5 Questions with venture builder Li Jianggan

NOT many were in the trenches of the ride-hailing and food-delivery war in the early days of South-east Asia’s tech scene. Li Jianggan was.

He was part of venture builder Rocket Internet, where he was tasked with Easy Taxi’s expansion into South-east Asia; he also had a stint at managing foodpanda’s Singapore operations.

Today, Li runs a venture outfit called Momentum Works, which tracks and analyses some of the hottest trends in the region.

In this edition of 5 Questions, he talks about the highs and lows in his early days in tech and why Momentum Works fills a crucial knowledge gap in the market.

1. Tell us about your work history and how that experience has translated into your current role.

I joined Rocket Internet after my MBA to expand Easy Taxi, a Brazil-headquartered venture, into South-east Asia. We scaled the operations to more than 500 people across six countries, but we got one thing fundamentally wrong – strategy. …