Episódios
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Jeremy Au reconnects with Maria Li to explore how Tech in Asia is navigating Southeast Asia’s startup winter, generative AI disruption, and corporate acquisition pressures while maintaining community-first values. Together, they discuss AI experimentation, acquisition integration, leadership dynamics, and balancing the demands of modern media and parenthood. The discussion highlights lessons in adapting to rapid change, staying transparent, and making intentional choices in business and life.
01:36 Tech Winter and Paywall Strategy: Maria explains how Southeast Asia’s startup slowdown pushed Tech in Asia to loosen its paywall, balancing revenue with keeping the community informed during tougher times.
03:51 Navigating AI and Market Changes: AI disrupted the media landscape. Maria shares how they are experimenting with AI-generated content and new product ideas to stay relevant and useful for their audience.
05:20 The SPH Acquisition Experience: The acquisition brought benefits but also slower corporate processes. Maria highlights protecting startup culture by selectively opting into SPH’s systems while keeping focus on core operations.
10:15 Reflections on the COO Role: Maria describes how market pressures shifted her COO role towards sales, HR, and nimble operations, emphasizing clear communication and alignment with CEO Willis.
19:01 AI’s Impact on Media and Proprietary Data: With AI commoditizing general news, Maria sees proprietary startup data and scoops as key advantages that keep Tech in Asia essential and differentiated.
27:54 The Role of Media in Information Distribution: Media reduces opacity in Southeast Asia’s tech scene. Maria cites Glass Wall as a tool that surfaced hidden industry knowledge, helping founders avoid bad actors.
40:27 Parenting in the Digital Age: Maria shares her parenting approach limiting social media, allowing moderated screen time, and using AI for productive learning while delaying harmful exposure.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/maria-li-parenting-publishing-and-ai-panic
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Jeremy Au and Shiyan discuss Singapore’s election outcomes, unpacking voter behavior, opposition growth, independent candidates, and future policy challenges. They reflect on global trends, local issues like housing and education, and how politics, tech, and business intersect in a rapidly changing world.
01:27 Surprising Election Results: PAP exceeded expectations, rising above 66% vote share. Workers' Party retained voter support in key wards. Analysts underestimated incumbency and voter desire for stability.
06:10 PAP's Communication Strategy: Lawrence Wong and other leaders used podcasts and longer formats effectively. Jeremy highlights how this humanized the PAP and resonated with younger, thoughtful voters.
15:50 Independent Candidate Jeremy Tan: Jeremy Tan stood out with tech-forward and well-researched policies. His CPF Bitcoin idea drew mixed reactions but sparked debate. Other proposals, like scam prevention, were seen as creative.
22:15 Future Challenges and Hopes: Jeremy and Shiyan express concerns about AI, education readiness, and global trade risks. Singapore faces the challenge of adapting its economy if East-West trade tensions become permanent.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/incumbents-hold-strong
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Jeremy Au shares how venture capital evaluates startups, using examples from crypto confusion, post-WWII VC history, and power law returns. He explains why founders often misunderstand their market type, how tech repeats old cycles, and how VCs structure investments. Speaking practically, he highlights why founders must communicate clearly and how VC math rewards big winners and tolerates many losses.
1. Founders often believe in Blue Ocean, but many are in Red Oceans. Almost all founders think their idea is unique, but many just add features.
2. Red Ocean founders should expect slower, efficient growth. VCs advise Red Ocean founders to grow carefully, accept slower returns.
3. Blue Ocean founders must clearly explain their differentiation. VCs become jaded and need clear explanations to believe in new categories.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/vc-judgement-patterns
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Jeremy Au chats with Jed Ng, founder of AngelSchool.vc, about why he chose angel syndicates over VC funds as a faster, more flexible path to financial freedom. They discuss the current venture downturn as a rare opportunity, the gaps in angel education, and how Jed scaled his 1,400-member syndicate globally. Jed also shares how he evaluates founders and the hard truths of building solo in Southeast Asia’s venture scene.
1. Syndicate over fund by design: Jed explains why syndicates offer faster execution, greater flexibility, and more personal freedom compared to the 10-year commitment of VC funds.
2. Angel investing as a freedom strategy: He views angel investing not just as a financial play, but as a path to independence through systematic access to outsized returns.
3. Downturns are entry points: Jed frames the current venture slowdown as a rare opportunity—where long-term investors can “buy the dip” and build for the next upcycle.
4. Angel education is broken: While founders and VCs have support systems, angels don’t. Jed built Angel School to give new investors real tools—not just theory—to operate effectively.
5. Built global from day one: His syndicate scaled to 1,400 LPs across 14 countries using digital tools and inbound growth, proving that solo-led syndicates can operate at global scale.
6. Diligence isn’t just data: Jed looks beyond pitch decks to assess founder-market fit, sweat equity, and grit—focusing on long-term behavior over short-term polish.
7. Founder romanticism is risky: Not everyone should raise venture. Jed calls for filtering out hobbyist founders and backing only those who demonstrate true commitment and resilience.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/syndicates-over-funds
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Jeremy Au and Rachel Wong unpack eFishery's founder’s public confession to systematic fraud. They dive into how cultural pressures, ecosystem gaps, and misplaced investor trust contributed to the fallout. They discuss the challenges of cross-border enforcement, the limits of traditional due diligence, and the real-world consequences for Southeast Asia’s startup reputation. Together, they reflect on how founders, investors, and regulators must learn from these failures to rebuild trust and resilience in the next cycle.
1. Founder confessed openly: The eFishery CEO admitted in a Bloomberg interview to falsifying numbers, directly exposing himself to criminal and civil legal risks.
2. Cross-border enforcement is weak: Rachel explains that without strong local enforcement or overseas assets, penalties against founders in emerging markets are hard to execute.
3. Culture of normalized fraud: The founder justified faking numbers by claiming it was common practice among Indonesian startups, though Jeremy and Rachel reject this excuse.
4. Investors and auditors missed the fraud: Despite hiring PwC and visiting farmers, due diligence failed because the founder orchestrated systematic deception through subsidiaries and coached farmers.
5. Utilitarian morality used to rationalize: The founder defended his actions by claiming the fraud helped fishermen and employees, which Rachel critiques as dangerous self-gaslighting.
6. Civil lawsuits unlikely: They points out that expensive litigation, low recovery odds, and coordination problems among investors make civil action improbable.
7.Southeast Asia’s startup credibility at risk: Both argue that if regulators fail to act on this clear case, it will cause long-term damage to trust and investment in the region.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/efishery-fraud-founder-confession
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Jeremy Au shares insights into how venture capitalists evaluate early-stage startups in Southeast Asia. Speaking directly to aspiring founders, he breaks down how investors assess potential through three core lenses: exponential growth, clarity of thinking, and personal trust. Drawing on personal stories, failed bets, and breakout wins, he explains that execution matters more than the idea itself, and that successful fundraising often comes down to preparation, communication, and timing. He also demystifies how power shifts when founders build momentum moving from pitching for approval to choosing among term sheets. The conversation is a practical roadmap for anyone serious about turning a startup into a venture-backable business.
1. VCs bet on growth and execution: Investors look for startups that can grow 4–9x in two years, led by 10x teams solving painful problems with strong economics. Execution beats ideas.
2. Pitching is a clarity test: A good pitch clearly shows the problem, market, and revenue model. Demos work better than words. VC money is high-risk, high-reward—founders must know the trade-offs.
3. Trust drives fundraising leverage: Founders earn trust through credibility and results. When momentum builds, investors compete—like Rewind AI’s 170 term sheets via Google Doc.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/outperform-or-fade
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Jeremy Au reconnects with Milan Reinartz to explore how angel investing evolved into a community-led platform, why Southeast Asia’s VC math doesn’t work, and how late-stage private markets offer new opportunities for retail millionaires. They talk through founder quality, opaque incentives, and the need for real diligence in a fragmented region. It’s a grounded take on what needs to change in early-stage investing and what’s already shifting.
1. From solo investing to a platform: Milan started out deploying his own capital but realized he needed to pool investors to access better rounds.
2. Backing experienced founders only: He avoided pre-revenue startups and focused on tier-one operators with track records and strong fund backing.
3. Bundling small checks to access big rounds: The club combined smaller investments into a single vehicle to meet the $100K+ minimums of top-tier deals.
4. Vetting with the right experts: The community cross-checks deals with vertical operators like SaaS leaders or commodities experts to assess traction and founder integrity.
5. Southeast Asia’s exit math problem: Milan explains how capital raised outpaces available exit value, making traditional VC returns nearly impossible at scale.
6. Filtering out bad faith actors: Milan and Jeremy discuss how investors can use networks and peer validation to spot red flags early.
7. Giving accredited investors better access: Milan’s platform opens up late-stage private tech companies like SpaceX and OpenAI to “retail millionaires” without large ticket sizes.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/rebuilding-venture-capital
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Jeremy Au reconnects with Anthea Ong for a candid conversation on what it means to lead with integrity, empathy, and independence. They trace her journey from corporate leadership into the social sector and eventually into Parliament as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP). Anthea shares how she first declined the NMP role, then later accepted it after realizing that structural change especially around mental health and vulnerable communities required policy influence. She recounts her unconventional first speech in Parliament, starting with three collective breaths to bring mindfulness into the chamber. They discuss how debate still matters in a supermajority system, why recent mid-term resignations have damaged the credibility of the NMP scheme, and the need to rethink Singapore’s political structures in light of global democratic shifts. Anthea also talks about her current work leading WorkWell Leaders, a nonprofit that helps CEOs prioritize employee wellbeing and lead more sustainably.
1. Anthea declined the NMP role in 2011 but said yes in 2018 after realizing that structural change, not just grassroots work, was needed to support mental health and social equity.
2. Her nomination came through the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, and she was selected despite thinking she had performed poorly in the final interview.
3. She made history by starting her first Parliament speech with a short breathing exercise to center presence bringing mindfulness into a space built for debate.
4. She used her platform to speak against discriminatory hiring practices, particularly those that asked job applicants to disclose mental health history.
5. She argued that even in a supermajority Parliament, debate still matters because it influences implementation, sets public tone, and archives dissent for future accountability.
6. She criticized the recent mid-term resignations of two NMPs who joined political parties, warning that it erodes public trust and turns the scheme into a talent pipeline.
7. Today, she leads WorkWell Leaders, where she works with over 80 companies to show how a CEO’s personal wellbeing is directly linked to employee health and business performance.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/human-centered-governance
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Jeremy Au speaks with Valerie Vu about Vietnam’s sudden shock from the 46% US tariff under Trump. What started as optimism turned into panic factories collapsed, partners pulled out, and even personal tragedies occurred. The government acted fast, but trust with the US was damaged. Vietnam is now shifting toward multipolar trade, owning more of its value chain, and exploring new diplomatic lanes with countries like China, Singapore, and the UAE. They also explore how digital platforms like TikTok are emerging as tools of modern diplomacy.
Vietnam was blindsided by the 46% tariff, causing financial losses, factory shutdowns, and even suicides from sudden business collapse.The government responded immediately with emergency meetings and a direct call from the General Secretary to Trump.The US refused to reverse tariffs without demanding currency reform, trade surplus reduction, and blocking Chinese transshipment.Vietnam expanded trade talks with China, UAE, Australia, and others, while strengthening regional ties with Singapore and Indonesia.Factory owners are now investing in branding, design, and IP to move up the value chain and reduce reliance on OEM contracts.Cambodia and Malaysia are also recalibrating as China freezes infrastructure investments and US tariffs shake regional trade flows.Singapore’s PM Lawrence Wong went viral in Vietnam through TikTok, showing how soft power now runs through short-form media. -
Jeremy Au sits down with Jeffrey Lonsdale to unpack the US-China trade standoff, the Taiwan flashpoint, and how Southeast Asia is adapting to global shifts. They explore how tariffs are reshaping supply chains, the risk of trade wars escalating, and the difficult position countries like Vietnam and Singapore now find themselves in. The conversation also looks ahead at how governments, investors, and founders should think about resilience in a volatile world.
1. Tariffs as a political and economic tool - Trump uses tariffs not only to protect US industries but as a form of domestic consumption tax, shifting behavior and revenue like a GST or VAT.
2. Escalation breeds popularity - Politicians in countries like Canada, Mexico, and parts of Europe gain domestic support by opposing Trump era tariffs, encouraging confrontational stances.
3. Two futures for the US economy - A positive outcome involves cutting red tape and reindustrializing; a negative one sees trade wars, inefficiency, and geopolitical instability, especially if China moves on Taiwan.
4. China-Taiwan conflict would ripple globally - Supply chains are tightly linked—any flashpoint could halt key components, expose Western dependency on Chinese manufacturing, and cripple downstream industries.
5. Southeast Asia’s mixed upside - Countries like Vietnam and Indonesia benefit from the “China plus one” shift, but they’re also at risk if rerouted exports from China trigger new US tariffs.
6. Neutrality may not last - Singapore’s attempt to stay neutral could break down in a Taiwan crisis; facilitating trade with China could be interpreted as taking sides.
7. Southeast Asia’s long-term growth hinges on reform - Vietnam and Indonesia need policy upgrades, power reliability, legal trustworthiness, and governance improvements to fully capitalize on global shifts and avoid investor skepticism after scandals like eFishery.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/tariffs-shape-trade
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Blue Orca Capital’s allegations against BetterHelp and highlights growing tensions in tech-enabled labor platforms. BetterHelp is accused of using AI to replace human therapists, driven by cost pressures and incentive structures. The case reflects broader risks as AI begins to reshape trust, quality, and business models in two-sided marketplaces.
Therapists allegedly use AI to engage patients: Customers reported robotic replies and confirmed AI usage through detection tools, raising concerns about trust and ethics in mental healthcare.Incentives and burnout drive AI reliance: Therapists are paid by word count and overloaded with 60+ patients per week, making AI an easy shortcut to meet performance targets.Business slowdown exposes deeper cracks: BetterHelp’s user base, revenue growth, and profit margins are all declining, while Teladoc faces accounting scrutiny and leadership turnover.Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/ai-therapist-problem
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Jeremy Au sits down with Li Hongyi, director of Open Government Products, to explore his journey from aspiring physicist to building digital tools for public service. They discuss agency, leadership, and the realities of driving change in government—from the impact of a Google internship to lessons in management and building systems that protect against fraud.
1. Dreaming in equations: As a kid, Hongyi wanted to be a physicist—he loved thinking in systems and solving puzzles like the resistor cube challenge in secondary school.
2. Systems over subjects: He saw physics, economics, and computer science as different languages for modeling how things work and how people behave.
3. Google made it real: His internship showed him that his work could help real users, shifting his focus from theory to practical impact and leading him to computer science.
4. Agency isn't given—it's taken: He realized in university that waiting for the “next step” wasn’t enough. A friend pushed him to apply to Google, which changed his mindset.
5. Becoming a manager meant unlearning: Early on, he micromanaged engineers. Over time, he learned that great managers remove roadblocks instead of redoing others' work.
6. Empowerment beats control: Inspired by his Google boss, he now sees leadership as creating the right conditions for others to thrive—not just setting direction.
7. Parking.sg was the easy part: Coding the app took 3 months, but aligning agencies, digitizing data, and syncing with enforcement took 8–9 months.
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Jordan Dea-Mattson, a veteran tech leader, and Jeremy Au discussed how Jordan built developer tools at Apple and went on to lead engineering teams at Adobe and Indeed. They explored how he witnessed Apple’s transformation under Steve Jobs, the often unseen dynamics behind major tech layoffs, and what it takes to grow and scale high-performing teams in Southeast Asia. Jordan also shared how he led the rapid expansion of Indeed Singapore, navigated its unexpected closure, and helped his team transition. He also opens up about overcoming personal trauma, leading with integrity, and why real bravery means acting in the face of fear.
1. From curious teen to Apple product manager: Jordan fell in love with computers in middle school, studied computer science, and hustled his way into a job at Apple by fixing bugs and thinking like a product owner.
2. Building early developer tools: He managed key tools like ResEdit and Max bug, and worked on making Apple software usable in Japanese, Arabic, and Hebrew—shaping his global product thinking.
3. Seeing Apple with and without Jobs: Jordan lived through Apple's lost years and felt the seismic shift when Steve Jobs returned—cutting the product line, raising the bar, and restoring focus.
4. From Apple to Adobe: At Adobe, Jordan worked on Acrobat's SDK, then led a cross-product team to improve interoperability—laying the groundwork for what became the Adobe Creative Suite.
5. Layoffs, politics, and unintended consequences: He was laid off during Adobe’s merger with Macromedia, learning firsthand how internal politics often decide who stays and who goes.
6. Helping Adobe’s products play nice: His team standardized core components like fonts and color management, turning a “preschool” of incompatible products into a cohesive offering.
7. Building Indeed Singapore from scratch: In 2018, Jordan set up the Indeed product center in Singapore, growing it from 4 to 250 people—emphasizing diversity, speed, and engineering quality.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/engineering-soft-landings
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Jeremy Au breaks down what founders should really look for in a VC—beyond branding. He shares a practical framework for value-add, highlights how VCs behave in failure, and urges founders to dig deeper than surface signals. The conversation also looks at why older founders often perform better, even if they raise less, and the dynamics of VC incentives.
VCs show true value in failure: Founders often overlook how a VC behaves when things fall apart—but that’s when reputation is earned.Most “value-add” claims are surface-level: Using a pyramid model, Jeremy explains that real value lies in basics like capital, governance, and reinvestment—not flashy perks.Some VCs actively destroy value: He shares how one VC blocked a cents-on-the-dollar exit, leading the startup to shut down completely.Support goes beyond capital: A VC offering a personal loan during a tough time stood out more than any platform or pitch.Reference-check your VC: Don’t just talk to winning startups—learn how the VC acted when things went badly. -
Jeremy Au unpacked why most startups fail and how failure is often misunderstood especially in Southeast Asia’s tech landscape. He pointed out that failure isn’t just about poor execution or bad luck. It’s often structural, recurring across funding stages, and rooted in deeper issues like team mismatches, market timing, or scaling too fast. He also drew a clear line between economic failure and personal failure, reminding founders that not hitting a return target doesn’t mean they’re bad leaders or people. He shared recurring patterns and what comes next for those who’ve been through it.
1. Good Idea, Wrong Team: Some startups never get off the ground because the team can’t execute—either due to weak dynamics or the wrong mix of skills.
2. False Starts: Products built in a vacuum without real user insight often flop, no matter how technically sound they are.
3. False Positives: Early traction can be misleading—what works in one market or segment may fail in another if context isn’t deeply understood.
4. Speed Trap: Fast growth and big funding can set unrealistic expectations, creating pressure to scale beyond what the team or model can handle.
5. Bad Macro Luck: External events—like funding winters or shifting investor focus—can kill momentum even for strong companies.
6. Cascading Miracles: Some ambitious startups crash despite big raises and press hype, only to see others succeed later with the same core idea.
7. The Second-Time Edge: Founders who’ve succeeded before have better odds next time around, thanks to sharper timing, stronger networks, and better-hiring instincts.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/startup-false-starts
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Jeremy Au talks with Gita Sjahrir, an Indonesian economist and entrepreneur, in a deep dive on Indonesia’s current macroeconomic conditions and policy landscape. They analyze how inconsistent government communication, executional shortcomings, and short-term policymaking have contributed to uncertainty among investors and the public. The discussion also explores infrastructure priorities, the structural incentives behind recent decisions, and the enduring resilience of Indonesian citizens and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This episode offers a pragmatic assessment of an economy with strong fundamentals navigating through complex challenges.
1. Market turmoil triggered by poor policy communication: Stock prices dropped, and the IDX temporarily halted trading after inconsistent government messaging on taxes and royalties.
2. Investor confidence shaken by opacity: The lack of clear direction and unified communication made both local and foreign investors wary of the policy environment.
3. Layoffs highlight deeper weaknesses: Mass layoffs by a major garment company raised concerns about weakening consumer demand and employment trends.
4. Sovereign wealth fund rollout lacks transparency: The introduction of DARA, a new sovereign wealth fund, failed to clarify how infrastructure or job creation goals would be met.
5. Execution—not intent—is the policy bottleneck: While school lunch programs and stimulus plans aim to help, flawed rollout and budget tradeoffs create new public dissatisfaction.
6. Budget cuts send mixed signals: Programs for small and medium businesses have seen funding reduced, undermining growth for the sector that employs millions.
7. Controversial military law revision sparks unrest: The lack of draft transparency triggered fears over potential authoritarian shifts, adding to market and public anxiety.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/crisis-of-confidence
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Jeremy Au discussed how pitching, trust, and fundraising work. He explained that pitching is about expressing a future others can believe in, not just raising money. He shared how traction builds trust, why capital must be chosen carefully, and how great founders turn investor interest into leverage. Drawing on examples like Rewind.ai and BenchSci, he laid out what separates good pitches from great businesses.
Pitch to clarify thinking: Saying your plan out loud invites feedback and sharpens your logic.Traction builds trust, not slides: Focus on customer milestones first—VCs only glance at decks.Trust is built, not assumed: Show credibility, deliver reliably, be warm, and care beyond yourself.Keep small promises: Reliability grows when you do what you say, even with tiny tasks.Say yes to help: Accepting offers like coffee builds closeness and rapport.Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/pitch-with-purpose
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Vikram Bharati, founder of Draper Startup House, and Jeremy Au talked about how the startup world has shifted since their last conversation. They explored how Draper Startup House has expanded across continents while wrestling with the challenge of scaling both physical spaces and community-driven programming. They discussed how remote and hybrid work are evolving post-pandemic, and how startups are adapting faster than large corporations. They also reflected on parenting and preparing the next generation for a fast-changing world, where original thinking and adaptability may matter more than credentials. Vikram also shared his growing interest in “digital nations,” a concept that could reshape how governments serve people and how individuals relate to borders and institutions.
1. Scaling Draper Startup House globally: Vikram shares that Draper Startup House has grown to 15 locations across South America, India, and Korea, focused on building startup communities in adventurous and underserved places.
2. Finding the right people as a challenge: The model combines real estate ("hardware") and startup programming ("software"), which requires local leaders who can do both—something that's tough to find consistently.
3. Remote work is here to stay: Vikram believes the post-pandemic world has made flexible work a permanent reality, especially for startups and global teams like his, which now span the US, Brazil, India, Portugal, and more.
4. Hybrid models work best: The trend he sees is a mix of in-person and remote work—typically two or three days in the office—which balances productivity and employee satisfaction.
5. Parenting in a changing world: Both Jeremy and Vikram reflect on raising young kids today, and how future success may depend more on adaptability and creativity than traditional credentials or schooling.
6. Unique perspectives come from unplugging: Vikram suggests that stepping outside the common information feed is one way to build original thinking—especially as everyone now consumes the same digital content.
7. Digital nations as the next frontier: Vikram outlines his interest in building “digital nations”—online systems that provide government-like services and community without being bound to geography, potentially expanding opportunity beyond borders.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/scaling-startup-communities
Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea
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Shiyan Koh, Managing Partner of Hustle Fund, and Jeremy Au explored the growing challenges of youth unemployment in Singapore and how AI is fundamentally changing the job market. They discussed how the rise of automation is making entry-level roles less necessary, leading companies to prioritize experienced hires who can work with AI rather than train fresh graduates. They also examine how AI amplifies the gap between high and low performers, making adaptability and self-motivation more crucial than ever. They also talked about the need for educational reforms that focus on problem-solving and real-world applications, as well as how young professionals can position themselves for success in an AI-driven economy.
1. Youth unemployment rates are increasing – In 2022, 94% of Singapore university graduates were employed within six months, but by 2024, only 87% of fresh graduates had secured full-time jobs.
2. AI is displacing entry-level jobs – AI tools are replacing tasks traditionally done by junior employees, reducing the need for new hires, especially in roles like market research, legal functions, and writing.
3. Companies prefer experienced hires – Businesses are opting for experienced workers who are comfortable using AI tools, reducing the reliance on entry-level hires due to the high cost of training and managing juniors.
4. AI benefits top performers – High performers in companies are already leveraging AI, while low performers are falling behind, highlighting that AI does not necessarily level the playing field.
5. The challenge of learning through apprenticeships – Entry-level positions have traditionally been apprenticeships where workers learn the craft. With fewer junior roles available, the next generation of workers may lack the experience needed for senior positions.
6. Education needs to change to foster agency – Shiyan suggests that education should focus on helping students develop agency and problem-solving skills by working on open-ended real-world problems, rather than simply memorizing facts.
7. The importance of finding passion and adaptability – As AI changes the job landscape, young professionals must be passionate about their work and adaptable to new tools like AI to remain competitive in the evolving market.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/ai-job-disruption
Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com
WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea
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Jeremy Au talked about how venture capitalists assess startups based on their ability to scale rapidly, led by strong founders with a clear strategy and market fit. However, their decisions are shaped by heuristics, biases, and time constraints. The best founders move fast, refine their pitches, and demonstrate exponential growth potential. He also discussed how VCs evaluate startups, the common pitfalls in fundraising, and why speed and conviction matter.
1. VCs bet on exponential growth – Investors look for startups that can double or triple revenue yearly. “If you start at $10K, triple it, then double—you’re at $100M in nine years.”
2. Founders are the first filter – VCs assess character, skill, and drive. A great founder learns fast and executes relentlessly.
3. Strategy must be clear – Investors back ideas that are logical and practical. A strong strategy directly addresses market demands.
4. 10x thinking defines winners – Great startups offer a product that is 10x better, target a massive market, and have strong unit economics.
5. Speed wins in venture capital – The best deals close fast, often within hours.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/venture-capital-decision-tree
Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com
WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea
English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts
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Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts
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