Famous celebrity food columnist & host Chua Lam told me over lunch, “Every meal means one meal less on earth for me, so why would I settle for crap? I don’t have time to waste.”
Li, a typical 40-year-old successful Chinese entrepreneur, made his first pot of gold during the property boom earlier this decade. His businesses now span across property, hotels, high technology, new energy as well as global import and export. His latest interest and venture: a new breed cross-terrain off-road machine to be produced in Hangzhou.
“I’m going to make it the next rich man’s toy,” he proclaimed.
Ambitious. Aggressive. He spends his 24 hours as if he’s got 48 everyday.
“I’m so busy with work everyday, meeting people, seeing to my businesses and looking out for new ones, there is hardly anytime left for myself, let alone time for bullshit. I can play at any golf club here (Hangzhou, where golf club membership fees are amongst the most expensive in China) for free, but I just don’t have the time.”
Like many of the high net worth individuals whom I’ve spoken to, Li relies on the Internet for accurate and quick sources of information, as he needs to ‘gather facts fast, but not just from hearsay’.
“Opportunities do not wait, you have to be in the know in order to talk business with just about anybody. You may call it bull, but you need to carry any and every conversation well if you want to do business here in China.”
He drives a Mercedes-Benz S600, uses a CNY 25,000 ($3,660)-mobile phone, jets around the world, dines at the city’s most popular KTV-box style restaurants and gets invited to previews, parties and launches by Bentley, Lamborghini and Ferrari. “I know they are flashy, but these brands are at least worth my time.” Li owned up.
“By the way, I’m attending a Maybach event this Friday. You can come along if you have the time.”
Truth:
The common language of rich Chinese - Don’t waste my time.
Opportunity:
No comments:
Post a Comment