Almost Bankrupt Twice. Profitable After 13 Years. | Brian Marshal, SIRCLO

I sat down with a founder who almost lost his company twice… and still built one of Indonesia’s biggest e-commerce enablers.Brian Marshal took SIRCLO from a Shopify-style startup to powering major brands across TikTok Shop, marketplaces, live commerce and fulfillment… all while surviving the startup crash, failed fundraising rounds and the tech winter.We spoke about profitability, AI agents, startup governance, IPO readiness, scaling outside Jakarta, and why most Southeast Asian startups got growth completely wrong.IN THIS EPISODE00:00 | Why SIRCLO Almost Died Twice01:38 | The Shopify Idea That Failed in Indonesia02:25 | Why Brands Need More Than Just a Storefront04:06 | The Brutal Reality of Startup Fundraising06:30 | How SIRCLO Finally Became Profitable07:53 | Preparing SIRCLO for a Possible IPO11:37 | The Governance Mistakes Startups Keep Making15:24 | Why Good Tech Infrastructure Pays Off17:10 | How SIRCLO Is Using AI Agents Internally19:38 | Scaling E-Commerce Without Owning Warehouses22:05 | How TikTok Changed E-Commerce in Indonesia23:31 | Why Catalog Commerce Is Dying24:00 | Building for TikTok, Live Selling & Creators25:07 | Why Sales and Marketing Are Merging26:05 | The Future of Live Commerce in Southeast Asia26:19 | Will Indonesia Become Like China’s E-Commerce Market?27:23 | Balancing Profitability and Innovation28:22 | Why Innovation Failed at SIRCLO Earlier32:30 | Why Southeast Asian Tech IPOs Struggle35:10 | Is Indonesia Still a Great Startup Market?36:36 | Brian’s Vision for SIRCLO’s Next ChapterBrian MarshalBrian Marshal is the Founder and CEO of SIRCLO, a leading Southeast Asian e-commerce enabler that helps brands sell online across their own web stores and platforms like TikTok and Shopee. What began as a simple website-builder idea in 2013 has grown under his leadership into an integrated solution powering millions of monthly orders. Over the past decade, Brian has guided the company through organic and inorganic growth, shifting market conditions, and a steady push toward profitability, rooted in a commitment to resilience and integrity.His personal journey bridges Indonesia and Singapore, built on a background in computer science and data analytics alongside a firm belief in technology's power to unlock new opportunities. Beyond SIRCLO, Brian is deeply committed to nurturing Indonesia’s future leaders through his active involvement in the Informatics and AI Olympiad communities, as well as the McKinsey Young Leaders for Indonesia program. Rahul ThayyalamkandyDirector of Comms & Community, Vertex Ventures SEA & IndiaRahul Thayyalamkandy joined the SEA/India team as the Director of Communication & Community in 2024 and is based in Singapore.Before joining Vertex, Rahul served as a Product Manager at BLOCK71, an incubator and joint venture of NUS Enterprise and Singtel Innov8, where he developed scalable services for portfolio startups and designed mentorship programs. He also gained experience as a Summer Associate at Cocoon Capital, working with the Managing Partner on investment deals.https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/—-Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is a pioneer in investing in tech start-ups in this region and has helped to build a number of unicorns. In this podcast, we seek to share and uncover the Hard Truth - raw, unfiltered insights and venture capital knowledge from across Southeast Asia and India. Tune in to learn from leading founders, innovators, venture capitalists, and industry experts in the region and gain industry insights from those in the know.If you like what you hear, please follow or subscribe to the show so you don’t miss out on any of our upcoming discussions.—Follow us to get notified whenever new episodes are shared.—For more information, please visit: https://www.vertexventures.sg #hardtruthsbyvertexventures  #vertexventures #entrepreneurship #startups #venturecapital #vc #podcast #businessleaders