Ysabel Chua is Vice President at Forge Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Singapore that backs exceptional founders across Southeast Asia. Before Forge, she spent her career holding operator roles in the tech ecosystem in the Philippines. 

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👋🏼  How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

My job is to find and invest in the best founders in the region who are building companies that move our world forward.

As lead investors at the early stage, our job goes beyond the investment, we find exceptional founders to invest in and then work alongside them in their early stages of company building in order to create outsized returns for our investors. 

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🧐  What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

About me? I never thought I would end up in venture capital. It took many twists and turns for me to end up here, but I wouldn't have had it any other way

I've always been an operator at heart.  I've been a PM, a product launcher, and a chief of staff before I became a venture capitalist.

About my job? It was a welcome surprise for me when I learned that this job is more a people business, than a numbers business. There is so much to this job and industry that goes beyond looking at the figures on an Excel sheet. 

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🏆  What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

It's definitely been the most fulfilling to be able to back companies at the earliest stage (usually, it's just the founding team when we invest) and then seeing them scale and grow to a full team with operations.

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🔍  What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?

There are a few different spaces I've been watching—cross-border payments and ease of money movement across certain corridors, better access to healthcare services across SEA, and different forms of renewable energy to power this new generation of AI technologies. 

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‍💼  What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry? 

Follow your curiosity—ask questions, dig deeper into topics that interest you, and don't be afraid to form your own opinions. I think being intellectually curious is one of the biggest aspects to not just succeeding but also finding joy in this job. 

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🗣  What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours? 

The benefits of mindfulness—I am a big, big believer in the benefits of meditation, yoga, or any activity that helps us live more mindfully!

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🎥  What's your favorite movie/TV show? 

My current favorite TV show is Shrinking on Apple TV.

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🍨  What's your go-to ice cream flavor?

Black sesame forever!