This chief product officer talks about how he stumbled into the product world

There’s a storytelling cliche that goes “maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way,” indicating that the journey is more valuable than the destination.

While the phrase has been parodied to death, it does have a seed of truth in it. Often, in pursuing one goal, people stumble upon many other benefits: valuable new friends and connections, unique experiences, or maybe even a whole new purpose.

This concept also applies to the world of tech and startups, where the development of one solution could lead to the creation of something else entirely. And this phenomenon is encapsulated in the career of Jeff Pan, chief product officer at Teleport, the logistics venture of AirAsia Digital.

Jeff Pan (left), chief product officer at Teleport, along with his wife Michelle Fong (right) and their dog Bruno (center) / Photo credit: Jeff Pan

Read on to get a glimpse of his remarkable journey and what he’ll be talking about at Tech in Asia’s Product Development Conference.

The following responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Why did you join Teleport?

Jeff: I joined Teleport to help build the future of air logistics in Southeast Asia. We transport cargo for users such as ecommerce marketplaces, brands, freight forwarders, and individual consumers, utilizing the empty space on the bottom of airplanes to do so.

Pan and the Teleport team / Photo credit: Jeff Pan

Before joining, I was a venture builder at McKinsey, where we helped Fortune 100 companies identify new opportunities to build internal startups. During this time, I worked with a large aviation client and was shocked to learn that the bottom half of the plane during the average passenger flight is 85% empty. I found this absolutely bonkers, especially considering how hard airlines try to upsell passengers on the top half of the plane.

When I met the Teleport team, it was clear that I had stumbled upon an incredible opportunity. And to add to the culture fit, during my interview, the CEO showed up sporting a vintage ’96 Chicago Bulls t-shirt. It couldn’t have been more perfect for me.

What is so special about the logistics industry in Southeast Asia?

Jeff: There are three key factors that make the region stand out: a growing market, a unique strength, and a “regional moat.”

On the market front, VC investment in logistics startups grew from US$5 billion to US$25 billion in four years, and the approximately US$7 billion total addressable market of shipping things by air in Southeast Asia continues to grow by 15% a year.

On the unique strength – air cargo isn’t a space for just any entrepreneur or conglomerate to enter, and the only players with a chance of capitalizing on this market are airlines with specific expertise in operating an extensive network of flights throughout Southeast Asia. In other words, a unique strength that Teleport, as part of AirAsia Digital, possesses.

What’s your favorite product manager (PM) interview question?

Why is a strong product development community important?

What got you interested in product development?

What’s the biggest and most memorable impact you made in a product?

What are you going to talk about at PDC and why is it important?