Mr. Kenny Lam: Two Sigma APAC CEO, ex-McKinsey Global Partner, UPenn Wharton School Finance Alumni & Asia Executive Board Chairman, Oxford Law Graduate, Author of “Choices,” Project Melo Co-Founder, SmarTone & Bank of East Asia Independent Board Member
林國灃先生: Two Sigma 亞洲首席執行官、麥肯錫前全球高級合夥人、數碼通及東亞銀行中國獨立董事、美國賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院校友、牛津大學法律校友、𣈱銷書《選擇》作者、Project Melo 聯合創辦人
Interviewers: Wendy Chong, Victor Hui
採訪者: 蔣沛芸、許業燊
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Wendy Chong: Hi everyone. Thank you so much for coming.
那我從廣東話開始先。很感謝您這麼快接受了我們的採訪,和您在Melo群組中分享很多例如馮唐有關的書,幫助我們從另一個角度思考人生。現在疫情和科技改變下,很多年輕人都感到迷茫、困惑,您寫的《選擇》一書能幫助我們做很多不同的抉擇。
Kenny Lam: Thank you. Yeah, sure, It sounded like you were pitching my book. I don't know how you got access to it. I didn't authorize the books to be sold in the US. I only authorized them to be sold in China, where it became quite popular. I didn't want it to be too high profile, so I’m glad you were able to read it or get access to it.
Wendy Chong: I got access online. There's a WeChat online book platform where you pay a small fee and get access. It's super convenient. For a physical copy, I'll have to wait until I’m back in China or Hong Kong.
Kenny Lam: Oh, if you guys are interested, I can send you physical copies. Just message me if you want one. I’m happy to, because there's a story behind the book, which links to your question. When I left Noah, they suggested I write a book about my unique journey. I was born and raised in Hong Kong, so my Chinese is only half-baked, and I couldn't write a book in Chinese. I can speak Mandarin and run a company in China, but not write a book. But Jing, the largest publisher in China, convinced me they could do a good job and assigned an editor. They were passionate and said I should share my experience in the first person. I initially refused, suggesting interviews instead, but they thought it would be more authentic to share my journey directly. So I agreed, and it took me two years, spending weekends writing about 160,000 words. The editor corrected about 30% of it, mostly my Chinese. Writing a book felt out of my comfort zone, but it wasn't a completely crazy risk. As I mentioned in my book, people often say to take risks and step outside your comfort zone, but it’s important to be strategic and thoughtful. Otherwise, you're exposed and not really considering the risks. I started in Hong Kong, then went to Canada for high school, like many Hong Kong kids. After that, I went to college in the US and the UK. I wanted to do something different from my classmates, who were all going into investment banking, so I decided to study law. It wasn't drastically different, but for someone with a finance background, doing a law degree was unique. As you may know, I was a lawyer in the US for three years. That's when I started to see the first big trend. In the book, I talk about reading macro trends to understand where things are going, so you can make informed decisions. Back then, the big trend was Chinese state-owned companies listing in the US. I became a corporate attorney, helping these companies list on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ. It was my first experience learning how to structure deals in a tough environment. After that, when I was 24 or 25, I saw the dot-com boom and decided to try something new. In your twenties, the opportunity cost isn't that high. So I created a website called Ice Red. You guys are probably too young to remember it, but many people in my generation have heard of it. My wife says I was ahead of my time...
Due to word limit, see full transcript (English Original & Chinese Translation) at: https://bit.ly/echohk60transcript