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Man With a Van Moves to Startups

News, 客戶

Gabriel Fong spent 20 years in investment banking and private equity before jumping into the world of startups in 2013. The Singapore-born Mr. Fong is the CEO and co-founder of Hong Kong-based company incubator Jaarvis Technology. Before that, he was the executive chairman of GOGOVan, a Hong Kong-based Uber-like company that pairs people with delivery vehicles. The Wall Street Journal met with the 46-year-old Mr. Fong recently to ask why he decided to leave a senior job at Och-Ziff Capital for the uncertainty of a startup company. Below are excerpts of our interview.
By LUKAS MESSMER And MENGLIN HUANG
BN-JA497_fong06_FR_20150622053556
 How did you become an entrepreneur?

 I grew up in a modest environment. I was raised by my mom, a shipping clerk and single parent.  I constantly had to scrape for whatever I wanted. In school, I had to do really well because the  three best students in class would get free tuition. I guess that just defines who you are. I did  venture-capital investing for about 20 years. Looking back, it was all about finding businesses  with the right management team and scaling them up. Only when you scale up the business, the  venture capitalist makes money.

 
 What made you move from investment banking to entrepreneurship?
I really enjoyed my time in investment banking in the various investment shops. They all taught  me various things along the way. Risk-taking has always been a part of me. I remember maxing  out seven credit cards to pay off a loan, which was $150,000 to $200,000, back when I was 21 years old. Thinking about it today, that was a bit crazy. I could have been fired the next day and ended up massively in debt. But along the way, you have to take risks, especially when you are investing in yourself, right?
 
Source:The Wall Street Journal
關注我們:
GOGOVan Website: https://dev.gogovan.com.hk
GOGOEnergy Website: https://gogoenergy.hk/



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