"It's very important for founders not to drink their own Kool Aid, especially when engaging in definitional debates. For smart VCs, it's crucial to have honest conversations about the right margins and metrics to track at the board level. Naturally, good VCs will attract good founders, and vice versa. In general, a good faith effort to focus on the right metrics ensures you're more likely to work with the right board members. There's a risk of adverse selection if you're presenting misleading numbers—only the less discerning or ethically questionable VCs will continue to invest based on those figures, which can be a big problem." - Jeremy Au
"The sad reality is that bribery exists in Southeast Asia and other emerging markets. People need to be aware that it happens. There are different types, and it appears at various levels. I tend to look at it from the perspectives of the supply side, the demand side, and even the founder side. The most common scenario is on the demand side, where people compete for contracts and try to win business. In these cases, someone might ask for a cash incentive. The legal version of this often manifests as promotions or cashback offers." - Jeremy Au
"At the end of the day, we all need to be clear about the actual cost of running the business and generating sales, and factor that into the contribution margin, right? But alongside the discussion about margins, it's worth considering that maybe the margins aren't inherently bad—perhaps they're being negatively impacted because someone's taking a kickback." - Adriel Yong
In this episode, Jeremy Au speaks on founder frauds, startup accounting tricks (GMV, revenue, gross margin, contribution margin), and revenue bundling and valuation multiples with Adriel Yong.
Keywords: Founder Frauds, Startup Accounting Tricks, GMV Revenue Gross Margin Contribution Margin, Revenue Bundling, Valuation Multiples, Adriel Yong, Southeast Asia, VC, Thought Leadership
