Essay
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.
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.
Ecosystem
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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January clarified the rules of participation in Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem. Capital, exits, and AI deployment now reward preparedness, positioning, and institutional alignment.
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.
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.
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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.
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