​From Jack Ma to AI Founders: What Singapore's Next 25 Years Look Like

​Dave Lim | Live Fireside Chat

​Dave Lim is a dear friend and a mentor I deeply respect. Our journey began at the TED Global conference, where we first bonded over our shared passion for transformative ideas. Life eventually led me to Singapore. We recently caught up, and I was reminded why he is such a rare find. Dave is a true "polymath" who bridges eras: not only was his VC firm a first-round investor in Alibaba (1999), he also helped Garena-now SEA (2008) find first round VCs. Then he was also headhunted by Coca-Cola HW to cofound their global external technology innovation startup engine in Asia. As a central bank and development economist, he has first-hand insights to Singapore's evolution—from trading commodities to trading ideas.

​His view of Singapore's role in the AI era and the strategic "blind spots" of Chinese founders going global are far too valuable to remain in a private conversation. I've invited him for a podcast to share these 30 years of diverse wisdom with all of you.

​The Conversation

• ​The Oracle's Logic — What did Dave see in Jack Ma and Forrest Li and their startups before they became household names? Does he see the same pattern in today's founders and startups ?

• ​Radical Innovation vs. Big Corp inertia — Having co-founded Coca-Cola's "Google X" style tech innovation engine, why do big giants often fail at disruptive innovation? What are their opportunities in the AI age, and where can startups fit in ?

• ​The Soul of Global Products — Drawing from Singularity University, why must great founders understand the humanities and art as much as code? How does this define a product's "soul"?

• ​The "Polymath" Edge — How interdisciplinary thinking—spanning engineering, literature, and capital—becomes the ultimate success skill for founders in an exponential era.

• ​Singapore's Next Act — We moved from trading toys to trading ideas. Is the next act "Trading AI"? And what is the missing piece to make this vision a reality?

​About the Speaker

​Dave Lim — Founder of TEDxSingapore and Veteran VC

​Dave is a polymath, provocateur, pioneer, and possibilist who delights in helping people design, launch and grow new ventures and movements. Since 1999, Dave has worked on all sides of the entrepreneurial and investments fence, as a venture capitalist and an entrepreneur in the Pacific Rim and Silicon Valley, co-founder of Coca-Cola Innovation X, and was part of the design thinking, social innovation, and impact investment movements since their founding years. He started his career as a central banker, economist, and global fund manager of >$100 billion. Dave is also a builder of communities and movements. He was head of global partnerships, community, and new initiatives at Earth Hour headquarters, WWF and was a pioneer TEDx Ambassador and curator since 2009. Dave considers himself a global citizen and humanist. He has lived in 4 countries and has studied at Stanford, Berkeley, UNSW, UBC, and SingularityU

​从马云到AI创始人：新加坡未来25年的样子

​主讲人：Dave Lim | 线上炉边谈话

​Dave Lim 是我尊敬的挚友和良师。我们的缘分始于TED全球大会，在那里我们因对变革性思想的共同热情而相识。后来生活把我带到了新加坡。最近我们再次相聚，我再次领悟了为什么他如此与众不同。

​Dave 是真正的"博学家"，跨越时代的桥梁：他的风投公司不仅是阿里巴巴(1999年)的A轮投资方，也帮助Garena——现在的东南亚科技集团SEA(2008年)找到了A轮融资。之后，他还被可口可乐全球高管猎头邀请，共同创办了可口可乐在亚洲的全球外部技术创新创业引擎。作为央行官员和发展经济学家，他对新加坡演变有第一手洞察——从商品交易到思想交易的蜕变。

​他对新加坡在AI时代角色的见解，以及对中国创始人全球化战略"盲点"的观察，价值连城，不应仅限于私下对话。我邀请他参与这场播客，与各位分享他30年跨领域积累的智慧。

​对话议题

​• 预言家的逻辑 — Dave 在Jack Ma和Forrest Li及其创业公司成为家喻户晓之前，看到了什么？他在今天的创始人和创业公司身上是否看到了相同的模式？

​• 激进创新 vs 大企业惯性 — 在共同创办可口可乐"Google X"式科技创新引擎的经历中，为什么大型企业往往在颠覆性创新上失利？他们在AI时代有哪些机遇？初创公司如何融入其中？

​• 全球产品的灵魂 — 从奇点大学的洞察出发，为什么伟大的创始人必须像理解代码一样理解人文和艺术？这如何定义了产品的"灵魂"？

​• "博学家"的优势 — 如何将跨越工程、文学和资本的跨学科思维转化为指数时代创始人的终极成功技能？

​• 新加坡的下一步 — 我们从交易玩具进化到交易思想。下一步是"交易AI"吗？而让这个愿景成为现实的缺失环节是什么？

​关于讲者

​Dave Lim — TEDxSingapore创始人兼资深风投

​Dave 是一位多才多艺的思想家、挑战者、先锋和可能性倡导者，他热衷于帮助人们设计、启动和发展新的企业和运动。自1999年以来，Dave 在创业和投资领域的各个角度工作过——担任风险投资家、太平洋地区及硅谷创业者、可口可乐创新X公司联合创始人，并从设计思维、社会创新和影响力投资运动的早期就参与其中。

​他的职业生涯始于央行官员、经济学家和全球基金经理（管理资金超过1000亿美元）。Dave 还是社区和运动的建设者。他曾任全球最大环保组织WWF旗下"地球一小时"总部的全球合作伙伴关系、社区和新倡议负责人，也是2009年以来TEDx的先驱大使和策展人。

​Dave 视自己为全球公民和人文主义者。他曾在4个国家生活，分别就读于斯坦福、伯克利、新南威尔士大学、英属哥伦比亚大学和奇点大学。