Opinion
Asia’s vast and budding tech startup ecosystem is still learning about itself. Many companies in Asia dwarf their Silicon Valley counterparts, but at the same time the platform of startups is not as mature yet. Opinion pieces come from our writers and editors as well as our gracious contributors. These people would like to give a voice to understanding Asia in this dazzling time of growth. It’s with this much needed meta that we can piece together what is going on, what are the real trends and themes, and anticipate what is to come from the startups and tech companies that rule over Asia.
Why the founder of Muslim Pro is now building a Catholic app
In The Backstory, Erwan Macé of Muslim Pro on bootstrapping, going ad-free, and building an app for his own faith.
Paul A. Christensen · · 5 min read
Monee is growing fast, but can its model work beyond Shopee?
Monee, Sea’s fintech arm, has posted soaring revenue and is reportedly eyeing an IPO. But how much of that success depends on Shopee?
David Jimenez Maireles · · 5 min read
Why Hong Kong’s next-gen wealth is shifting from property to tech
Hong Kong family offices are dumping property for pre-IPO tech. An angel investing platform's CEO explains what that means for founders and backers.
Sean Greenhalgh · · 5 min read
He built robots as a teen. Now he’s rethinking how they’re tested
In The Backstory, self-taught robotics engineer Binh Pham on tinkering, the cost of speed, and why robot tests must leave the lab.
Paul A. Christensen · · 5 min readPHP’s AI-found flaws expose a bigger gap: Who guards AI agents?
AI found PHP’s decade-old flaws in two days. But patching at that speed means letting AI act on its own, and nobody’s guarding what it can touch.
Kyle Qi · · 6 min readAI isn’t shrinking work. It’s changing who does it and how
Transaction data from 10,000+ startups suggests AI is reshaping work, not shrinking it. But there’s a catch: The entry-level ladder may narrow.
Andrea Baronchelli · · 4 min readHow this founder went from designing shoes to AI agent workflows
In The Backstory, Mao Ting shares how a shoe brand's operational mess pushed her to build AI agents, and a startup, Maxify AI.
Paul A. Christensen · · 4 min readShopeePay CEO on BNPL: why relying on late fees will fail
ShopeePay's Alain Yee explains why BNPL survival depends on freezing accounts early, not late fees, and why standalone lenders are losing ground.
Gilang Kharisma · · 3 min readOpenAI warns building for today will cause technical debt
OpenAI's Tara Seshan and Nan Yu share why AI teams need shorter planning horizons, rapid prototyping, and real user feedback.
Gilang Kharisma · · 3 min read