"There’s a famous saying, ‘A good negotiation is where each party is equally unhappy rather than happy.’ When you think about recovery, defaults, and enforcement, there are some cases where it's a real asset, but a business usually has most of its intrinsic value in itself. And just trying to take over the keys, if you've had an entrepreneur running a business for a decade or generations, we can't kid ourselves, you're not the person to come in and take over those businesses to get the best value. So very often then, it's a delicate balance between using your stick and your enforcement, but also wanting to work with the family or the entrepreneurs." - Jason Edwards
"One of the things that I noticed from venture capital and private equity is that in private equity, you are cordial but you're very focused on your rights. If things don't work out, I'm going to take whatever action I can to get what’s mine, but in venture capital, if it doesn't work out, there's usually nothing left, so there's this mentality of ‘we're all in this together’. We're not fighting with the founder, saying, ‘Hey, this is my right eye on this.’ We want to help that founder as much as possible because if he succeeds, we succeed. And I really like that. That was such a nice change from banging the fist on the table and doing all other things. The whole mentality is different. We work together. We work with other VCs. We're all in this together. It's one for all and all for one." - Jason Edwards
"Majority of VCs have pivoted. They are now pushing B2B because they've realized that there are very few exits in B2C. What kind of exits do they have? Do they look good? Grab raised $20 billion and its valuation is 12. It's the worst-performing startup in the history of Southeast Asia in terms of money lost. If you look at the other ones, there aren’t huge returns for every investor. That was one of the learnings, but for me, it was realizing how many opportunities there are. I love the environment. There were people who were leaving comfortable paid jobs to take risks. And that's exciting. They’re people who believe in what they're doing, who want to control their own destiny, and often, who are very smart and determined, even knowing full well that most startups don't succeed. That is a huge risk and I love to be in that environment where people really believe in themselves and are prepared to take risks for really strong outcomes." - Jason Edwards
In this episode, Jeremy Au speaks on the lawyer to founder and VC journey, Alternatives.pe regional capital insights, and January Capital venture debt strategy.
Keywords: Jason Edwards, Lawyer to Founder and VC, Alternatives.pe Regional Capital Insights, January Capital Venture Debt Strategy, Singapore, Southeast Asia, VC, Founder Story
