BRAVE Southeast Asia

The Science of Inspiration: Why Leaders Inspire or Infuriate | Adam Galinsky - E709

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0800

"Leaders have no choice in whether they impact others. An offhand compliment by a leader becomes glorious praise, but an offhand insult becomes humiliating criticism. Because we don't have a choice of whether to impact others, we will either inspire or we will infuriate." - Adam Galinsky

"I see inspiring and infuriating on a universal continuum made up of three factors. The three factors really are how we see the world, which is being visionary; how we are in the world, which is being an exemplar; and how we interact in the world, which is being a mentor. The reason why these are the three universal factors of inspiring others is because each one solves a fundamental human need." - Adam Galinsky

"I think that in more independent cultures like America, we want our leaders to be brave and courageous in how they present themselves. One thing that comes up a little bit more in Asia is this idea of hypocrisy—the idea that it's really important for someone to act consistently with the words that they espouse, partly based on this idea of collectivism versus independence." - Adam Galinsky

Adam Galinsky, Professor at Columbia Business School and visiting faculty at INSEAD Singapore, joins Jeremy Au to dive into the deep psychological science behind what makes leaders truly inspiring. Drawing from his extensive research and bestselling books, Adam unpacks how power and status alter our brains and behaviors, introducing concepts like the "low-power double bind" and the "leader amplification effect."

Adam shares actionable frameworks for becoming an "inspiring architect" by mastering three universal pillars: being a Visionary, an Exemplar, and a Mentor. Jeremy and Adam also discuss the unforeseen dangers of outsourcing our cognitive functions to Artificial Intelligence, which Adam describes as a "sycophantic butler" that can stunt learning and development. Finally, they explore the nuances of cross-cultural leadership, contrasting Western expectations of courage with Asian values of consistency and collectivism, before closing with a powerful personal story about moral bravery, perspective-taking, and empathy.

Get Adam's book, Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others: https://adamgalinsky.com

00:00:00 - Introduction and the Science of Inspiration

00:01:32 - Navigating Negotiations, Power, and the Low-Power Double Bind

00:04:46 - The Leader Amplification Effect: Inspiring vs. Infuriating

00:06:25 - The Transformative Power of Reflection and State of Mind

00:15:02 - The Dangers of AI as a Sycophantic Butler

00:17:30 - The Three Pillars of Inspiration: Visionary, Exemplar, and Mentor

00:28:47 - The Importance of Perspective-Taking in Business and Politics

00:35:36 - Leaders vs. Managers: Structuring Vision and Empathy

00:37:42 - Cultural Nuances in Global Leadership: East vs. West

00:40:01 - A Personal Story of Moral Courage and Stewardship

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Keywords: Leadership Development, Organizational Psychology, Science of Inspiration, Cross-Cultural Leadership, Power and Status, Columbia Business School, INSEAD Singapore, Perspective-Taking, AI and Learning

Nickel, Chinese EVs and a Senate Chase in the Philippines | Franco Varona - E708

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0800

"In times of crisis, Filipinos really show you where they want to go and what businesses our fund can invest in. This happened during COVID with the rapid digitization of the country. Now, this recent energy crisis has led to an EV boom and really pushed the drive for renewable energy in the Philippines." - Franco Varona

"We're one of the largest nickel producers in the world, which is critical for batteries, but right now we literally just mine it out of the earth and export it raw. The real value comes when you process these minerals. Initiatives like Pax Silica aim to create onshore processing, allowing us to export much higher-value materials." - Franco Varona

"The EV shift in the Philippines is real. What's crazy is that this rapid adoption is happening despite the fact that our local infrastructure for electric vehicles is still developing. It shows how quickly consumers can adapt, pushing the entire country toward renewable energy and solar solutions." - Franco Varona

In this episode, Jeremy Au and Franco Varona discuss the rapid economic and technological shifts in the Philippines driven by recent global energy dynamics. They explore the unexpected 300% surge in local electric vehicle (EV) sales, the rise of solar panel adoption among everyday consumers, and the structural challenges facing the Philippine power grid. Franco also breaks down recent dramatic political shifts in the Philippine Senate and explains what they mean for the local startup ecosystem. Finally, they analyze the strategic implications of the newly signed "Pax Silica" agreement and the Luzon Economic Corridor, highlighting the massive opportunity for the Philippines to move up the value chain in semiconductor manufacturing and rare earth mineral processing.

00:00 - Introduction & Manila's Infrastructure Development

03:45 - The Global Energy Crisis & The Philippine EV Boom

09:00 - The Rise of Chinese EV Brands in Southeast Asia

13:30 - Comparing EV Adoption: The Philippines vs. Malaysia

16:20 - Summer Heatwaves & Power Grid Challenges in Manila

19:30 - The Consumer Shift Towards Solar Energy

20:50 - Navigating Wild Political Shifts in the Philippine Senate

25:20 - Leadership Changes & The Innovative Startup Act

27:25 - Unpacking "Pax Silica" & The Luzon Economic Corridor

31:30 - Moving Up the Semiconductor & Mineral Processing Value Chain

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Keywords: Philippines Startup Ecosystem, Electric Vehicles (EV) Southeast Asia, Pax Silica Philippines, Semiconductor Manufacturing Asia, Renewable Energy Philippines, Luzon Economic Corridor, Philippine Senate Politics, Rare Earth Mineral Processing, BYD Asia Adoption, Foxmont Capital Partners

Stablecoins And The Agent Economy Will Rewire How Money Moves | Dušan Stojanović - E707

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0800

"In 10 years, money will definitely be a complete commodity. What is going to be a true differentiator is what that VC can bring to the table other than money—in terms of support and having their own agentic AI support that can be tapped into the portfolio company's fleet of AI." - Dušan Stojanović

"Payments has always been the first mover when it comes to financial services innovation. If you look at payments today and the agentic AI economy, you're potentially looking at having an agent doing things for you and then paying for it. You want it to prepare the payment and look for what you want, but you still want to have the human in the loop to authorize that payment." - Dušan Stojanović

"Animoca Brands has actually received its stablecoin license in Hong Kong, which is linked to the Hong Kong dollar. That is a first mover for a regulated, licensed stablecoin in Asia, which makes it unique. The focus is really on regional trade, having stablecoins replacing or being a complementary solution to the big trade flows, not only in the Asian region but also globally." - Dušan Stojanović

Dušan Stojanović, founder of True Global Ventures (TGV), joins Jeremy Au to discuss the massive convergence of AI, stablecoins, and the future of venture capital. Dušan shares his incredible journey from building one of the world's first internet banks (Monabanq) in the early 2000s to achieving three exits in ten days as an angel investor.

He breaks down the significance of Animoca Brands securing a regulated stablecoin license in Hong Kong and how this will revolutionize regional B2B trade flows. Dušan also outlines his vision for the "agentic AI economy," predicting that AI-driven transactions will soon capture a massive share of global payments. Finally, they explore how AI agents are already disrupting software development and due diligence, and why venture capital money will become a pure commodity within the next decade.

00:00:00 - Introduction & Dušan’s Entrepreneurial Journey

00:05:15 - The Transition from Founder to Angel Investor

00:07:25 - The 25-75 Rule: How VCs Should Actually Add Value

00:10:00 - Navigating Startup Struggles and Internal M\&A

00:13:10 - Animoca Brands & Hong Kong’s Stablecoin License

00:16:45 - The Intersection of Blockchain and AI Payments

00:22:15 - The Rapid Rise of the Agentic AI Economy

00:24:50 - AI's Impact on Open Source Coding & Developer Productivity

00:28:15 - How AI Agents Will Disrupt Venture Capital Decision-Making

00:34:10 - A Personal Story of Bravery and Overambitious Visions

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Keywords: Venture Capital, Agentic AI, Stablecoins, Hong Kong Crypto License, B2B Payments, Southeast Asia Tech, Founder to Investor

Turn limiting beliefs into Liberating Beliefs | Nir Eyal - E706

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 06:08:41 +0800

"Motivation is a triangle: you need to know the behavior (what to do), the benefit (why you're doing it), and most importantly, the belief. If you don't have all three, you won't do the behavior, even if you know exactly what to do." - Nir Eyal

"The number one reason we don't accomplish our goals is because we quit. Why do we quit? Because it hurts. It hurts because we haven't separated pain from suffering. Pain is just a signal—it's data. Suffering is your interpretation of that information." - Nir Eyal

"Singapore is the best-selling country for the book right now, partially because the book is a love letter to Singapore. There are a lot of chapters in the book that could have only been written and been written about in Singapore." - Nir Eyal

Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable, joins Jeremy Au to discuss the core concepts of his newest book, Beyond Belief. They explore the profound difference between limiting and liberating beliefs, breaking down why having access to infinite information is no longer enough to drive meaningful behavioral change. Nir explains the science behind mental contrasting, how to separate physical pain from psychological suffering, and why popular concepts like "manifesting" often backfire. In a transparent, live coaching segment, Nir workshops Jeremy’s personal limiting beliefs around exercise, demonstrating how reframing deeply ingrained obligations into joyful, self-directed pursuits can unlock sustained motivation.

Grab Nir Eyal's new book Beyond Belief, plus Hooked and Indistractable, at

00:00:00 - The Evolution from Hooked to Indistractable to Beyond Belief

00:08:40 - Why Information Isn't Enough: The Motivation Triangle

00:11:49 - Defining Beliefs vs. Facts and Faith

00:13:20 - The Danger of Manifesting and the Power of Mental Contrasting

00:16:56 - Separating Pain from Suffering to Achieve Goals

00:24:07 - Recognizing Your Hidden Limiting Beliefs

00:28:28 - Live Workshop: Unpacking Jeremy's Beliefs on Exercise

00:36:20 - Shifting from Obligation to Liberating Beliefs

00:41:35 - The Four Questions to Challenge Limiting Beliefs

00:50:20 - Choosing Lenses and Beliefs That Serve You

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Keywords: Beyond Belief, Limiting Beliefs, Behavioral Psychology, Mental Contrasting, Habit Formation, Personal Development, Motivation Triangle, Hooked, Indistractable, Tech Leaders Southeast Asia, Singapore Startups

Singapore Works Too Well To Be A Great Startup Hub? | Adriel Yong - E705

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 05:05:25 +0800

"Everything works so well here that people don't have to think very hard as they go through life. There's no survival mentality, no grit, no sharp problem-solving skills born out of the need to solve a gazillion problems a day. While this efficiency should hypothetically give you more focus on building a business, it often numbs and dulls the problem-solving and disruptive mindset." - Adriel Yong

"When we talk about great startup hubs, we're mostly thinking about San Francisco. Not being a great startup hub doesn't mean you're not a great financial hub or business hub. Singapore is obviously a great APAC hub for large MNCs and AI labs. The danger is simply when you get trapped thinking about Singapore as your only market, or when you build a business that is too specific to Singapore's unique environment." - Adriel Yong

"As I paid my Singapore taxes last weekend, I realized Singapore would never be a great startup hub because everything just works too well here. It takes less than five minutes to file my taxes via Singpass—a process that would cost thousands of dollars and hours in the US. Ride-hailing and micro-mobility are naturally capped because of our great public transportation, and healthcare here is so affordable that you don't even think about using AI to navigate the system like you have to in America." - Adriel Yong

In this episode, Jeremy Au and Adriel Yong dive deep into a viral tweet that sparked a major debate across the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem: Does Singapore’s hyper-efficiency stifle its potential to become a world-class startup hub? Adriel expands on his controversial "shower thought," explaining how a friction-free life characterized by seamless tax filings, affordable healthcare, and pristine public transit, can inadvertently dull the raw survival instinct and grit that drive necessity-based innovation.

Jeremy and Adriel contrast Singapore's high-functioning public sector with the market failures of the United States, where systemic friction fuels massive private-sector opportunities in EdTech, FinTech, and HealthTech. They tackle the regional market-size debate, analyze successful counterpoints like Israel and Estonia, and discuss how Singapore can cultivate more global-first, resilient entrepreneurs without breaking the public systems that give its citizens an unparalleled quality of life.

00:00 "Singapore would never be a great startup hub"

00:42 The Tweet That Sparked a Tech Twitter Flame War

03:30 Does a 5 Million Market Cap Your Upside?

07:20 How Comfort Dulls the Founder Mindset

08:45 Edtech, Schools and Why Disruption Is Hard Here

13:55 Temasek, Family Wealth and the Equity Culture Gap

17:55 Why Founders Get Rich Abroad and Settle Here

20:55 The Fix: Send Every Student Overseas

27:00 Boring Politics, High Trust and the US-Singapore Flow

33:21 Final Takeaways for Founders

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Keywords: Singapore startup ecosystem, Southeast Asia tech, venture capital Singapore, Singapore taxes Singpass, tech innovation, global founders, Silicon Valley vs Singapore, EdTech market, market size constraint, entrepreneurship grit, GovTech Singapore, global-first startups, APAC business hub

Singaporeans are willing to give you chance if you have "The Focus" | Jeremy Tan - E704

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0800

"At some point in time, the people who own capital need to actually wake up. If you do not start having these conversations, people will come for the people that protect your capital, which is the bureaucracy and the incumbent parties of the world. Singapore has done a phenomenal job at curtailing the excess of capitalism until recent years, but trying to pretend that the role of capital doesn't need to do more for society is not going to cut it." - Jeremy Tan

"Growing up with no money is the best teacher. You just don't know how to have airs. The system itself requires a high level of competition. Team one will never be ready unless team two and team three are pushing them. It's easy for people in positions of material success or comfort to say, 'Let's not rock the boat too much.' But for some people out there, they just don't feel that we are on the same boat. It shouldn't be a default that you decide not to run. If this is where it calls for you, it just calls for you." - Jeremy Tan

"In the past, our parents' generation had seven or eight siblings because they paid off their flats in five to ten years. Today, you are taking 30-year loans on the premise that you might have 30-year incomes. You cannot capitalize properties so much to the point that the basic cost of just being a family and having a place to stay with kids becomes a struggle. The state has taken the decision freedom from you because time is an opportunity cost; they capitalize that time, take it out, and put it in the BTO flat system." - Jeremy Tan

Jeremy Tan, former politician and tech entrepreneur, joins Jeremy Au and Shiyan Koh to discuss his unexpected journey into Singaporean politics and his campaign for the Mountbatten SMC. Jeremy shares his candid reflections on the intense public scrutiny politicians face, the "meta" of modern political campaigning, and why relying on traditional on-the-ground tactics is no longer enough in an AI-driven era.

The trio dives deep into the pressing concerns of Singapore's middle class, specifically examining how the hyper-capitalization of HDB public housing is directly suppressing the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) by locking young couples into rigid timelines and financial debt. Jeremy also unpacks his provocative policy ideas, including abolishing primary school affiliations to reduce parental anxiety and creating state-matched baby equity accounts to give the next generation a compounding financial head start. Finally, he issues a stark warning about the widening wealth gap, urging capital owners to engage in solving systemic inequalities before the social fabric frays.

00:00 - Running for Office: Jeremy Tan’s background and his fundamental motivations for stepping into Singaporean politics.

04:14 - The Cost of Public Life: Why talented Singaporeans avoid politics, the fear of public scrutiny, and the risk of rocking the boat.

09:40 - The New Political Meta: Navigating campaigns in the AI era, zero-knowledge voting, and the danger of leveraging negative sentiment.

16:00 - Election Night Realities: Reflections on losing the Mountbatten SMC race, median voter theory, and the formidable nature of the incumbent party.

23:25 - Opposition Strategy: Why political parties should focus their resources on Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) to build credibility.

27:30 - The Fertility Rate Crisis: How the capitalization of HDB/BTO housing is delaying marriages and deeply impacting Singapore's TFR.

31:54 - Rethinking Education: The fallacy of "good" primary schools, the argument for abolishing the affiliation system, and mitigating parental stress.

43:20 - Baby Equity Accounts: A proposal for state-matched CPF investment funds to compound wealth for the next generation.

46:30 - The Excesses of Capitalism: A warning about the growing wealth gap and the urgent need for capital owners to support the broader society.

50:45 - Conclusion: Shiyan and Jeremy Au reflect on Jeremy Tan’s authenticity and his refreshing "just do the thing" mentality.

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Keywords: Singapore Politics, HDB Housing Policy, Total Fertility Rate (TFR) Singapore, Singapore General Election, Mountbatten SMC, Public Housing Capitalization, Primary School Affiliation, Wealth Gap Singapore, BTO Wait Times, Millennial Politicians

Invent the Category - E703

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0800

"Instead of looking at it as an against-all-odds underdog story, maybe the truth is that David simply chose to play to his strengths. He saw that Goliath was well-protected and armored, but recognized the shadow of that strength: he was slow and unable to react. David, meanwhile, used a slingshot that carried the kinetic energy of a pistol." - Jeremy Au

"Oatly was only invented in 1994 in Sweden. The fact that oat milk effectively became a billion-dollar category within 20 years, and is widely considered healthier than soy or cow's milk, is truly a testament to a startup's ability to go for the kill shot and build a billion-dollar category." - Jeremy Au

"At the start, every startup is like being in a jungle. You are lost, you have no idea where to go, and you need a machete. You do not know how to survive, and most likely, you will die along the way in the middle of that jungle." - Jeremy Au

In this episode, Jeremy Au reframes the classic David vs. Goliath story to explain how startups actually beat industry incumbents. The episode argues that David did not win against the odds: he consciously chose his strengths, namely speed, lightness, and a slingshot with the kinetic energy of a pistol, to overcome Goliath's heavy armor and shield. Modern startups follow the exact same playbook. Oatly, for example, leaned into rapid experimentation to build a billion-dollar oat milk category from nothing starting in 1994. The episode wraps with Harvard professor Jeffrey Bussgang's "Jungle, Dirt Road, Highway" framework for the startup lifecycle, using Jeff Bezos and Amazon as the prime example of a David deliberately evolving into a Goliath.

00:00 - The Geopolitical VC Split & "Reverse CFIUS"

02:00 - The Boom, Bust, and Impending SEA Startup Winter

03:21 - AI, The VC Power Law, and Talent Spotting

03:52 - Southeast Asia's Market Fragmentation

04:15 - Why Inefficiency is a Business Opportunity (Logistics & Fintech)

04:48 - The Global Capital Shift: USD Drop vs. RMB Rise

05:03 - Rethinking David & Goliath: How Startups Really Win

08:13 - Real-World Davids: The Rise of Oatly and Vapes

10:27 - The Startup Lifecycle: Jungle, Dirt Road, Highway

11:30 - From Startup to Goliath: The Evolution of Amazon

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Keywords: Startup Fundamentals, Category Creation, Startup Lifecycle Framework, David vs Goliath Strategy, Oatly Business Strategy, Jungle Dirt Road Highway, Jeffrey Bussgang, Jeff Bezos Amazon Evolution, Startup Kill Shot, Startup Growth Stages

Ori Sasson: AI Job Replacement & The Future of Work - E702

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 05:00:28 +0800

"Everything in business is 80% psychology and 20% skill. But when I look at it today with AI, it suddenly becomes 99% psychology and 1% skill. Because the skill is just being able to tell yourself, 'I don't know how to do it, but I'm going to ask the AI.' You need more humility." - Ori Sasson

"What this dynamic creates is something you can think of as the Hollywoodization of the workplace. In Hollywood, stars get a huge amount of money, while the extras who were getting very little are now not even there anymore. In the office, some jobs are being deleted, whereas the stars that are able to use AI to supercharge their productivity are rewarded more." - Ori Sasson

"The Singapore budget leans heavily into AI, acknowledging that the government needs to step in. It's not just about upskilling; it's an effort to make 100,000 people fluent in using AI. I think this is fantastic compared to other countries because there's a deliberate effort to make the workforce more effective using this technology." - Ori Sasson

Ori Sasson, founder of a Singapore-based software development firm, joins Jeremy Au to discuss the profound impact of AI on job security, productivity, and the global workforce. They explore the concept of the "Hollywoodization of the workplace," where highly motivated, AI-fluent "stars" command outsized value while entry-level "extras" face displacement.

Ori explains how embracing AI requires a fundamental mindset shift, arguing that modern success is now 99% psychology and 1% technical skill. The conversation also contrasts how different global ecosystems—specifically Singapore, the US, and Israel—are handling AI policy and upskilling, and debates how education and employer-employee incentives must evolve to share the immense productivity gains generated by artificial intelligence.

00:00 - Introduction to Ori Sasson and the varied impact of AI on different job sectors.

03:02 - Why early adoption of AI creates a widening productivity gap between companies.

05:39 - The verification tax: Why fear of letting go limits the true potential of AI tools.

10:10 - Redesigning roles: How product managers are becoming "LLM wrappers."

14:21 - The shift from 80% psychology in business to 99% psychology in the age of AI.

15:25 - The "Hollywoodization" of the workplace and the disappearing entry-level job.

19:04 - Rethinking employer-employee incentives and sharing the financial gains of AI productivity.

24:37 - The rise of the solopreneur and building AI-native businesses from scratch.

29:12 - How AI will transform professional services, law firms, and billable hours.

34:16 - Global AI policy: Comparing Singapore's proactive upskilling approach with the US and Israel.

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Keywords: AI in the Workplace, Future of Work, AI Productivity, Singapore Tech Policy, Job Displacement, LLM Adoption, Tech Startups Southeast Asia, AI Upskilling

Southeast Asia is in its Golden Age - E701

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:28:42 +0800

"Grab and Gojek were founded by Anthony Tan and Nadiem... all of them were in America, using Uber. Instead of saying, 'Why can't Singapore and these countries have ride-hailing like America?' they flipped it and said, 'This is a time travel machine. Southeast Asia is ripe for ride-hailing as well.' They took that category, copied, and localized it into Southeast Asia." - Jeremy Au

"Technologies stack on one another and enable new technologies to be built. It's important for countries not to leapfrog, but to be thoughtful about where they are in that technology stack. A good example would be: you can't have ride-hailing if people don't have cell phones, data equipment, and wireless internet." - Jeremy Au

"Southeast Asia and India are struggling to build large language models. First of all, we have different languages—English is not the same as Thai versus Vietnamese versus Filipino. The material, market sizes, and GDP per capita are all disaggregated. It makes it very hard to train AI every day compared to the American or Chinese ecosystems." - Jeremy Au

In this episode, Jeremy Au dives into the Southeast Asia unicorn landscape and explores Asia Partners' thesis that the region is entering a "golden age" of technology. Break down the concept of the "technology stack" and explain why startups cannot simply leapfrog essential infrastructure, using the early days of Grab and Gojek as prime examples of localization and "time machine" entrepreneurship. The discussion also unpacks the three major market archetypes in the region, Indonesia's massive single-market play, Singapore's lightweight regional expansion, and Vietnam's conglomerate approach. Finally, we examine the structural hurdles Southeast Asia faces in the global AI race, from fragmented languages to disaggregated data pools.

00:00 - The Southeast Asia Unicorn Landscape & Power Law

01:13 - Asia Partners' Thesis: Is Southeast Asia Entering a Golden Age?

03:38 - The Technology Tree: Why Countries Can't Leapfrog Infrastructure

06:21 - The "Time Machine" Strategy: Localizing US and Chinese IPOs

09:07 - The Danger of Time Traveling Too Far (e.g., Open Banking in Indonesia)

10:29 - VC Strategies: Regional Funds vs. Country-Specific Focus

12:37 - Southeast Asia Market Archetypes: Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam

16:23 - Evaluating Tech and Engineering Talent Across Southeast Asia

18:44 - Aligning Startup Ambitions with Local Country Infrastructure

23:59 - The Structural Challenges of Building AI and LLMs in Southeast Asia

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Keywords: Southeast Asia Startups, Venture Capital Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia Unicorns, Tech Ecosystem Asia, Grab and Gojek, Artificial Intelligence Southeast Asia, Large Language Models (LLMs), Technology Stack, Asia Partners Thesis, Tech Talent Migration

Become Incorruptible - The Truth Behind Successful Businesses | Eric Ries - E700

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:00:00 +0800

"One of the biggest myths in the world is that ruthless, exploitative, and anti-human business practices are more profitable than the alternative. It is just not true." - Eric Ries

"Since 2008, companies that have been given a rating of bad governance have actually outperformed those rated as having good governance in the stock market. Even though these practices are carried out in the name of shareholder value, they are not actually in the material interests of the shareholders they purport to represent." - Eric Ries

"AI is an accelerant to both technology and consumer trends because now you can build in a month what used to take a year. However, as we harness this new power to amplify our creativity and reach, we are also amplifying our moral responsibility for the outcome." - Eric Ries

Eric Ries, renowned author of "The Lean Startup" and the new book “Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great,” joins Jeremy Au to discuss the evolution of his entrepreneurial philosophy and his research on corporate governance. Eric shares the untold realities of scaling startup methodologies in the age of generative AI, where technological velocity meets high uncertainty. They delve into the hidden crisis of mission drift, exploring why successful founders often end up losing control of their company's core values and purpose.

Eric challenges the traditional "best practices" of venture capital and corporate governance, using compelling historical examples like Costco and Novo Nordisk to prove that mission-driven, human-centric business models consistently outlast and outperform ruthless exploitation. Finally, they unpack the critical need for alternative governance structures—such as purpose trusts and employee ownership—to build incorruptible organizations in an era of rapid institutional turnover.

00:00 - The Origins of "The Lean Startup"

04:30 - Crossing into the Mainstream Market

09:55 - Lean Startup Principles in the AI Era

12:45 - Why Successful Founders End Up Miserable

19:30 - Uncovering the Truth About Corporate Governance

26:15 - The Myth of the Exploitative Business Model

29:35 - Case Study: Costco vs. FedMart

34:00 - Novo Nordisk and Protecting the Founder's Mission

38:30 - The Future of Startups with Generative AI

41:00 - Fact-Checking with AI and Final Takeaways

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Keywords: The Lean Startup, Startup Governance, AI in Entrepreneurship, Corporate Governance, Mission-Driven Business, Founder Advice, Alternative Business Structures

Choosing Your Career Path and the Tradeoffs You Must Be Aware Of - E699

Thu, 28 May 2026 05:00:00 +0800

"It's important for you to observe what powerful people do, not what they say. There's often a very large gap between what is said versus what is unsaid. There's a very big difference between what people say in public versus what they say in private, one-on-one conversations without a recording device or camera on... everybody knows at some level that sacrifices had to be made." - Jeremy Au

"You need to own whatever it is. Own what you're good at, own what you're bad at. Own your discomfort. But don't be afraid of it. Don't be afraid of your strengths, your passions, or your weaknesses. Don't try to be that jack-of-all-trades who hopefully gets an A-minus in everything, just because that's what school wants you to do." - Jeremy Au

"Today, I'm back in Singapore, and I would say I'm a big fish in a small pond... There's no moral virtue to being a small fish in a big pond versus a big fish in a small pond. But I want you to be thoughtful about your career, because at some stages, you'll be a small fish in a big pond, and at others, you'll be the big fish in a small pond. Be comfortable seeing the situation for what it is and switching between those phases." - Jeremy Au

In this episode, Jeremy Au shares raw, unfiltered career advice, challenging the traditional self-help narratives often sold to young professionals. He unpacks why observing what powerful people do rather than what they say is crucial for navigating the business world. Drawing from his own experiences in Singapore and at Bain & Company, Jeremy dives into the strategic dynamics of being a "big fish in a small pond" versus a "small fish in a big pond." He also explores the critical balance between "outside-in" societal expectations and "inside-out" personal passions. Ultimately, Jeremy explains why actively choosing your own pain—while ruthlessly prioritizing your health and authentic relationships—is the foundation of a truly sustainable and fulfilling career.

00:00 - The Illusion of Self-Help and Success

00:52 - Own Your Power and Quirks

02:13 - Big Fish vs. Small Fish in the Career Pond

03:56 - "Outside-In" Expectations vs. "Inside-Out" Motivations

05:05 - Lessons from Bain & Company: Finding the Right Fit

06:44 - Prioritizing Health, Relationships, and Choosing Your Pain

08:34 - Conclusion and Outro

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Keywords: Career Development, Singapore Business, Professional Growth, Bain & Company, Leadership Advice, Mental Health in Tech, Work-Life Balance, Southeast Asia Tech

How Lasers Could Replace Undersea Cables & Reshape Global Internet | Rohit Jha - E698

Mon, 25 May 2026 08:00:00 +0800

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"Without telling the board, we took some capital out. Most of our team is ex-space, so we gave them extra beer and pizza and said, 'Look, you have this much money. Let's get to space, and then if we are successful, everyone will be happy and no one will say anything.' Taking an insane risk mentality is absolutely critical to success." - Rohit Jha, Co-founder and CEO of Transcelestial

"The bottleneck is not the connectivity at the city level, but the connectivity between data centers sitting in different countries or continents. What we are now building is essentially an undersea cable replacement. We are putting 40 satellites around the equator, forming a ring that provides connectivity of a terabyte per second, moving internet and cloud capabilities directly to orbit." - Rohit Jha, Co-founder and CEO of Transcelestial

"You have had a space company like Starlink launch and become ten times bigger than the biggest telco in the world. Telcos, like power grids, will remain nationalistic as long as nations exist because they route sensitive information tied to national security. However, they are now forced to adopt the space domain organically to provide better latency and lower costs." - Rohit Jha, Co-founder and CEO of Transcelestial

Rohit Jha, Co-founder and CEO of Transcelestial, joins Jeremy Au to discuss the future of global connectivity through laser communications. They unpack how Transcelestial is building an orbital ring of satellites to effectively replace traditional undersea cables and move cloud capabilities directly into space.

Rohit breaks down the strategic difference between Transcelestial's high-bandwidth laser network and radio-frequency solutions like SpaceX’s Starlink, explaining why partnering with national telcos is more sustainable than competing against them. Finally, Rohit shares a wild personal story about fending off muggers in Germany, drawing parallels to the brave, risk-taking mentality that led his team to secretly launch their space division.

00:00 - Sneaking capital to launch a space division

01:13 - Introduction to Transcelestial and laser internet

03:39 - From investment banking to understanding global networks

05:39 - Iterating product-market fit with terrestrial telcos

07:35 - How laser technology differs from SpaceX and Starlink

10:54 - Building an orbital ring to replace undersea cables

14:54 - The future of physical telcos in the age of space internet

19:14 - Why telcos prefer partnering over competing with space giants

26:04 - A personal story of bravery: Fighting muggers in Germany

28:46 - Why taking calculated risks is critical for multi-planetary goals

Keywords: Space Tech, Laser Communications, Satellite Internet, Telecommunications, Undersea Cable Replacement, SpaceX Starlink Alternative, Southeast Asia Deep Tech* *

Full Transcript

Jeremy Au: Hello, Rohit, how are you? Good to have you finally on the show.

Rohit Jha: Hey, Jeremy. It's great. I'm glad to come.

Jeremy Au: Rohit, exciting to see Transcelestial and the evolution over time. I want to catch up a little bit on that and make sure we cover all of those points. For those who don't know you yet, could you introduce yourself?

Rohit Jha: I am one of the co-founders and the CEO of Transcelestial. We have invented this technology which uses lasers to transmit the internet worldwide today. We are the world's largest manufacturer of this technology. Right now, the company is working towards building an orbital ring in lower to orbit, which basically surpasses the undersea cable and is used for both global communications and orbital data centers effectively.

Jeremy Au: How did you even decide to build and launch Transcelestial?

Rohit Jha: We were part of the Entrepreneur First cohort, which is an accelerator. They bring individuals together who can build something at the intersection of their interests or mainly their expertise. I was looking at the Breakthrough Initiative and thinking about how, as humanity scales amongst the stars, what are the things that are going to be important for it. When you think deeply about such a problem, what it really comes down to is three major pillars that any civilization is based on. One is transportation, going from point A to point B. The second is energy. Solar energy in and around Earth's orbit starts to get very weak. So, we need to find higher-density energy creation, storage, and transportation in space. That's still an unsolved problem. And the third is communications. Every single time throughout human history, when we have gone from pigeons to fire, to using Morse code, to wireless, to undersea cables, our entire GDP and our capability as a civilization has gone up. That became really interesting, and the inspiration came from looking up at the night sky and seeing starlight travel millions of light years to reach us. If you are able to put zeros and ones and encode that as photons or light, then we should be able to move data across stellar distances, which sounds like the starting point for humanity to expand in deep space and still be connected. When we looked around, we didn't see any company actually building this technology. That's the genesis of Transcelestial. We said, look, we will not only create this technology, but we have to work at making this at scale so we can actually build out the telecommunications network in deep space that's needed to do that.

Jeremy Au: What's interesting is your personal transition. It's a big jump from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore with your electrical and electronic engineering degree. One path is joining aerospace or DBS bank as an engineer. How did you make that personal set of decisions from how you graduated to being a founder?

Rohit Jha: As all engineers do after university, I joined investment banking. It was quite easy just looking at all the offers on the table. I was like, that pays the most, so I'll just go for that. But it was a super fun job. I worked with RBS, and I was involved in foreign exchange, looking at pricing and hedging for low-latency trading. One thing it really did was expose me for the first time to how the internet really works. Everyone was using it at that point, but no one really understands it. Nine out of ten people on the road don't know; they think it's beamed from satellites or magically comes from someplace. You start to understand that the internet is really a network of networks. There are these giant undersea cables which bring data between continents. Then on a national level, at a city level, telcos and governments have to spend so much time and money to put fiber optics under the ground, dig, and deploy trenches. It is not an easy task. Globally, Singapore is very unique, and maybe Japan to some extent, where a lot of this investment has been done very early on. But it required a tremendous amount of investment on a small scale. You cannot replicate that in large countries like the US or India. That's where I started to understand that whatever technology we are thinking about for space and what's needed for humanity in space could also help improve connectivity for the rest of the people in larger countries, where they're still struggling with good quality internet at cheap prices and low latency to the cloud.

Jeremy Au: What's interesting is that you understood this network piece and you made a set of decisions about wanting to build satellite internet. At that point, there was SpaceX, Starlink, and some level of vision for the internet in space. What was your product-market fit iteration to get to where you are today?

Rohit Jha: We decided to take our time to build the technology, build a team, and build the technology at scale—applying large-scale production—and then work out the supply chain needed behind the scenes. We said, if this is a technology of the future, it needs to solve today's problems. For the first few years, we focused on working with telcos in every country to take that technology and say, "Look, you guys are deploying fiber optics across your 5G cell towers. Let us provide you connectivity using laser communications." Instead of spending months and years trying to dig fiber and spending billions of dollars, you spend a fraction of the time and a fraction of the cost to set that up. Fast forward to today, NTT Group recently invested in us last year for our Japan entry. Now, NTT also sells our technology worldwide across 200-plus countries. Similarly, we are everywhere in Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. We work with 100% of all the telcos. Globe Telecom and Telkomsel are some of our forward-looking, most aggressively deploying telcos, along with Reliance and BSNL in India. In the US, some of our flagship customers have been T-Mobile, AT\&T, and Verizon. We've been working on a host of use cases for them. This technology is scaling tremendously now. We are building 30 terminals a week. We just went from 10 terminals to 30 terminals in January, and we are doubling that capacity again in the next couple of months. With a host of partners and telcos that we work with worldwide, this is starting to make a real impact on connectivity at a city level in various countries today.

Jeremy Au: Can we talk about the differentiation between your approach with laser high bandwidth versus SpaceX? They also have a connectivity mission, but could you talk about the differences in the technology, but also the use case? Is it competitive? Is it synergistic? How do you see it?

Rohit Jha: With SpaceX, the overlap actually comes in our space division. We started looking at our space portfolio roughly a year and a half ago because we thought it was time to go back to the original vision as we were starting to provide value on the ground. Space has been quite interesting. We secretly tested space-to-ground communications, and now we are starting to work with various satellite providers. Anyone who is not SpaceX is signing us up. In the last three months, we have signed up close to six satellite manufacturers, scaling to about a satellite manufacturer a month. Basically, what's happening with SpaceX, Amazon, and the rest of the world—anyone building communication networks in space—is they're building a concept I call "Wi-Fi from space." What that means is you basically have this giant Wi-Fi router in space. It is extremely powerful, much more so than your local home router, and it's beaming a radio signal that you use some kind of hardware on the ground to receive. Anyone who has Wi-Fi at home knows that if you walk into the next room, your speed reduces, or sometimes you lose the signal. These are the same problems SpaceX and everyone else has. Because they're so far away, they are significantly lower in speeds. While they are very good for extremely rural people, climbers, or ships out in the middle of the sea, they are really only useful for the less than 1% of the world who are literally on the edge. But for the rest of the bulk, the 99% of the world, things are changing with the advancement of AI. I don't know if you saw Google's earnings call yesterday, but they basically said that their search traffic has doubled or more than doubled just because of AI-based search. In the last five years, internet traffic has tripled or quadrupled because of that. That means our infrastructure supporting the 99% is already old. That's where our space network comes in. We realized the bottleneck is not the connectivity at the city level, but the connectivity between data centers sitting in different countries or continents, and connecting those to population groups. How can that AI capability or service be brought to the user? What we are building now is basically an undersea cable replacement. We are putting 40 satellites around the equator. We call it "The Ring." The Ring will provide connectivity of a terabyte per second. A terabyte per second is roughly the internet backbone for all of Singapore, and each of our satellites can do that. Each of our satellites is also being specced to 20 to 30-kilowatt data center capacity, so they can run AI capabilities and full cloud capabilities in orbit using large learning models. All of that basically moves the internet and cloud capability to orbit. Unlike SpaceX and everyone else, this is using light or lasers, which is around a thousand to a million times faster than Starlink.

Jeremy Au: When we met years ago, the initial concept was really about ground-to-space. What I'm seeing now is that you have this ground-to-ground laser approach first, and now you're adding the satellite component, but much more specified on the routes or nodes that you actually need to cover. That is quite interesting to see.

Rohit Jha: If you look at SpaceX, Amazon, and all the companies building LEO constellations, they're talking about thousands of satellites, which requires a huge amount of CapEx and launches over the next few years, plus a lot of spectrum licensing. They're fighting with different governments and telcos on that because telcos use the same 5G spectrum for their own networks. That's where we come in. We are now working with all our telco and government customers to provide this technology, which offers non-jammable communication. Whether you have a satellite in orbit taking photos or handling communications, a drone flying at a high altitude, a ship out at sea, or a base somewhere, our orbital ring basically provides an internet backbone that is the same as any data center or country can get. Not only that, it provides cloud capabilities directly in space. This turns every satellite that is not Starlink or SpaceX into an IoT gateway. Every single satellite that goes up into space is going to be forever connected to the internet. That is an extremely powerful shift from what we have seen so far. That's why we are having a record number of satellite companies approach us saying, "Look, we just want a laser terminal from you so that when our satellites go up in the next couple of months, they are always connected to the internet 24/7." That suddenly expands the amount of things they can do. The internet is a network of networks, so we still have to use our optical ground stations to feed the internet up into orbit. That's where we are starting to build out a bunch of these optical ground stations. Today, our first two are in Singapore and Barcelona. We are actually beaming lasers into orbit to our test satellites to perfect connectivity between space and ground. By the end of this year, we are looking at putting a half dozen of these around the world. In the next two years, we are looking at two dozen cities going live with our optical ground stations. We are just starting to ramp up and get more cities connected.

Jeremy Au: That makes a lot of sense. It seems like you're thinking much more of a partnership approach with the satellites. They seem to be interfacing with your ground terminals, and you're focusing on the ground side while partnering with them on the space side. Is that a fair assessment?

Rohit Jha: For our ring, those satellites are owned and run by Transcelestial. That whole network is actually owned by us. For the satellites themselves, we are working with other partners, but the entire network will be owned by us. We are going to be the telco. We have one test satellite which went up for testing in December, and we have three more going up this October for much larger capability testing. Starting next year, we will deploy our dedicated satellites in orbit to build the ring out. But yes, we are working with third-party satellite owners to give them internet capability. Think of it like we are selling them a SIM card, and they can connect to our network in space.

Jeremy Au: The tricky part about building a network is that at zero, you are worthless. At one, close to worthless. At ten, you're something. But at 100 or 1,000, that's where the order of magnitude goes up, right?

Rohit Jha: The long-term value for the network is defined by how many subscribers and concurrent connections you have. That's why telcos, while spending money on building out 5G towers, also heavily discount their 5G handsets. They just want more subscribers so the day they turn on the network, they can start monetizing it. That's the approach. When we look at the Philippines and Indonesia, you have 10,000 to 15,000 islands. When we talk to our telco customers, they are currently building undersea cables to every island, which is very expensive. With a network like this going up, it will have 100% coverage in all of Southeast Asia in the first batch. That means every single island can have internet as fast as Singapore going forward. That is very powerful, and it comes at a fraction of the cost that Starlink or anyone else is charging.

Jeremy Au: What's the future of physical-based ground telcos? I was reading an article, and their argument was that with SpaceX giving you a global SIM card at equivalent speeds for global connectivity with no roaming charges, the traditional country-based telco would go away. I read that and thought it was an argument, but I'm curious from your perspective. What do you think is the role of all the current telcos in the world today?

Rohit Jha: We work very closely with the telcos, and I would say every single telco right now is cautiously optimistic. In the time span that they have been slowly rolling out fiber networks and acquiring customers, you've had a space company like Starlink launch and become 10 times bigger than the biggest telco in the world. Actually, maybe 70 times bigger if they hit the $7 trillion valuation. Literally, a company that started selling space services and serves less than 1% of the global market can actually acquire most of the telcos in the world combined. Obviously, all the telco CEOs are wondering what they should do. Telecommunications is a birthright for citizens now. You cannot imagine a life without being connected to the internet in any country. Telcos, like power grids, will remain nationalistic until the end of time as long as nations exist. They route sensitive information and are tied very heavily to national security. The national identity for telcos will not change. However, they are forced to understand and adopt the space domain. It's not just something they can use for five people on the fringes; they really need an organic strategy. They need to figure out how space can provide better latency and lower cost per bit, not only at the edge but also at the core. Another thing you might be seeing in the news is that almost every telco says they're not a telco; they are a TechCo right now. That terminology shift comes from the fact that just selling data packages is not enough. Almost every telco in Southeast Asia and globally is building data centers. In the US, they are not only building data centers, but they are also hosting large learning models. They're using AI and reselling AI services effectively. Selling these cloud and AI services is key. If you think about it, routing these services from lower to orbit often has much lower latency than routing domestically. For example, if you look at the US market, almost all streaming of ChatGPT and Gemini in LATAM markets gets streamed from the US at 20 to 40 milliseconds of latency, which can be quite high. It is similar in Singapore and Southeast Asia. If a business wants to use AI capabilities, they have to route all the way back to Singapore through undersea cables and then stream it back to, let's say, Bali. That's a 50 to 55-millisecond latency, which completely destroys real-time use cases. But if you route it from lower to orbit, the latency becomes less than 10 milliseconds—one-fifth of the time—which means it's nearly real-time. These are the kinds of things telcos and telco CTOs are thinking about. When we talk to our customers, each one of them now wants to partner with us on our space side. They've been working with us on the ground, they understand the technology, and they see the huge value potential in space. I think that's what's happening. They're figuring out how they can play a role. They can still remain tied to a nation's security and communications infrastructure to provide that service, but also not lose out on the upside of space today.

Jeremy Au: I think it's really interesting because we're talking about the different niches. I love what you just said, which is that people underappreciate that telcos are a national asset. There may be fewer telcos in a country as they compete with one another, become more nationalized, or go for economies of scale. But there will never be a case where a telco sells to Starlink. You can't imagine the government of Indonesia, Vietnam, or China allowing that to happen. There is some level of support on the infra side. What do you think is the ideal world of that partnership between yourself, telcos, and consumers? Would it be, for example, they handle the ground level and sell SIM cards to consumers and devices, but then they're using you for the backhaul, remote connectivity, or data centers? How does that partnership look from your perspective?

Rohit Jha: Number one, you're right about the government stepping in. To be honest, even the US government can clearly just go with Starlink, but they're choosing to have redundancy. When you're thinking about national security generally, you cannot just rely on one vendor. You have to adopt a multi-vendor approach. Otherwise, you are screwed the moment something happens catastrophically with one vendor. Even though that may be the best service or option available today, the need for redundancy is a lot more amplified in Europe and Asia. From the customers we talk to, there's an added issue of people thinking that Elon and SpaceX are unstable to work with as partners and could turn around at any moment. While they're cautiously working, they're also looking at geographically and politically neutral secondary bodies, or companies providing different capabilities that serve the same purpose. That's where we get a lot of incoming interest from our government and telco partners. What I think will happen is a lot of the use cases—whether video streaming, video calling, or social media broadcasts—were tied heavily to the capabilities present in the current telcos. We cannot just expect linear growth there. Space is going to give you a new latency paradigm for end-to-end latency from data center to data center. It's going to give you a new cost paradigm for running things in space. There's significantly more power available. In terms of real estate, you can technically grow a data center to a nearly infinite size in space. It can be severely large compared to the size of data centers you have on the ground, and there's no real restriction. A lot of the limits that people have on telecom infrastructure on the ground get taken away, opening up very unique capabilities. We are working with our telco and government partners now to identify what those opportunities could be in terms of service offerings. Is that a new super broadband you could offer that has the lowest latency for businesses? Is that a secure mesh? From space, you can run post-quantum cryptography. For example, all our networks are now quantum-safe. Trying to re-architect that into the entire Singtel network is going to take a long time. If you partner with new space companies like us that are already built on these advanced technologies, you bring these new capabilities directly into your network. It allows you to offer advanced encryption capabilities that would have taken years for the existing network to implement. A lot of this is changing by definition. Space allows typically nationally locked telcos to have broader ambitions. It allows you to flex your muscles beyond just your country. If you have a good team and a good service offering, you could reasonably expand your base cross-regionally. I think you're going to see that within the next two years. In the last few years, countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and India went through huge M\&As with all their telcos. There's been a lot of national consolidation, but you will start seeing that happen regionally in the next two years as people realize space gives them the chance to spread out even more beyond their borders. That's the next step.

Jeremy Au: In some ways, that makes you a better partner for telcos than SpaceX, primarily because of those three factors. One is the laser part being more geographically focused and providing higher throughput or speed, making it a natural fit that is less competitive with their business models. Thirdly, you are part of the diversification piece because SpaceX is the big gorilla currently in the room.

Rohit Jha: A hundred percent. Even if you look at Starlink and SpaceX, a good example is the telcos in Taiwan. We work with all three telcos. The most aggressive one is Taiwan Mobile, which is one of our key partners there, but we work with Chunghwa and Far EasTone as well. They all have disaster recovery solutions which use Starlink. When a typhoon or earthquake hits, they deploy their kits to get some internet back. Last November, there was a huge typhoon—Typhoon Ragasa—that hit the southern coast of Taiwan with massive floods. It washed away a bunch of bridges. When you deploy Starlink, you can deploy a few kits here and there, and it has just enough bandwidth to help first responders. It's restricted to only a certain number of people because the bandwidth is so low, especially when getting it from space. It's a great solution to deploy instantly within the first hour. However, that typhoon knocked out a bridge which had a fiber cable providing internet to over 50 villages. You can't just deploy kits across 50 villages and try to get that up and running. Within two hours, our teams went to that place and set up a laser link which powered almost 20 gigabits per second. We bridged that break effectively in two hours, restoring internet to 50 villages downstream. That's the difference. As a space network comes up, telcos can take our optical ground station and put it somewhere that allows them to quickly switch over to a much higher bandwidth. While Starlink is great for first responders and getting on-site very quickly, when they really need to restore connectivity to a larger base, they have to find another partner. It comes down to which tool works for what use case.

Jeremy Au: Definitely interesting, because I think it's a way for you to power their existing networks versus disrupting or competing with them.

Rohit Jha: We are very strong on the partnership approach. There's also obviously a very clear sense of dread by the telcos because now you have SpaceX. Because of Elon's brand and SpaceX's brand, everyone knows it, and they have started offering direct-to-cell. Their experience is going to be significantly worse than your normal telco because you are getting it beamed from a cell tower that is 500 kilometers away, but everyone's going to try it. Every telco in every country is going to lose some percentage of their subscribers in the short term to Starlink, until maybe six months later when these subscribers realize the internet sucks, but that will still do the damage. There is a growing concern about how they continue to make sure that such customers don't walk away and that they don't have this bleed. That's where partnering with other space companies, which don't compromise performance and capability but can still bridge the gap that space provides, is key.

Jeremy Au: Could you share a personal story about a time that you've been brave?

Rohit Jha: I think every time we pitch to a customer, I feel like we're taking a leap. But personally, before I started Transcelestial, my elder brother and I were celebrating his birthday. He used to live in Denmark, and we were in Germany. This was around December 19, very close to Christmas. We were in Munich, it was midnight, and we decided to go to a club to celebrate. We walked out of the Marienplatz area, and there were these two guys who asked, "Hey guys, do you need weed?" My brother realized it was not a good situation. These guys obviously looked dangerous. As we started to walk away, they took out knives and demanded our money and cards. My brother handed everything to them, and we started walking away. The moment they turned, I felt like if I see injustice or a situation where we need to do something, I'll just jump in. So I thought, "Screw this, why should they have our cash and cards?" I pushed one of the guys, grabbed the wallet back, and we started running. We ran for 20 minutes with four guys chasing us with knives in the middle of the night in Germany, with no idea where things would go. It was winter, so there was absolutely no one on the street, and my brother and I had not been working out. We were seconds away from running out of breath. Lo and behold, in front of us, we suddenly saw a giant neon McDonald's sign. We ended up running in there and told the manager to call the police. The guy laughed and said, "Ah, it's okay, this happens." That is what comes immediately to mind. From a work point of view, when we were working with the telco divisions, that business was so good and very stable. At some point, our board was like, "Why even bother about space? You guys are doing really well on the telco division. Just stick to doing this." My co-founder and I felt that if the company were to die tomorrow and we never gave space a chance, which was our original vision, it would not work. Without telling the board, we took some capital out. Most of our team is ex-space, so we gave them extra beer and pizza and said, "Look, you have this much money. Let's get to space, and if we are successful, everyone will be happy and no one will say anything." I think we were being stupidly brave, but it paid off, and we are off to the races right now. Having a mentality of taking insane amounts of risk is absolutely critical to success.

Jeremy Au: That sounds like a big push on both sides of the story. Fighting robbers, and the other one is finally getting to space. I am torn between these two stories. But fighting those robbers, weren't you scared? Weren't you worried that you're going to die or that this is stupid to do? What were you thinking at that moment when you pushed the guy?

Rohit Jha: There's a really good quote from Star Trek: The Next Generation, which is my favorite. Picard at one point says that it's easier to be brave for others than for yourself. In that case, I was thinking more about how I could keep my brother safe rather than myself. It's easy when you have loved ones to be brave for them rather than for yourself. When my co-founder and I make decisions in the company, we feel that this technology is critical for humanity to become a multi-planetary species. Whether it's us or some other company in the future, they will have to build these technologies and capabilities to get humanity multi-planetary. Not only Elon, but a large number of people in our generation grew up on science fiction with this dream. It's something we have been looking forward to. So, it's easy for us to be brave for others, saying that irrespective of where we personally end up in this situation, we have to take the leap forward because there is a greater calling.

Jeremy Au: Would you do it again if this situation happened tonight in San Francisco?

Rohit Jha: I have realized that it's better to give your credit card and walk away.

Jeremy Au: Cancel it straight away afterwards\! Using your internet speed with zero latency.

Rohit Jha: To be honest, I was in banking, and life didn't have the meaning it has today. It didn't have the goals that I have today. I think that's why a lot of people say when they have their first child, their attitude and meaning toward life changes. There are moments in your life where what's most important and what's driving you determines how you behave and how you react. At that point in time, I was just doing a job and there was no grander purpose to life. Now, I have that. Taking risks that are uncalled for and don't really help me achieve the vision that I have for my life, the company, and the future of humanity doesn't make sense anymore.

Jeremy Au: On that note, thank you so much for sharing. Let me summarize the big takeaways. First of all, thanks so much for sharing the founding story of Transcelestial from a personal basis—you always had this dream, you were in finance, you were an engineer, and you got to learn how the internet works. It all clicked together to make Transcelestial happen. Secondly, thanks for sharing about Transcelestial versus SpaceX, not necessarily as head-to-head competitors, but in terms of the differences in product-market fit, technology approach, and go-to-market approach. I thought it was fascinating to view this from the prism of rural consumers, first responders, telcos, and other folks that are important customers of this approach. Lastly, thanks so much for sharing about the mission. I thought it was fascinating to hear about some of the decisions around getting to the end goal of giving everybody the internet as fast as possible on an interstellar basis, while also being thoughtful about the intermediate steps. That involves working with telcos on terrestrial infrastructure, working on space, working with ground stations, and bridging a broken bridge in Taiwan.

Rohit Jha: I think often the journey ends up being a lot more fulfilling than the actual destination.

Trump Xi Summit Decoded: Thucydides Trap, Boeing Deal & China AI Chip Strategy - E697

Thu, 21 May 2026 08:39:00 +0800

"When you have two powers who have a deep mutual suspicion of each other, and a meeting doesn't escalate any of the tensions or cause the relationship to deteriorate, both parties will reiterate their bottom lines. Having those cards clearly laid out is already a success because policymakers on both sides do not have the illusion that the relationship will be smooth sailing for the next decade. What they want is to make sure that both parties still talk and things do not go for the worse." - Jianggan Li

"The DeepSeek and ByteDance founders are dedicating essentially 100% of their time and money into AI research, and they are engineers by training, deeply involved in the process. That's the key difference between them and other large Chinese companies trying to build AI. By leveraging engineering capabilities and hard work, sooner or later they figure out a way to deliver top-notch AI models in a very cost-efficient way." - Jianggan Li

"NVIDIA used to have a monopoly of 95% of the Chinese market, and now they have less than 10%. The American theory that the Chinese industry could not catch up to American chips and quickly create a domestic supply chain has been proven untrue in reality. If we didn't have the export ban, America would continue to have massive economies of scale, but the ban forced researchers to use domestic chips, accelerating the evolution of China's own semiconductor industry." - Jeremy Au

In this episode, Jeremy Au and Jianggan Li unpack the geopolitical and economic ripples of the recent Trump-Xi summit in Beijing. Moving beyond the mainstream media headlines, they analyze the strategic optics of the leaders’ meetings at Zhongnanhai and the Temple of Heaven, and what it signals for avoiding the "Thucydides Trap." The conversation pivots to the intense technological rivalry between the US and China, focusing heavily on semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Jeremy and Jianggan discuss how US export bans inadvertently accelerated China's domestic chip manufacturing, eroding NVIDIA's market share in the region. They also explore the rise of highly cost-efficient Chinese AI models like DeepSeek, the shifting strategies of multinational CEOs like Elon Musk and Jensen Huang, and why modern cross-border startup founders are increasingly choosing international markets to escape China's cutthroat domestic competition.

00:00 - Introduction & The Geopolitical Stakes of the Trump-Xi Summit

03:45 - Key Political Figures & Creative Diplomacy to Bypass Sanctions

06:25 - The Thucydides Trap: Framing the Rising vs. Ruling Power Dynamic

12:10 - Strategic Optics at Zhongnanhai and the Temple of Heaven

16:45 - Business Delegations, Boeing Deals, and Elon Musk’s Position in China

19:05 - Jensen Huang, AI Chips, and Reevaluating the Semiconductor Export Ban

21:50 - Why Tech Founders Are Choosing International Markets Over China

23:10 - The Rise of DeepSeek and China's Cost-Efficient AI Strategy

28:00 - How US Export Controls Accelerated China's Domestic Chip Production

33:05 - The Future of US-China Relations Under Trump and Xi

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Keywords: US-China Relations, Semiconductor Export Ban, AI Chips, Trump-Xi Summit, DeepSeek AI, Geopolitics and Tech, Nvidia China Market, Southeast Asia Tech Ecosystem, Cross-border Startups, Global Tech Supply Chain

Wen-Szu Lin: Lessons learnt from Franchise Failure to Scaling Uber in Asia - E696

Mon, 18 May 2026 05:00:00 +0800

"Nothing we did in China we knew. Nothing I did in Uber I knew how to do before. But I literally went in, like, 'Give me an hour or two, let me go learn it.' I learned the growth mindset in consulting... I realized that it's actually not rocket science for a lot of these things. You can actually learn it." - Wen-Szu Lin

"Something is going to go wrong, and you can really take it as, 'Oh, this sucks,' or you can be like, 'Oh, you know what? That's a good learning moment.' There are three things I always ask our talent acquisition team to look for: hard work, a positive mindset, and a growth mindset." - Wen-Szu Lin

"I was the first person internationally to get hired into Community Operations. As Uber kept scaling, other teams asked us to help do operational work, so we started taking up back-office operations. We just kept growing organically across Asia to teams of thousands. It became one of the largest teams at Uber that no one has ever heard of." - Wen-Szu Lin

00:00 - Introduction to Wen-Szu Lin

01:47 - From US Consulting to Entrepreneurship in Asia

04:48 - Securing the Auntie Anne's Master Franchise Deal

09:55 - The Realities of Doing Business in 2008 Beijing

15:20 - Why the Pretzel Franchise Ultimately Failed in China

20:45 - Winding Down the Business and Pivoting to the Philippines

22:07 - Writing "The China Twist" to Process Failure

24:45 - Building Uber's Community Operations in Asia

27:54 - Writing "Deliver" and Growth Hacking Your Career

30:52 - The Three Key Traits of Successful Tech Talent

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Keywords: Startup Failure, Uber Asia, China Market Entry, Growth Mindset, Franchise Business Operations, Tech Leadership, Career Development, Food and Beverage (F\&B) Asia, Community Operations

Find Your Unfair Advantage in Business and Use It - E695

Thu, 14 May 2026 11:18:00 +0800

"When you come to understand that the world is not fair and is not easy, I want to remind you to pick your battles. I want you to play the sports where you have an unfair advantage. It's okay to be unfair. If you love carbon and you love accounting, and nobody else loves carbon or accounting, congratulations—you have an unfair advantage for a job that nobody else wants. Play to where it's unfairly to your advantage." - Jeremy Au

"Communicating is about persuading someone to do something, especially to buy something. I want to contrast that with the market, which is really about listening. The best people in marketing are those who are equally good at listening to the market and articulating that market truth back into the market to make it real. When you can do both sides of it—the yin and yang of the market and the marketing—you will be truly effective." - Jeremy Au

"Startup land is very much about 'founder-problem fit'—does the founder truly care about the problem they are solving? Being able to understand that match is crucial. When you are assessing a founding team, you need to understand whether they are willing to go through all the pain and struggles of actually building the company, because building a startup is not easy." - Jeremy Au

In this episode, Jeremy Au dives into the realities of building a successful career and startup by mastering the "yin and yang" of marketing and understanding founder-problem fit. Sharing his deeply personal motivation for working in the cancer diagnostics space, Jeremy illustrates why finding a strong "why" is essential for enduring the inevitable hardships of entrepreneurship. He also challenges the fairytale narrative of a fair world, urging listeners to have the courage to do good while strategically playing to their unique, unfair advantages in business and life.

00:00 - The Yin and Yang of Marketing: Balancing Listening and Persuading

01:09 - Founder-Problem Fit: Assessing a Founding Team's Motivation

02:07 - Finding Your "Why": A Personal Mission in Cancer Diagnostics

04:13 - Breaking the Fairytale: The Courage to Be Good in an Unfair World

06:47 - Play to Your Unfair Advantages: Picking Your Battles Strategically

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Keywords: Founder-Problem Fit, Unfair Advantage, Startup Founding Team, Marketing Strategy, Career Advice, Resilience in Entrepreneurship, Cancer Diagnostics Healthtech, Market Listening

BRAVE Southeast Asia

The Science of Inspiration: Why Leaders Inspire or Infuriate | Adam Galinsky - E709

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Nickel, Chinese EVs and a Senate Chase in the Philippines | Franco Varona - E708

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Stablecoins And The Agent Economy Will Rewire How Money Moves | Dušan Stojanović - E707

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Singapore Works Too Well To Be A Great Startup Hub? | Adriel Yong - E705

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Singaporeans are willing to give you chance if you have "The Focus" | Jeremy Tan - E704

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Invent the Category - E703

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Ori Sasson: AI Job Replacement & The Future of Work - E702

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Southeast Asia is in its Golden Age - E701

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Become Incorruptible - The Truth Behind Successful Businesses | Eric Ries - E700

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Choosing Your Career Path and the Tradeoffs You Must Be Aware Of - E699

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How Lasers Could Replace Undersea Cables & Reshape Global Internet | Rohit Jha - E698

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Links

Trump Xi Summit Decoded: Thucydides Trap, Boeing Deal & China AI Chip Strategy - E697

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Wen-Szu Lin: Lessons learnt from Franchise Failure to Scaling Uber in Asia - E696

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Find Your Unfair Advantage in Business and Use It - E695

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