Shiyan Koh is a Singaporean operator-turned-investor who helped build NerdWallet from an early stage before returning to Southeast Asia, and she now invests pre-seed globally while co-hosting BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech where she regularly debates tech news and interviews regional builders. She focuses on "the learning founder" by looking for founders who run lots of fast, low-cost experiments with tight feedback loops, and she runs focused virtual coworking sessions on Flow Club where she brings her operator discipline to helping others get deep work done.

• Enthusiasm for practical AI tools and productivity hacks that solve real-life problems. She candidly shares how she utilizes tools like ChatGPT for diverse tasks, ranging from breaking through work bottlenecks when her energy is low to seeking moral support during late-night sleep training sessions.
• A focus on the nuances of customer development and the necessity of honest founder reflection. She highlighted a specific conversation where a founder admitted they made the mistake of simply asking if customers had a problem, rather than verifying if the problem was painful enough to be a high priority.
• Active public support for portfolio companies that demonstrate high shipping velocity and useful product updates. She specifically praised the Gamma team for a version update and API release that was immediately valuable to other education companies within her network.
• Deep engagement with the startup ecosystem in Singapore and Southeast Asia through in-person community building. She frequently promotes and attends local gatherings, such as the Founder Friends networking nights and the Batter Up pitch competitions in Singapore and Jakarta.
• Appreciation for team players who prioritize group goals over individual posturing. She has pointed out that employees who advocate for their own interests at the expense of teammates often underestimate the reputational damage this causes, valuing instead those who move the group forward together.
• Integration of family life with professional identity. She openly references her children and family needs in relation to her work, such as searching for AR glasses to help a family member with hearing loss or joking about how her kids perceive her venture capital job as simply talking to friends on Zoom.