What was the biggest challenge you faced with GoGoX, and how did you overcome it?
What we thought were big challenges at the beginning—like a lack of funds or lack of people— was really just good training for us. It taught us how to find solutions without money, but instead by sheer time and effort. For example, in the early days, we didn’t have anyone to do online marketing for us and we didn’t have the budget to hire anyone—so I learnt how to do it online. I managed our Facebook ads and Google keywords. Without that training, our company would have died five years ago. We had gone through so many obstacles and challenges in the early days that by the time we faced Covid-19, we knew how to adapt quickly. 

Would you consider yourself a hustler?
I think working with limited resources is in the DNA of my co-founders and I. Most of us are not from rich families and we had to put ourselves through school. In my case, my dad bought me a one-way ticket to California and gave me US$200. I then graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, all on my own. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to build things with my own hands. I don’t need my family’s help. People sometimes moan about their families not [giving them things on a platter], but the founding team often say that not having this was the best gift we could have ever had.

I worked as a delivery boy at a Chinese restaurant in California; I tried to fix computers for people and asked for donations on Craigslist; I watched YouTube videos to learn how to fix secondhand cars. I would then buy used cars on Craigslist, fix them and sell them to friends. I sold hot dogs in my school parking lot during lunchtime too. My parents raised me well. My father always says: you might be successful on this wave, but it’s not guaranteed that you will know how to swim on the next one. People say we are a successful start-up but we’re just getting by. We are primary school kids compared to the big Fortune 500 companies. We aren’t there yet. There is so much more to learn.

Tell us about a particularly successful moment in your career.
I’m proud of how my team worked together to get through Covid-19. No one could have prepared us for that. We didn’t see our team for months and we weren’t fully trained to manage people over a camera. It was especially hard when colleagues’ family members were hospitalised and we couldn’t visit them. Our company’s cash levels were decreasing every day. Looking back, I have no idea how we survived. We came out bigger and stronger, and even had an IPO in 2022.

What is the most interesting or unusual item your company has ever delivered?
A horse, and a basket filled with live fish [laughs].

Can you describe a typical day in your life?
I wake up at 6.30am, and then head to the gym by 7am. I am a marathon runner and have completed eight marathons in my life, so I try to keep myself fit. Post-gym, I have breakfast meetings. I get to the office around 9am and I spend one hour by myself completely focusing and checking my priority list for the day. I usually don’t take any meetings before 10am. From 10am to 4pm, I am in internal meetings. Then, after 4pm, I take external meetings. Before my son was born two-and- a-half years ago, I would stay in the office until 8pm and then go to my parents’ house to have dinner and then head back to the office.

Now, after dinner is my me-time, where I’ll browse the internet, look at funny things, and learn AI. Sometimes if I’m very stressed, I’ll go for a 10km run. Exercise forces me to sleep soundly.

How do you balance your professional life with your personal time?
My wife is very low maintenance. She doesn’t require me to spend much time with her [laughs]. And there is a lot of trust between us and she knows exactly where I am. She’s very understanding. We have been together since before the company was even founded. She would help us hand out flyers on the street. She knows how serious we are about this. The birth of our son also forced me to manage my time better and to delegate more tasks to my team.

What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learnt as a founder?
Elon Musk said: “If you need inspiring words, don’t do it.” It’s important to be self-motivated.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own company?
Don’t believe when people say: “If things were so easy, someone would have done it already.” You may not be the only one on Earth to think of a brilliant idea, but you may be the only one that will put the effort in to execute it. People will always tell you why not to do it, but sometimes you just need one reason to go for it.

What is a surprising thing about you that most people don’t know?
I love to surf, ride motorcycles and take risks. I dive. I am a team player but I like doing things on my own. I’m the kind of guy that will go running and then get takeaway food and sit by the pier on my own. Then, once I’m done, I’ll call a friend to see what they’re up to. Balance!

NOW READ

Gaw Capital’s Christina Gaw on her siblings, self-confidence—and the need for female voices in finance

Martha Keswick on why she created disaster risk reduction books for children 

Nikki Ng of Sino Group is spreading her love for farming, one crop at a time