Evolution of Career and Entrepreneurial Ventures

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This chapter follows the speaker's journey from engineering to finance post-MBA, discussing their pioneering effort in automating arbitrage processes and early entrepreneurial experiences. It explores the pivotal moment that inspired a shift towards e-commerce, the challenges faced in accessing Chinese products, and the inception of a group purchasing platform for high-quality items. The chapter culminates in the establishment of a business model rooted in simplifying group buying processes and aiding group leaders in finding vendors, initially funded by the speaker's own savings.

If you told 19-year-old Larry Liu that his hobby re-selling used electronics “for fun” would someday help him build a multi-billion-dollar company, he probably would have laughed. He was an electrical engineering student in Shanghai at the time. His goals were to land a corporate job and go to grad school in the U.S. He did both, starting with a job at Intel. But his passion for e-commerce stayed with him through his MBA and other corporate jobs. And when he moved to Northern California, Larry noticed other Chinese immigrants using WeChat to source what they needed locally - even organizing in groups to buy familiar foods and products. Larry immediately saw this as a business opportunity. And in under ten years, after facing down bankruptcy and re-orienting his business, Larry grew his e-commerce platform Weee! into a company now valued at over $4 billion.

This episode was produced by Kerry Thompson with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei.

It was edited by Andrea Bruce with research help from Katherine Sypher.

Our engineers were Gilly Moon and Josh Newell.

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