Jaeson Ma

Jaeson Ma (Chinese: 馬正遠; pinyin: Mǎ Zhēngyuǎn; born November 11, 1980) is an American media executive, artist, and serial entrepreneur. He is the founder of the east-west talent, brand strategy & investment firm East West Ventures (formerly known as East West Artists), a co-founder of 88rising, and a co-founder of Stampede Ventures (alongside former Warner Brothers President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production Greg Silverman).

Early life and education

Ma was born in Lubbock, Texas. Ma was the youngest of three children and had a difficult childhood in San Jose, California. 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.

Career

Ma has advised, consulted on corporate strategy and lead capital fundraising efforts for multiple ventures.

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 disruptive 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 2008-2011.

88rising

In 2015, Ma co-founded 88rising, a multi-platform digital media company. 88rising provides Asia-related digital content catering to the Asian millennial market. The company has gained popularity as a digital music platform and label primarily for Asian artists, such as Keith Ape, Rich Brian (formerly known as Rich Chigga), 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 2015-2017.

Stampede Ventures

In 2017, Ma co-founded Stampede Ventures with Greg Silverman.

Investing

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

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

Ma is also a network partner with GoodWater Capital. Before then, 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 and the Maum Group.

Jaeson is currently also a Senior Advisor to KKFarm fund (a joint partnership between the two largest digital music streaming platforms in Greater China)

Ministry

Following his dynamic conversion, Ma served as a missionary, church planter, and author. Ma ministered on various college campuses including San Jose State University and UCLA and 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 grew up listening to all genres of music, specifically hip-hop, rock and gospel. Musical influences include Run DMC, Will Smith, MC Hammer, Mariah Carey, 2Pac, Nas, Sean Diddy Combs, Notorious B.I.G., Wu Tang Clan, Hieroglyphics, Living Legends, Pharcyde, U2, Nirvana, Lifehouse, Switchfoot, Coldplay, Delirious, Jason Upton, P.O.D., and KRS-One. His music has been described as a hybrid of hip-hop and spoken word.

Ma’s musical journey began in underground hip hop clubs in Northern California where Ma would compete in rap battle competitions. In 1998, he dropped his first mixtape titled “2 Sides 2 Everything.”

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 garnered 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 living rap legend MASE (Mason Betha) to write and record “Revival or Riot,” a full album project still in development. 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:

• Newsmax’s 2017 “100 Most Influential Evangelicals in America”
• 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

Discography

Publications

• Ma, Jaeson (Aug 2007). The Blueprint: A Revolutionary Plan to Plant Missional Communities on Campus. ISBN 978-0-8307-4408-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)