Sea’s Forrest Li shares 3 tips for building a business – Wired PR Lifestyle Story

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As the richest in Singapore, it ranked first this year with a net worth of $ 23 billion (31 billion).
Founder, President and CEO of Forrest Li Marine took to the stage today (November 9) to give the keynote address at Singapore’s Innovation and Technology Week (SWITCH) 2021.
Sea is believed to be the most valuable company in Southeast Asia and is deepening its attempt at fintech beyond gaming and e-commerce. Its main businesses are the online game developer Garena, the e-commerce platform Shopee and the digital payment and financial services company SeaMoney.
The millionaire, dressed in his black suit and white shirt, was humbly standing in the middle of the stage with a virtual background.
Forrest introduced participants to his thinking, opinions about the post-pandemic world, and valuable lessons learned from the Sea over the past 12 years of operations.
“From day one at sea, our deep belief has always been that technology has the greatest potential to improve people’s lives. These beliefs drive everything we do. ”
“That’s seen in Shopee, where we want to connect and empower consumers. At SeaMoney, we provide financial support to those who do not have access to them. At Garena, we try to make our players enjoy high quality and affordable entertainment. ”
Three lessons to build a successful startup
Forrest shared three lessons learned from the Sea in the company’s management over the past 12 years, and hoped to “spark the ideas of next-generation technology companies”.
The first lesson is to have a role to play in serving users, he said.
“It simply came to our notice then. At Sea we serve our users, and by this we mean that we are constantly placed in the customer. We always ask what will be most important for users, what we can do to improve their lives. ”
The second lesson is that customers need to see that businesses really want to help them. “It creates a loyalty that money can’t buy,” he said.
He gave the example of one of the most popular games we are, Free Fire.
“When it started to launch, some people said it would make more sense to charge people for playing. We chose not to. Today, Free Fire is a successful game. It generates revenue from the optional improvements to the gaming experience, which remains completely free for all users to play, ”Forrest said.

“We are focused on giving joy to players at all levels and when we stayed true to it, success continued.”
Forrest also advised companies to look for traditionally underserved communities, “This allows us to have an impact on their lives. That’s why we invest so much in bringing our services to these people.”
The third lesson would be to have the courage to enter new markets.
“I realized that you have to combine two things to do that well: the confidence of what you know and the humility to work on what you know.”
He noted that many companies tend to think about all the differences between the new market and the existing one when considering an expansion. This can lead to a lack of trust in some young companies and ultimately lead them to decide not to expand.
“One of the things we’ve found at sea is that markets often have more in common than we expect and think. Focusing on similarities can give you the confidence you need to venture into a new place, ”he said.
Our post-pandemic future
Forrest believes that technology around the world will be the key to recovery from the pandemic.
“In a post-pandemic world. I think we need to double the use of technology everywhere to improve lives. Now the question is, what’s going on here? Does the trend start back when the country leaves the blockade, or does it continue? “
“I think it will continue. The pandemic has only accelerated a digital transformation that was already under way. ”
The pandemic has accelerated the pace of innovation, perhaps “five years faster than we should have otherwise.” “So getting out of the pandemic doesn’t change the direction of the transformation. At most, it can only affect its pace,” Forrest said.

Forrest backed his opinion with a survey conducted by Sea in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, which surveyed 80,000 people in Southeast Asia.
Respondents were asked what the three things that could happen in the post-pandemic world were, and one of the main answers was the increased use of digital tools and technologies.
“It’s no surprise that more communities than ever before began to network online during the pandemic. For many, it was due to a shared need to survive, as physical movements were much more limited,” Forrest said.
Even now, the group’s research shows that both consumers and businesses, especially small individual businesses, are hungry for products and services that will help them digitize more.
The research is linked to the actual programs run by the company. For example, the group partnered with Malaysian Internet centers to provide free e-commerce training to rural entrepreneurs.

“In the three months since the program was launched, more than 1,600 rural vendors have applied for training to help put their businesses online. This shows a strong desire to digitize and connect with more consumers. ”
“In other words, digitalization is a trend toward acceleration.”
“The more people see what the Internet has to offer, the more they want it and the reason is not just the advancement of technology. It’s because it helps to improve their lives and their lives. ”
As the digital transformation continues, Forrest stressed that we must not create a greater gap between those who have access to technology and those who do not. “We need to help those who lack digital skills to achieve this. So they’re not far behind. ‘
Startups need to use technology as a force for good
Forrest hopes that entrepreneurs can use technology as a force to build inclusivity and urge them to strive to use it that way.
“As we looked for opportunities, we kept asking ourselves if we could continue to serve our communities. This is a key checklist that has driven our growth. So for me, using technology well for the world should not be a corporate social responsibility project, but a goal that can drive the business of an entire company, ”Forrest said.

“If we put in the effort first and foremost to think that it will really help people and improve their lives, there will be no problem for users to access it. If your mission is to serve your community first, it will be a success for the next generation of technology companies. ”
“Let’s use technology to create a better world for future generations. He has all the powers to do so. We just have to make the most of it. ”
Singapore is well located to be in the middle of options
The digital age is the future, and Forrest believes a country like Singapore is “particularly well placed to be at the center of many opportunities”.
“Singapore has limits to being a small city-state in a corner of the world with a small internal market, but as more and more jobs and activities go online, those physical limits are less important.”
He added that Sea is proud to be a Singapore-based company, “because this place has always been an environment that allowed us to move forward”.
Sea’s achievements today are not only due to the right environment, but also the success of the government’s open efforts to connect communities, empower consumers and empower small businesses.

“You don’t often find a place that is as supportive of innovation and innovators as Singapore. It is not essential that innovation is only a strong part of the ecosystem. But to make all the parts strong. ‘
He noted that efforts by economic agencies such as ESG and industry to unite leaders are a way to share their expertise and help young entrepreneurs in events like the SWITCH conference to “open doors” and “create new opportunities”. companies.
A strong talent pool is also key to advancing the startup ecosystem, and Singapore’s “high-caliber education system” creates a deep and skilled set of local talent for companies to hire. “It was that set of talent that allowed us to build a strong team when Sea had to grow.”
The humble billionaire also blamed the creation of the Sea on the Singapore ecosystem.
“That’s how the Sea came about. I met him in Singapore with my co-founders, without whom I probably wouldn’t have started a business. ‘
“Thank you, Singapore. Today, Sea is able to serve a global market because we have such a strong base, and for all the advantages it gave us when we first started here. ”
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Featured Image Credit: Guru Gamer, Sea
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