Vincent Wong, dived straight into the ecommerce scene upon graduating and has now joined ShopBack.
What’s your story?
I dived straight into the ecommerce scene upon graduation. That’s when the digital economy was barely on the rise. I just had this inkling that this’d be the right wave to ride as the time for ecommerce ripens. So I was with Groupon (now Fave) for about 4 years learning the ropes of Market Research, Sales, Marketing, Operations and Business Development, before I left to found my own start-up. It’s a logistics and ecommerce company that introduces quality online shopping, curating trustworthy merchants for shoppers. I learnt a lot from running my own business for two years before joining ShopBack.
What excites you most about your industry?
The uncertainty. You never know what’ll happen tomorrow.
What’s your connection to Asia?
I’m a Singaporean Chinese. An Asian. So pretty connected.
Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
Singapore. With over 80% internet penetration on a single island that’s densely populated, Singapore has the best infrastructure and environment for tech businesses to grow and mature.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
“Don’t fear dying. Fear not living.” – Dawn Pray
Who inspires you?
Mark Zuckerberg
What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?
I can handle media interviews in Mandarin and I can do it well!
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
Nothing. Hindsight is always 20/20, so no point to even thinking about it.
How do you unwind?
Take the team out for drinks at Forest Darts.
Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
Bali, Indonesia. I love diving.
Everyone in business should read this book:
“The Hard Thing about Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley’s most respected entrepreneurs.
Shameless plug for your business:
Adopt the smarter way to live. ShopBack.
How can people connect with you?
https://bit.ly/thesmarterway
Twitter handle?
https://twitter.com/shopbacksg
—
This interview is part of the ‘Callum Connect’ series of more than 500 interviews
Callum Laing is an entrepreneur and investor based in Singapore. He has previously started, built and sold half a dozen businesses and is now a Partner at Unity-Group Private Equity and Co-Founder of The Marketing Group PLC. He is the author two best selling books ‘Progressive Partnerships’ and ‘Agglomerate’.
Connect with Callum here:
twitter.com/laingcallum
linkedin.com/in/callumlaing
Download free copies of his books here: www.callumlaing.com
