We hosted the most recent edition of our series of roundtables, The Catalyst Series, on March 13
Taking place over a private lunch in Tatler House Hong Kong, The Catalyst Series provides Gen.T honourees with an opportunity to learn through an open, moderated discussion with their peers as well as experts from J.P. Morgan Private Bank, with whom we have co-organised the series.
This edition featured guest speaker Dr Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group. Dr Zeman is also an independent non-executive director for Sino Land, Tsim Sha Tsui Properties, TVB and Fosun Tourism Group; a chairman of gaming operator Wynn Macau; and a director of the Star Ferry Company among many others.
He was joined by entrepreneurs from the Gen.T community to discuss the qualities of a strong leader, lessons learned from his successful career, and the future of Hong Kong.
Read more: In pictures: Roundtable discussion with S28 Capital founder Kent Ho
Attendees at the lunch included Gary Wan, co-founder of event management, marketing, and communication agency Hybrid Group; Adrian Cheung, restaurateur, philanthropist and board member of The Garden Company; Raymond Mak, co-founder of urban farming startup Farmacy; Gianni Melwani, co-founder of wellness studio Ikigai; Alessandro Bisagni, founder of green building consultancy BEE; Dinesh Nihalchand, co-founder of property company District 15; and Prashant Daswani, director of business operations at Raja Fashions.
“Don’t be afraid of failure. If you don’t do it, you’ll never know. And if you think too much, you’ll never do it,” said Dr Zeman during the roundtable, sharing the lessons he has learned over a seven-decade career with the assembled entrepreneurs.
Dr Zeman also advised the Gen.T honourees on how to build the resilience necessary to weather potential future storms: “You make your own luck. If you cover your downside, the upside will take care of itself,” he said, expanding that entrepreneurs needed to take it upon themselves to always be well read and informed to best understand market conditions. “Things happen for a reason. You need to understand what’s behind every action,” he said, before joking, “I have a big nose. I smell the trends.”
View more Catalyst Series content. See all the honourees from Hong Kong on the Gen.T List 2022.