In the journey of entrepreneurship and the pursuit of making a difference, there are those who are driven by a profound passion that not only fuels their ambitions, but also shapes the essence of their endeavors. These individuals are not just pursuing a career; they are living out their dreams through every action they take. Their passion manifests itself in creative and unconventional approaches to problem-solving, leading to innovative solutions that defy the status quo. Even in the face of adversity, they remain undeterred, continuously finding ways to reignite their drive. Their stories are a testament to the power of passion in turning visions into reality, and they offer invaluable advice to aspiring entrepreneurs on harnessing this passion to propel their ventures forward.
Tell us about yourself and what you’re passionate about, which led to what you’re doing now.
I have always been intellectually curious and subscribe to the mantra of 活到老,学到老 (lifelong learning). This journey has led me to pursue knowledge across a multitude of fields of studies and topics of interest. I do not crave to be a deep expert in everything because that is impossible, yet I enjoy the process of discovery with wide-eyed fantasy.
A fundamental part of my character is centered around tangible outcomes and impact. While I enjoy the accumulation of knowledge and understanding of topics, it also enforces my ability to connect the proverbial dots, to draw linkages to seemingly disparate data points, to form conclusions. This leads to my second passion, which is investing. It appeals to my character as the outcomes are definitive and irrefutable: You either generated a positive return or you did not. You can take the outcomes to analyze and use the experience to make hopefully better decisions in the future.
TRIREC is my second entrepreneurial endeavor in the asset management industry having successfully co-founded a previous investment platform that was acquired in 2019 by a global top tier firm. TRIREC is the pioneer and leading venture capital firm that I co-founded in 2015 with the mission of backing promising fellow entrepreneurs and technology that drives the climate change agenda through decarbonization investment mandate.
Can you describe what passion in action looks like to you?
Being an entrepreneur has many similar attributes to being an investor. You gather all the information, synthesize it, identify risks, and arrive at a conclusion. Then you need the courage and conviction to take the plunge headlong into the endeavor, giving it all you got with goals and objectives in mind.
Leading up to the setting up of TRIREC in 2015, my co-founder and I observed the nascent growth of new businesses and incremental adoption of greener practices and technologies in developed countries. We also noticed a positive shift in investor sentiments for such businesses, especially in the renewable energy sector and noted that fundamentally strong, profitable companies have grown and matured.
Being passionate about trying to positively impact climate change, we set about creating TRIREC and convincing investors that we are confident, we can generate global top tier investment performance as well. It was a truly uphill task then, but we managed to pull it off and launched the firm. Today we are in our third fund with an investment track record that we can be proud of through a lot of hard work, blood and sweat, and strong support from our investors.
(Related: Driven by Passion - Eric Leong)
Tell us about a time when your passion led you to pursue an unconventional approach or solution. What did this experience teach you?
In the mid-2000s when I was working in Hong Kong, the alcohol tax for wines imported into the country was abolished, making it more affordable for consumers. This resulted in a surge of interest in the liquids and an explosion of options for consumption ensured.
There were wine groups, wine merchants, wine dinners, wine publications, and wine tasting events sprouting up every other week. It was a very vibrant and exciting time for wine connoisseurs and the curious alike. I was definitely in the latter camp and while I attended my fair share of activities, it wasn’t sufficient for me as I felt lacking in fundamental understanding of what wine is. I ended up taking the WSET Level 1 course to be formally introduced to the world of wine and spirits from the different regions to grape varieties and their characteristics, methods of production, and formal tasting vocabulary and process.
I didn’t stop at level 1 and ended up taking up to WSET Level 3 course. The knowledge I acquired way more than exceeded what was necessary for casual drinkers. It did, however, open me up to people in the wine trade and new friends who are similarly passionate about wines. That all led me down the exciting path of learning about wines as an investment asset class and I started investing and collecting wines. You never know if any of your interests, hobbies, or passions might lead you down interesting paths. Keep an open mind, meet more people, and discover more.
How do you maintain and fuel your drive during periods of difficulty or stagnation?
At my core, I am a positive person. This has been very helpful in allowing me to generally maintain focus and strive on in the face of obstacles and stressful environments.
The weak macro environment and investment volatility over the past 18 months has been the most difficult period I have experienced during my almost 25-year career. There are moments where I get very discouraged as problems surface one after another and I feel like I am drowning.
Thankfully I have a strong support network consisting of:
Family – I am blessed that my immediate family members help to provide the crucial emotional support I need. Spending quality time with them helps to take my mind off work and reset and refresh me mentally.
Friends – I am appreciative to have a strong core group of close friends I can confide in and receive unadulterated perspectives and support.
Colleagues – I am grateful for my TRIREC colleagues who are like a band of brothers and sisters with a culture of care and motivation in our shared passion and objective for the organization.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs when it comes to leveraging their passion effectively?
Being an entrepreneur is a constant dichotomy of action. You need to think big and bold but know your risks and manage them well, or risk blowing up. You need to have passion and conviction for what you are doing, but you also need to stay grounded and logical to know if you are headed in the right direction.
You should not micro-manage nor not to always view things from 30,000 feet up. Know yourself very well, know what makes you tick, what excites you, and how you would solve a problem. Know where you derive your strength and courage from and what are your blind spots are. Only by knowing yourself as much as possible, will you truly be able to draw strong convergence of passion and application to create something meaningful.
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