Harbinger Asia

09/04/2025

Harbinger Asia interviews Kai Huang, cofounder of RedOctane (behind the iconic game Guitar Hero). Kai shares his journey, from growing up in Silicon Valley as the child of Taiwanese immigrants to creating one of the most legendary music game franchises of all time.

He reflects on key lessons from building RedOctane, including an early pivot from renting video games to selling high-margin dance pads — a move that helped them bootstrap growth despite early struggles raising venture capital. Guitar Hero itself proved swifly popular, generating billions of dollars over its lifetime, and leading to the acquisition of RedOctane by Activision.

Kai also reflects on the role of luck, the importance of survival, and other key lessons learned along the way. Finally, he shares what he’s spending time on today, including with 886 Studios, a venture studio helping founders in Taiwan build for the global market.

Subscribe on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wTzRhxv1K7UogRzXxllhz?si=EN9F-NWFTQuHPF4fO7Ik6w

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kai-huang-from-selling-dance-pads-to-rock-stardom-bootstrapping/id1271715066?i=1000702678710

Visit our Website:
https://harbingerpodcast.substack.com/

Visit 886 Studios:
https://886studios.com/

Youtube
https://youtu.be/fAAbAATHlYs?si=zABsuPmOKZ0cAh_1

Today we sit down with Kai Huang, co-founder of RedOctane and the iconic game Guitar Hero. Kai shares his journey, from growing up in Silicon Valley as the c...

11/06/2021

The Harbinger interviews Peter Cheng, Founding Managing Partner at Eminence Ventures. Eminence recently raised $120m for its second fund focused on backing Chinese enterprise software and cloud start-ups.

In this episode, Peter shares with us his formative experiences across eBay, AdChina (adtech start-up he founded that was acquired by Alibaba), and Tencent (as GM of ads products), before launching his career as a venture capitalist. Peter provides an overview of China’s cloud market, key opportunities across horizontal and vertical software, AI, and IT infrastructure. He also describes key success factors and go-to-market strategy for such companies, and illustrates key differences between the US and Chinese enterprise software environments.

Write-up:
https://www.theharbingerchina.com/blog/hunting-for-chinese-cloud-unicorns-with-eminence-ventures-founding-partner

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2hb09YuuEKbv8n79cWyCUy?si=ubPvkMYQR0O7nVs3qBiFMg&dl_branch=1

Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/hunting-for-chinese-cloud-unicorns-eminence-ventures/id1271715066?i=1000524732843

*Podcast available via Spotify (here),Apple Podcasts (here),and more (search The Harbinger VC Podcast) Hi everyone, welcome back to the Harbinger VC podcast. Today we have joining

25/03/2021

Fun interview with Jeffrey Zirlin, cofounder at Sky Mavis, the creators of Axie Infinity, which in just a few years became the #1 game on Ethereum with over $1bn token market cap. Super spontaneous, but we had to get you on our podcast given how white hot NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and the Metaverse are these days, especially after Beeple’s $69 million NFT sale and Roblox’s IPO. Thanks for walking us through Axie Infinity and its play-to-earn model, we're digging this concept of a digital nation and just how engaged the community is.

Write-up
https://www.theharbingerchina.com/blog/nfts-and-the-metaverse-with-axie-infinity-cofounder-jeff-zirlin?categoryId=23497

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2YSECEK0t6ksPh0wSxbZ4b?si=GtkKkJwiTMejDdv6GSv0mg&nd=1

Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nfts-metaverse-axie-infinity-cofounder-jeff-zirlin/id1271715066?i=1000514154378

*Podcast available via Spotify (here), Apple Podcasts (here), and more (search The Harbinger VC Podcast) Welcome back to the Harbinger VC podcast. Today we have a conversation with

16/03/2021

The Harbinger interviews Edmond Ng, a Founding Partner at Axiom Asia Private Capital. Axiom Asia is one of the top performing private equity fund-of-funds (FoF) focused on Asia, managing $7bn across venture, growth equity, and buyout funds.

Edmond shares with us his formative experiences, including what it was like to join GIC at the height of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and lessons learned. Edmond describes the founding of Axiom Asia, what it took to survive in the early days, and some of Axiom’s best investment decisions. At the same time, Edmond discusses challenges and tough decisions that FoFs must make with regards to their managers, as well as the differences in PE investing across stage and region. Finally, we cover some of the shifting market dynamics in China, from key technological and commercial trends to financial liberalization and the growing attractiveness of Chinese stock exchanges.

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5T1krDcernz4ngzWY61qh5?si=V2GyhHWSSJOzP_RjMqDM2g

Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/three-decades-vc-pe-investments-in-asia-axiom-asia/id1271715066?i=1000513063418

https://www.theharbingerchina.com/blog/edmond-axiom-asia-1?categoryId=23497

*Podcast available via Spotify (here), Apple Podcasts (here), and more (search The Harbinger VC Podcast) Hi everyone, welcome back to the Harbinger VC podcast. Today we have joinin

19/02/2021

The Harbinger interviews Phil Chen, Chief Decentralized Officer at HTC and Founding Partner at Race Capital.

At HTC, Phil led product management for the first ever Android phone, founded VIVE VR, and launched the world’s first blockchain phone (HTC Exodus). As a VC, Phil invests across B2B/Enterprise, VR, AI, blockchain, and deep tech. Before Race Capital, Phil managed deep tech investments at Horizon Ventures, where he sat on over 15 boards (Improbable, Kneron, Scopely, 88Rising, and more).

In this interview, Phil shares the insider scoop on HTC’s incredible rise and eventual decline that hasn’t been heard before, including an early opportunity to invest in Xiaomi when it was worth only $150m. Phil also describes his investments in VR and AI, speaks to the potential of a blockchain powered future, and explains the opportunity for Taiwan to build world-class companies.

*Podcast available via Spotify (here), Apple Podcasts (here), and more (search The Harbinger VC Podcast) Today we’re recording at the KKBOX studio in Taiwan, big thanks to the Firs

28/01/2021

The Harbinger interviews Raymond Yang, founding partner of WestSummit Capital, a leading technology growth equity fund that primarily invests in the US and China.

After starting multiple companies in Silicon Valley and China, Raymond founded WestSummit Capital where he has led investments into defining unicorns including Unity, Segway-Ninebot, Twitch, GigaDevice, and more.

Today, Raymond shares with us his fascinating entrepreneurial career and describes WestSummit Capital’s investment strategy in more detail. He also explains his unique methodology in tech investment and shares more insights and lessons learned from key portfolio companies such as Unity and Segway-Ninebot.

*Podcast available via Spotify (here), Apple Podcasts (here), and more (search The Harbinger VC Podcast) Raymond Yang is founding partner of WestSummit Capital, a leading technolog

22/12/2020

The Harbinger interviews Joseph Phua (Jo), non-executive chairman of 17LIVE Inc., a company he cofounded and ran as CEO until June 2020.

Born and raised in Singapore, Jo sold watches in China and founded Paktor (Tinder of Southeast Asia) before merging it with 17 Media, which now operates the largest live streaming platform in Asia (ex-China) with over 50m global users.

In this interview, Jo shares with us his entrepreneurial journey, the operational challenges of running an online dating and live stream business, the importance of product-market fit and ex*****on, as well as his approach to growth, both in terms of M&A as well as market entry.

Joseph (Jo) Phua is non-executive chairman of 17LIVE Inc., a company he cofounded and ran as CEO until June 2020. 17LIVE operates the largest live streaming platform in Asia (ex-Ch

07/09/2020

The Harbinger interviews Faisal Galaria, CEO of Blippar, a pioneer in augmented reality (AR).

Before joining Blippar to guide its relaunch and set it on a sustainable growth track, Faisal was an early executive at Skype, SVP International of Spotify, as well as managing director of Kayak.

In this interview, Faisal shares with us what Blippar is working on these days, key drivers for AR adoption (from COVID-19 to 5G), what developments he sees in the AR/VR space, as well as examples of what Blippar is working on with clients, including with key clients in China and Asian markets.

Faisal Galaria is CEO of Blippar, a pioneer in augmented reality (AR). Now Blippar has a roller coaster of a story… the one-time unicorn raised $100m+ in venture funding but strugg

26/07/2020

The Harbinger interviews Chee-We Ng, founding partner of Oak Seed Ventures, an early-stage VC investing solely in early-stage enterprise and core technology startups.

Chee-we graduated from MIT and HBS. Prior to founding Oak Seed, he was a managing partner at CRCM, a venture partner at Redpoint, led Cisco Investments in China and was a McKinsey consultant.

With Chee-we, we explore Oak Seed's investment strategy and the overall landscape of China's enterprise cloud market. We also discuss how China's aspiration for technology independence could bring new opportunities to the enterprise service industry, as well as what successful entrepreneurs in this space have in common.

Chee-We Ng is founding partner of Oak Seed Ventures, where he invests solely in early-stage enterprise and core technology startups and offers strategic advice and his network in o

06/05/2020

The Harbinger interviews Tiger Fang, cofounder and CEO at Kargo Technologies, a Jakarta-based startup that aims to digitize trucking and freight logistics in Southeast Asia.

Kargo counts among its investors Sequoia Capital, ZhenFund, Intudo Ventures, ATM Capital, Coca-Cola, as well as Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick. Kargo recently raised $31m in its Series A led by Tenaya Capital.

With Tiger, we cover his journey over the past decade at Lazada Thailand, Uber China and Uber Indonesia. We then examine Kargo’s solution, discuss how it incorporates into the logistics supply chain, how to develop route and pricing optimization, before shifting to competition and opportunity in the market, and the impact of China on Kargo and the broader SEA ecosystem.

Tiger Fang is cofounder and CEO at Kargo Technologies, a Jakarta-based startup that aims to digitize trucking and freight logistics in Indonesia before expanding to other markets i

19/02/2020

We interview Zac Pan, Associate Partner at Lightspeed China Partners (LCP), one of China’s top early stage VCs managing $2 billion USD. Done via Zoom of course... during this coronavirus period.

Zac joined LCP in 2013 and has invested in some of their top deals, including QingCloud, Spark Education, Full Truck Alliance (Manbang), IfChange, PeerSafe and more. With Zac, we explore LCP’s investment strategy, team structure, and how it collaborates with its sister funds around the world. We also touch on consumer, enterprise, deep tech, and macro trends as Zac shares what he’s looking at and what he finds interesting in the China market.



http://www.theharbingerchina.com/blog/a-lightspeed-review-of-enterprise-tech-and-the-chinese-consumer-with?categoryId=23497

16/06/2019

The Harbinger interviews Yuan Liu, Managing Director at ZhenFund. Zhenfund is one of China’s top seed funds founded by Bob Xu and Victor Wang, also founded in collaboration with Sequoia Capital China.

While at ZhenFund, Yuan has invested in some of their top deals, including autonomous driving unicorn Momenta, Yi23, Castbox, 12 Sigma, and more.

With Yuan, we’ll learn more about ZhenFund’s investment strategy, differences from other funds, and best practices for deal sourcing and portfolio management.

Yuan also shares with us what trends he’s looking at in China, and some of the advantages/disadvantages of Chinese teams tackling global markets.

http://www.theharbingerchina.com/blog/pioneering-china-seed-investing-with-zhenfund-managing-director-yuan-liu

Yuan Liu is a managing director at ZhenFund, one of China’s top seed funds founded by Xu Xiaoping (Bob Xu) and Wang Qiang (Victor Wang), cofounders at NYSE listed New Oriental Educ