Asian Business Owners - A.B.O.

Carmen Salameh

Asian Business Owners is the podcast that explores the real human journey behind building a business in Asia. Hosted by Carmen Salameh, each episode features honest conversations with founders, entrepreneurs and business leaders across Asia. I go beyond the highlight reel to talk about the parts of entrepreneurship people relate to most deeply: doubt, loneliness, pivots, identity shifts, pressure, resilience and the quiet wins that rarely make headlines. Through candid conversations with founders and solo episodes, you’ll hear the stories behind the businesses, practical lessons learned the hard way and the realities of building something meaningful without any guarantees. Whether you’re a founder, solopreneur or aspiring entrepreneur, this podcast will help you feel less alone, more inspired and better equipped to navigate your own journey. New episodes every week. 🎧 Follow me on LinkedIn and on Instagram for more content and behind-the-scenes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 4d ago

    He Built His Business Slowly And It Paid Off | The Wine Guild

    What if building slowly is the reason your business survives? Jean-Baptiste didn't take a straight path to entrepreneurship. He studied vine biology in Bordeaux, worked for a skateboard company, moved to Hong Kong, worked in different industries and started his first business. One conversation changed everything: a winemaker simply told him to import wine and sell it in Hong Kong. So he did and it all started from there. In this episode, we talk about: Getting your first customersOpening the first shopExpanding to new locationsMaking decisions without knowing whether they're the right ones Timestamps:(00:00) Teaser and Podcast Intro (00:32) Welcome And Guest Intro (02:08) Vine Studies And Early Direction (04:38) Skateboards To Business Development (06:58) Moving To Hong Kong (09:19) Starting The Wine Guild (13:03) First Clients And Restaurant Hustle (15:06) Pop Ups To Opening A Shop (18:22) Second Store And Retail Costs (21:20) Closing a Shop To Focus (22:00) Regrets and Decisions (24:08) Expansion Lessons (24:39) Letting Go and Hiring (27:49) Second Shop Reality (30:47) Branding Versus Sales (31:38) Post COVID Hangover (33:32) Loyalty and Retention (35:30) Founder Workload (38:24) Rest and Thinking Time (40:11) Advice to Younger Self (41:53) Founder Takeaways (43:42) New Ventures Ahead (44:41) Wrap Up 👉 To find out more: The Wine Guild's website To follow my journey:📲 Find me on LinkedIn 💬 Follow abo.pod 🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    He Built His Business Slowly And It Paid Off | The Wine Guild
  2. Sep 23

    Building a Consumer Brand With $20K | Ryan Black, Founder of Buddy Bites

    What does it actually take to build a consumer brand from scratch? In 2020, Ryan Black was working in commercial real estate when a dinner with his now co-founder, Chris Lee, sparked an idea. That conversation eventually became Buddy Bites, a premium pet food brand built around subscription, strong branding and giving back to the community by donating to shelters. Ryan and Chris had no background in pet food, they bootstrapped the business before raising funds. In this episode, Ryan shares: how they went from idea to first customerswhy competing against much bigger brands can actually be an advantagethe challenge of cash flow and inventoryhow Buddy Bites built a community around its mission Timestamps:(00:00) Teaser (00:44) Podcast Intro (01:47) Ryan Background Podcasts (02:17) Dinner Spark Idea (04:39) Pet Food Pain Points (06:50) Why D2C Works in HK (08:55) MBA Career Shift (11:45) Beating Big Brands (13:38) Uncopyable Experience (16:13) From Idea to Launch (17:50) Recipe Supplier Setup (20:19) First Shelter Orders (23:56) Going Full Time Burnout (27:16) Meeting The Angel Investor (28:34) Founder Identity Shift (30:23) Bootstrapping And Cashflow (33:08) Raising In Hong Kong (34:40) Shelter Giveback Strategy (39:52) Supply Chain Crisis (43:10) How Founding Changes You (44:29) Learning To Lead Teams (47:18) Founder Support Systems (50:04) Lessons And Advice 👉 To find out more: Buddy Bites's website Ryan on LinkedIn To follow my journey:📲 Find me on LinkedIn 💬 Follow abo.pod 🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Building a Consumer Brand With $20K | Ryan Black, Founder of Buddy Bites
  3. Sep 17

    What If the Path You Chose Isn't the One for You?

    What happens when the path you've been following no longer feels like yours? In this special episode, I bring together stories from three founders, including me, who changed direction. One thought he would become a doctor before discovering a completely different path through business in Asia. Another realised that being an observer wasn't enough anymore and wanted to build something himself. And lastly, I share my story, when I arrived in Hong Kong without knowing what I would eventually do there before turning my skills into a business and starting my podcast Asian Business Owners. Three different stories, but the same question: What do you do when the life you imagined isn't the life you want anymore? Timestamps: (00:00) Teaser and Podcast Intro (01:08) Aurelien: Dream Of Medicine (02:14) Travel And Languages (04:04) Business School And China (05:13) Fresh Start in Hong Kong (06:31) Anthony: From Journalist To Builder (09:19) Entrepreneurship Mindset (11:51) My Story: Moving To Hong Kong (13:00) Monetising Digital Marketing (14:05) Building A Network (15:17) Starting My Podcast (15:51) First Guest First Recording (17:06) Wrap Up 👉 Listen to the entire episodes:Aurelien Joly — Walking Away From the Life He Was Supposed to Have Anthony Sar — The Story Behind Hong Kong FinTech Week My Story — Leaving Corporate Life and Starting Over Abroad To follow my journey:📲 Find me on LinkedIn 💬 Follow abo.pod 🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    What If the Path You Chose Isn't the One for You?
  4. Sep 9

    Success Wasn't Enough | Romita Ghosh, Founder of Maap AI

    What happens when you achieve the success you once thought you wanted and realise it isn't enough? Romita Ghosh has spent around 20 years building companies. She's had successful exits, awards and the kind of achievements that traditionally define entrepreneurial success. But over time, she started asking: what makes me feel fulfilled? That question eventually led her to build Maap AI, an AI-powered child growth monitoring system to help detect child malnutrition and create personalised nutrition interventions. In this conversation, Romita and I talk about: why conventional success stopped feeling sufficienthow surviving cancer as a child shaped her sense of purposewhat she learned from failing and rebuilding multiple startupsthe real-world problem she discovered while travelling across Indiabuilding a sustainable business around impactfundraising, scale and patient capitalthe personal sacrifices entrepreneurship demanded from her Timestamps: (00:00) Teaser (00:50) Podcast and Guest Intro (02:31) Why She Became a Founder (03:05) Cancer Survival Purpose (05:21) First Startup in LEDs (06:30) Addicted to Building (08:49) Co-Founder Lessons (11:05) Fieldwork in India (12:17) The Measurement Moment (16:30) Choosing Malnutrition Mission (18:47) Building the Partnership Model (22:06) AI R&D and Bias (23:45) What Maap AI Delivers (24:43) Go-to-Market and Pricing (26:03) Funding the R&D (26:11) Who Backed Maap AI (27:32) Community Trust And Nutrition Plans 29:38) Fundraising Tips And Processes (31:45) Slow Progress And Perseverance (34:56) Impact Versus Startup Success (38:31) Global Expansion Vision (40:22) Personal Sacrifices Of Founding (43:11) Lessons For Fellow Founders (46:45) Wrap Up 👉 To find out more: Maap AI's website Romita on LinkedIn To follow my journey:📲 Find me on LinkedIn 💬 Follow abo.pod 🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Success Wasn't Enough | Romita Ghosh, Founder of Maap AI
  5. Aug 26

    Does Growth Always Mean Going Faster? | ☀️ Summer Series

    Does growth always mean going faster? In this last episode of the Summer Series, I chatted with Julien Gaubert for the second time. Julien runs Ykone, a creative influence agency operating across Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore. He's spent his career in some of the fastest-moving industries and cities in the world, from Hermès in New York to building creative agencies across Asia. But this summer, he takes some time to reflect and reset. Instead of pushing harder, he's learning to listen more to his body, to his team and to his own teenage kids, who are teaching him more about culture and attention spans than any market report could. We talk about: How AI is reshaping his agencyWhy experiential marketing matters more than everWhat his teenagers taught him about patience and contentHis plans to expand across Asia 📣 This episode is in partnership with The Hive Poho, coworking space in Hong Kong. Listen to the first episode with Julien here Timestamps (00:00) Teaser (00:42) Podcast Intro: the Summer Series (01:42) Meet Julien (03:51) What Brings Him Joy (07:21) Rethinking AI And Productivity (12:02) Business Shift Acquisitions (15:55) Reflection on Time, Speed And Growth (19:03) Expanding Across Asia (21:59) Three Goals And a Flexible Plan (23:42) Summer Recommendation (25:54) Wrap Up 👉 To find out more: Ykone To follow my journey 📲 Find me on LinkedIn 💬 Follow abo.pod 🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Does Growth Always Mean Going Faster? | ☀️ Summer Series

Trailers

About

Asian Business Owners is the podcast that explores the real human journey behind building a business in Asia. Hosted by Carmen Salameh, each episode features honest conversations with founders, entrepreneurs and business leaders across Asia. I go beyond the highlight reel to talk about the parts of entrepreneurship people relate to most deeply: doubt, loneliness, pivots, identity shifts, pressure, resilience and the quiet wins that rarely make headlines. Through candid conversations with founders and solo episodes, you’ll hear the stories behind the businesses, practical lessons learned the hard way and the realities of building something meaningful without any guarantees. Whether you’re a founder, solopreneur or aspiring entrepreneur, this podcast will help you feel less alone, more inspired and better equipped to navigate your own journey. New episodes every week. 🎧 Follow me on LinkedIn and on Instagram for more content and behind-the-scenes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.