Choosing Your Career Path and the Tradeoffs You Must Be Aware Of - E699

Choosing Your Career Path and the Tradeoffs You Must Be Aware Of - E699

From BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English) by Jeremy Au

May 27, 2026 · 9 min · Season 1 · Episode 699

About this episode

Jeremy Au discusses the misconceptions of career advice and the hidden tradeoffs young professionals must consider.

Most career advice is a lie. In this raw solo episode of the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast, Jeremy Au breaks down why self-help advice from successful business leaders is often self-serving, and what young founders, operators, and professionals across Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia should actually pay attention to. Jeremy shares the hard-won lessons that schools and LinkedIn influencers will not teach you: the brutal tradeoffs hidden behind every "I wake up at 5am" story, why you must own your power without shame, and the dangerous trap of choosing your career outside-in instead of inside-out. He opens up about why he walked away from Bain & Company after two years and felt like a loser, only to learn a decade later that even the partners who "made it" wished they had taken the exit. You will also hear why being a small fish in a big pond is not a failure (and being a big fish in a small pond is not the goal), why sacrificing your health for your career is the dumbest tradeoff a young professional can make, and how choosing your own pain is the secret to a sustainable career. Watch, listen or read the full insight at…

People in this episode

Host: Jeremy Au

Topics covered

  • career advice
  • tradeoffs
  • self-help
  • professional development
  • founders
  • work-life balance

Keywords

  • career path
  • self-help advice
  • tradeoffs
  • Bain & Company
  • work-life balance
  • sustainable career
  • young professionals

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bain & Company

Places: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia

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