Insights
Insights pieces are analyses, opinions, and advice written by expert members of the tech community.
Why Grab paid $1.5b for Atome instead of building lending
After spending US$1.2 billion learning how hard credit is, Grab bought Atome's lending engine. Here's what the deal unlocks for Grab.
David Jimenez Maireles · · 5 min read
Why this founder killed his AI startup despite early success
His advice for other founders: Ask if you can do this for 10 years, don't fear a saturated market, and know when sunk cost is just sunk cost.
Peter Cowan · · 6 min read
Why ‘cheaper’ no longer wins dev deals for Vietnam
Rates are converging across every offshore market. A CEO explains why Vietnam's engineers - not its prices - are now the real pitch.
Thanh Pham · · 5 min read
Alibaba’s AI capex spike isn’t the story investors think
The market punished Alibaba's earnings. But a closer look at the firm’s chips, cloud, and AI model suggests the reaction got the story backward.
Jacob Cooke · · 3 min readAs Chinese tech arrives in pieces, what should SEA firms own?
Robots and AI models arrive as interchangeable parts, so firms in Southeast Asia must decide what they need to own and what to simply plug in.
Jun Yan · · 5 min readForget startups. Buy the business running on Excel
A simple “scissor pattern” can reveal profitable SMEs whose weak systems create room for operational upside.
Aadhar Chhabra · · 5 min readWhy short US trips backfire for SEA founders
From fundraising to visas, Ng shows why US expansion fails when founders treat it as a quick market test.
Frederick Ng · · 5 min readThis VC uses AI to spot startups before the data catches up
OM Venture Capital's principals expected AI to help them work faster. Instead, it helped them see deals before its competitors even knew to look.
Ben Hoxie · · 5 min readChinese tech is coming to Central Asia. Can SEA compete?
China has set a foothold in Central Asia, but its tech titans are just getting started. That leaves a narrow window for SEA’s players to move first.
Alec Tseung · · 5 min read