The Tragic Loss of a Role Model
With the recent tragic passing of Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, it made me wonder… who are the notable Asian-Australian entrepreneurs of today? Looking at the 2020 Financial Review Young Rich List, there are some great examples of young Asian-Australians who decided to take the path less traveled.
I hope we get to see more Asian-Australians not only achieve entrepreneurial success but also follow in the footsteps of Tony who tried to prioritise happiness, company culture and purpose over profits.
Hopefully, we won’t see any of these Asian-Australian entrepreneurs & founders get caught up in any unethical behaviour and craziness that engulfs the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Watch this space.
The Asian Australians Entrepreneurs on the Young Rich List
| Name | Wealth | Company | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melanie Perkins | $3.43b (combined with Cliff Obrecht) | Canva | Graphic Design Platform |
| Jack Zhang | $410m | Airwallex | Cross-border payments and foreign exchange conversion |
| Fung Lam & Werner Liu | $273m | New Aim | Importer and online retail (ecommerce) and wholesale business |
| Max Li | $201m | Airwallex | Cross-border payments and foreign exchange conversion |
| Jacob Dai | $158m | Airwallex | Cross-border payments and foreign exchange conversion |
| Selvam Sinnappan & Winston Wijeyeratne | $150m | Sleeping Duck | Mattress E-tailer |
| Ashik Ahmed | $148m | Deputy | Shift Rostering Software |
| Anson Zhang | $59m | One Stop Warehouse | Solar Panels & Batteries Wholesaler |
| Jane Lu | $37m | Showpo | Online Fashion Retailer |
| Jeff Yu | $37m | One Stop Warehouse | Solar Panels & Batteries Wholesaler |
| Tim Fung | $30m | Airtasker | Odd-jobs Marketplace Platform |
Some Tony Hsieh Quotes
“I thought about how easily we are all brainwashed by our society and culture to stop thinking and just assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness when ultimately happiness is really just about enjoying life.”
“I made a list of the happiest periods in my life, and I realized that none of them involved money. I realized that building stuff and being creative and inventive made me happy. Connecting with a friend and talking through the entire night until the sun rose made me happy. Trick-or-treating in middle school with a group of my closest friends made me happy. Pickles made me happy.”
“It’s important to constantly challenge and stretch yourself, and not be stuck in a job where you don’t feel like you are growing or learning.”
“Wake up every day and ask yourself not only what is the 1% improvement I can change to make Zappos better, but also what is the 1% improvement I can change to make myself better personally and professionally. In the end we, as Zappos, can’t grow unless we, as individuals, grow too.”
