People often ask me why I chose to build in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The short answer: timing.

The longer answer requires understanding where we are in the technology adoption curve across different regions. And right now, Asia is at an inflection point that reminds me of Silicon Valley in the early 2000s — except with some crucial advantages.

The Infrastructure Moment

When I started building software two decades ago, infrastructure was a constant constraint. You needed servers, bandwidth, and a lot of capital just to get started. Today, that’s largely solved. Cloud computing democratized access to computing resources.

But here’s what’s interesting: the application of that infrastructure is now having its moment in Asia. Mobile-first populations, rapidly growing middle classes, and governments actively investing in digital transformation have created a unique environment.

Singapore, where I’m based, has become a hub not because it’s trying to be Silicon Valley, but because it’s become the gateway to a 700 million person market in Southeast Asia.

The Talent Shift

Something else has changed: talent distribution. The best engineers and product people are no longer concentrated in a few ZIP codes. Remote work accelerated this, but the trend was already in motion.

I work with engineers in India, designers in the Philippines, and business development people across the region. The quality is exceptional, and the cost arbitrage — while real — is becoming less relevant than the creativity and hunger I see.

What’s Different About Building Here

Building a company in Asia isn’t the same as building one in the Valley. Some observations:

Relationships matter more. Business in Asia runs on trust built over time. This can feel slow if you’re used to quick transactions, but it creates deeper partnerships.

Mobile is the default. You don’t design for desktop and then adapt. You design for mobile and might add desktop later. This mindset shift affects everything.

Markets are fragmented. Southeast Asia isn’t one market — it’s a dozen. Each country has different languages, regulations, payment systems, and consumer behaviors. This is both challenge and moat.

Government is a player. Unlike the “move fast and break things” ethos, you need to work with regulators here. It’s slower, but it also means more stable operating environments once you’re established.

The AI Angle

I’m particularly bullish on AI applications in this region. Not because Asia will produce the next foundation model — that requires the kind of capital and compute concentration that exists elsewhere. But because the application layer has enormous room to grow.

Think about it: millions of businesses that skipped the desktop era entirely are now ready to adopt AI tools. They’re not held back by legacy systems. They’re not comparing to “how we’ve always done it.” They’re starting fresh.

This is where I’m focusing at Lumi5 Labs — helping build AI applications that solve real problems for businesses in Asia.

The Bet

Every entrepreneur makes a bet on timing and location. My bet is that the next decade belongs to builders who understand both global technology trends and local Asian contexts.

I could be wrong. But after two exits and twenty years of building, I’ve learned to trust pattern recognition. And the patterns I’m seeing here are very compelling.

The question isn’t whether opportunities exist in Asia. It’s whether you’re positioned to capture them.