On the ground
Deals don't start at desks. They start at conference happy hours, panel sidelines, commutes between venues, and referrals through networks built over time.
A large part of what makes this practice useful to clients is that I'm genuinely present in the markets and events that matter. Not as a passive attendee, but rather as someone who goes in with a mandate, works the room with purpose, and comes back with leads, introductions, and intelligence that moves things forward.
Below is a snapshot of the events I attend regularly, and the geographies where I maintain an active presence. If you need someone on the ground at a specific event, to represent your company, work introductions, or simply report back on what's happening in a market, that's a conversation worth having.
Circuit 1: Fintech and Web3
This circuit is perhaps best described by the commonly held view in crypto / Web3 that you see your industry contacts at global conferences more often than you see some friends in your home town.
Crypto and traditional fintech increasingly overlap in areas like stablecoin-driven payments and real world assets coming onchain. Further on the ground presence often illustrates key nuances between markets, such as the specific local conditions that give rise to greater payments tech adoption. All best understood as a hands-on participant, with insights gleaned from contacts in each market.
The conferences on this circuit include:
Token2049 Singapore
Consensus HK and Miami
Korea Blockchain Week
ETH Denver
EthCC (Cannes)
Singapore Fintech Festival
HK Fintech Week
Circuit 2: Tech / AI
In a similar vein to the fintech/crypto vertical, this circuit is really about capturing the zeitgeist of AI in tech, which is appetizer, main course, and dessert right now. Not just what everyone is working on, but also the questions on everyone’s minds. Nothing quite like spending a week in Hangzhou to see what investors and builders are prioritizing, or taking part in a multimodal AI hackathon (and winning a prize) to get hands-on, direct feedback from industry. Much more granular insights gained compared to passively consuming an article, tweet storm, or podcast.
The events on this circuit include:
NY, SF, and LA Tech Weeks by a16z
Hangzhou AI Week by Unique Research
Hackathons by different ecosystems and LLM providers, e.g. GMI Cloud x Z.ai Agent Forge Hackathon
Game Developer Conference (GDC) SF
Nvidia GTC
TechCrunch Disrupt SF
SXSW
Circuit 3: Sports Tech
I believe the energy of these photos speaks to what’s pulsing through sports leagues and sports tech at the moment, even as private capital’s interest rises to never before seen levels, and challenger leagues and developments like NIL reshape the landscape.
Sports has also proven to be an extremely fertile ground for cross-industry collaboration, as AI and robotics tinkerers, analytics geeks, former pro athletes in tech and finance sales and general enthusiasts come together to redefine how sports and entertainment are produced and consumed.
Recent events I’ve been to / covered include:
GSIC global meetups
Game Developer Conference (GDC) SF
JohnWallStreet events on Blockchain X Sports and College Sports
Other sports industry specific meetups (e.g. PeakNIL SF launch event)
Circuit 4: Universities
If you’re like me, you’ve experienced moments where you realize you’re behind the cutting edge of innovation, where talent and capital converge. It’s likely a natural state of affairs as we swim in our own lanes. What better way to take the pulse of the future than be in the spaces where the next generation is shaping up to build it?
My own work and the doors opened by former employers and partners in education and recruiting keeps me in touch with:
MIT’s Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program (UPOP)
Stanford’s main campus and global alumni events
University and Corporate sponsor hackathons
Shanghai World Foreign Language TEDx Youth Talk (invite by a former student)
Conference Representation
Want your company represented at the next key event?
Not every company has someone with the right network and context to make a conference worth attending. I offer conference representation for clients who want a credible, well-connected presence at specific events — working introductions, attending panels and side events, and reporting back with qualified leads and market intelligence.
Past conference representation includes GDC (San Francisco) for the A7FL and regular attendance across the Token2049, ETH Denver, EthCC, and fintech week circuits on behalf of or alongside clients. If there's a specific event you'd like coverage at, get in touch early — popular events fill up fast.
Geographies
As interconnected as the world is, local presence with local networks still matters.
Singapore - base of origin
SF Bay Area, Los Angeles & New York - Networks from college days and later quant / AI recruiting stint
Hong Kong - ongoing presence, worked here from 2016-2020, several trips a year
Greater China - Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and beyond. On the ground experience plus regular visits
Need a presence at a specific event or market?
Whether it's conference representation, on-the-ground intelligence, or introductions in a market you're entering, let's talk about what would be most useful.