinaCapital, one of Vietnam’s first venture capital funds. Prior to joining the dark side, Linh has held marketing and operational roles at internet start-ups, both as a founder and as an early employee. Linh is also one of the main “sharks” during seasons 1 and 2 on the Vietnamese version of Shark Tank.
Aaron Tan
A programmer by training and a venture capitalist by profession, Aaron is currently the co-founder and CEO of Carro, a venture backed used car marketplace. Aaron was most recently awarded the ITMA Future IT Leader Award. Prior to Carro, Aaron joined SEA’s leading venture fund - Singtel Innov8 ventures. Aaron was instrumental in the starting of Blk71 – Singapore’s largest startup ecosystem - as well as setting up the firm’s San Francisco operations. He graduated summa cum laude with a double degree, BSc and MSc from Singapore Management University School of Information Systems and Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science.
Yinglan Tan
Yinglan founded Insignia Ventures Partners in 2017. Insignia Ventures Partners is an early stage technology venture fund focusing on Southeast Asia and manages more than US$350 million from sovereign wealth funds, foundations, university endowments and renowned family offices. Insignia Ventures Partners is the recipient of two back-to-back "VC Deal of Year" awards for Payfazz (2019) and Carro (2018) from the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association and its portfolio include many other technology leaders in Southeast Asia. He also serves on the International Board of Stars – Leaders of the Next Generation, the Singapore Government’s Pro Enterprise Panel and is a Board Member at Hwa Chong Institution.
Music:
Podcast Intro by Tim Beek (2019)
Broken Purpose by Jukedeck (2019)
The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any Insignia Ventures fund.