From TradeGecko to AMP - Why Cameron Priest Chose to Be Co-Founder, Not CEO

In this episode of The First Cheque Show, Rishab Malik sits down with Cameron Priest, founder of TradeGecko and now co-founder of AMP, to explore the journey of building, exiting, and intentionally starting over.

Cameron shares how TradeGecko grew from an idea in Singapore to a global SaaS player acquired by Intuit and what the acquisition actually looked like from the inside. He talks about operating within a public company, learning to let go of the CEO role, and why he chose to return to the startup world again as a co-founder, not a CEO.

Now building AMP, an AI-powered platform for e-commerce operations, Cameron reflects on the difference between raising capital and using debt, how AI is reshaping product and acquisition strategies, and what he’s doing differently the second time around.

00:00 – Introductions

01:13 – How TradeGecko was born and the early vision behind it

04:27 – What it was like raising a Seed round for B2B in Singapore in 2012

06:04 – Why they chose not to raise funding in North America despite early traction

07:38 – How the Intuit relationship began, evolved and what really happens after an acquisition

13:01 – Operating within Intuit after the acquisition and starting the next chapter with the changes involved

16:43 – Choosing to be a co-founder instead of taking the CEO role

18:37  – Ready to take on the CEO role again in the future after time as a co-founder 

20:36 – The founding journey and vision behind AMP

23:38 – Growing funding and exiting a software company then in 2013 and now

26:10 – Employing debt as a key part of their acquisition strategy

28:07 – How AMP Embraces AI Internally to Drive Innovation

30:00 – How AI Is Redefining AMP’s M&A Strategy and Customer Value

31:47 – TradeGecko’s in-person culture vs AMP’s remote-first model

36:01 – After two e-commerce ventures, what’s next?

 

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WHO ARE WE? 

 

Jungle Ventures is a Singapore based Venture Capital Firm that invests in regional or global technology category leaders from Asia. We collaborate closely with Founders to build the intrinsic value of their company by building a scalable organisation and providing dependable long-term capital. 

 

We have grown to become one of Southeast Asia's largest independent venture capital firms.

 

FIND US

Website: https://www.jungle.vc

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jungle-ventures

Medium: https://medium.com/jungle-ventures