Learning. That’s the keyword and theme of this new episode in partnership with Insignia Ventures Academy. We went on call with Cohort 1 alumnus and angel investor Hester Spiegel-van den Steenhoven. Hester gives us a sneak peek into the Edtech in Singapore and Southeast Asia report she put together commissioned by the Dutch Embassy of Singapore, shares her story going from consultant in the UK to edtech entrepreneur in Germany to an angel investor in Singapore, and her Insignia Ventures Academy journey. 

Timestamps and Highlights

1. (00:21) Paulo introduces Hester; “What excites me most about the tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia is I think that clock seems to tick faster, especially coming from Europe, everything is geared to speed and I personally really enjoy it.”
2. (03:16) Learning to Learn: From consultant in the UK to edtech entrepreneur in Germany to angel investor in Singapore; “Singapore is a great mix in that sense of a very fruitful ground, let’s say, to build a company. And be able to have impact, to improve learning and education in surrounding countries.”
3. (10:53) Learnings on Learning in Singapore and Southeast Asia; “More funding goes into K12 solutions or other solutions that are catered to child learning, between children between age six and 18, which is a characteristic of the first phase of EdTech. We see in Europe, for example, that there are more adults-focused learning solutions, such as re- and upskilling et cetera. But in Southeast Asia, it’s still very much in the K12 space.”
4. (19:55) Learning to Invest (and helping other women to do the same); “Maaike said how much more difficult it is to start angel investing here in Singapore. That notion plus the fact that we were both women with a career, with an interest to help founders grow, made us also identify more of these women around us who really have an interest to help others grow with their experience, and knowledge gained in professional services, or being a founder themselves.”
5. (23:22) Learning from Founders; “Many investing courses, bootcamps, whatever have you, are catered to general VC knowledge, whereas the IVA was very much catered to this region, which was very valuable…Southeast Asia is not the same as Silicon Valley.”
6. (27:08) Rapid Fire Round;
7. (29:17) Bonus: Learning to Work; “Life long learning becomes necessary with the rate of change that we see things changing technology, but also biology, et cetera. It goes too quick. So the future of work is very much related to learning.”

About our guest

Hester Spiegel-van den Steenhoven is a Dutch management consultant-turned-education-entrepreneur-turned-investor living in Singapore. She is a venture partner at Kaizenvest and co-founder of Asia’s largest female-owned angel network Epic Angels. After a 15+ year international career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and then as Director at Deutsche Bank as Director in Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt, she became Germany’s first country manager for the modern education system and coding school “42”, raising funding from Volkswagen and the foundation of Lidl-founder Dieter Schwarz to launch two campuses.

Since moving to Singapore in 2020, she continues to work with and invest in founders in the EdTech and Future of Learning and Work space in Southeast Asia. She is the mother of two young boys and a speaker in both Europe and Southeast Asia on the topics of the Future of Learning, Start-ups and Investing, Career Pivots, and Education Technology. She is also an alumnus of Insignia Ventures Academy Cohort 1. 

Transcript

Paulo: Hi Hester, how have you been since Cohort One? It’s great to catch up again. 

Hester: Hi Paulo. Thanks for having me. Great to speak here. I’m honored to be on your podcast. I’ve been really well, thank you.

Paulo: As I always ask all our guests who have been through the program and, you know, one of these, like, catch-up calls like what excites you these days about Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem from your vantage point?

Hester: So what excites me most about the tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia is I think that clock seems to tick faster, especially coming from Europe, everything is geared to speed and I personally really enjoy it. What else excites me is that people come online faster. I think the people here are relatively digitally savvy, which really is helpful for all the tech enabled solutions that we see coming on, the regulator is relatively flexible, I would say. And I see a lot of very advanced business models around here that I haven’t seen so much yet in Europe, for example, models that are geared to — there’s integration and unbundling which I find quite exciting.

“What excites me most about the tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia is I think that clock seems to tick faster, especially coming from Europe, everything is geared to speed and I personally really enjoy it.”

Learning to Learn: From consultant in the UK to edtech entrepreneur in Germany to angel investor in Singapore

Paulo: I think it’s really interesting to see how, you know, having seen and worked with a couple of different ventures in Europe, how things are very much different in south Asia. You mentioned the speed is a lot different. There’s a lot more unique business models, so to speak, in terms of the unbundling that you mentioned, and also the regulators as well.

But I like to take a step back and go down memory lane in some respects and maybe for you to share, and i’m sure our audience would love to know, how you decided to get into EdTech after a long career with consulting and banking with PWC and Deutsche Bank. 

Hester: That was entirely unplanned to be honest, did enjoy my work every day, but what I did miss to be honest, was really the purpose. I enjoyed my work, but I could not really — I wasn’t really excited whether the companies I worked for, if they would really, really succeed, because they were all big corporates. So that connection was a bit less, however, as I said, it was unplanned. We lived in London for six years and moved to Frankfurt.

Soon after this move, I had to take some time off to get the family on the rails, we had two young boys, three and one years old and they had their own babysitter. So I had to find a new one and I took off for three months, initially. And in that time, I attended a conference, which was an international conference on tech and education. I attended this conference with the hat of a parent on just being interested about the future of education, given all the new solutions that are out there.

However, what I saw there was absolutely shocking in the sense that the education system and also the adaptability of the teachers were very, very low. For example, so we sat there, there were 300 teachers and one teacher said, so I got 200 iPads offered the other day, brand new. But I declined them because I don’t know how to work with iPads. I don’t know how to operate them, I don’t know how to run programs. And this wasn’t a national school, this was a private school, which really I found shocking. And I thought this is not where the future of education should go. And somehow this struck to me kind of almost emotional level. So I came home and I immediately started thinking about a solution, which should not be too complicated, I thought.

So give independent education, more or less, to school-aged children to be a little bit more independent, think creatively, be more autonomous, et cetera. As I was working on that plan, I came across school 42. 42 is a French school that is called also the “school of the future”.

And I believe it is the school of the future because it is a fully tech-enabled curriculum. It has no teachers or admin, no tuition fees. So it’s accessible for everyone motivated, regardless of where you come from or what your socioeconomic background is. And that I thought was the solution and went to Paris to their headquarters and asked if there was a campus yet in Germany and the answer was no. 

So I went back to the drawing table, and made a case of how the school system of 42 is a very modern school system, but also teaches coding. That could connect with the German situation. The German situation being that it’s very strong economically, however, digitally very slow to adapt.

And then I got the rights to bring this to Germany, that is when I quit my job at Deutsche Bank where I had been for nine years. And because I just wanted to try to set this up. I got lucky and found five amazing volunteers who did this next to their job. And together we made it happen. Eight months later, we had funding for two campuses instead of one, and it was 11 million euros each.

And we found the campus buildings to host the schools. We set up the marketing campaign, hire the team, did the student recruitment campaign. And then in spring 2021, both campuses went live. 

“I attended this conference with the hat of a parent on just being interested about the future of education, given all the new solutions that are out there. However, what I saw there was absolutely shocking in the sense that the education system and also the adaptability of the teachers was very, very low…So I came home and I immediately started thinking about a solution, which should not be too complicated, I thought.”

Paulo: I think that’s a really interesting journey. And one thing to note there is that you came into this wearing your “parent hat”, but very much found and discovered an opportunity to actually bring in the school of the future  that you mentioned, School 42, into Germany in particular. 

I was curious, you know, and aquick follow-up to that is like what Southeast Asia EdTechs can learn from that particular model that you work with very closely and that you expanded into a new market?

Hester: There’s a few elements to this model that I think can be applied globally to the future of learning, which is the accessibility. I think education should not be exclusive in the sense that it is reserved for people from better backgrounds or with certain diplomas. This is where and what also drove me as I spoke to students from School 42, I remember very well one student. 

His name was Vincent. He was 20 years old, very bright, very kind kid. His parents divorced when he was 12. And that is how his level in education went down, because he just couldn’t cope. Now that was not his fault. However, there was no place for him in the education system because his grades were not there. So he was preparing for like very low [income] career. And then he came across school 42 and he’s doing very well, and now he has a great career. 

So in that sense, I think if we want to have our talent thrive in the future, we need to use technology to make learning better for everyone, for everyone talented and motivated, et cetera. So I think accessibility, and with tech, we can improve the quality of education because the best teachers, and the best curricula are accessible through tech to the rest of the world. 

For the rest, hyper-personalization, which School 42 uses as well. You can choose which projects you take and you complete. This is I think also the future of education, which can be adopted by using new digital technology. Then tuition fees are under pressure already in higher education. The high admin fees driven by teacher admin that is not and should not be part of education and can very well be replaced by smart tech.

“Hyper-personalization…is I think also the future of education, which can be adopted by using new digital technology.”

Paulo: So definitely the accessibility, flexibility, and you also talked a little bit about the financing aspect as well, again, going back to sort of democratizing education a little bit more regardless of background or situation. 

And so you already had successfully built, you know, raised funding for this venture to start in Germany, the School 42. What made you decide to go to Southeast Asia, go to Singapore, explore the EdTech scene here and become an angel investor here?

Hester: After my experience with 42 in Germany, I was sure I wanted to continue in EdTech for the reasons that I said, how I was going to have a positive effect on learning outcomes. I found that with my background in management consulting, I could quite naturally help founders build their companies in terms of helping to develop their strategy, business models, hiring their teams, et cetera. So that came quite naturally. And I wanted to continue in this field. I also love working with founders because they are– it’s very positive energy because they are creating things. That is just a very dynamic and pleasant collaboration usually.

So I decided to continue in this field. However, I realized I had a knowledge gap in venture capital. And when you work with founders, of course, fundraising is part of it very much and this is how I ended up in Insignia Ventures Academy. I wanted to close the knowledge gap that I knew I had, and this is why I applied to Insignia Ventures Academy.

“I also love working with founders because they are– it’s a very positive energy because they are creating things.”

Paulo: Definitely want to talk a little bit more about your experiences a little bit later on, but I was also wondering, like, why Singapore in particular? What was it about Singapore that attracted you to move here and extend your network here, support founders here in this part of the world?

Hester: I think in this part of the world, I mean, we moved here with the family, first of all. And I think in this part of the world, Singapore is the place to be, with a very supportive government that is here, government support startups with making connections, with accelerators, with investors, having all sorts of supporting grants, et cetera in place.

So I think that’s a very helpful place to build a startup. Yet in the field of education, there are many countries around Singapore that, especially after the pandemic, really can be helped by supplemental learning solutions provided by EdTech companies. So I think this has a great mix. Singapore is a great mix in that sense of very fruitful ground, let’s say, to build a company. And be able to have impact, to improve learning and education in surrounding countries. 

“Singapore is a great mix in that sense of a very fruitful ground, let’s say, to build a company. And be able to have impact, to improve learning and education in surrounding countries.”

Learnings on Learning in Singapore and Southeast Asia

Paulo: There is definitely the network effect and influence, even if the markets do have very many nuances and differences with each other, there is that benefit of that proximity, I would say.

Speaking of that proximity and the network effects of being in Singapore, there is a lot of interest in EdTech, in Southeast Asia as a region. And so you’ve recently published a report on the state of EdTech in Singapore and Southeast Asia commissioned by the Netherlands embassy in Singapore which, to our listeners out there you should be able to check out in a link in our podcast description.

But yeah, maybe you could dial our audience. Like how did that report come about? What is it, what is its significance for the industry, and what is sort of the scope or angle of this report? 

Hester: As you said, the report was commissioned by the Dutch embassy in Singapore. They picked up on the upwards trend in EdTech in this region, and they wanted to know more about the state of EdTech, but mainly for the purpose of informing investors and business leaders, and governments in Europe and the Netherlands, specifically, about what is happening here in the field of EdTech. 

They have done a similar report on FinTech a few years ago. And after that FinTech picked up and that really worked out well. So they saw the same kind of trends now in EdTech. They wanted to talk about EdTech with the founders and investors. 

To your question, what is the scope or the angle of the report — that is the scope or angle. It is suited to players outside of Southeast Asia. So in that sense, I thought it would also be relevant to give a snapshot of the countries in Southeast Asia because each of them is very different and they all play a different role. So we put six countries in scope and each of the six countries, gave a snapshot for people who do not know the region: so the population per country, the GDP, internet penetration, and specifically for education, the impact of COVID on education. 

So that founders and investors get a better understanding of the local circumstances. For the rest of the report, it’s about the number, and the stage, and the value of EdTech companies here in the region of the six countries, the investment trends, the market segments that they are active in.

Basically, there’s quite a broad and deep view of the region. And then we have more qualitative views by three interviews. So Hugh Yao from Lingoace, founder and CEO of Lingoace. Singapore’s only homebred EdTech unicorn. Sandeep Aneja from Kaizenvest also, and Patrick Lim from Enterprise Singapore to provide the government angle. So they make sense of the data that is provided in the report to give the full picture. 

“It is suited to players outside of Southeast Asia. So in that sense, I thought it would also be relevant to give a snapshot of the countries in Southeast Asia, because each of them is very different and they all play a different role…So that founders and investors get a better understanding of the local circumstances.”

Paulo: Yeah. And given a lot of these comparisons, you talked about six markets that you compared, and you’ve also put it into the context of the global landscape as well. What’s the biggest takeaway from the report that you can share with us that will attract our audience to actually check out everything else?

Hester: There are a few main takeaways. One is that EdTech in Southeast Asia is a very young sector. There are over 300 EdTech startups of which only 34% are funded. And of those funded, 70% are in the seed stage. So most have not even gone beyond series A. There are only two EdTech unicorns in Southeast Asia. One actually has an Indian parent company. So we’re at the development stage of EdTech in this region. 

Then I think 2021 was really a key turnaround year for a tech that was of course accelerated by the pandemic. So we saw an increase in investments of three times pre-pandemic levels and an increase of 170% in the number of EdTech investors in this region. And 75% of all the investments done in EdTech in this region over the past eight years, happened in 2021. So we see really there’s this uptake in the past year and that’s another key takeaway. 

And very speaking to the young age of the sector is also a focus on the target segment that they serve. More funding goes into K12 solutions or other solutions that are catered to child learning, between children between ages six and 18, which is a characteristic of the first phase of EdTech. 

We see in Europe, for example, that there are more adult learning solutions, such as re- and upskilling et cetera. But in Southeast Asia, it’s still very much in the K12 space. Then very much to the region, what we see is the type of solution. You see reflected the Asian parent’s focus on very strong academic results.

I think that is key to the region that is very different in Europe, for example. So most funding we see goes into EdTechs that offer tutoring, homework-help solutions, and test-prep solutions.

“More funding goes into K12 solutions or other solutions that are catered to child learning, between children between age six and 18, which is a characteristic of the first phase of EdTech. We see in Europe, for example, that there are more adult learning solutions, such as re- and upskilling et cetera. But in Southeast Asia, it’s still very much in the K12 space.”

Paulo: How would you say this kind of trend and development sort of sets up some of these startups to actually potentially go global or go regional or actually create like a really compelling moats compared to more global competitors? 

Hester: The key to education, especially K12 solutions, is that they’re quite catered to local circumstances. In K12, if you want to expand into different countries here, you must adopt for the language, you must provide the product or the service in the local language, saying that it must be catered to the government education framework.

That is a bit of the issue with K12 and expanding to other countries, whereas regional players, you see them pop up in other target segments, mainly more in the future of work, talent management, learn-to-earn, re and up-skilling, et cetera, because it is less dependent on language used as well as less dependent on government frameworks.

“The key to education, especially K12 solutions, is that they’re quite catered to local circumstances…whereas regional players, you see them pop up in other target segments…because it is less dependent on language used as well as less dependent on government frameworks.”

Paulo: How do you see that latter segment that you’re just talking about, evolving? Because you mentioned a lot of the focus and funding is more on the K12 side, but how about the non-K12 space? How do you see that evolving in the next few years? 

Hester: I think it is key. I mean to me, so re- and upskilling and if you talk about adult learning,  learning to learn is key for survival. With the rate of change, especially as technology is evolving, you cannot learn something and then sit back and relax.

We need to have this habit to learn, and that is maybe, for the older generations, it’s different, it is new, but still, especially for these mid-career people, it is key to learn to learn. When the solutions in Southeast Asia get more focused on this, I think that is when we also move into the next phase of development for the whole sector in the region. 

“Learning to learn is key for survival…When the solutions in Southeast Asia get more focused on this, I think that is when we also move into the next phase of development for the whole sector in the region.”

Paulo: So really looking at how, it’s really a matter of looking at what type of skills or topics you want to sort of cover within that platform. Would you say there is any sort of common themes that arise when it comes to that, like where are the steel gaps or topic gaps that are in demand in this part of the world for non-K12?

Hester: I think what I see here, that it is everywhere in the world is that there’s a lot of need and interest for the decentralized structures that we see upcoming. So all these things and the content is just everywhere, and again, the skill is to be able to cut through the noise. 

Learning is not a matter of transferring content, because the content is there. It is a matter of learning in a smart way, having the mental models ready to know what to pick up from the sources that are available to everyone and learn in a smart way, and being able to cut through all this noise that is being thrown at us on all sorts of channels. 

So that is what I also understand with learning to learn. I don’t think it is very much content-driven. I think it is more about being able to develop learning models and mental models to be able to make sense of all the content that is available to us.

“I don’t think [learning to learn] is very much content-driven. I think it is more about being able to develop learning models and mental models to be able to make sense of all the content that is available to us.”

Paulo: And then going back to the K12 EdTech’s, since you mentioned that they’re very much focused on singular markets, and we see that even in Insignia’s portfolio with Pahamify very much focused on Indonesia K12 test prep, and then with Edmicro very much focused on supporting students through schools in Vietnam. How do you see those kinds of models becoming unicorns, for example, or billion-dollar companies, given that they’re very much focused on single markets? 

Hester: They will be able to grow beyond the single market when [more] languages are adopted, like English or Chinese language, and then it’s the methodology. I think that is the key factor that makes you grow. So for example, we see that Lingoace uses small cohorts and personalized learning. So again, it’s hyper-personalized in small courses and live. That is what works. For K12, I think it will always be difficult to overcome government frameworks.

“…it’s the methodology. I think that is the key factor that makes you grow…it’s hyper-personalized in small courses and live. That is what works.”

Paulo: You alluded to the Web3 aspects of moving EdTech into kind of new business models as well. What are your thoughts on these tools and them being adopted by EdTechs in Southeast Asia?

Hester: So there’s a lot going on actually. So apart from where we see like blockchain being used for micro-credentials, for example, I think we are already moving beyond that stage where we see models, like learn-to-earn, building on the play-to-earn trends, learn-to-earn with, for example, Rabbithole, where you can actually gain credits when you learn. That makes it fun, for example, it’s part of this gamification. 

There’s gamification as well of all sorts, where there are storytelling elements present. We see this also in the metaverse, right? That is one big story and one big game. That’s why AR and VR will really take off, I think, in EdTech. Learning in the metaverse can happen in many different ways. We already see the first schools. The possibilities are endless. 

“So apart from where we see like blockchain being used for micro-credentials, for example, I think we are already moving beyond that stage where we see models, like learn-to-earn…it’s part of this gamification.”

Learning to Invest (and helping other women to do the same)

Paulo: Yeah it’s really exciting to see. We have the pleasure of working with one company in particular, Assemblr, that has been doing a lot of this work in AR/VR for education, working with Google and things like that, Google Classroom. The technology has already been there for a while. It’s sort of a matter of getting the teachers and the schools to adopt. 

Now I’d like to shift gears a little bit and talk about your angel investing hat. Where are you already doing this even before you came to Singapore or what was the first experience like? 

Hester: Well I did a bit of angel investing, but not to the extent I do it now. How it came about is in a few, few different ways. So as I started to work with more EdTech founders, I got into the space. Then another thing that happened is that I reconnected with a former colleague from PricewaterhouseCoopers. We worked together in Amsterdam, in a previous life, in 2008. And we reconnected, we moved to Singapore in the same week, almost. It was pure coincidence. And I happened to see on LinkedIn that she lived in Singapore. So I sent her a message that said, “Hi Maaike, are you in Singapore?”

She said, yeah. That same evening, we went out. She had been working with hundreds of startups on business model creation and angel investing in Silicon Valley. It’s like getting a coffee, she says. It’s very much a retail affair. Maaike said how much more difficult it is to start angel investing here in Singapore. 

That notion plus the fact that we were both women with a career, with an interest to help founders grow, made us also identify more of these women around us who really have the interest to help others grow with their experience, and knowledge gained in professional services, or being a founder themselves.

So we gathered those women, and this is how [Epic Angels] started basically on a Wednesday evening with a bottle of wine every two weeks. And we just looked at startups. Until we go out, some requests from founders say “Oh, that is great. I would love to have some women on my cap table”, because unfortunately, women investors are still a rarity.

So we’ve got more demand actually than what we could do with five of us. And that’s when [my friend] and I thought, okay, there’s a need from both sides for women to enter this still very male-dominated space of angel investing and to make it accessible, but also create this community and a safe space where people can work together, learn from each other, and make better investment decisions because of the network and community effect.

And on the other side startup founders who just have an interest in female investors because they have, let’s say, a femtech product, and they only have male investors. So it’s for them also strategic to have women on the cap table. 

So we set up the whole backend to make it as automated as possible, with Airtable, Slack, and a website, et cetera. And now we are steadily growing every month, we are gaining more angels and we have the ambition to grow to a hundred angels this year so that we can make bigger impacts in this space.

“She said how much more difficult it is to start angel investing here in Singapore. That notion plus the fact that we were both women with a career, with an interest to help founders grow, made us also identify more of these women around us who really have the interest to help others grow with their experience, and knowledge gained in professional services, or being a founder themselves.”

Paulo: How would you say your positioning has evolved from the time that you first started investing to today, your positioning in terms of what you bring to the cap table, what you bring to the startups, as well as what types of startups you invest in? 

Hester: So we invest in startups that are early stage. So up until Series A, based in APAC with at least one female in the core team. Those are our minimum standards. 

We don’t have a specific industry focus. We have in our network really amazing women with very diverse backgrounds. We have people from healthtech, logitech, fintechs, SaaS, marketing, and branding. So everybody has their own interests and very specific clique with particular founders and projects.

It has evolved in the sense that we were more agnostic to whether it was female-led or not. We first said 50% must be female-led, and now we actually have come to a point that we really start a conversation. If we have an all-male founding team, we raise the question “What about diversity in your team?” So in the end, 90% of our portfolio are female-led companies. 

“We have people from healthtech, logitech, fintechs, SaaS, marketing, and branding. So everybody has their own interests and very specific clique with particular founders and projects.”

Learning from Founders

Paulo: You mentioned earlier that as you’ve grown in this angel investing career, you eventually wanted to fill in gaps when it came to the venture capital side of things as well. And that led you to join Insignia Ventures Academy. How did you discover the program in particular? 

Hester: Online, actually. I was just searching online and then I found it. I saw there was a link in an article that I read. I was considering other programs. There are also programs from very renowned universities online. I applied. I liked the application procedure where you had to do a video message and actually come up with two founders and two startups. So very much kind of hands-on, which I liked. So that gave me hope that it was also a hands-on program, which it indeed is. 

“I liked the application procedure…very much kind of hands-on, which I liked. So that gave me hope that it was also a hands-on program, which it indeed is.”

Paulo: Speaking of the hands-on, discovering it was a hands-on program, what was the highlight of your experience in Academy? 

Hester: That was the network of amazing people. I’ve gotten to know many, many great people, very diverse backgrounds as well, but the network is amazing. And I think you guys also do an amazing job at keeping this network alive. And I’ve made many connections, some have become friends and also a support network of people who are interested to build great startups.

“I’ve made many connections, some have become friends and also a support network of people who are interested to build great startups.”

Paulo: Going back to that initial motivation sort of fill in the gaps, how has the program in particular influenced or impacted the way you do angel investing or the way that you support startups in the ecosystem?

Hester: It has taught me the specifics about Southeast Asia. Many investing courses, bootcamps, whatever have you, are catered to general VC knowledge, whereas the IVA was very much catered to this region, which was very valuable, because it is different. Southeast Asia is not the same as Silicon Valley. It is important to understand the dynamics of this region when you get into this space.

“Many investing courses, bootcamps, whatever have you, are catered to general VC knowledge, whereas the IVA was very much catered to this region, which was very valuable…Southeast Asia is not the same as Silicon Valley.”

Paulo: And so what advice do you have for — by the time this comes out, probably towards the end of Cohort 3 and you were part of the first cohort. So certainly, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go, and we’re looking forward to having more venture fellows coming in and joining the community as well — what advice do you have for future cohorts or venture fellows to be able to make the most out of their IVA experience? 

Hester: Yeah, it’s a bit of an open door, but you get out what you put in. Make the time, really make sure you have the time to follow everything. You may think “Oh, I’ll catch up”, but it’s just too much, in the end, to catch up. So just make time and do it as it is offered to you. And then it’s really a great combination of the theory that you get through the sort of sessions and the masterclasses, as well as the practical element. And if you do it as it is, this all works together in a very nice way. So make the time to engage at the fullest because that’s how you get the most out of it.

“Make the time, really make sure you have the time to follow everything. You may think “Oh, I’ll catch up”, but it’s just too much in the end to catch up.”

Paulo: You’re definitely investing time in as well into this program. One last question, before we head into our rapid fire round. You mentioned earlier that you really enjoy working with founders, early stage, and seeing them build their ventures. What have you learned as an angel investor, as somebody who’s supporting the growth of these companies from the founders that you’ve worked with?

Hester: Oh, a lot. I mean, they call me mentor, but I think they mentor me more because through as interactions with founders, I have learned so many things about thinking in an innovative way about business models, and also about new tools, et cetera, all the tech that is out there.

If you have a hundred thousand dollars, let’s say you can go to an MBA and learn everything in theory, but I believe that you learn much more by getting into it, and doing it, and working together with founders is a great way [to gain] practical experience. And then you help them by investing your funds, and also by sharing some of your knowledge, but in return, what you get back is really to stay up to date on everything that is happening and that is possible with all the technical developments that are out there.

“If you have a hundred thousand dollars, let’s say you can go to an MBA and learn everything in theory, but I believe that you learn much more by getting into it, and doing it, and working together with founders is a great way [to gain] practical experience.”

Rapid Fire Round 

Favorite book / podcast / resource to learn about edtech (apart from your report)? 

Hester: Transcend Network. It’s a global network of very early stage founders in the area of the future of learning and work. 

What digital technology/innovation excites you the most today? (apart from edtech)

Hester: I’m really intrigued by the decentralization trends, as well as with AR and VR. That just brings a fundamental new experience that has many use cases.

Advice for professionals looking to plant roots and be a part of Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem? 

Hester: If you land in Singapore, I would recommend to learn hundreds of Singapore abbreviations today, because it’s full of abbreviations. 

Most memorable class / course? What did you learn?

Hester: That was experience design by Kaospilot, a Danish company. Experience is everything right for user acceptance and although. User experience or experience feels like an emotion. It is a science, it can be designed. So that was an eye-opener for me. And that I think can be applied to everything and anything that we do.

Favorite activity to de-stress?

Hester: That would be to be with my boys. They are seven and five and just being silly with them and talking about the world with them. You cannot imagine how they think about the world, it is brilliant. And that’s one of the most enjoyable things and makes everything relative. Maybe get some ideas on what, what the future of education looks like. We are actually developing businesses together. 

Learning to Work

Paulo: And one more question before we close this call is — we’ve talked about EdTech really from a learning perspective, Bbt you’ve mentioned here and there about how it’s impacting the future of work and the talent pool here in the region. How do you see that relationship sort of evolving over the next two years in Southeast Asia, between EdTech and then also the future of work and talent pool here?

Hester: Pandemic or not, I think that learning has changed for both children and for adults. So what we said earlier, I think lifelong learning becomes necessary with the rate of change that we see things changing technology, but also biology, et cetera. It goes too quick. So the future of work is very much related to learning. And that is where the future trends that I see, that are also applied to work are like this hyper-personalized learning, where we see AI / ML and IOT, game-based solutions that all flow into the future of work, immersive learning, but also what we see also coming up a bit more and less tech-enabled is the students and adults and teacher wellbeing and health, et cetera. 

“Life long learning becomes necessary with the rate of change that we see things changing technology, but also biology, et cetera. It goes too quick. So the future of work is very much related to learning.”