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In focus
- How firms should be run and more, according to Sea boss Forrest Li
- Why Mekong Capital is chasing returns, not AI hype
- What Hala Mobility’s fundraise says about the gig economy
Hello reader,
When Forrest Li speaks publicly, it’s worth paying attention.
After all, he is founder, CEO, and chairman of Sea Limited, arguably Southeast Asia’s most successful tech company. Li also rarely speaks publicly, making his appearance on stage at the Singapore leg of the annual Stripe Tour a rare window into his thoughts on how companies should be run.
Our senior editor Melissa Goh’s story on the fireside chat is full of nuggets on everything from Shopee’s “bottom up” approach in Indonesia before the ubiquity of ecommerce, how the firm approached its expansion to Brazil, and Li’s views on how AI is helping the business.
What intrigued me most was Li saying he still receives emails from customers daily and takes them as serious feedback on Sea’s performance. It would be easy for someone in his position to dismiss criticism out of hand, but this shows just how valuable being customer-obsessed is for any leader.
From a successful operator to a successful investor, we’re also featuring an interview with Mekong Capital partner Chad Ovel today. Well worth a read for, among other things, the lowdown on the private equity firm’s investment philosophy in the AI era and updates on the IPO plans of two of its portfolio companies.
Peter Cowan, engagement editor
Top Stories
1️⃣ Forrest Li on scaling Sea, building smarter bots, and founder grit
Sea Limited founder, chairman, and CEO Forrest Li / Photo credit: Stripe
Our story featuring Li ends with the simplest, but perhaps most valuable, advice for founders: Keep going.
The Sea head honcho outlines how the secret sauce that has kept him going through the firm’s trials and tribulations is good old-fashioned grit. If it’s good enough for the leader of a company worth almost US$70 billion, it’s good enough for any founder.
2️⃣ Mekong Capital shuns AI-native bets as portfolio firms near IPOs
Can AI communications scale?
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