The Culdesac

Almost six years ago, I wrote about starting a dinner group for women in tech in Singapore.

I’ve had a version of the same conversation maybe a dozen times in the past few weeks.

In Part 1, I wrote about the founders I keep talking to — real traction, real customers, no investor interest — and why that’s happening: capital has a shape derived from institutional portfolios, the shape gets transmitted recursively down the whole stac…

I got invited to a lunch a little while ago on “redefining Southeast Asia’s value proposition.”

This past Saturday I got to sit on a panel with Jeff Paine (Golden Gate Ventures), Michael Blakey (Cocoon Capital), and Roy from Crane.

Last night at our Founder Friends event, a guy walked up to me with the kind of opener you don’t forget.

Urgency is a social phenomenon, not an internal one We talk about drive like it’s a character trait.

I have keloids.

There’s a poster by Tim Urban that shows your entire life in weeks. 4,000 little boxes.

A founder I back asked me last week if I knew anyone who could help them rethink their engineering org from scratch.

Starbucks asks for your name because someone in a boardroom decided it would “foster connection.”

There’s a negativity problem in Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem right now.

Last year, I sat through a forty-five minute pitch where the CEO answered every single question — including deeply technical ones — while the CTO sat silently and nodded.

Everyone keeps saying writing code is dead.

Every parent I know is asking some version of the same question: what should we actually be teaching our kids now that AI can do… most things?

You know a group chat has gone off the rails when someone asks for credentials.

The best books about building startups aren’t really about startups.

Most startup advice is about strategy, metrics, hiring.

My computer science grad cousin and his data scientist wife are peering at my laptop screen, looking at a little app I built — the bane of every Singaporean parent’s existence: a Chinese dictation practice tool for my nine-year-old.

There is a certain irony in finding one of the most vibrant communities I’ve encountered in what was designed to be a ghost city.

A chef’s knife can do almost anything in the kitchen — chop, slice, dice, even peel if you’re determined enough.

If you’re a parent, or involved with small children through blood or friendship, chances are you’ve been forced/privileged to observe a performance or two.

A new year is always a great opportunity to reflect and set some goals - inspired by Der Shing’s blog, thought it useful to jot down priorities and give myself a chance to check back in a year to see how well I did against my stated intentions.

Late last year, Jeremy Au invited me to do a weekly podcast with him, riffing on the latest news in the Southeast Asia Tech scene.

One of my favourite childhood memories was picking fruit from my best friend’s yard, loading up her red radio flyer wagon, and wandering around her neighbourhood selling oranges to her neighbours.

I’ve always loved first days - of school, work, trips - it is a moment bursting with possibility and anticipation.

This article was published as part of the book “America: A Singapore Perspective” edited by Tommy Koh and Daljit Singh.

I’ve been building communities all my life.

The idea of metrics for a pre-seed startups can feel rather oxymoronic; what does it even mean to have metrics when the business is so early?

If you’re watching the news, and face it, who isn’t, it’s disheartening to watch what’s happening in the US right now.

I’d taken up baking like everyone else during the COVID-19 pandemic, precipitated by a friend’s kind gift of a 3 year old sourdough starter.

Every week I write a note to our portfolio, and in each one, I share one thought that I think is relevant for our founders to noodle on.

I’ve given various versions of this talk, and thought it might be worth sharing out the slides here for folks.

I recently met with an incoming MBA student, who is leaving his cushy PE job for business school so that he can start something of his own.

One of my portfolio CEOs recently asked me for some examples of a great investor update newsletter and I thought that was a good opportunity to articulate the key components of a great investor update.

Picture: From L to R, Shiyan Koh (Hustle Fund), Radhika Dutt (Radical Product), Anna Gong (Perx), Reshmi Roy (Skyscanner) Last night, I had the privilege of moderating a panel hosted by Women in Product, where we explored what product management was to our

After almost 6 years at NerdWallet, and having had the chance of a lifetime to build a business from scratch with my friends, I was looking for something that would engage me in a similar way.

After nearly 6 years building NerdWallet, I left at the end of March to move back to my home country, Singapore.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could all be neighbors with our best friends?