Gen.T+
The Gen.T community arrived in their business finest for a dinner and panel discussion in partnership with digital payment platform PayPal
Regional head of Gen.T, Lee Williamson, set the tone for an evening of insights and industry networking on April 27 with an upbeat welcome speech. “We’re delighted to be hosting tonight’s event with PayPal. A very warm welcome to the Gen.T honourees on our list, including Ross Yip, co-founder of Kicks Crew, who may just be the longest-standing PayPal client here,” he said to roaring laughter. “He and his team have been with PayPal for 15 years,” Williamson said.
The private soirée took place at The Gallery, Rosewood Hong Kong, where PayPal representative Tim Fu also took to the stage encouraging attendees to network and build connections with those in the room.
Read more: In pictures: Asia’s gaming industry gathers for a private dinner
While dinner was served, guests listened to a thoughtful panel which spoke on harnessing the power of digital transformation and learnt about agile strategies for steady success.
Moderated by Williamson, the talk delved deep into how to build business resilience in tough economic climates and how to develop a long-term view on digitisation to protect customers. The panel featured three experts: Sean Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Talon Esports, a professional esports organisation based in Hong Kong with teams competing across Asia Pacific; Timothy Yu, Gen.T honouree, and founder and CEO of education app Snapask, which provides near-instantaneous expert answers to questions posed by students; and Patrick Foo, vice president of Southeast Asia, India, Middle East, Africa, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan at PayPal. Each speaker covered PayPal’s priority verticals such as education, digital goods, video games and financial services.
The panel focused on how businesses can get ahead of the curve and prepare for future consumer and technological trends. Each panellist shared insight on their respective journeys including challenges encountered in new markets; adapting product and payment solutions to the environment; respect for customers; AI disruption and how to apply it to the workforce—in Yu’s case, how teachers could use AI to help with answer formulation for generic questions; and other trends that will change the way people do business online. “The fear of being left behind is the biggest driver, instead of [the fear of our competitors],” said Yu, and Zhang agreed: “It’s important to challenge the status quo”.
Afterwards, it was time for questions from the audience and mingling. With smiles all around and champagne in hand, the evening was as much educational as it was fun—and a friendly reminder of the entrepreneurial spirit and sense of community present in the city.