Featured Podcast Episodes

Tony Fernandes is the CEO of AirAsia and one of the most recognizable business leaders in the region. He is outspoken, a maverick and often treads (in his own words), “a fine line between brilliance and stupidity”. We all know his public persona with its maverick tendencies and capacity to make big bets on business outcomes.

But, what of the man behind the story? What drives Tony? Who and what inspired him to buy AirAsia for 1 Ringitt? How does he retain his relevance in a rapidly changing business environment?

In this exclusive conversation on Asia Tech Podcast with Graham Brown, Tony shares never before revealed insights about his back story, as well as his vision for the future of AirAsia.

A conversation between Padang & Co and two of LEVEL3’s Corporate Partners, Syngenta and WPP. They discuss the stories behind the founding of each partner’s innovation team, the innovation journeys thus far, and how LEVEL3 has become a catalyst for these collaboration and experimentations. Tune in to explore how corporates are getting involved with innovation.

Featured Guests:
Adam Lyle, Executive Chairman, Padang & Co
David Ryan, Head of Commercial Excellence and Digital, Syngenta
Sudipto Roy, Managing Director, Team Unilever AAR (Asia, Africa, Russia), Mindshare / WPP
Graham Brown, Host / Founder, Asia Tech Podcast

Nell Watson, Founder of QuantaCorp (Poikos) and who describes herself as a Machine Learning & Tech philosopher, joins host Graham Brown in conversation about Artificial Intelligence. Nell shines light on her journey in the field of AI and the changes in this field that she has witnessed over this period.

She not only gives us her history, but also takes us through the history of AI as well. She talks about few sample problems she believes AI has solved or where it has vastly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We also get to know the relation between AI and human learning and her answer to the all important question of whether AI can one day replace humans.

A must listen podcast, especially for AI & Data Analytics enthusiasts, with scores of interesting anecdotes to explain some of the more complex issues of AI in a very simple manner.

In this conversation, Vinnie Lauria, Managing Partner of Golden Gate Ventures, shared with us his story on how he got into the investor’s space as well as how Golden Gate Ventures came about.

He first walked us through his individual entrepreneurial journey when he was in the US and then subsequently, his story on how he came into Asia. Golden Gate Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing across Southeast Asia, since 2011, it has invested in over 30 companies across more than 7 countries in Asia. We hear from Vinnie about his successes and failures from the 2 startups that he was involved in and what he learnt from his mistakes before coming into Asia.

Matt Roberts, Global Research Director for Formula One joins Graham Brown on Asia Tech Podcast to share his story, his love for research and sports.

He tells us how F1 uses the Terabytes of data generated by them in the decision making process across the entire sporting spectrum and how the world of data & research has evolved over the past 2 decades leading to a clear distinction between claim & reality owing to the superior quality of data generated now.

Listen to the podcast to know more about what goes on behind the scenes for marketing & promotion of the sport and events at F1, his take on Esports and how F1 is embracing this upcoming phenomenon.

Former co-founder or Global Fashion Group, Zalora and Rocket Internet Group, Magnus Grimeland, CEO of startup generator, knows how to scale startups.

In this interview we talk about the key qualities Magnus looks for in a startup founder and the process they take startups through to validate the business model. We discuss the importance of challenging assumptions, stepping outside your comfort zone in everything from building your team to getting to the first sale.

We also touch upon Magnus’s philosophy to business and life, his time as a Norwegian Navy Seal and his passion for extreme sports from ice climbing to Ironman triathlon.

Jiawen “JW” Ngeow describes herself as a “deviant”. In her own words, she excelled at underperforming at school. That’s not easy in a society like Singapore that prides itself on academic achievement.

Yet, JW has proven many of her doubters wrong. From building the MegaFash retailer to investing in numerous startups in Singapore, JW’s career has included over $25 million of successful exits. Now, she is applying her knowledge of scaling startups to Blockchain and payments in retail, as COO and co-founder of iFashion Group.

In this interview we discuss JW’s thoughts on what makes a successful startup entrepreneur and also what personality traits she looks for in growing her startup team.

Canadian Hal Bosher is the CEO of Yoma Bank Myanmar, a true pioneer in all senses of the word.

Hal has lived across different cultures and continents with stints in the US, Germany, the UK, the Indian Ocean and now more recently Myanmar, to name just a few countries. Having the ability to adapt to new and uncomfortable environments is a valuable skill – you learn to empathise with different kinds of people regardless of their backgrounds.That’s a powerful tool when tasked with the challenge of growing a retail bank in one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

In this interview we dive into Myanmar to learn about the vibe that shapes everyday life, the adoption of technology and entrepreneurship. We also talk about the mindset required to not just survive, but thrive in frontier markets.

Like many of our featured entrepreneurs on Asia Tech Podcast, Renu Bhatia took the path least taken. Here is a highly qualified medical doctor who decided at some point during her career that she could make the most impact not by continuing up the professional ladder, but by becoming an entrepreneur.

Renu is founding partner of Hong Kong based Supercharger – Asia’s leading Fintech accelerator, Vice President of the Hong Kong Blockchain Society, Co-Founder of Asia Fintech Angels and serves on the Entrepreneurship Committee Advisory Group of the Hong Kong government backed Cyberport program.

On surface, these may appear to be a world away from medicine, but as we’ll discover in this interview, sometimes you can make the most impact in the world by helping others do the same. We’ll look at how Renu made that decision to leave the medical profession and her hopes for the Blockchain enabled future.

Dr Steven Chua joins Asia Tech Podcast today to share insights on how he has helped shaped some of Asia’s largest hospitality projects. Most famous of which is the $6 billion development of Sentosa island in Singapore.

Multi-billion dollar projects require constant communication. One of the most important skills in making these projects happen is the simple human skill of being able to sit down with stakeholders and share progress, communicate the challenges even when things aren’t working out to plan (there will always be some form of firefighting).

Horace Dediu called the Apple iPhone before the industry realized its potential. That’s why corporates, governments and futurists call upon his services to predict what happens next.

In this interview, we discuss how Dediu made his name as “The King of Apple Analysts”, from the earliest days of the iPhone fast forwarded to today, when we look at Apple in the context of Asian competition. Will “Made in China” one day be synonymous with high quality products?

We also discuss the rise of Asia, the competition for innovation, and historical precedents played out from the American and European Industrial Revolution in the mid 19th century