Upside Town Podcast - SE Asia Startup Ecosystem

In this episode we have Helen Wong - Partner at Qiming Venture Partners who is an accomplished VC investor with 18+ years of experience and accolades including frequent mentions in the Top 100 VCs in China list and Top 25 Women in VC list. She has led investments across China, SE Asia and India including in multiple unicorns as well as companies which have subsequently IPO-ed on NASDAQ. We discuss her views on investing across markets, and what insights and inspirations from China can founders in SE Asia learn from. Her LinkedIn profile is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-pei-hua-wong-2093427/Upside Town Podcast, hosted by Yash Sankrityayan, explores the SE Asia startup and venture capital scene and hosts key industry participants and pioneers to capture actionable insights and frameworks which can be used by technology startup founders, investors, employees & enthusiasts alike. The format is 25-odd minute episodes exploring only 3-4 topics deeply so the listeners and broader ecosystem can utilize these insights in their own professional & entrepreneurial pursuits. You can find more about the podcast at https://upsidetown.buzzsprout.com/ and about the host at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashskn/

In this episode we have Helen Wong - Partner at Qiming Venture Partners who is an accomplished VC investor with 18+ years of experience and accolades including frequent mentions in the Top 100 VCs in China list and Top 25 Women in VC list. She has led investments across China, SE Asia and India including in multiple unicorns as well as companies which have subsequently IPO-ed on NASDAQ. We discuss her views on investing across markets, and what insights and inspirations from China can founders in SE Asia learn from. Her LinkedIn profile is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-pei-hua-wong-2093427/Upside Town Podcast, hosted by Yash Sankrityayan, explores the SE Asia startup and venture capital scene and hosts key industry participants and pioneers to capture actionable insights and frameworks which can be used by technology startup founders, investors, employees & enthusiasts alike. The format is 25-odd minute episodes exploring only 3-4 topics deeply so the listeners and broader ecosystem can utilize these insights in their own professional & entrepreneurial pursuits. You can find more about the podcast at https://upsidetown.buzzsprout.com/ and about the host at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashskn/

In this episode we have Prajit Nanu who is the founder and CEO of NIUM (formerly known as InstaReM when it was best known for its B2C 'Insta'nt 'Rem'ittances). NIUM is first-of-its-kind digital cross-border money transfer platform that is capable of creating a wide range of payment services that enable individuals, enterprises and financial institutions to send, spend and receive money across 30+ countries - much more efficiently and cost-effectively. Prior to co-founding InstaReM, Prajit held leadership positions in TMF Group, a multinational professional services firm headquartered in Amsterdam, and at WNS Global Services, a business process management company. His LinkedIn profile is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prajitnanu/Upside Town Podcast, hosted by Yash Sankrityayan, explores the SE Asia startup and venture capital scene and hosts key industry participants and pioneers to capture actionable insights and frameworks which can be used by technology startup founders, investors, employees & enthusiasts alike. The format is 25-odd minute episodes exploring only 3-4 topics deeply so the listeners and broader ecosystem can utilize these insights in their own professional & entrepreneurial pursuits. You can find more about the podcast at https://upsidetown.buzzsprout.com/ and about the host at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashskn/

In this episode we have Saransh Garg, who spent the last 5 years at BCG, Accel Partners and finally as the co-founder of a YCombinator backed startup. Saransh is himself ideating and looking for his next startup idea, and had put together a comprehensive framework to do the same - which we discuss in detail in this episode. Saransh's Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saranshgarg2/ and the evaluation framework referenced in the episode is available here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-i-am-evaluating-startupideas-saransh-garg/Upside Town Podcast, hosted by Yash Sankrityayan, explores the SE Asia startup and venture capital scene and hosts key industry participants and pioneers to capture actionable insights and frameworks which can be used by technology startup founders, investors, employees & enthusiasts alike. The format is 25-odd minute episodes exploring only 3-4 topics deeply so the listeners and broader ecosystem can utilize these insights in their own professional & entrepreneurial pursuits. You can find more about the podcast at https://upsidetown.buzzsprout.com/ and about the host at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashskn/

In this episode we have Aaron Tan - the founder CEO of Carro, SE Asia’s leading automotive online marketplace & services platform. Prior to starting Carro in 2015, Aaron spent 5 years with one of SE Asia’s earliest venture funds, Singtel Innov8 Ventures, where he focused on SE Asia & US startups. Growing up Aaron had started and sold 2 companies before he turned 21. Aaron's Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aarontan/Upside Town Podcast, hosted by Yash Sankrityayan, explores the SE Asia startup and venture capital scene and hosts key industry participants and pioneers to capture actionable insights and frameworks which can be used by technology startup founders, investors, employees & enthusiasts alike. The format is 25-odd minute episodes exploring only 3-4 topics deeply so the listeners and broader ecosystem can utilize these insights in their own professional & entrepreneurial pursuits. You can find more about the podcast at https://upsidetown.buzzsprout.com/ and about the host at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashskn/

In this episode we are honored to have Shao Ning Huang with us. Shao Ning is the Chief Angel at Angel Central, SE Asia's largest Angel Investment collective. She earlier also co-founded, scaled and exited JobsCentral through 2000-2014, one of the largest HR Tech exits in Asia. Shao Ning shares here from her unique perspective as an early founder and now an active angel. Shao Ning's Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaoning/Upside Town Podcast, hosted by Yash Sankrityayan, explores the SE Asia startup and venture capital scene and hosts key industry participants and pioneers to capture actionable insights and frameworks which can be used by technology startup founders, investors, employees & enthusiasts alike. The format is 25 minute episodes exploring only 3-4 topics deeply so the listeners and broader ecosystem can utilize these insights in their own professional & entrepreneurial pursuits. You can find more about the podcast at https://upsidetown.buzzsprout.com/ and about the host at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashskn/

In this episode we are honored to have Anuj Srivastava with us, who is the co-founder & CEO of Livspace, South Asia's largest online home decor platform which has delivered more than 10,000 homes within 5 years of starting. Livspace has achieved this substantial milestone in such a short period by heavily building technology to transform an otherwise very fragmented and offline category like home decor. He talks about how Livspace is structured and why; what calls did they make as founders before and after launching to use technology; and what's the right way to build & expand in such complex categories. Anuj's Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anujs/Upside Town Podcast, hosted by Yash Sankrityayan, explores the SE Asia startup and venture capital scene and hosts key industry participants and pioneers to capture actionable insights and frameworks which can be used by technology startup founders, investors, employees & enthusiasts alike. The format is 25 minute episodes exploring only 3-4 topics deeply so the listeners and broader ecosystem can utilize these insights in their own professional & entrepreneurial pursuits. You can find more about the podcast at https://upsidetown.buzzsprout.com/ and about the host at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashskn/

In this episode we are honored to have Nicko Widjaja with us, currently the CEO of BRI Ventures and the ex-founding CEO of MDI Ventures. Nicko is SE Asia's most successful Corporate VC investor. A 10 year VC veteran, he setup and ran MDI Ventures through 2015-2019, which in this short span made 40 investments across 10 countries and had 7 exits including 2 IPOs and had 5 exits just in 2019. He talks about the right and wrong ways to do Corporate VC, and the best way for founders to think about Corporate VC and how to navigate and work with them. And also how MDI Ventures scored 7 exits within 4 years of starting MDI Ventures. Nicko's Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickowidjaja/Upside Town Podcast, hosted by Yash Sankrityayan, explores the SE Asia startup and venture capital scene and hosts key industry participants and pioneers to capture actionable insights and frameworks which can be used by technology startup founders, investors, employees & enthusiasts alike. The format is 25 minute episodes exploring only 3-4 topics deeply so the listeners and broader ecosystem can utilize these insights in their own professional & entrepreneurial pursuits. You can find more about the podcast at https://upsidetown.buzzsprout.com/ and about the host at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashskn/

This episode is the introduction to the Podcast - to set context of the intent, scope, format and hopefully impact this Podcast intends to achieve. >>Upside Town Podcast, hosted by Yash Sankrityayan, explores the SE Asia startup and venture capital scene and hosts key industry participants and pioneers to capture actionable insights and frameworks which can be used by technology startup founders, investors, employees & enthusiasts alike. The format is around 25 minute episodes exploring only 3-4 topics deeply so the listeners and broader ecosystem can utilize the insights in their own professional & entrepreneurial pursuits. >>About host: Yash Sankrityayan is an early stage technology startup investor since 2014, having led 15+ investments across South East Asia and India. He has had the good fortune of being an investor in multiple unicorns so far, and hopefully a few more soon to come. Yash is currently a Principal at Jungle Ventures, the leading early stage VC focused on South East Asia & India investments at the Series A/ B stage. He can be contacted on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashskn/ >>Disclaimer: Content and sessions are the host's personal initiative and not necessarily endorsed by any other professional affiliates. Similarly, the guest's views and thoughts are their own and not necessarily endorsed by any of their professional affiliates.