Business and Finance

Dan and Josephine – Partners in Life and Work

We are facing a world where technology will continue to replace humans for many jobs. While this creates uncertainties in our world, it is vital to rethink how we learn and adapt to new work environments. Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong, cofounders of Making Meaningful Work, speak to Jesse about how we can take ownership of ourselves, our team and our organisation by taking micro actions to shape the desired culture and behaviours to insert meaning into what we do.

https://www.makemeaningfulwork.com/

Herald van der Linde has spent his extensive career in the Asia Pacific equity markets. A true Renaissance man, Van der Linde has acquired knowledge an a diverse set of domains ranging from oenology to Egyptology. Educated at the University of Groningen, the Dutchman also speaks Indonesian, German, Chinese, French and Burmese. in 2021, he published an excellent overview of the equity markets in Asia, Introducing Asia’s Stock Markets: From the Ground Up! This book is accessible to the average retail investor with an interest in Asia.

With decades of marketing communications experience, Bryce is one of Asia’s pioneers of non-traditional advertising, and digital transformation, specializing in retail communications, brand activation, digital and data marketing, CRM and loyalty marketing. He has held senior agency positions in large firms such as McCann, Ogilvy, Wunderman, managing up to 500 people across 4 offices, as well as boutique specialty firms such as Nitro and RTC.

Bryce has deep experience in China integrated marketing, including data marketing, loyalty, and CRM experience. Besides marketing, he also a musician, having previously recorded 2 albums with the band, “Identity Crisis”.

Noor is a founder, investor, and operator. Identified by Forbes magazine as one of the “World’s Top 50 Women in Tech”, Noor’s previous roles include CIO at The Dubai Future Foundation, and founder of ZenYoga studio chain (acquired by Cedarbridge). Furthermore, Noor was the first Arab woman to scale, IPO and operate a public company in the MENA region, listing Depa on the NASDAQ Dubai and the London Stock Exchange.

Noor Sweid is passionate about enabling disruptive technology companies and their emerging market founders to solve real problems while changing the world with measurable impact. (DEPA:DU) for US$1.1. billion in April 2008.

Noor holds a bachelors’ degrees in Finance and Economics from Boston College, an MBA from MIT Sloan, and began her career as a Biotechnology and pharmaceutical strategy consultant in the US. She is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and is recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Robert is a keen sportsman having played professional football. He still hits the gym 5x week and plays rugby.

Robert Sawhey has had a varied career spanning health and fitness, consultancy, and academia. Currently he works in a regional director role for one of the largest fitness solutions providers in the world. He has a BSc in Sports Science and Management from Brunel University and an MBA from the University of Lincoln. He did his doctoral studies in marketing at a university in Hong Kong.

He is the author of 2 books. Marketing Professional Services in Asia (Lexis Nexis, 2009) which was called one of the most indigenous books on Asian marketing by Professor Oliver Yau (Chair Professor of Marketing at City University HK) and Developing a Profitable Practice in Asia (Ark Group, 2010). He has also published over 50 articles in various newspapers and magazines on the topics of strategy, marketing, and leadership. He has spoken at numerous events as a keynote speaker or panelist around Asia.

Dev provides a fantastic insight into his battle against India’s infamous bureaucracy and other reflections of building a valuable business enterprise in the world’s fastest growing large Emerging Market economy

Dev Roy started his professional journey as a Debt Instrument Trader with the Bank of America. Youngest Managing Director of Barclays Capital at their London office. In 2009 he became an entrepreneur and incubated Nephrolife, India’s third largest renal care provider. He later started FitKids in 2010 to address the various learning challenges in the Indian education system and change the educational landscape and Digital Aristotle, an edtech company, acquired by Byju’s in 2021. He recently closed down Fitkids and is preparing to move back to London. Roy has a BE Bangalore University and an MBA from University of Chicago.

Jeanne and Sofia the Robot

An Exciting Journey into the Self and onto the Virtual World

Jeanne is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of beingAI, a transmedia AI company creating AI beings™ that build long-term engagement and trust with digital-native consumers anywhere, anytime, on any device and media platform. Jeanne is an angel investor and advisor of several startups, and a board member of Kami Intelligence, a conversational AI company.

Jeanne has over 25 years of experience in business management and technology marketing. She is the former CEO and CMO of Hanson Robotics, the creator of Sophia the robot, and held marketing leadership roles at Dell, Cisco, Danaher, and Apple, where she was the product and business manager responsible for launching Apple’s most groundbreaking products in the region. She started her career as a Group Management Trainee at John Swire & Sons.

Jeanne is a Founder and Director of Nama Institute, a not-for-profit organization creating solutions to gamify the learning of wisdom. She is also a Volunteer and Director of Himalayan Consensus Institute, an NGO involved in social enterprise development and climate protection.  

Jeanne has a Ph.D. degree in integrated and holistic health, an MBA degree from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a BA degree in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Nirgunan Tiruchelvam is a equity analyst. He has worked for Standard Chartered, ABN Amro, RBS. He is now an equity analyst covering Emerging Markets with Tellimer (formerly Exotix Partners), where he has been based in Dubai and Singapore.

Nirgunan is also a wonderful story telling, who seamless weaves historical events and the current trends into a powerful investment thematic. Originally from Sri Lanka, his personal story informs his flexible view on the global economic and financial landscape.

Nirgunan is a graduate of Oxford University, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). He has written for the Financial Times and has appeared as a TV commentator on BBC, Channel News Asia, CNBC and Bloomberg. His views have been cited by the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

James G. Rickards is an American lawyer, economist, investment banker, speaker, media commentator, and author on matters of finance and precious metals. He is the author of Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis (2011) and six other books.

In the world of banking and finance, Jim Rickards needs no introduction. The storied banker and lawyer has made his name in some of the biggest deals in memory. As if that weren’t enough, he has also authored six tomes, including the must read, bestseller Currency Wars. You will certainly enjoy this espidode where Rickards discusses: If there will be some sort of Financial Rest; How SarsCov2 compares to the Spanish flu; If we will ever get a full accounting of the pandemic; The role of the WHO; The relevance of the Washington Consensus going forward; If the imbalances in the trading system sustainable; Appropriate mandate for Central Banks; If there is any natural cap on Central Bank balance sheets; Difference between gold and bitcoin; To what extent the RMB will become truly internationalized; Which countries will be able to adapt to the current era; The risk of military conflict

Are you interested in Bitcoin and other crypto currencies?
Did you know Hong Kong is a hub for investors and innovators in the area of blockchain technology? You can learn more during our conversation with Leonhard A. Weese, an early adopter of Bitcoin and co-founder of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong.

Leonhard specializes in information security and online privacy. He holds a degree in statistics from the University of Hong Kong and economics from the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Leonhard is a true Austrian economist and came to the crypto world with an economist’s framework. He gives an excellent overview of the importance of regulation and the warranted optimism around digital money.

Michael Bruck is a founding partner of Sparq Capital, a unique firm that collaborates with family offices, funds, and high-net-worth individuals to provide venture and growth-stage funding to technology-based companies worldwide.  

Bruck’s career spans nearly four decades in senior positions in technology companies, banks, and investment funds, where he was based in Silicon Valley, New York, Beijing, Shanghai, and now Hong Kong. He started his career as a software engineer working on chip design for Intel before moving to marketing, business development, and finance.  During his career at Intel, Bruck established the “Wintel” alliance between Intel and Microsoft while he was heading up Intel’s strategy in his role as Chief of Staff to the legendary CEO, Andy Grove. Bruck opened the China market as General Manager of Intel China. 

His expertise spans advanced semiconductors, video games, enterprise software, and tech finance.  He is passionate about technology’s role in society and is committed to assisting the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.