Launchpad
Launchpad is a coworking space (November 2012 - at least 2026) in Bangkok, Thailand.
Founder
It was founded by Ponthep Sethiwan ("Vincent"), a son of the wealthy Sethiwan family.
He later around 2024 founded Mmd, a Coffee Shop also on the first floor of Sethiwan Tower. [1]
He also founded a clinic, “Obliv Young Clinic" [2] located inside the Coffee Shop.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-sethiwan/
https://www.facebook.com/icybluelemon
https://www.instagram.com/vincembx/
M8VC
M8VC
Founded in 2012 by a group of entrepreneurs, M8VC plans to be an incubator, accelerator and provide technology investment to assist the Thai start-up community with the experience or networks of each founder of M8VC who have started a venture. One of the 8 M8VC founders is Thailand’s Internet icon and pioneer Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, the founder of Thailand’s largest and most successful e-commerce website ‘Tarad.com’ and vice president of Thai E-Commerce Association. “Venture capital and Angel investing are powerful forces for change. It allows individuals to pursue their dreams that improve society and make the world a better place. M8VC would like to contribute to the Thai start-up community as the ‘agent of change’, to help entrepreneurs accelerate their journey to success with their expertise, capital, and network,” said another M8VC’s co-founder and partner, Ponthep Sethiwan.
Launchpad Users
Michael B. Currie ran his startup DIN with Kristian Peltonen in 2016 from this coworking space.
Sources
Vincent Sethiwan’s family thought he was crazy to build LAUNCHPAD Elaine Huang Mon, 18 March 2013 at 1:25 pm GMT+7
Co-working is still a relatively new concept in Thailand. So when Ponthep “Vincent” Sethiwan came out with LAUNCHPAD, his family thought it was crazy. But thankfully, all’s well that ends well, and we want to know what exactly happened. Young man with spiky hair, all dressed up in a black tee and simple denim jeans. That was my first impression of Vincent Sethiwan, the co-founder of LAUNCHPAD and Charged Concept. After shaking hands and exchanging name cards, he told me that he will catch me in a bit as he was rushing out for lunch. His helpful staff — Am and Fern — then guided me around the 800 sqm office, explaining every room and feature in great detail.
The first level had three different working areas: the daily, monthly and lounge area. Daily users have to lug their laptops over every day or whenever they come to LAUNCHPAD, while monthly users could keep their heavy monitors and computers over at their designated desks. Well, the lounge area is filled up with red and black bean bags, and white tables, making it rather perfect for people to just sit and talk while recuperating from perhaps a lack of ideas or just too much work. But if just sitting around is not your cup of tea, the co-working space also has a games room where anyone can go inside and play a round of both virtual or real table tennis. I was smiling from ear to ear when I saw the game controllers sitting neatly in a box near the table.
Then there was the second level. As we walked up the staircase, Am explained to me that it was still under construction, but he will show it to me anyway. About half the space was cleared. There were about 20 to 30 others typing amidst the soft chattering, and to their left, there was a small room for those who want themselves some peace and quiet. I would never survive in the quiet room, I remembered thinking to myself.
After sitting down at a desk for about 30 minutes, my guest arrived. I quickly asked Am and Fern if they could help look after my things while I go out for lunch, to which they replied enthusiastically, “of course!” There was a locker, but I would have to pay about BHT 100 (US$3.38) to use it. Then at lunch, I bumped into Vincent at the restaurant, which was said to be rather famous for Thai food and chocolate cakes.
It was only about 4 P.M. when I finally got the chance to talk to Vincent, since the both of us had long meetings to attend to that very day. Now, it is only noteworthy that the space is situated in a tall tower, and mind you, not just any tower. It was one which has Vincent’s last name plastered on the entrance in shiny gold letters: Sethiwan Tower. The 26-year-old shared that his family are his internal investors, but it was not all fun and games pitching to them.
Working in coffee shops
See, the thing is, before LAUNCHPAD started last November, Vincent spent almost all his time working at home or in coffee shops, and that annoyed his family. When he went to the toilet at coffeeshops and came back to someone else sitting at where he sat, that was the last straw. He wanted an office space of about 50 sqm for his company of six but most people laughed at him and asked, “What are you trying to do with only 50 sqm?” Besides, in Bangkok, none of these 50 sqm offices cost less than THB15,000 (US$507) a month. So he thought about it and decided to ask his family if he could renovate the old Sethiwan Tower and turn it into a young, trendy co-working space for anyone.
He shared, “It took a long while to convince them. They asked, ‘Are you crazy going to do stuff like this?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I want this to happen so much in Thailand. If not, people will never get out of their cynical cycle and there won’t be startups.’” He also added, “when you fail, it’s not the monetary value; it’s the social value . [People will say things like], ‘Oh, you started this [and] you failed.’”
Not new to the startup scene
But the startup scene is not new to Vincent. Back when he was in Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg studying information systems and his masters in information systems management for four and a half years, he wanted to come up with a networking platform similar to Facebook which will target Thailand. The project, thought up of by a friend and himself, was outsourced and completed but they never got to launch it. He shared about his experience having to talk to a “hardcore programmer with a killing face” who was usually all smiles.
Though that did not work out, it did not stop Vincent from trying again. During his last year completing his masters, he decided to pitch his own project with a housemate from Singapore Management University. It was a smart closet management system dealing with RFID focused on helping clothing stores drive sales. They ended up winning US$6,000 cash reward and applied to Alpha Lab, an incubator, but did not get in.
After graduating, he wanted to stay on to work on these startup projects, but his parents thought otherwise. They had planned for him to come home and help out in the family business. So he negotiated. “I said, ‘If it doesn’t take off after six months, I’ll come back.’” That was a bad year to start anything – in 2009, there was the financial crisis, which ended up cutting many marketing budgets of both big and small companies.
When he was pitching his idea to a staff at American Eagle’s headquarters, what he got was “this is a really cool project but we need to test it out first.” He walked around 20 boutique stores and only one said they would give it a try. But by the time orders came in, it was too late. Vincent was already back in Thailand.
Third culture kid
Then he started working at various big companies in Bangkok, where he found Sam, his current Chief Technical Officer and c0-founder. But he also shared that in Thailand, he has had challenges in terms of being a “third culture kid.” Well, like most third culture kids, Vincent studied in international schools and abroad, only to come home finding other people looking at him thinking “he’s Thai but acts like a foreigner.”
He said, “I’m more fluent in English. I sounded like a fifth grader in Thai at first. [...] You have to learn how to talk to business people and network. [Most of them] don’t say what they think [so you have to] find their true intention.”He also shared that there must be a change in mindset in the education system where students are taught to believe in their ideas and go for it. However, it cannot be seen as a trend or novelty, because if these young adults do not know what they are getting into, they will always see getting funding as an end goal. He said, “In our incubator, we look for entrepreneurs who are hungry enough, we can really drive them.”
Besides LAUNCHPAD, he also runs Charged Concept, which focuses on external iOS and web projects, as well as creating in-house iOS applications, and M8VC’s accelerator program which expects to have three to five incubated startups in 2013.
Read also: Thailand’s new THB300M fund M8VC opens applications for accelerator program
The post Vincent Sethiwan’s family thought he was crazy to build LAUNCHPAD appeared first on e27.
Vincent Sethiwan Co-founder of Launchpad One of the city’s newest coworking spaces, Launchpad, offers more than just the chance to work out of home. According to co-founder, Vincent Sethiwan, it’s all about connections, too. Here, he discusses how the right community can change the way you work and even relieve stress.
Are coworking spaces catching on with Thais? Yes, we get an equal mix of Thais and international members. I think this is because of how we portray ourselves to be an international space; a well-mixed community that is passionate about what they are working on.
What do people like about Launchpad? They like the ambience and the community. Our space is very open and you can work in any way you want. This freedom allows people to be more creative and focused on what they are working on.
Is it a profitable business? Not yet. However the space offers my team a really nice place to work alongside a really great crowd of people with similar mindsets who are all willing to help each other out. This is something that money cannot buy.
Does it actually boost productivity? Yes, it does work very well indeed. Work gets done, more ideas get validated, there are more job referrals and, most importantly, it’s more fun. It is efficient as well as effective in building connections with people.
Who is suited to this kind of space? It’s up to you whether you like it or not. For me, I really like it because it is a perfect blend between privacy and open communication. And as a startup, it really helps take away a lot of the stress and build confidence. 1/F, Sethiwan Tower, Sathorn Rd., 02-266-6222. B220 per day, B6,000 per month.
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เปิดตัว M8VC พร้อมผลักดัน Startup ไทยสู่ระดับภูมิภาค PR News Writer: thumbsupteam December 6, 2012 Share
วันนี้มีข่าวฝากจากหนึ่งในทีมงาน LaunchPad พร้อมเปิดตัวกับ thumbsup ก่อนใคร ว่าได้ร่วมก่อตั้งกลุ่ม M8VC เพื่อผลักดันและสนับสนุน Startup ไทย พูดง่ายๆ ก็คือเป็นทั้ง Incubator และ Technology Investment Firm นั่นเอง
หนึ่งในผู้ร่วมก่อตั้งคุณ Vincent กล่าวว่า ?การที่ผู้ประกอบการรายใหม่ที่แม้จะมีพลังและแรงบันดาลใจอยู่มากก็ยังไม่ง่ายที่จะเติบโตในระดับภูมิภาคได้เหมือนกับผู้ประกอบการในซึกโลกตะวันตก เพราะมีปัจจัยหลายๆ อย่างที่แตกต่างกัน ดังนั้น M8VC จึงเกิดขึ้นด้วยเหตุผลดังกล่าว?M8VC ?เกิดจากการรวมตัวกันของคน 8 คนที่มีประสบการณ์, เงินทุน และเครือข่ายที่ช่วยผลักดันสนับสนุน Startup ไทย ทั้งในแง่การให้ความรู้และเชื่อมโยงกับกลุ่มนักลงทุนได้ และเราเชื่อว่าจะช่วยผลักดันให้ Startup ไทยสามารถเติบโตได้ในระดับภูมิภาคอย่างแท้จริง?สำหรับรายละเอียดและประวัติที่ผ่านมาของ 8 ท่านนั้นมีใครอยู่บ้าง เราไปดูรายละเอียดกันเลยดีกว่า ซึ่งหนึี่งในชื่อที่คุ้นเคยก็มีคุณ ป้อม ภาวุธ อยู่ในนั้นด้วย
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Ponthep (Vincent) Sethiwan
A creative and catastrophic entrepreneur at heart, Vincent started his own venture since the second year in college. After receiving a Bachelor and Master degree from Carnegie Mellon University he went on to start his next venture, whichwas funded by an incubator in Pittsburgh, PA. Three years after coming back to Thailand, he has started ChargedConcept, an iOS development firm specializing in UX/UI design and 2D/3D games. He has also created LAUNCHPAD, Bangkok?s largest co-working space, and also co-founded a new project in Japan called Anipipo. He not only brings to M8VC his background in the Tech and Design, but also his deep-rooted family background in the Rice and Real Estates businesses.Shakrit (White) Chanrungsakul
Mr.White is a Digital Experience Specialist who works with many leading brands in Thailand. Utilizing technology and design in the most creative way possible to boost a company?s revenue is his specialty. He works with multi-billion dollar companies and has revolutionized their business to become number one in their industry. His background consists of a strong foundation in business insights, good command in?design language, and?branding with a strong passion in technology. A rareliving mixture that is priceless for anybusiness.
Pawoot (Pom) PongvitayapanuPom, has accumulated his Online and Internet business experience since 1998.?The founder of Thailand?s largest and most successful E-Commerce website, TARAD.com. He has recently merged TARAD.com withRakuten Group, the No.1 E-Commerce Site in Japan and is now working on a new startup, ZocialInc,an Online & Social Network Monitoring tool.?He is also the VP of Thai E-Commerce Association, He is?a columnist in Bangkok Biz Newspaper Top Business news paper in Thailand. He holds a master degree in Internet & E-Commerce at ABAC University and an Executive MBA from SASIN Business School with Kellogg School of Management USA.?Pom is often referred as “Thailand?s Internet Icon & Pioneer”.
Kit Arunanondchai
Kit, after earning BS in Industrial Engineering from Chulalongkorn University and MS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, spent four years working as an investment banker at HSBC stationed both in London and in Hong Kong. He then went back to Stanford Graduate School of Business to get his MBA. Upon Graduation, Kit was offered the position of Thailand’s Country Manager for AIG Private Equity with the responsibility of overseeing the group’s investment in various business in Thailand. Later, he then co-founded Kaps, a pan-asia investment advisory firm that deals in energy, technology mining and real estate sectors. While there, he spearheaded one of the first alternative energy investments with investment size of more than US$100m in Thailand. On the side, he also co-own Chowhaus, an Asian fusion restaurant in Shanghai which was recently voted as 2012 best Asian Contemporary Restaurant by Shanghai’s Timeout Magazine.Currently he is the CEO and founder of PRIVEPASS.com, an online lifestyle travel club which acts as a ‘portal’ between users and lifestyle/travel products.
Sua KanjanasakchaiSua’s passion at M8VC is to see Thai entrepreneurs take to the global stage. He enjoys working with startup and passionate about seeing their product develops into a global success. Prior to joining M8VC, Sua works as a Director at Auxesia Holdings. He focuses primarily on deal sourcing, as well as on deal structuring and strategy. Sua initiated and oversaw the?formation of?the?Thailand office during his first year at Auxesia. Sua had also?consulted for Capvision Partners in Shanghai, and worked in financial structuring at Merlin Capital Advisory in Bangkok.?Sua holds a B.S. in Computer System Engineering from Boston University and an MBA in International Business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Varut (Andrew) Bulakul
Varut (Andrew) kicked off his career as a financial advisor at Bank of Ayudhya, a Thai bank in partnership with General Electric. He later moved to the Brooker Group public company limited, as an assistant vice president in investment banking department where he structured various deals including debt restructuring, distress asset acquisition, and project financing. Varut graduated with honors from Carnegie Mellon University in 2007 with a bachelor degree in business administration and concentation in computing and information technology. Apart from finance, he has developed a strong passion for the tech industry and actively wants to contribute to the development of Thai startup community. Varut is also?the founder and memeber of President’s Youth Organization Thailand Chapter, an organization for young business leaders and an affiliate to the world wide Young Presidents’ Organization and World Presidents’ Organization (www.ypo.org). He is currently pursuing his master degree at Sasin University.
Permsiri (Sam) TiyavutirojPermsiri (Sam) started off his career as a simple Software Engineer at Thomson Reuters (Thailand) Co., Ltd where he was quickly promoted to a senior.? He was placed into Reuters? Global Potential Talented Employee where he was equipped with robust business and management skills.? He quickly realized his potential and decided to come out to start his own first Startup, GOOPA Inc. with 2 of his co-founders. They later found another venture together, Charged Concept Co., Ltd, which is a designed focus iOS and web development firm.? His passion for Startup didn?t stop there as he also helped set up Thailand?s largest coworking space, Launchpad Co., Ltd. He wants to help bring Thailand?s Startup Community up from under the water into the open spotlight.
Krisd Aksornwong
Krisd acquired MA. in Economics from Chulalongkorn University (1997) and MSc. in IT from Nottingham University (1999). He started his full time professional career as mobile developer (1999) with a Swedish firm in Bangkok and left as a business development manager from NTT Data -Thailand (2009). He has written and reviewed abundant amount of business plans in the IT industry and has gotten funded several times. From 2009 ? Present, apart from a full time serial entrepreneur, he also contributes his ?startup ? fund raise? experience to the new generation of tech startups.
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Sethi Rice Co.,Ltd.
Phongchai Sethiwan
Mr.Chockchai Sethiwan
22nd Fl., Sethiwan Tower, 139 Pan Rd.,
Silom, BKK 10500
0-2266-6000
0-2266-6060-1
www.thaihua.co.th
sethirice@gmail.com
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/354829/food-export-target-slashed
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/405783/exporters-upbeat-about-parboiled-rice
Sethi Land CO., LTd.
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บริษัท ไทยฟ้า (2511) จำกัด
THAI HUA (2511) CO.,LTD.
泰華米行(2511)有限公司
PROFILE
นายพงษ์ชัย เศรษฐีวรรณ MR.PHONGCHAI SETHIWAN 張蓬財 ประธานบริหาร MANAGING DIRECTOR 董事总经理
สินค้าเกษตร ปศุสัตว์ Agriculture / Livestock 農業/畜牧業
139 เศรษฐีวรรณทาวเวอร์ ชั้น 21 ถ.ปั้น แขวงสีลม เขตบางรัก กรุงเทพฯ 10500
139 SETHIWAN TOWER 21 FLOOR, PUN ROAD, SILOM, BANGRAK, BANGKOK 10500
02-2666000 p_sethiwan@thaihua.co.th www.thaihua.co.th
43 อาคารไทย ซี.ซี. ชั้น 9 ถนนสาทรใต้ แขวงยานนาวา เขตสาทร กรุงเทพฯ 10120 43 Thai C.C. Tower 9th Fl.,South Sathon Rd., Yannawa, Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.sethi_land_company_limited.514e0fdf9131ba7870c5efd1798d0191.html
Our Profile Thai Hua (2511) Co., Ltd. has been in the rice exporting industry for over 50 years. Our company exports up to 500,000 metric tons of rice per year, placing us as one of Thailand’s top five rice exporters. We have exported Thai Rice to customers in 53 countries worldwide.
Thai Hua possess 18 warehouses and factories on 20 acres land in Prapadaeng, Samutprakan province, along the Chao Praya River. The compound includes a private deep water wharf, which can accommodate large commercial vessels; high technology machineries in compliance with international standards; and quality staffs who pay attention to every steps of production.
With continual dedications, attentive human resources, and efficient production processes; rice products from Thai Hua (2511), hence have earned the reputation and trust from customers worldwide.
500k metric tons x 500 USD = 250m USD per year
Sethiwan Group Sethiwan Group have been at the frontier of catering the expat’s residential and commercial needs for the past 30 years. We offer luxury apartments and rental office spaces in Bangkok CBD locations.
Contact
+662 266 6000
www.sethiwan.com
https://www.aslsecurities.com/new
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