1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Francis Simisim of Original Pitch Ventures (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: How does the Filipino ecosystem interface with the rest of the Southeast Asian ecosystem? Where are the partnerships that you’re seeing? Francis Simisim: Philippines is an island on its own. It’s somewhat purgatory. We are raising smaller money than a regional VC’s ticket size. If they raise locally, it’s a big round and

Read Full Article »

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Francis Simisim of Original Pitch Ventures (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: What is an example of a local problem that is non-copycat? We have a term for that. We use a more elegant term for that. We call it concept arbitrage. I’ve been extensively involved in the Indian startup ecosystem. I always encourage concept arbitrage because it’s a very good way for entrepreneurs to

Read Full Article »

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Francis Simisim of Original Pitch Ventures (Part 1)

Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Francis Simisim was recorded in June 2019. Francis Simisim is Partner at Original Pitch Venture Capital based in the Philippines. We had a very good discussion on how that ecosystem is developing.

Read Full Article »

The Geopolitics Of The Tibetan Plateau

By Guest Author Rohit P. Singh When one of the deadliest clashes in the region’s history occurred between Chinese police and Tibetan protestors in March 2008, experts averred that the cause of the violence was China’s long-standing strategy to open Tibet’s vast reserves of copper, iron, zinc, and other minerals.