UVC: Jeremy Au from Monk’s Hill Ventures on startup fundraising, must have leadership skills for a founder and how to deal with startup failures, exits

Jeremy Au is a VC at Monk's Hill Ventures who invests in fellow founders who will transform millions of lives. He also spearheads MHV's key initiatives from venture scouts to thought leadership. Jeremy is also the host of the BRAVE podcast who interviews trailblazing founders, investors and rising stars in Southeast Asia tech. His mission is to inspire thousands to build the future, learn from our past and stay human in between. He is an angel investor in multiple startups across the USA and Southeast Asia

Jeremy co-founded CozyKin, an early education marketplace. He led the startup as CEO from 0 to Series A to acquisition by Higher Ground Education. Won Harvard Business School's New Venture Competition and the MassChallenge grand prize. Incubated by Harvard Innovation Lab's VIP Program and MIT Sandbox.

Jeremy co-founded Conjunct Consulting, an impact consulting platform, to deliver over 285 engagements and train thousands of new leaders. He bootstrapped the social enterprise to profitability and handed off to his handpicked successor where it thrives to this day. He also consulted across multiple Southeast Asia markets and China as a Bain management consultant. He also served as an infantry sergeant in Singapore.

Jeremy is a public speaker and panellist on entrepreneurship, leadership and community engagement. He has spoken for thousands across Harvard, Deutsche Bank, Singapore Global Tech Network, Boston SPARK Council, Institute of Policy Studies, Civil Service College and many others. Recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 and Prestige 40 Under 40. MBA from Harvard Business School and double honour degrees in Economics & Business Administration from UC Berkeley.

Jeremy enjoys science fiction, improv, hiking, tea and being a dad with his family. He enjoys hearing from authentic founders, receiving podcast guest recommendations and new speaking opportunities.

Key Takeaways

• 3 phases of fundraising - how to prepare your startup for fundraising, organising your fundraising process, and growing your startup with the funds raised
• Why the ability to learn quickly, making good decisions consistently, and emotional self regulation are the must have leadership skills for a startup founder
• Why every founder must have the self awareness to grieve when they exit their startup before deciding on the next challenge
• How you can deal with a startup failure and why it’s like losing a loved one
• How startups can use capital advantage as an economic moat
• How as human beings we learn linearly and startups are expected to grow exponentially, and why this makes building startups really hard
• Ways Jeremy gives back to the startup community