Essay
The Bill Hiding Behind the AI Bargain
Enterprise AI’s $20 seats are not a bargain but a temporary subsidy that will snap back into usage-based bills big enough to shock any company that built core workflows on fake prices.
The Philippines Built a $40 Billion Industry It Doesn't Own
The Philippines built a $40 billion IT services industry — and almost none of the ownership. AI is about to expose that gap.
FinTech Marketing That Moves the Needle: Lessons from Tonik Digital Bank’s Head of Marketing
Vanity metrics die fast when your CFO demands grounded unit economics. Tonik's Wanda Pascua on building a revenue-first marketing org in a low-trust market.
The Structural Case for the Philippine Female-Led Economy
This article is based on a conversation with Niña Terol Aquino, CEO and Co-Founder of FoundHer, and the gap that's costing the Philippines one of its biggest economic opportunities.
The Trust Tax: How Indonesia's Startup Scandals Repriced an Entire Ecosystem
Indonesia’s startup boom didn’t just stall — it got repriced, as the eFishery and TaniHub scandals turned “growth at all costs” into a permanent trust tax on every Indonesian founder raising capital.
How Capital Markets Shape Startup Ecosystems
The Philippines’ startup problem is not talent, funding, or ambition—it is exit arithmetic. When capital markets cannot absorb high-growth companies, venture outcomes collapse regardless of founder quality or capital deployed.
Southeast Asia Tech Digest - January 2026
January clarified the rules of participation in Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem. Capital, exits, and AI deployment now reward preparedness, positioning, and institutional alignment.
How LP Mandates Rewired Southeast Asia's Venture Market
For anyone building in SEA over the next 24 months: incorporate in Singapore and engineer unit economics for 12-month payback, or accept that institutional venture capital is structurally unavailable.
The Capital Deployment Problem in Southeast Asia
Founders in Southeast Asia know the math of dilution, but the ecosystem’s incentives push them to behave as if the math doesn’t matter.
Southeast Asian Tech Roundup December 2025
Grab’s Web3 payments push, Google Pay’s PH debut, and SEA’s $300B+ digital economy headline a week of bold moves, game-changing regulation, and deep tech bets shaping the region’s future.
PayMongo Enables Google Pay for Filipino Merchants
Integration expands digital wallet options as Philippines accelerates toward mobile-first commerce
Southeast Asia Tech Roundup November 2025
Southeast Asia’s tech scene this week saw major consolidation moves, breakthrough digital infrastructure, and bold pivots in AI and payments—revealing an ecosystem where operational scale and regional specialization increasingly outpace old-school growth and VC narratives.
Most Southeast Asian Businesses Aren’t Built for Venture Capital
The founders who win aren’t the ones who raise the biggest checks—they’re the ones who know exactly what game they’re playing and have the courage to run it on their own terms.