Mohan Belani: Founding e27 & Echelon, Media Business Myths & Angel & Orvel VC Investing Journey - E442

episode

BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English) not yet transcribed

▲ 0

Transcript

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet Upvotes decide what gets transcribed next — 0 so far. Sign in to upvote

More from BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English)

What 500 Harvard Case Studies Actually Do To Your Brain - E729 55 min · 09 Sep 2026

The Truth About China's Competitive Advantage - E728 30 min · 06 Sep 2026

Itamar Novick: Where AI Replaces People, and Where It Does Not - E727 46 min · 02 Sep 2026

$70,000 Per Child: What Singapore's New Family Package Actually Changes - E726 43 min · 31 Aug 2026

The Next 3 Years Will Deliver 30 Years of Innovation | John Lin - E725 39 min · 26 Aug 2026

The Innovation Playbook of 3 Southeast Asian Founders - E724 27 min · 23 Aug 2026

All episodes from BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English) →

Report any issue

Source

Recorded04 Jul 2024

Publisherfeed.pod.co ↗

Handlerec:7818015

Show notes

Mohan Belani, Cofounder & CEO of e27, and Jeremy Au talked about three main themes: 1. Founding e27 & Echelon: Mohan discussed his early career decisions as a computer engineering undergraduate with the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) program, failed founder and startup executive. He shared how he juggled his studies and his founding role in e27, often receiving warning letters for his grades. He and his co-founder Thaddeus faced significant challenges, including resetting the brand, cleaning up the cap table, and attracting investors from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and Indonesia between 2012 and 2013. Despite these challenges, e27 has developed into a leading player in the region’s tech ecosystem. 2. Media Business Myths: Mohan highlighted the profitability potential of media and events businesses, despite common misconceptions. He emphasized avoiding vanity metrics and focusing on real ROI. During the COVID-19 pandemic, e27 pivoted from physical events to online channels, resulting in significant growth in media and webinar revenues from 2021 to 2023. This strategic shift resulted in the three best years in the company’s history. He also discussed the tough decisions, such as canceling events instead of postponing them and making hard choices around salaries and compensation. He underscored the importance of navigating partnerships with government agencies, which often have different operating metrics and objectives compared to for-profit companies. 3. Angel & Orvel VC Investing Journey: Mohan recounted the lessons learned from his 30 angel investments that begun in 2013. He shared how founding Orvel Ventures with Milan Reinartz and Jeremy Au required a new systematic approach to evaluating companies, including analyzing gross margins and exit opportunities. His experience as an LP in funds like Golden Gate Ventures and Rebel Fund provided insights into the importance of localized GPs and focused investment strategies. He also stressed the need for funds to support local ecosystems and avoid overly ambitious scaling plans. Jeremy and Mohan also talked about effective onboarding practices, the evolution of the tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia and the use of OKRs to plan and assess personal and professional progress. Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/mohan-belani Nonton, dengar atau baca wawasan lengkapnya di https://www.bravesea.com/blog/mohan-belani-id 观看、收听或阅读全文，请访问 https://www.bravesea.com/blog/mohan-belani-cn Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts Learn more about Evo Commerce at bback.co and stryv.co

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.