The Exchanges

Q all fantastic things to be looking at. I applied for something without just startups and I was turned down. I'm not going to hold that against you. It's definitely something, uh, that's helpful in the case that I want to Apply again. So how can people apply for 500 startups? You said there's so many different programs. Where do they begin with all of these different options available to them?

A Yeah, I think the most well-known program that we have is of course the Seed Accelerator program that's in San Francisco. So that one is currently on a rolling basis, not on a cohort basis. So you can actually go ahead to our website and apply anytime, and we review all these applications on a rolling basis itself. As for country by country, then there are times where we open up applications. For example, one of our longest standing program is like in Asia, it's actually in Japan with the city of Kobe. So we've run Five cohorts so far. So in the past five years, and we will continue running that program this year. So how do you get notified of all these programs? I think the easiest way is definitely to subscribe to our newsletter, to follow our social media. Anytime that we have an, a call for application for any one of our programs is always publicized in that manner.

AI assessment note: “you can actually go ahead to our website and apply anytime”

Q So let's talk a little bit more about what founders might need. Why would they apply to 500 startups?

A When I mentioned earlier on that founders at different stages require different things. Let me elaborate a little bit more on that. At a really early stage, in fact, because of my, you know, the whole, in the whole region that I look at right now in Asia Pacific, there are countries in which we operate, such as Cambodia, where the maturity level is really, really low, right? It's a very, very early stage. There are not enough entrepreneurs there yet. So at that stage, what's required is actually changing mindsets, you know, helping young adults realize that entrepreneurship is a path. And in fact, today, when we work with a lot of people in Cambodia who are interested in pursuing that pathway, they are all doing side hustles, meaning they all have their full-time nine to five job, and only during the weekend they come and attend our programs. But that's them trying to take that first step to taking risks and changing mindsets. So that's what is really required at that point in time, right? As an early founder, you need to be brave enough to embrace failure and you need to find great co-founders. So that's what's needed. Now at a pre-seed or a seed stage, it's all about product market fit. You might have found early adopters, but it's not enough. You need to expand further. You need to really validate that. And so a lot of the focus that we have in that, at that timeframe is get…

AI assessment note: “a lot of the focus that we have in that timeframe is getting mentors”

Q they would. At least I know for myself, when I, when I go through something like that, I know very quickly what I like and don't like, and I have no problem saying it out loud. Especially in Southeast Asia, my experience has been specifically that people are, it's hard for them to say out loud what they're feeling because of the culture. So how do you deal with that?

A If you have any advice on how we can deal with that better, please feel free to share as well. But you are right in that With a lot of the founders, we, we do sometimes struggle to get feedback, and more importantly, timely feedback, because the last thing we want is to actually do a program for eight weeks to 12 weeks, and only on the very last day, you tell us areas in which you felt we could have done better on or what you wish more out of this program. We want to be able to get feedback on a timely manner so that we can iterate very quickly and adjust the program accordingly, and we do always try and do that. So in between, I think the best way that we found so far was really just for our program managers to develop and create that bond with the founders, that trusted relationship with them, such that she or he can get that timely feedback. We also sometimes, I think in certain countries in Asia where, you know, it is understood that formal feedback is expected, that also helps create that cadence in having the founders, you know, feel that they are forced to give us feedback, but in that method, we do get feedback. But I would say, so trust first, And if trust still doesn't work, the other one is just formality.

AI assessment note: “trust first, And if trust still doesn't work, the other one is just formality.”

Q So what is the hardest part of working with these startups?

A Where it takes the most of our efforts and time is making sure that we are aligned in terms of expectations coming out of a program. There are, I mean, founders again are all varied and they come in for varied reasons. Some come in because they want to be introduced to investors. Some are in because they really want to learn from the ground start. Some think that they know everything already and there's, there couldn't be possibly anything that we can't, we, we have to teach them, but some are really open to accepting that They're just at the start of their journey. So again, every founder is different. Every startup's need is different. For us, the biggest challenge would be learning each founder and each startup's need and key outcome that they want to take out of the program and seeing then how can we best support them. Again, you know, when we run a program with 20 startups, it's just not possible for us to tailor to every single founder and startup's needs. We try our best, but there's always going to be areas in which I guess we fall a little bit Short or there are areas of improvement and we take that into consideration for the next round. But I would say if there's anything that my program managers would say, it would be getting founders feedback and making sure the founders satisfaction is high.

AI assessment note: “Where it takes the most of our efforts and time is making sure that we are aligned”

Q It sounds like a very varied system. I wasn't aware that it was so diverse. So obviously there, it sounds like there's a tremendous amount of benefit from, you know, applying to 500 startups. But what is it that 500 startups looks for in companies? Because obviously they've invested, or you guys have invested in several thousand companies, but clearly not everybody gets investment. So what makes the difference?

A When we talk about building ecosystems, there are six levers that we can think about. So they range from, you know, education to networks and connections to capital, governments, corporates, and all that. So there are six levers. In the past, we used to play really only the capital part. And then education for the seed accelerator program. Now over the years, we've started refining that a little bit more, which means that we've now opened up the opportunities to most startups to be educated and to form connections through our programs, even if they are not an investing company or 500 startups itself. So I do want to kind of draw that distinction that you don't have to be a portfolio company in order to get educated by us. And similarly, not all of the startups that go through our programs get funded as well. Just because of different maturity level. But if you ask me what really ties it all together and how do we think of the startups that we admit into our programs or, you know, are invested into by us, right? We still rely on a common formula called the six T's. So when we talk about the six T's, we look at trend, traction, total addressable market, technology, team. And then lastly, for investments, we look at the terms as well. But this five Key T's right outside of the terms is something that we look at and analyze for every single startup that we encounter, whether or not…

AI assessment note: “we still rely on a common formula called the six T's.”

Q So what is something you wish you could change about startups and the investment world as they are today?

A I would say not so much about startups, but I would say about founders. Uh, so I often judge and mentor at some of these events, right? Um, whether it is incubator events or, you know, demo days and whatnot. And it still surprises me to this day that there are a lot of founders who built without Ever speaking to their end user. And I think that has to do with fear. We are inherently really afraid of speaking to people and getting feedback. So we dupe ourselves into thinking that everyone else is like us. And if we face this problem, we think this is a great solution. The world must think so too. And we would rather bury our heads down and just keep building at it and perfecting that, you know, that, that landing page and whatnot, or that app and tweaking that color of the phone or that button, right? Without speaking to the users itself. It's just really fear. So oftentimes when I speak to all these founders, I ask them if they've actually tested this, have they gotten feedback from their prospective users? And it's still astonishing how often the answer is no. And I think answering no is okay. But what perplexes me a little bit more and concerns me more is that when they say no, and I said, well, you should, and they're like, oh, but I think that they would want this. I was like, I don't want to know what you think. You're not the end user. I want to know what your users think…

AI assessment note: “there are a lot of founders who built without Ever speaking to their end user.”

Q in private companies. Those companies go public and they exit and make money. But in China, the government invests in companies. Those companies go public. The government makes a bunch of money and they invest more of that money in more companies. So I think a lot of countries would benefit by doing such a thing. So what's something I haven't asked you yet that you wish I would ask?

A Ask me about youth education. So as you know, I run a startup educating kids. With the skill set, mindset and heart set for the future. So that covers everything from financial literacy to design thinking and entrepreneurship, as well as, you know, mindfulness and purpose finding. I think what really excites me about that is that I'm seeing the next generation of entrepreneurs who care about impact. They care about the environment. They care about inequality and not just because ESG is a in trend word or sustainability is an in trend word. But rather because they know that that's the future of the world that they are inheriting and that they have to change. And so with all this young founders, I'm definitely hoping to. So also as part of this ecosystem as well, I think what I'm really excited to see is that again, in the next five to 10 years, there'll be more founders in this part of the world who's been there, done that, had multiple exits and are now looking to pay it forward and to educate that next generation, to help the next generation. We see a lot of amazing founders come out of the US. We are still trying to build that network of, you know, equal, I guess, experience out here in Asia Pacific. There are a lot of really good founders who've come back, but I think we're still, again, looking at many, many more years of growth, uh, of founders who've been there, done that…

AI assessment note: “Ask me about youth education. So as you know, I run a startup educating kids.”

Q Okay. Well, let me know in June. I'm, I'm really, I'm really curious to know. Cause you know, I studied psychology. So confirmation bias is a very potent problem. In experiments. And so this would be a really cool way for me to see if you can change the confirmation bias in your own students. How is investment changing in Southeast Asia at a high level?

A I think if we look at it from two points of view, right? I would say one being the availability of funds and the areas of interest. And then the second is maybe the ways in which deals are being done. So in terms of the, let me answer the easy one first, right? I think a lot of questions that came out last year was, are funds still deploying cash? Are they still making investments? Or has it been hampered by, you know, COVID-nineteen itself? I think my answer is it differs from fund to fund. More and more, I do see a lot of PE funds, a lot of VCs. I have friends in the PE industry, and they've also said, shared the same thing, which is that people are getting more comfortable doing deals without necessarily Making, you know, site visits and everything. That being said, will it change later on when travel resumes? It might because there's still a high degree of trust that people get from seeing a founder and seeing the operations firsthand, right? So even if you're not being able to travel, if you have a local team there who can help you do the local DD, um, that's still going to be helpful. But I do know of some funds who insist on having to meet the founders in person before ever signing a term sheet. So I think that's really very fun by fun. In terms of the industry itself, I would say that maybe for 500, there are a couple of sectors that we are a bit more excited about goin…

AI assessment note: “one being the availability of funds... the second is maybe the ways in which deals are being done.”

Q What was it that made you want to do that? Or did someone come to you and say, Hey, do you want to do this? Or you're like, there's an opportunity. I'm going to take it.

A Yeah. It's interesting because I think at the start, um, when I first joined, I was really, really clear to my boss At the time that I was interested in taking on beyond Singapore, I wanted to take on the Southeast Asia role. And I think that's just been something that's been ingrained in me. And speaking about this now, it reminds me of how even with startups itself, people always say that with startups, the American startups tend to think that they have the right of path, right? And they have the right to actually conquer the whole world. So they never aim to just be a startup that dominates the US. They aim to dominate the whole world. But whereas In Asia Pacific, or rather in Southeast Asia, a lot of startups think about conquering their country first, and maybe after they conquer their country, or if the market's not big enough, maybe Southeast Asia. Because of that, and I think, you know, coming from investment banking before, I've always seen it just as Southeast Asia itself, never really talked beyond that much to, you know, my embarrassment. So I think how it came about with Asia Pacific is that even as I was doing Singapore, I was already helping the team With programs and with projects beyond Singapore, beyond Southeast Asia, just anywhere that there was opportunities. And so when that opening came up, my boss actually got promoted to a global role and he used to lea…

AI assessment note: “when he got promoted, he recommended me to take over his role instead.”

Q What's the best part of working with startups?

A Oh, definitely the founders. So I came from investment banking, and I think when I left IB, it was really because there was a push factor as well as a pull factor, right? But that factor was that I was starting to work with founders who were fundraising at the time, and I think the sheer Drive, energy, the sheer desire to create impact and change that I saw in all these founders. There was a spark, and I think that was that spark that I needed at that point in my life. And I'm glad to say that, you know, after all these years, I still see that in founders that I come across. While a lot of founders and a lot of startups get a lot of flack for being, you know, me too startups, I think that's one that I'm hearing quite a lot these days. People are always asking me, you know, and this, this could be corporates as well as governments, right, our partners, and they ask me, When will we see more unique startups? We see a lot of MeToo startups in this part of the world. They are seeing what works in the US and just trying to create something similar here. But when I work, especially with the younger founders, um, and actually a lot of the existing founders that we work with, they are all driven by really wanting to disrupt the status quo, create change. And I think that's something that's really unique to Asia because the problems that we see here, in fact, even saying Asia is a huge …

AI assessment note: “Oh, definitely the founders.”

Q have your own startup at the same time. So you have the ability to see what it's like being an entrepreneur And what it's like running an accelerator essentially, which I don't think many people have both views at the same time. They may start as an entrepreneur and then like work in an accelerator after their exit, something like that. So what is it like for you running both?

A Yeah, I think I've grown to appreciate more and more founders who have a couple of hustles, right? You know, they're always encouraged to do site hustles, work on something on the side until you've found that product market fit and everything. And I think people underestimate the amount of energy that has to go into, you know, sustaining something like that. Beyond just knowing what it's like to be a founder, and then running an accelerator, and through that understanding what is it that a founder actually needs at different stages of that maturity level, right? Whether a founder is at the pre-seed, seed, A or B level, a lot of the type of education, um, is different, connections is different, and help is actually really different in all those different stages as well. And, you know, on top of that, I am actually a teacher and a mentor too. So I also play the role in terms of curriculum development, as well as understanding what a startup or founder might need from a mentor and from a curriculum perspective.

AI assessment note: “people underestimate the amount of energy that has to go into, you know, sustaining something”

Q So what's the best startup idea you've ever been pitched?

A The one step we've What I just felt are pretty fascinating at the moment would be in the, and this is personal to me, right, uh, would be in the agri-tech space, agri- and food-tech space. So I don't think we've seen enough of those coming out yet, but there are more and more solutions that's emerging around, uh, that really merges, I think, sensors. So for example, right, how do you feed fishes and shrimps better? Using sensors to release the feed so that you reduce wastage, you reduce costs. Um, and inefficiencies. And at the same time, be able to monitor that quality of the, the pond as well as your fish. And at the same time, apart from just having an IoT smart feeder sensor kind of thing, you also provide the farmers itself with a direct pathway to new customers. Um, so that whole end to end platform, right? Providing the farmers with funding, cash flow management, plus making the operations more efficient, plus Providing them with a sales and distribution platform. I think that's one that I generally am quite interested in seeing. The second one is we've been seeing a lot in the mental health space. Unfortunately, I don't think we've come across any that has stood out as a cure all. And also because mental health is also a very wide space, right? You have mental health for kids, for youth, for adults, for the elderly. You have therapy sessions versus, you know, self diagn…

AI assessment note: “What I just felt are pretty fascinating at the moment would be in the agri-tech space”