David Isaac Mathews

Calling all #mentors and wannabe mentors! Join me for a chat that won’t be fireside because I don’t have a fireplace! 🤪 🌟 Ready to dive into the exciting world of mentoring early-stage startups? Join us for a session where we’ll explore the ins and outs of making a real impact as a mentor. Whether you're already a startup mentor or just considering it, you'll gain invaluable insights and practical tips to elevate your mentoring game. 🗣️ We’ll discuss the best ways to connect with startup teams, share success stories, and even tackle some of the challenges mentors face. This is your chance to learn from seasoned SBC mentors, discover new strategies, and contribute your own experiences. 🤝 Online or in person, we've got you covered: ⭐️In-person Session with Trevor Townsend , CEO Startupbootcamp Australia on Thursday 30th of May 4:00 - 6:00 PM AEST ⭐️Online Session with me! Jacqui Bloom Growth & Investment Director Startupbootcamp Australia on Wednesday, 22nd of May 4:00 - 5:00 PM AEST 🎟️Secure your spot here: https://lnkd.in/gKCTeVcM

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🔥 Attention: Visionaries & Builders in MENAP region 🔥 🚀 This call is for all Aspiring VCs and Angel Investors in the MENAP region! Are you ready to level up your Venture Game? Join us for this value packed, invite only, 2-part Masterclass - Venture Investing for Angels - where we’ll dive deep into the essential principles of venture investing. Gain insights that can save time, money, and risk as you navigate this exciting space! Masterclass Details: 📅 Dates: December 13th & 14th @ 4pm (KSA/Egypt), 5pm (UAE), 6pm (Pak) & 9pm (SG time) 📍 Platform: Zoom 🎙 Host: Angel School 🤝 Partner: YouPitchLive Register Now ➡ https://lnkd.in/gsR38CB7 Jed N. who is the founder of Angel School is a self-taught angel investor with 2x unicorns in his portfolio and millions invested, He’ll share his top strategies: 1️⃣ First Principles of Angel Investing 2️⃣ Venture Math Essentials – Fundraising, Dilution & Valuations 3️⃣ Startup Evaluation Frameworks – Making confident, data-driven decisions Don’t miss out on building your strong foundation in venture investing. See you there! Register Here ✅️ https://lnkd.in/gsR38CB7 #startups #angelinvestors #venturecapital #vc #angels

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In the realm of artificial intelligence, new wonders emerge daily. One such marvel is Udio, an AI music generator that has recently crafted a captivating song about Singapore’s iconic dish, Chilli Crab. #ai #udio #Singapore #SingaporeJumbo #JumboSeafood #IAmAi #AiHustle

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🚀 Excited to share innovative strategies for Ai Implementation Success! 🤖 Join me in this thought leadership journey through insightful videos. Let's lead the way in AI innovation together! #AIInnovation #BrandConsultant #ThoughtLeadership #BK_HAN #SingaporeInnovation

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#Phoenix a mythical bird symbolizes the immortality through burning itself and rebirth, everytime it senses the end. We have gone through the phoenix moment atleast once in our life metaphorically. Stopped doing old tasks/habits and started doing completely new ones,reinventing ourselves and becoming what we are today. Can business reinvent itself? Yes!!! This is exactly The Phoenix Encounter Method teaches the readers. By going through preperation,burning to ashes,rebirth and new phases every business has the ability to sustain and grow. Great to have a conversation with PSG Tech Alumni Association Chennai Chapter and PSG TECH ALUMNI BUSINESS COUNCIL EC SANDEEP B N on "How SMEs in India can become Phoenix and reinvent themselves?" The full video is out now and the link is below. #digitaltransformation #indiasme #gigeconomy #futureofwork

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[SEE THE MOVE] The Strategic Life Narrative Practice #1 (Introduction) In the previous article SEE THE MOVE: From Creative Life Curation to Strategic Life Narrative, I defined a new Ontological structure: Strategic Life Narrative (Strategic Curation). In this article, I will present the House of Creative Life Curation as a means of defining the “Realism” of Strategic Life Narrative (Strategic Curation). The House of Creative Life Curation is organized around 12 themes, grouped into three categories: Theme, Practice, and Space. These 12 themes form the foundation for developing 12 distinct types of Strategic Life Narrative practices. The “Hermeneutics” of Strategic Life Narrative (Strategic Curation) is grounded in the Self-referential Activity model and supported by relevant book drafts, which provide additional interpretive frameworks. https://lnkd.in/g4efcgeZ (11/6/2024)

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Hi all! Fortune's Brainstorm AI Singapore conference is just two weeks away (July 30-31), and I'm thrilled to be co-chair and about the agenda and the event. 😎 This also means it's your final chance to register—and I hope you will! You'll get to meet and hear from leaders in the industry as we discuss AI’s transformative impact on business. Topics include: 🌐 The 1,000-Year-Old Human: Will AI Make Death Optional? 🌐 How AI Is Building the Cities of the Future 🌐 Green Leadership: AI Innovation That Doesn't Cost the Earth 🌐 Singapore as AI Superpower? 🌐 Investing in AI: Opportunities in the APAC Market Find out more at: https://lnkd.in/gruVFYCt. Hope to see you there! ♥️ #FortuneAI #ai #aiconference #tech #business #conference #industryleaders

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Four stages of startups founder growth according to someone I read recently: First time founder cares about product. Second time founder cares about distribution (marketing). Third time founder cares about retention. Fourth time founder cares about finding a big enough market. My favorite market in the adtech/martech industry is cashback. It’s huge! Probably because it just goes so well with e-commerce - whatever you buy, it’s better with cashback. Anyway, recently we closed a deal with Qoala. The guys are about all things smart shopping and I love it https://lnkd.in/ekGpzp6x

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This is for my APAC founders, angels, venture studios and VC´s! Check the event below if you like to join or speak! #founders #venturestudio #vc #event #apac #angelinvestors

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Look forward to addressing unicorn founders, family offices and institutional investors at this wonderful event curated by UBS. I will build upon my category of one essay published by Harvard Business Review and explain how it can be applied to finding product market fit amidst challenging macro contexts. My HBR Essay: https://lnkd.in/gFCXb_U

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𝐀𝐈 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐓 It can do everything from explaining the entire narrative to the least professional person on the team to creating a scaled-up macro (with certain micro aspects) strategy for the most trained person on that same team. Given, that there may be a need to build 2-3 archetypes which suit different team members we may try to normalise something which has difficulty normalising without creating a certain persona for which it may fit. Don't forget that not all markets behave similarly and bias towards a certain market may create a marketing and/or sales campaign which completely doesn't fit it, thus creating a strategy which doesn't work and AI may be deemed "unfit" for that particular organisation. We touch base on these aspects a lot with our own clients, as our services are being offered globally and not all markets behave similarly to such change. #genai #dumbai #businesstransformation

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There are 2 term sheet provisions which I hate. Because they are very aggressive for founders. In good times these terms won’t hurt you. But in a downside situation they are very nasty. If you are currently fundraising avoid them. 1️⃣ First one is: 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘁 (𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶-𝗗𝗶𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻) If a down round occurs, the conversion price of existing preferred shares is reduced to match the lower price of the new round. This results in the old investor getting more shares to maintain their ownership percentage. ❌ Stay away from “Full Ratchet”. ❌ ✅ A good practise: ✅ The "Broad-based Weighted Average". The conversion price is reduced based on a weighted average of the old conversion price and the new share issuance price. The investor gets additional shares, but less than under a full ratchet. 2️⃣ Second one is: 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗱 A type of liquidation preferrence where the investor gets 1-3x their money back PLUS their proportioned (pro-rata) share of what is left. The problem is that in bad outcomes they can make money and you may not. ❌ Stay away from Participating Preferred Shares. ❌ ❌ OR a Liquidation Prefference of 1-3x. ❌ ✅ A good practise: ✅ 1x Non-participating Liquidation Preference - investors get 1x their money back or their %. If you see any of the two terms, address them. Investor’s initial intention is not to hurt your company. It’s to safeguard their investment. However, it’s important that this doesn’t happen at the expense of the founders. P.S. From your experience what are other term sheet provisions to avoid? ⬇️

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In 1942, Peter F. Drucker asked in The Future of Industrial Man: What is a Functioning Society? The start of his answer... Man in his social and political existence must have a functioning society just as he must have air to breathe in his biological existence. However, the fact that man has to have a society does not necessarily mean that he has it. Nobody calls the mass of unorganized, panicky, stampeding humanity in a shipwreck a “society.” There is no society, though there are human beings in a group. Actually, the panic is directly due to the breakdown of a society; and the only way to overcome it is by restoring a society with social values, social discipline, social power, and social organization... For the individual, there is no society unless he has social status and function. Society is only meaningful if its purpose, its aims, its ideas and ideals make sense in terms of the individual’s purposes, aims, ideas and ideals. There must be a definite functional relationship between individual life and group life. As the Drucker Institute's 2024 Ranking of America's Best Managed Companies nears, all of these companies should be proud of their role in supporting A Well Functioning Society in a multitude of ways...so many new stories to tell from the data! #Doingtherightthingswell #DruckerRankings2024 #Bestmanagedcompanies #Wellfunctioningsociety The Drucker Institute Claremont Graduate University Michael H. Kelly Daniel Martin Drucker School of Management David Sprott The Wall Street Journal https://lnkd.in/gDEJwejw

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Human going oversea to give a talk and conduct a hackathon on AI with AI. ************** When generative AI was launched in the form of ChatGPT to the public on 30 November 2022, few would have imagined how quickly it would accelerate digital disruptions, innovations and speed of productivity. When I first saw what was coming by the end of February 2023, I knew I had to pivot fast. Many of my clients began to ask how to move their businesses and people forward with this AI, which is very different from traditional AI. By January 2024, four event organisers approached me for my input to help organise conferences on generative AI. One eventually did. We had a two-day Generative AI conference in July with speakers and participants from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, India and Africa countries. It was a blast. The others are still in discussions. - Humans. With low-code to no-code solutions, developing customised virtual assistants and chatbots is not exclusive to programmers and coders but accessible to everyday people. Today, I am off to another engagement - with an international high-tech company’s APAC meeting - topics on increasing business value by collaborating with AI and across businesses. #technology #innovation #business #transformation #management #leadership

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In the latest episode of the Leading podcast with Audrey Tang, I was deeply inspired by how technology can be used to foster inclusive dialogue and effective decision-making. Tang's approach in Taiwan, using platforms like Polis, demonstrates the power of digital tools to bring people together and surface common ground in even the most complex discussions. By creating safe spaces for participation, Tang shows how technology can build trust and collaboration between citizens and governments. It's not just about having a voice; it’s about having a voice that is heard, understood, and acted upon. In a world where divisiveness can often overshadow progress and tech algorithms drive polarization, the lesson is clear: When used wisely, technology can strengthen democracy and leadership. It allows leaders to focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. Tang emphasised that successful leaders need to be aware that they don't always know everything and should prioritize listening over speaking. This means tuning into the real, valuable signals (ideas, feedback, concerns) from those they lead while filtering out the unnecessary noise. In any large system or discussion, there's always a mix of noise and signal. Great leaders focus on amplifying the ‘signal’ - the ideas and insights that truly matter - by listening carefully and creating an environment where those signals can emerge. Good leadership is about creating space for voices to be heard, and then discerning the most important insights from the flood of information. This concept is critical in today’s world, where information is abundant, but meaningful communication can often get lost in the noise. For leaders seeking to leverage the power of ‘authentic dialogue’ I'm offering a series of free webinars on tools and techniques that foster real, productive conversations in any organization. 👉 Check out our free webinar series on authentic dialogue tools for leaders to help you create environments where every voice matters. Use the link in the comments below. Dr. Claus Springborg Springborg and I would love to see you there. #Leadership #DigitalInnovation #InclusiveLeadership #AudreyTang #CivicTech #DialogueMatters #AuthenticLeadership #Webinar #EffectiveDecisionMaking

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VC funding startups is the worst possible way of funding startups EVER, except every other form of funding. Why? Because the govts tend to be abysmal in finding the next company to break into the FAANG - but they are good at finding safe, mediocre companies to make big. BYD is a Chinese success story. For the private sector. Sure it enjoyed SOME govt subsidies in the early days - but today, BYD is making Toyota the king of JIT shit their pants. (And Tesla to give up fighting BYD). The other state sponsored behemoth SAIC??? Well, it is dying - dying worse than VW, BMW, Mercedes and Audi. In fact, SAIC-VW is doing okay, if by okay, you mean SAIC standards. Although BYD will be grateful publicly to the CCP, it is really reliant of the ecosystem that it built in China (with help from CCP and local officials) but not built by CCP. Of the SOEs and Chinese MNCs that are very reliant on the CCP like Huawei - well, Xiaomi seems to be running rings around them. This is evolution - Bytedance, PDD are less reliant on state funding, state support than ABB, Baidu. And China should let the startups be - because the officials do not know how to pick winners from the bunch using taxpayers money. (VCs use OPM, slightly better)

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🎯 Time for a reality check in tech: While 50% of Fortune 100 companies are now tech giants, 90% of tech startups still fail. I translate this situation in the market as 'high aspiration - high risk.' What separates the winners from those who don’t make it? Let's begin by saying that all sizes don't fit all. Some people want to become millionaires and billionaires. Some people want a peaceful lifestyle. We are not the same. So, it all begins with our personal and professional objectives. But if you are in the money race, where you are also trying to change the world for the better, 5 things are essential to improve your odds of success: 🥇Find a huge problem you can solve with your expertise. Not your passion, not the latest trend. 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙃𝙪𝙜𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙎𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡. Thousands, if not millions, experience a huge problem. 🎯 Find Product-Market Fit BEFORE Scaling. If you try to scale too soon, you'll likely perish. 💰 Master Cash Flow Management. Cash flow is the livelihood of your company. 🤝 Hire Smart. Not soon, not cheap. 🔄 Embrace Iterative Development. Product Market fit is a moving target. You can't become complacent ever. What today seems impressive started small years/decades ago. Emphasis on D͎E͎C͎A͎D͎E͎S͎ Don't fool yourself, thinking you will grow rich overnight. Remember the 90% failure rate? The key isn’t to avoid failure—it’s to fail fast, learn fast, and keep iterating until you find what works. What’s your experience with startup challenges? Share your insights below! 👇 Liked this post? Follow me for more insights on tech entrepreneurship and business growth strategy. 

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🙌 Welcome back to Startup Wednesdays, featuring #VC, #founder & #operators here in SEA. For this week, we have Jecky Pelaez, AVP at Kickstart Ventures 💭 What inspired you to transition from law to VC? My grandparents owned one of the largest shoe manufacturing/retail brands in the 🇵🇭 in the 1930’s & survived for ~60 years until it closed due to various management, labor & macroeconomic factors. I was quite young then but as I grew older I wonder how this could have been prevented. This curiosity & desire to figure out problems led me to law, gaining broad exposure to addressing problems such as commercial, labor or tax. After working with clients, I became more interested in how their businesses were being run & managed. Wanting to transition to the business side, I took up an MBA & went into VC. 💭 How did your degree in law help in your role in VC? Due to my legal background, I tend to have a “worst case scenario” mentality, which leads me to take an evidence-based approach when reviewing companies for investment. I think lawyering & exposure to the myriad ways in which people can cause legal problems sharpens your BS meter & gut sense in assessing people & founders. On the practical side of my legal background gave me the experience & discipline in doing due diligence through years of poring over data rooms full of commercial, corporate & financial documents. When negotiating complex deals, corporate structuring has also been another useful skill set. Finally, our portfolio companies are able to reach out to me as a resource person whenever they have legal or structuring issues. 💭 What is the biggest challenge that startups face in Phi? Understanding cap table mechanics & valuation. At times we’ll meet startups in the pre-seed/seed stage & founders are super diluted or the startup had taken many convertible notes with unfavorable terms that it makes it unattractive for new investors. For companies that have received funding, fiscal discipline vs growth strategy execution is a tough balancing act. The idea of getting funding is to scale or try out new revenue streams/markets or expand the team, but having that extra discipline on spending capital wisely or reallocation of resources to stretch runway gives you that extra buffer against external upheavals. 💭 What advice do you have for someone looking to break into VC? Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have a traditional finance background; VC is more than just running numbers & returns. Although understanding & knowing how to run the numbers is important, having operational experience or a unique perspective from previous work enriches & adds diversity to discussions. Having an openness & genuine curiosity to learn about founders, startups & the space in general will allow you to grow exponentially. Finally, understanding the role of investors to support startups will have an enormous effect on how you view your job & deal with founders & co-investors.

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