Where Expertise Finds Its Voice

In Episode 33 of The Exponential Show, host Mayank Singh sits down with Ankit Upadhyay, Founder & General Partner at A2D Ventures, Co-Founder & CEO at VentureGrid, and Co-Founder of Venture Spark, for a deep conversation on building startup infrastructure across Thailand and Southeast Asia. From venture platforms to founder enablement and ecosystem building, Ankit shares how he approaches investing beyond just writing cheques — focusing instead on building systems, networks, and platforms that help startups scale sustainably. We explore ecosystem gaps, regional opportunity areas, sector trends beyond the AI hype cycle, and what early-stage founders in Thailand can do differently to increase their odds of success. Chapters 00:00 – Introduction 02:10 – Origin Story Key career milestones and the motivations that led to launching A2D Ventures. 09:04 – Building an Ecosystem of Your Own The startup infrastructure challenges Ankit is addressing through A2D Ventures, VentureGrid, and Venture Spark. 24:23 – Regional Trends Opportunities and structural challenges for startups in Thailand and the wider Southeast Asia region. 26:46 – Sector Trends Beyond the AI Buzzwords Where real investor activity is flowing, and which verticals are showing long-term potential. 36:02 – Advice for Early-Stage Founders Hard-earned lessons from investing in and working closely with startups across the region. 43:27 – What Can We Do Better? How The Exponential Show can better tell founder and business stories in Southeast Asia. 46:58 – Embracing Failure Ankit reflects on his biggest professional setback and the lessons it taught him. 50:28 – The Next Frontier What major goals and ambitions he is working toward in the coming months. This conversation is especially relevant for founders, operators, investors, and anyone interested in how Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem is evolving. A special thank you to our episode sponsor, True Digital Park, Thailand’s most comprehensive soft-landing platform for international individuals and companies. True Digital Park brings together workspace, community, and ecosystem support to help businesses and talent launch, grow, and scale in Thailand. If you’re building in Thailand or exploring expansion into the region, this ecosystem matters. If you enjoy conversations at the intersection of startups, venture capital, and ecosystem building in Southeast Asia, make sure to subscribe to The Exponential Show.

On the 3rd and 4th of February, our host, Mayank Singh, had the privilege of representing Exponential at The Game Changer – Outlook 2026 & Beyond, a milestone 2-day gathering of business leaders with Thai, regional, and global footprints. Hosted at the stunning Nai Lert Park in Bangkok, the event is part of a larger series leading up to the World Bank and IMF Annual Meeting 2026 in Bangkok. Over two packed days, leaders across geopolitics, finance, AI, family business, digital assets, cybersecurity, and global trade shared powerful insights on navigating uncertainty and building long-term resilience. Below is a breakdown of the key themes and conversations from the event. 0:00 – Intro 01:09 – Setting the Stage: The Spirit of Dialogue & Global ‘Disorder’ Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi (former Director General, WTO & UNCTAD) reflects on global uncertainty, geopolitical fractures, and the importance of smaller nations participating actively in shaping the future. 01:57 – Risk vs Opportunity in a Changing World Order Dr. Suthiphand Chirathivat (Chairman, Central Group) discusses AI, climate risk, geopolitical instability, and Thailand’s role in global discourse. 03:25 – Generational Stewardship & Global Scale Count Gerald van der Straten Ponthoz (AB InBev) shares lessons on long-term stewardship in multi-generational businesses. 04:57 – Thailand’s Path to a Proptech Unicorn Michael Kenner (Lifull Connect / FazWaz) outlines why Thailand hasn’t produced a proptech unicorn yet—and the structural shifts that could change that. 06:24 – Stewardship, Values & Going Global the Thai Way Dr. Harald Link (Chairman, B. Grimm) reflects on leadership, partnership, and leaving organizations better than we found them. 07:44 – Kaizen & Sustained Growth in Uncertain Times Ramesh Raju (Kaizen Institute Thailand) shares why only 1 in 9 companies sustain growth over a decade—and how continuous improvement changes that. 08:44 - Devonic Tunes, a different side to Devkaran Doowa - beyond the hospitality thought leadership 08:57 – Traditional Finance Meets Digital Assets Win Phromphaet (Kasikorn Asset Management), Sakolkorn Sakavee (Bitkub), Poramin Insom (Satang/Firo), and Pichai Chawla (B2 Hotel Group) explore global debt, decentralization, blockchain, and contrarian investing. 11:12 – Cybersecurity in the Age of Quantum Computing G T Venkateshwar Rao (Posidex Technologies) explains why quantum-safe cryptography will become critical for financial institutions. 11:44 – Thailand 2026 & The World Bank Perspective Kwanpadh Suddhi-Dhamakit (World Bank) highlights high-potential sectors for Thailand including advanced manufacturing, agribusiness, digital services, sustainable tourism, and creative industries. 12:25 – Geoeconomics, AI & the Rise of a Multi-Polar World Dr. Supachai returns to discuss weaponized economics, digital transformation, and the need for balanced multilateralism. 13:31 – Emerging Markets, Commodities & Asset Bubbles Dr. Marc Faber shares his views on global economic shifts, lean governance, and emerging market opportunities. 14:35 – Building Human Bonds in Business Chef David Thompson reflects on fulfilment, mentorship, and Thailand’s cultural rhythm. 15:04 – AI as Infrastructure, Not Just a Tool Paruey (CEO, Spacely AI) shares how AI must be measured by business outcomes, not adoption metrics. 15:57 – Automate or Be Automated: The AI Reality Check Tiwa York closes the event with a grounded perspective on AI, LLMs, AGI, and the future of work. 16:45 – Final Thoughts This special episode is a reflection on leadership, long-term thinking, AI, geopolitics, finance, and Thailand’s place in an increasingly complex world A big thank you to K. Prinn Panitchpakdi for the invitation and for hosting such a meaningful dialogue-driven event. Thanks again to Plethora IT for supporting this episode. And thank you to our audience for tuning in. If you enjoy conversations at the intersection of business, policy, AI, and entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia — make sure to subscribe.

In this episode of The Exponential Show, host Mayank Singh sits down with Pratt Hetrakul, Chief Strategy Officer at Movefast, to unpack how marketing leaders should think about measurement, media effectiveness, and decision-making in an increasingly complex, AI-driven world. With a career spanning analytics, marketing science, and performance measurement, Pratt shares a practitioner’s perspective on what it really means to scale media outcomes, where companies go wrong with measurement, and how leaders can balance data, models, and human intuition when making high-stakes decisions. This conversation is especially relevant for marketers, founders, and business leaders navigating growth in Thailand and Southeast Asia. What we cover in this episode 0:00 – Introduction 2:00 – Origin story Pratt’s journey into analytics, marketing science, and strategic decision-making 6:00 – Building a measurement mindset What “scaling media outcomes” truly means from a measurement perspective 10:07 – Common measurement mistakes The biggest errors companies make when trying to measure marketing performance 13:21 – Scaling with science How strong measurement frameworks change campaign outcomes and business decisions 19:37 – Data vs intuition Balancing models, data, and human judgment in leadership decisions 23:14 – The Thailand context How mature media measurement is in Thailand and the region today 33:24 – What’s next How measurement is evolving as media, AI, and technology continue to change 🎯 Episode Sponsor This episode is supported by True Digital Park, Thailand’s most comprehensive soft-landing platform for international individuals and companies. True Digital Park brings together workspace, community, and ecosystem support to help businesses and talent launch, grow, and scale in Thailand.

In this episode of The Exponential Show, host Mayank Singh sits down with Michael Ray, Co-Founder & CEO of WILDER Hydration, for a wide-ranging conversation on building modern consumer brands, community-led growth, and the evolving fitness and wellness landscape in Thailand. Michael shares the thinking behind launching WILDER, what makes it resonate with today’s health-conscious consumers, and why community, partnerships, and real-world activations play such a critical role in brand building. The discussion also explores distribution, content, startup realities in Thailand, and what lies ahead as WILDER continues to grow. This episode will resonate with founders, operators, brand builders, and anyone interested in the intersection of sports, fitness, wellness, and entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia. ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 – Introduction 2:04 – Michael’s origin story and the journey behind WILDER 7:19 – What problem WILDER solves and why the product resonates today 13:17 – Community-led growth: WILDER Training Club, events, and activations 19:50 – Distribution & reach: what has worked and what hasn’t 22:48 – Fitness & wellness trends shaping Thailand today 27:54 – The startup ecosystem in Thailand: opportunities and challenges 31:25 – Looking ahead to 2026: goals and milestones for WILDER 34:35 – Closing reflections 🤝 Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by Swish. Swish operates sports rental facilities across multiple locations in Bangkok, with a strong focus on basketball and community-driven sports experiences. Beyond court rentals, Swish runs Swish Academy for basketball training, hosts pick-up games, leagues, and events, and actively collaborates on partnership activations across sports, fitness, and wellness. Swish is playing a meaningful role in building active, connected communities through sport in Bangkok. A special thank you to Syd Sanchez, founder of Swish, who personally hand-delivered Swish merch for both the guest and the host — a gesture that perfectly reflects the community-first ethos behind what Swish is building.

In the final episode of The Exponential Show for 2025, host Mayank Singh sits down with Surasit Sachdev, Founder & CEO of Hungry Hub, to unpack the journey of building and scaling one of Thailand’s leading dining marketplaces. From early motivations to market expansion, this conversation explores the realities of building a two-sided platform in Southeast Asia, navigating cross-border growth, and staying close to both restaurant partners and diners. 00:00 – Episode Intro 02:32 – Origin story and what led to Hungry Hub 11:23 – Solving for restaurants and diners at the same time 23:02 – Key pivots and evolving market dynamics 31:43 – Catering to international travelers coming into Thailand 37:03 – Expanding to Singapore and Malaysia - lessons from new markets 43:19 – Lessons for the next generation of Thai founders 48:33 – What’s next for Hungry Hub in 2026 and beyond 58:32 – Reflections to close out 2025 and looking ahead at 2026 🙏 Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by Naivedyum — home-made fusion, vegan and vegetarian food made with fresh ingredients and aromatic spices, cooked with love, care, passion, and pride.

This episode features Prinn Panitchpakdi, Chief Executive Officer at Four Seasons Advisory and a seasoned leader across finance, investments, policy advisory, and capital markets, in conversation with our host Mayank Singh. With decades of experience spanning financial advisory, government-linked initiatives, capital markets, and startup advisory, Prinn brings a rare, ground-level perspective on how Thailand’s business and investment landscape is evolving — and what founders, investors, and operators should be paying attention to as we move toward 2026 and beyond. In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore Prinn’s professional journey, Thailand’s opportunities and structural challenges, the realities of raising capital locally, and the role networking and policy play in long-term business success. 🎧 What we cover in this episode 0:00 – Introduction Setting the context for the conversation with Prinn Panitchpakdi 1:08 – Prinn’s career journey Key milestones across finance, advisory, policy, and leadership roles 5:37 – Thailand’s business landscape heading into 2026 Emerging opportunities, risks, and structural challenges for businesses and startups 20:13 – The role of government policy in shaping growth How policy decisions influence capital flows, industries, and investor confidence 38:44 – Raising capital in Thailand What founders often get wrong, and how to approach fundraising more strategically 47:11 – Personal branding and networking for leaders Why visibility, trust, and long-term relationships matter more than ever 53:18 – Lessons for founders and business leaders Advice for SMEs, startups, and executives building in Thailand today 58:07 – Closing reflections and final takeaways 🤝 Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by Plethora IT. Plethora IT partners with startups and SMEs to navigate their marketing, branding, and digital growth journeys — combining strategy, execution, and technology to help businesses scale sustainably. Learn more about Plethora IT here: 👉 https://www.plethorait.com/ If you’re a founder, investor, or business leader building in Thailand — or considering Southeast Asia as your next growth market — this episode offers grounded insights from someone who has worked across policy, capital, and execution at every level. 👉 Subscribe to The Exponential Show for more conversations with founders, investors, and leaders shaping the region’s startup and business ecosystem.