"And that's how you get kopi kenangan right. They said, "let's go mass market in Indonesia." There's a propensity to pay a bit more, and I can offer a product or service and go after that market. So that's where I think there has to be a tweak or rethinking of what kind of companies can do well here and then build business. Now, if you do launch a business here and then you realise the market isn't willing to pay or the market is too small, then get out. And Mito did that really well. When we saw Mito early on, I think the struggle—we had to, we were also thinking—is how big is the market? Moved to the US, I think they seem to be doing really well opening up all over the US. And I think that was a very smart thing to do, right? I would have never believed that they could do it. And ten years ago, so any founder that said they could do that, you would immediately write them off, right? But in today's world, I think that's definitely a lot more doable.” - Mohan Belani, CEO and Cofounder of e27" - Mohan Belani
"I think what we're starting to see now is that there is a newer breed of Southeast Asian founders who have realised, "Forget this market; let me focus on the US market. Let me either build a team there or restructure my products and services to cater to that market better." And they seem to be doing a much better job this time than last. I think there's actually a really big difference compared to ten years ago when nobody was saying, "I want to build from Singapore or Southeast Asia for the US market"—it didn't exist. Everybody was like, "I want to solve the problem for my auntie who has this problem in this country; therefore, it's a big problem." But now, definitely, I think you see a big corridor—what I call the corridor—between Singapore and the US. I wouldn't say it's really necessary for Malaysia to the US or Indonesia to the US, but more of a Singapore-to-US corridor where Singaporean founders are trying to tackle that.” - Mohan Belani, CEO and Cofounder of e27" - Mohan Belani
"Even when Carousel first started, I remember at Block 71 there were just a few guys, and no one deliberately questioned, "How is this going to make money? How are you going to raise capital?" Everyone was just obsessed with the idea of, "Wow, if I have something to sell that I don't need at home, I can put it on a platform or a community and get it done." And that's where the original naive excitement over the "what-ifs" was really strong in that era, because the Silicon Valley folks we were looking up to were all saying, "Look, build a great product, grow your community, don't worry about revenue." - Mohan Belani, CEO and Cofounder of e27" - Mohan Belani
In this episode, Jeremy Au speaks on the Southeast Asia startup evolution, eFishery's $100M capital burn lessons, and private equity style VC insights.
Keywords: Mohan Belani, Southeast Asia Startup Evolution, eFishery $100M Capital Burn Lessons, Private Equity Style VC Insights, Singapore, Southeast Asia, VC, Startup, Founder Story
