Helping Startups Succeed in Asia & Pursuing Your Passion: Elisa Chiu (Anchor Taiwan)

Episode Themes (Timestamps below)Building a career in high finance, then giving it all up to pursue one's passion.Cultural & gender barriers in the workplace and how to overcome them.Advice for young professionals in building their careers.Overview of the Taiwan startup scene (VC players + accelerators).Reasons to consider Taiwan as a place to build or grow your startup.
About Anchor TaiwanStarted in 2017, Anchor Taiwan is an Entrepreneurial Residency, Tech Community & Investor Network designed to tackle your soft landing in Asia through Taiwan. In 2019, Elisa launched Anchor Venture Partners, an early stage cross-border investment platform to combine her passion for startups and her expertise in capital markets. To find out more, please visit: https://www.anchortaiwan.com/about/
About PDFOur mission is to help diverse professionals reach their full potential in the workplace. To find out more about our upcoming events, please visit us on Facebook, LinkedIn or our website: http://professionaldevelopmentforum.org/
We're also on Spotify & iTunes:https://open.spotify.com/show/03Aaxe5E7jg1PXSyhbnF8ghttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sydney-professional-development-forum/id1490502582
Quote"Identify mentors and champions around you that will give you advice and resources to really advance your career."
Show Noteshttps://bordersless.com/business/elisa-chiu-anchor-taiwan/
Timestamps1:00 - Introduction2:35 - Journey from Taiwan to Canada. Navigating a new environment and cultural barriers.6:10 - Working as a junior trader.6:40 - Was this your passion? Why did you go down the finance path?10:45 - Navigating cultural and gender barriers in a male dominant environment.13:20 - Importance of finding a mentor and support systems. Turning bad situations into an advantage and bring value to others.17:30 - Are there gender barriers in Taiwan?18:50 - Working at a Hedge Fund, living in a bubble, resigning from a comfortable life, throwing yourself into the unknown.22:45 - The motivation for living a different life. Overcoming fears and perceived limitations. Pursuing your passion, finding fulfilment, why you should give things a try.30:20 - Experiencing Silicon Valley, getting into innovation + technology, impact investing and the startup world, moving back to Taiwan to setup Anchor Taiwan.36:15 - Reasons for setting up Anchor Taiwan.38:00 - The beginning of Anchor Taiwan.40:10 - Tackling challenges and the unknowns. The difficulty of marketing Taiwan.43:50 - Thoughts around leaving and returning to Taiwan. Gaining perspective.45:30 - What is Anchor Taiwan + Anchor Venture Partners?50:40 - Overview of Taiwan market – VCs + Accelerators (AppWorks, Cherubic Ventures, Cornerstone Ventures get a mention).55:35 - Government initiatives for foreign startups.57:20 - Corporate Venture Capital in Taiwan.59:20 - Why should I go to Taiwan over Singapore or HK? What sort of startups should go to Taiwan?1:01:30 - Google expansion into Taiwan.1:05:00 - Impacts of COVID-19 on the startup space in Taiwan. Initiatives to help startups.1:08:00 - How can startups navigate this tough period?1:10:00 - Investment trends and opportunities in this period?1:14:25 - Would you have done anything differently? Career advice for young professionals?1:17:45 - Overseas born Taiwanese coming to Taiwan. E.g. the co-founders of YouTube and Rotten Tomatoes.1:19:05 - Thoughts on how young Taiwanese + how Taiwan can stay competitive.1:21:40 - Last words + how to contact Elisa.