Monty Brewster Officially Recognized as Patron Saint of SEA Startups
Brewster’s Millions was fiction. SEA startups made it real. Monty is now their patron saint and there’s even an award show for losing capital stylishly.
JAKARTA — Monty Brewster, the fictional protagonist of the 1985 film Brewster’s Millions, has been officially canonized as the Patron Saint of Southeast Asian Startups.
The announcement was made at a sold-out gala in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, where representatives from over 40 venture capital firms, six failed startups, and three different pitch competitions gathered to honor those who have “truly embodied the spirit of cash incineration at scale.”
“Monty Brewster spent $30 million in 30 days and ended with nothing. That’s the dream,” said Ravi Kurniawan, former Head of Expansion at a defunct grocery delivery app.
“What separates Brewster from the rest is that he did it with intention, with elegance. Founders today have taken it further. They’ve managed to spend 10x more, with no rules, and still avoid creating anything remotely profitable. That’s commitment.”
Canonization proceedings reportedly began after researchers from the Jakarta Institute of Founders discovered striking similarities between Brewster’s fictional challenge and real-world burn rates at now-shuttered companies like Zilingo, Ula, and GoBear.
“The man was ahead of his time,” said Professor Dian Ongko at NUS. “His challenge required creativity and restraint. Today’s founders somehow achieve financial ruin with none of those burdens.”
To mark the occasion, organizers announced the launch of the First Annual Brewster Awards, described as “the Oscars of venture-backed spending… with no commercial outcome.” Nominations were open to any startup that had raised more than $50 million, launched a regional office in at least three countries, and successfully delivered zero sustainable value.
Categories included:
Best Use of Subsidies in a Market With No Retention
Outstanding Achievement in Market Expansion Without Localization
Most Audacious Misuse of ‘AI’ in a Pitch Deck
Best Macroeconomic Excuse in a Post-Mortem
Early favorites include an Indonesian Q-commerce company that gave away 30,000 air fryers to acquire users, a Malaysian mobility startup that launched in eight cities and exited nine, and a Singaporean SaaS business that pivoted to crypto, then NFTs, then back to SaaS, all within a single quarter.
“This is what Southeast Asia needs,” said Jun-Li Tan, Managing Partner at Blitzscale Ventures. “We’ve celebrated exits and unicorns for too long. It’s time we recognize the real art: controlled chaos with someone else’s money.”
To further legitimize the sainthood, a Monty Brewster shrine is being constructed at the former WeWork on Jalan Sudirman. The shrine will include:
A limited-edition statue of Brewster holding a Series B term sheet
A “Burn Room” where founders can throw symbolic cash into a flame-shaped shredder
A quiet space called The Runway, where founders can reflect on how many months they have left before the next down round
Local accelerators are already planning quarterly pilgrimages to the shrine as part of their founder onboarding process.
“This is sacred ground,” whispered a visibly emotional fintech founder. “Monty walked so we could burn.”
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