“I’m an anomaly to dot.com, apparently it’s not cool to be profitable!”

I meet Anisha Singh in the lobby of the media center at the Boao Forum for Asia at the weekend. An in-demand panelist at Boao, Singh had just pulled our interview forward by two hours and finding a space to talk was… challenging. Fortunately, she was admirably relaxed about sneaking into a room upstairs for a half-hour chat.

Upbeat and cheerful, the one-time Clinton administration staffer is now a serial entrepreneur – and hugely successful in her home country of India.

“Entrepreneurs tend to be the eternal optimists, they always try to see the positive side.”

After studying in the US and working for Springboard – an initiative set up by the Clinton White House to boost female entrepreneurialism – she returned to India to set up her own digital content business.

After selling on that company, she spearheaded mydala – the largest e-commerce platform of its kind in India, profitable for the past three years.

Direct and quick to laugh, Singh explains how her business has flourished, kicking global titans like GroupOn out of India in the process.

Mydala has just entered its first overseas market, Dubai, and Singh says the early results are very promising. So is more expansion on the cards? Africa, China?

“Who isn’t excited about coming to China?! When I talk at international forums, India’s like the ugly cousin to China. Seriously! Everyone talks about China first, and then I think they throw in India because I’m the token Indian in the room! Of course this is a very exciting market, and I think it’s kind of like India. If you learn to navigate through this, you’re pretty much set.”

Mobile payments were the spur that drove Singh’s business to market saturation in India – it’s “the only way mydala survived and grew.” They’re also a big part of life in China, and Singh sees parallels and opportunities within both Africa and China.

“Africa is like India, it’s a beast in itself. You’ve got to figure it before you can actually… so we’re very interested, we think it’s an interesting market there. This is a great time for the African and Asian continents, in general. There are a lot of cool pockets, and you can do a lot of cool stuff.”

But you’ve cracked India. What’s holding you back from China?

“Well, one I’d need at least a billion dollars to compete with the contenders already here and doing well! And I think this is a market that is already set up in many ways. If it was 2009, it would be brilliant. At 2017, this market is a little rougher than other Southeast Asian countries that we’ve been looking at.”

How about cooperation in the region? The Belt and Road? From a business perspective, does the initiative make sense to you?

“The Asian region - it’s better all coming together. The Chinese president’s put it bang on, he’s figured it out, and he’s running with it, which is brilliant. I think there are too many loose pieces in the puzzle right now, and so it might not make sense to everybody. I think once the puzzle is nicely put together, it actually might work out for everyone’s benefit.

“I like the fact it’s a big vision. I like that Chinese always think grand. There’s always been a big vision of everything. And a lot of it has been put into action. I think once this gets more detailing, it might be something India is more excited about.”

And what about India and China… if the US retreats as promised, can they fill that vacuum?

“I think if they are not insecure about their own positions, absolutely. I think the Chinese president realizes this and is quickly jumping up to the throne to see if that is a gap that can be filled.

“You see Mr. Modi out there too. I think these two leaders are headed in the right direction. Can they come together? It’s anyone’s call. I hope they do, because there is a position here for Asia to become great.”

How about BRICS? Is that mechanism working? “My god, you’re still talking about BRICS!”

So, no? It remains “very promising”…. “Has it actually materialized? No. Each country has had its own challenges and downturns.”

And Boao? What are the benefits of attending a forum like this?

“It’s interesting, because there’s a lot of knowledge here, there’s a lot of common ground we all have, compared to European counterparts that I have. European and US markets are more mature, and so they are experiencing different things.

“The Asian market - at least China and India - is very similar, in terms of the funding cycles, the growth cycles, the VC excitement, the negativity… it’s all been the same. There are great parallels to draw.”

Investments for new companies have been slowing in Asia, finding finance is tough.

“It’s been a slap in the face wake-up call for all e-commerce companies and investors. And I love it. Because, seriously, it was time for everyone to wake up and smell the coffee. There was an insane amount of money being thrown at impractically stupid models."

And the next big tech trend?

“Investors are very herdish. They run towards something for the fear of missing out. Now I hear them talking AI, VR - these are the buzzwords. Regardless of whether your company has it or not.

“It used to be APP-based. Now that’s stopped. And now I hear of companies, regardless of whether they do AI or not, say ‘we are an AI-based company.’ Because that’s the buzzword now!”

And next for you? “I…” But then the perils of sneaking into an interview room without booking caught up with us.‍

A knock at the door, a bemused journalist – at once apologetic and irritable - and the interview was over.