Stop Chasing Unicorns - E719
episode
BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English)
41 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 16 days ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What does the Southeast Asian venture landscape look like in 2026?
Hey everyone, Edric here, producer from Brave. First off, if you've been following the Brave Podcast, thank you so much for your support. If this is your first time tuning in, I hope you're gonna check out our latest episodes on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, or simply head over to our website, www.bravec.com. Now, Jeremy was recently on an episode of the Accidental VC to unpack where Southeast Asia Venture is actually heading in 2026, and we thought you'd enjoy this particular episode. So, two of the sharpest points to listen for: one on why the region's proximity has finally become an asset instead of a liability, and Jeremy on why walking away from a $50 million exit usually ends in zero.
They cover the reset after the blitz scaling era, why unit economics have become non-negotiable, whether AI is coming for our jobs in Southeast Asia the same way it's hitting the US and much much more. So do support our friends Milan and Mohan head over to the Accidental VC and give them a follow. So let us know what you thought about this episode in the comments and please enjoy.
The ones that are doing well, the ones that are continuing to get investor interest and scale are the ones that had the unit economics fundamentals correct from the start.
People walked away from fifty million dollar transactions because themselves or the board, the weather felt like, you know, they could go much higher, much faster. And unfortunately almost all the stories I know of that when they walked away, they ran out of runway.
With AI it is actually less important where you are if you're building really well. So you can build global businesses theoretically it I
I think their proximity in Southeast Asia has for the first time in a long time become an asset, not a liability. And in AI, mode building conceptually is you build that mode really fast, but you lose it really fast as well. If you're doing something global and generic, the big loss is the fact that people are starting to give up on Southeast Asia. The region still has a lot of potential.
Hi everyone, welcome to the sixth episode of The Accidental VC, where we cover uh different topics around venture capital and and startups, um, especially from uh folks who folks' perspective who uh have accidentally tapped into the industry of venture capital, as is uh the case here, I think also with us to some extent. Yeah. Today I have Mohan and Jeremy uh with me, and Mohan, Jeremy, and I have actually run a fund for the last three years. So a pro There'll be a lot of insider things here between us. So I'm pretty excited to have you both here. Three years, yeah?
This is the fourth year real. Yeah, yeah. So uh we're here at a party and talk about Southeast Asia, venture capital and technology. So let's get it rolling. So what do you think twenty twenty six looks like? What's going on in Southeast Asia? Oh, no, I'm getting interviewed. That's nice.
Um well I mean we we've we've kind of uh our business as you know has has you know really pivoted from doing early stage investing as a as an angel club originally, um to to now largely focusing on large cap US uh investments. So I've I I suppose being a little bit out of the loop, um, other than, you know, the work we do together and and some of the work we do with one MX on AI. But w one thing I notice is that there are actually There is a sort of, you know, r rev revival in a way that I see with with interesting AI businesses coming out of the woodworks and and also sort of comparing how Uh how some businesses that have been using AI or have sort of have a AI element to their business model that we've invested in, for example, Staple and and others.
You know, how the differences between these businesses and also the valuation ranges. I'm starting to now see more companies coming back with those $15 million safe notes. Um which is which is interesting. And and the question is, you know, is that is that justified in in a market like like like Southeast Asia? But then also, I mean we we we you know recent
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What does the Southeast Asian venture landscape look like in 2026?
0:00–6:28
2
Why are $50 million exits realistic and why do founders sometimes walk away?
6:28–11:54
3
How does unit‑economics versus blitz‑scaling affect startup survival in the region?
11:54–16:57
4
Is a K‑shaped economy emerging in Southeast Asia and what does it mean for founders?
16:57–21:46
5
Can AI and automation lower cost structures enough to make early‑stage businesses viable?
21:46–26:44
6
What sectors (agri‑tech, waste‑management, cybersecurity, etc.) offer the best AI‑enabled opportunities?
26:44–31:54
7
How should founders prioritize growth versus profitability in a post‑blitz‑scale world?
31:54–36:49
8
What are the biggest recent wins and failures in Southeast Asian VC and what can we learn from them?
36:49–41:20
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English)
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