Welcome back to another episode of The Negotiation, part 2 of our conversation with William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV and Managing Director of Orbit Startups, a program that helps companies scale breakthrough technologies across emerging and frontier markets to the regions with the most aggressive growth. We re-enter the discussion with William getting his take on the frothy private, public, and even crypto markets this year, as well as the level of M&A activity we can expect over the next few years. We dive into why he says there’s a flood of capital entering the SE Asia region and the importance of maintaining a startup attitude is important when entering new regions in APAC. We bring it to a close with William talking about how there are fewer barriers to starting a business in China thanks to technology, and why the demographic changes in China and SE Asia present exciting opportunities for startups in the region. Enjoy!
Show Notes
In recent years, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with countries such as China, India and Japan leading the way. They have been developing businesses quickly by deploying new technologies and building massive startup ecosystems. As a result, VCs in this region is witnessing huge opportunities for growing companies. The number of startups in APAC is increasing rapidly, presenting massive opportunities for consumers, businesses, and capital allocators.
This episode of
The Negotiation is part 2 of our conversation with William Bao Bean. William is a General Partner at SOSV and Managing Director of Orbit Startups. Orbit Startups helps companies scale breakthrough technologies across emerging and frontier markets- the regions with the strongest growth potential. William is a senior advisor at SOSV and has been a pioneer in the tech and telecommunications space in Asia. During his time with SoftBank China & India Holdings, he led investments in companies such as Yodo1, DemystData, Lekan, and Massive Impact.
In this insightful episode, William shares his insights on what is happening in the APAC region. He talks about the current, turbulent waters in the private, crypto and public markets, and discusses why it is essential to identify a startup's unfair advantage in today’s landscape. He also discusses his view of M&A activity in Asia over the coming years and explains why there is a flood of capital coming to the region. Enjoy!
Topics Discussed and Key Points:
- Turbulent waters in the APAC region for the private, crypto, and public markets as we head into 2022
- Identifying a startup's unfair advantage and why it matters
- M&A activity in Asia over the next few years
- Why is there a flood of capital coming to Southeast Asia?
- Maintaining a "startup attitude" is important when entering new markets.
- How technology has been used in the USA, specifically artificial intelligence, to bring about major changes
- How there are fewer barriers to starting a business in China thanks to technology
- Demographic changes in China and Southeast Asia and the opportunity for start-ups in the region.
What is The Negotiation?
Despite being the world’s most potent economic area, Asia can be one of the most challenging regions to navigate and manage well for foreign brands. However, plenty of positive stories exist and more are emerging every day as brands start to see success in engaging and deploying appropriate market growth strategies – with the help of specialists.
The Negotiation is an interview show that showcases those hard-to-find success stories and chats with the incredible leaders behind them, teasing out the nuances and digging into the details that can make market growth in APAC a winning proposition.