Crazy Smart Asia lifts the lid on the unexpected stories behind some of Asia’s boldest disruptors. Every week we talk with a young leader about the crazy-smart approaches they’re taking to achieve success and tackle some of the biggest issues facing Asia today.
This week, we've picked out five inspiring quotes from the latest episodes of Crazy Smart Asia to help you build a better world, a better business, or even just a better you. Listen for a quickfire highlights reel of crazy-smart perspectives from our guests, with Tatler Gen.T's Lee Williamson.
"Anywhere on earth can be your classroom, as long as it fits your lifestyle," says Tommie Lo, the founder of Al-powered education platform Preface, on Crazy Smart Asia. In conversation with Gen.T's Lee Williamson, Lo shares how growing up on a boat as a fisherman's son decentralised his views on education, why he chose waiting tables in a Chinese restaurant over following Barack Obama to The White House, and which football team he credits with his leadership style.
"Climate change is not an immediate entrepreneurial target," says Max Song, ex-coder and founder and CEO of Carbonbase, on Crazy Smart Asia. From gaining his first gig couch-surfing post-Burning Man in California, to living on the streets of Paris, Max tells Gen.T's Lee Williamson why running a company's like surfing, how an internship with Nasa inspired intergalactic goals, and a quickfire confession to make you smile.
"Mothers are the best business leaders because they don't have the luxury of time," says Sarah Chen-Spellings, the co-founder of Beyond the Billion, a consortium of venture capital funds focused on getting US$1 billion into the pockets of female founders, on Crazy Smart Asia. In conversation with Gen.T's Lee Williamson, Chen-Spellings shares how she's trying to redress the vast gender imbalance in VC funding, how she secured a US$30 million deal at just 25 years old, and why she's always looking to eat more salt.
"If we don't do this, I don't think anyone else can do it," says Angeline Tham, the co-founder and CEO of Angkas, the on-demand motorcycle taxi app revolutionising how people get around in the gridlocked city of Manila, on Crazy Smart Asia. In conversation with Gen.T's Lee Williamson, Angeline shares insights on how to successfully run a business with your partner, the moment that led her to consider hiring bodyguards, and why ending poverty in the Philippines is her ultimate mission.
"What's unexpected is the idea that two young students, two nobodies, can essentially transform a country's democracy," say Qyira Yusri and Tharma Pillai, co-founders of Malaysian advocacy group Undi18, on Crazy Smart Asia. In conversation with Gen.T's Lee Williamson, Yusri and Pillai share the anatomy of a winning political campaign, why young Malaysians are a force to be reckoned with, and the surprisingly antagonistic start to their co-founder dynamic.
