Jaeson Ma

Jaeson Ma (born Jason Cheng Yuen Ma, November 11, 1980) is an American entrepreneur, artist, and media executive. He is the founder of the east-west talent, brand strategy & investment firm East West Ventures, a co-founder of 88rising, and a co-founder of Stampede Ventures, chairman and co-founder of broadcast production and distribution company EST Media Holdings, and its subsidiary ventures: EST Studios, (Film & TV finance, production, and sales company), Eastern Standard Times (Global media platform), and OP3N, (a launchpad for IP and communities in the Web3 verse). He is also a member of Milken Institute - Young Leaders Circle (YLC). Ma has also been featured in Variety 500.

Ma is a strategic advisor and financier of the social music video app Triller, [ZASH Global Media], and general partner at Caravan Digital Studios. During his career, he has raised capital and advised on transactions totaling over $1 billion.

He is also a Senior Advisor to Tencent Music Entertainment & KKBox fund KKFarm, Sparklabs Foundry, C Street Advisory Group, a Venture Partner for consumer tech fund GoodWater Capital, and a board member of public SPACs. His other investments include Musical.ly (TikTok), Grab, Dark Horse Comics, Slock.it, Brain, Oursong, XiaoPeng, Mint Songs, Coinbase, Kind Heaven, and OneOf.

Early life and education
Ma was born in Lubbock, Texas. Ma is the youngest of three children. Ma earned degrees in Bible theology, business management, and youth ministry from William Jessup University. Later, Ma earned a Master of Arts in Global Leadership and Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary.

East West Ventures
In 2012, Ma founded East West Ventures (EWV, formerly known as East West Artists). An HTC Portfolio Company, EWV incubates and invests in various opportunities across diverse sectors such as media & entertainment, frontier technology, and consumer goods. In 2019, East West Ventures rebranded from East West Artists to East West Ventures. Ma is currently the CEO of East West Ventures.

Prior to this, Ma was a partner with Adventures Corp and Plan C Management, managing international talent, including Far East Movement, MC Jin, Daniel Wu, and Vanness Wu, between 2008 and 2011.

88rising
In 2015, Ma co-founded 88rising, a multi-platform digital media company. providing Asia-related digital content catering to the Asian millennial and Gen Z market. The company has gained popularity as a digital music platform and label primarily for Asian artists, such as Keith Ape, Rich Brian, Joji, and Higher Brothers. In 2017, advertising agency WPP made a strategic investment in 88rising. Ma served as chairman and co-founder of 88rising between 2015 and 2017.

Stampede Ventures
In 2017, Ma co-founded Stampede Ventures with Greg Silverman. In 2020, the company signed a first-look deal with CBS Studios International. In 2022, Anderson Paak announced to make feature directorial debut With dramatic comedy K-POPS! for Stampede Ventures.

Triller
Ma is a Strategic Advisor, Financier, and Principle of the social music video app Triller. In September 2020, Ma brokered and put together the comeback fight between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.

EST Media Holdings
In 2020, Ma founded EST Media Holdings alongside co-founder Eric Tu, executive of Vice Media and Anonymous Content. There subsidiary companies of EST Media include Eastern Standard Times, EST Studios, and OP3N. Ma stated, "The steady rise in popularity of Asian content all over the world is a testament to the potential for the continent to become a powerhouse in entertainment. The team we have assembled at EST Studios has the experience and relationships that will bring together the best from East and West to tell the stories that can unite us."

In April 2023, EST Studios acquired international sales rights to Streams Flow From A River, a Canneseries selection produced by Canada’s Fae Pictures and starring Jane Luk and Simon Sinn. The series, created by Christopher Yip, follows a Chinese-Canadian immigrant family trapped in their laundromat together during a snowstorm. In May 2023, EST Studios secured the global sales rights to Chabak– Night Of Murder And Romance, a Korean horror-thriller feature film directed by William Inhyuk Hyoung, starring Danny Ahn, a member of K-Pop group G.O.D., Kyoung-In Hong, and Min-Chae Kim.

Also in May 2023, EST Studios formed a partnership with N8 Studios to bring East Asian content to global markets, beginning with the Thai horror film Home For Rent at the 2023 Marche du Film. EST also acquired sales rights to Surf Nation, a documentary feature film about two Chinese surfers aspiring to represent their country in the Olympics. In addition, EST Studios pitched Caylee So's drama The Harvest to international buyers at Cannes Film Festival 2023.

OP3N
In 2021, Ma announced the launch of the web3 social media platform OP3N, an NFT-based app for community building. This decentralized "community economy" allows creators and fans to connect/create/build using multi-chain, multi-wallet. OP3N received seed funding from investors such as Warner Music Group, Galaxy Interactive, Blue Run Ventures, founders of Axie Infinity, Yield Guild Games, Twitch, and Animoca Brands.

In March 2022, OP3N partnered with Avalanche Foundation to initiate "Culture Catalyst," a $100 million investment to fund and develop arts, entertainment, and culture projects by Ava Labs. Launching on the Avalanche public blockchain, Culture Catalyst has announced plans to launch several projects via the OP3N platform.

In July 2022, Ma, co-producer at Anonymous Content, partnered with Phil Gellatt, a director of the Netflix series Love, Death, and Robots, to develop the web3 series/game title Ghosts of the Deep.

As the co-founder of OP3N, Ma was invited to speak at EthDenver 2022, The New Context Conference 2022 Tokyo, Consensus 2022, NFTCannes 2022, and Token2049 2022, and HK Filmart 2023, focusing on the topic of "Turning Creators into Community in Web3'.

In March 2023, OP3N closed Series A with $28M that values the company at $100 million. The funding round was led by Animoca Brands and included investments from Dragonfly Capital, SuperScrypt, Creative Artists Agency and New Enterprise Associates’ Connect Ventures, Republic Crypto, Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund, Galaxy Digital and Warner Music Interactive. Additional investors include GSR Markets, The Spartan Group, BRV Capital Management and NBA player Russell Westbrook. Ma on that moment stated, "I wanted to make a connection for creators, chats and commerce in one place. It’s a web3 version of WhatsApp meets Amazon, or WeChat meets Alibaba." He further said, “The platform was born out of a need for a user experience and interface similar to Web 2.0 platforms, but powered by web3 technologies.

In June 2022, Culture Catalyst also announced to launch of a musical film with American Idol creator Simon Fuller's pop idol group Now United via the OP3N platform. This live-action musical is designed to inspire students to create their version of performances featured in the film and compete in a contest via the OP3N platform. Fuller claims, "This project allows me to redefine how an audience can engage with content. Not only can it be enjoyed simply as entertainment, but you can actually participate, initially through learning and then by creating your own version of the musical with your friends or school. It is a celebration of the art of musical theater and the passion for self-expression and new technology that allows people to get involved in ways never before imagined."

Investing
In 2018, Ma initiated and advised on the acquisition of Dark Horse Comics by Cenic Media (Shanghai).

In 2019, Ma structured the deal creating the joint venture between Proxima Media and National Arts Studios, one of the largest film studios in China.

Ma also strategically advised on the merger and acquisition of Triller & MashTraxx in 2019. In 2020, Ma brokered the deal between Triller & FrontLine Battle to bring Mike Tyson back from retirement in a PPV boxing exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr.

Ma is also a venture partner with GoodWater Capital. Before that, he worked with MC Hammer in Silicon Valley focusing on angel stage investments in consumer tech and media, investing in numerous ventures including Justin Lin's Asian American independent film "Better Luck Tomorrow." Venture investments include PCA (Plan C Agency), Brain Inc, Slock.it, Musical.ly, Grab, Kind Heaven, OurSong, Triller, Coinbase, Xiaopeng, ZASH (Vinco Ventures, Inc) and the Maum Group.

Ma is currently a senior advisor to the KKFarm fund, a joint partnership between the two digital music streaming platforms in Greater China.

Ministry
Following his conversion, Ma served as a missionary, church planter, and author. Ma ministered on various college campuses including San Jose State University and UCLA. He has planted over 200 campus church movements around the world. Using this experience, he wrote The Blueprint: A Revolutionary Plan to Plant Missional Communities on Campus. In 2004, Ma was ordained as a minister under Harvest International Ministries by Pastor Che Ahn.

Music
Ma's musical journey began in underground hip hop clubs in Northern California where he would compete in rap battle competitions. In 1998, he released his first mixtape titled "2 Sides 2 Everything. His music has been described as a hybrid of hip-hop and spoken word.

In 2007, he formed Christian based hip-hop duo "Namesake" with Mike Whang and released the "Heartback" EP. The album got into the hands of Plan C Management, which managed Asian American rap artists Far East Movement and MC Jin at the time. Plan C signed Ma, and his third album "GLORY" released in 2010 featured Bruno Mars on the debut single "Love," which brought international recognition and mainstream popularity.

In 2013, Ma recorded and released independently a double album titled “Confession X Resurrection” where Ma details his experience between 2011-2012.

In 2015, Ma teamed up with Mase to write and record "Revival or Riot," a full album project. In 2017, Ma released the first single "Revival or Riot" (co-written and produced by MASE).

Awards, honors, and associations
Ma has been recognized for the following:


 * Tatler Asia's 2021 GenT Next Generation Leaders
 * Christianity Today's 2014 "33 Under 33"
 * Charisma's 2010 "21 Emerging Leaders of Tomorrow's Church"

Ma is involved in the following organizations:


 * Asian World Film Festival
 * Chinese American Film Festival
 * Milken Institute - Young Leaders Circle (YLC)

Podcasts

 * Crazy Smart Asian: 88rising Co-Founder Jaeson Ma On The Impending Dominance Of Asian Culture
 * Coastal Regen
 * The Quest Pod with Justin Kan: Jaeson Ma: East, West, One Nation, Under God | EW Ventures, 88rising, Hip-Hop and Linsanity
 * The Unicorns Podcast: Goodwater Capital Investor Story: Empowering exceptional entrepreneurs who are changing the world
 * Asian Hustle Network: Jaeson Ma, Ep 56, Revolutionizing Media Through 88rising
 * Word on C Street: Jaeson Ma on How Storytelling Can Counter the Model Minority Myth and Lift AAPI Communities Higher
 * Anything is Possible with Patrick Tsang: Jaeson Ma: Serial Entrepreneur Invests in Triller | Anything is Possible with Patrick Tsang
 * D Network: #5 Jaeson Ma - Building Triller, TikTok's Top Competitor, and Realizing Potential of Asian Superheroes