Building in S.E. Asia - History of Entrepreneurship at Princeton University

Thank you Princeton University (Professor Michael J. Thate) for the kind invitation to speak at your “History of Entrepreneurship” class last month. It was my first time at Princeton, and I was mesmerized by the rich history of this university that consistently ranks top globally.

My lecture was prepped to teach students about Southeast Asia, Tech, and how to use Tech for the good of society. I dove into the fascinating region made up of 11 countries with a population of over 680 million, that has more than half of their population under 35 years old and a staggering mobile penetration rate of >120%. I talked about the opportunity of offering financial inclusion to more than 70% of the region’s population who are underbanked and are likely storing their cash under their beds so that they can access loans and micro-investment products. We talked about how transformative it is when MedTech (Telemedicine) is offered so that everyday people can have access to doctors via online portals when typical patient to doctor ratio is 1000:1, and having basic medicine delivered to them through Tech platform companies can have a profound upgrade to people’s everyday health.

But the majority of our time, we actually pivoted to the fuzzy areas of soft skills acquisition, managing people, and how to be an individual today who is so unique that AI cannot replace.

Questions such as “how do I keep my soul if I work on Wall Street”, or “how to manage up properly so I can advance my career”, and “how do I make a positive social impact on society” were topics we discussed in much more depth, with the students so hungry for answers that I stayed 20 mins overtime to further expand on their questions.

I love spending time investing into the younger generation, because they are not shackled by cynicism and doubt. I am reminded of a time when I mostly saw opportunities and hope in this world.

Thank you to all the students at Princeton who made my first lecture at the university full of wonder. I also enjoyed being a guest at the Princeton student run podcast “The Impact Agenda”, (Elise K., Evelyn Howe) stay tuned for the release!

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