"The success manual does not exist"
Henson Tsai, Founder and CEO of SleekFlow, graduated from Imperial College London and worked as an investment banker at HSBC and Ernst & Young. Before SleekFlow’s success, Henson already had two entrepreneurial experiences.
Founded in 2019, SleekFlow features an omnichannel social commerce software. From conversations to conversions, SleekFlow enables full customer journeys across SMS, live chat, popular social and messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, or whatever customers prefer.
Headquartered in Hong Kong and backed by Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, SleekFlow serves over 5000+ multinational companies and enterprises across e-commerce, retail, logistic, hospitality, finance, and technology sectors worldwide.
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Thank you for accepting my interview invitation! I’d love to know how you ended up becoming an entrepreneur? Tell me your story.
Henson Tsai: Being an entrepreneur has always been my dream. When I was a student at Imperial College London, I got a chance to join a start-up competition with my classmates and won. The experience confirmed my will to start a business on my own one day. After graduation, I returned to Hong Kong and worked for HSBC and Ernst & Young briefly to save more money. I managed to work as a full-time white-collar worker while writing business proposals and thinking of possible business ideas at night.
My first idea was a takeaway mobile app as I spotted the gap in the takeaway market. Unfortunately, it didn’t work because the market in Hong Kong was already overcrowded. I hence twisted the idea and tried to create an all-in-one communication app tailored for hotels. At RISE, an international exhibition for start-ups, I got the chance to talk to potential customers directly and realized my second idea wouldn’t work either. There were no inquiries from hotels, while many were from people in the eCommerce and retail sector. So here comes the idea of SleekFlow. Our all-in-one app will be a right fit to streamline workflow for those clients-facing industries.
Starting a new business is not always easy and I believe failing is part of the entrepreneurship journey. It is why my experience in failing two start-ups didn’t beat me off. Instead, it has fueled the growth of SleekFlow and led us to where we are now.
Tell our readers what your company does differently than your peers and why that difference is so important to your audience?
Henson Tsai: SleekFlow features an omnichannel social commerce software that enables full customer journeys across SMS, live chat, popular social and messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, or whatever customers prefer. It is a centralized hub where businesses can collaborate to sell faster, better and more on socials.
But SleekFlow is more than a messaging tool. It is also a customer relationship management tool where you can segment, track and analyze your customers for better targeting and experience. In addition, we are proud of our ability to perform automated actions by creating customizable rules to minimize human intervention. With the native Shopify integration, SleekFlow offers users more advanced automation features such as automated abandoned cart reminders and automated segmentation. Integrations with thousands of available applications also create more possibilities. Users are always amazed by our easy-to-use interface which makes our software accessible to everyone.
Running a business, your’s or on behalf of someone requires great leadership skills. What are some of the biggest challenges you faced as you took on a leader’s role and what did you learn?
Henson Tsai: As our business grows, our team grows as well. Being the leader means the responsibility of searching for the right person to do the right job falls on me. It’s especially important for startups as the very first batch of employees will define the company. I used to wonder if I should focus on hiring the best people with the most prestigious backgrounds, but after a while, I realized that fame is not the key because working at a startup can be tough, and not everyone is ready to get their hands dirty. So what I have learned is to find the right people as they are the ones who would stay with you throughout the amazing journey.
Our team has also grown from six to thirty-two within a year. The people that I work with are all superstars, who excel in various fields, but they all believe in me and the vision. I am so grateful to have met these brilliant minds when I’m only 27 years old. Glad that I build a great team!
Success is not an accident. What are some routines and habits you learned to master that contributed to your current success?
Henson Tsai: The first habit that came into my mind is to keep learning. I enjoy reading and listening to podcasts, and I did believe that spending 20 minutes on these every day could make a big difference.
Can you share with us defining moments in your journey, please give us details and stories to illustrate?
Henson Tsai: The very first milestone that SleekFlow has achieved is completing a six-figure USD Pre-Series A round investment. When I first started SleekFlow, I had no financing plans. But later on, I began to see possibilities for growth. In 2021, we entered a pitching competition hosted by Alibaba. Only after the first round, SleekFlow was pulled out and offered investment from Gobi Partners, China, who are the investment managers for the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund.
It opened my eyes to a much bigger picture of potential growth for the company than I had ever dreamed of. We were also chosen for the Global Launch Singapore Program inaugurated by the global VC firm 500 Startups. This paved our way to step into the Southeast Asian market.
What are the five things you wish someone had told you before you became an entrepreneur?
Henson Tsai: I’d say:
- Ready for any sudden change
We live in a dynamic world, and situations are constantly altering. In some cases, accidents are even out of our control. It applies to start-ups too. We need to be ready to face any challenges and figure out the solutions.
- Have a work-life balance
At the beginning of my start-up journey, I worked round the clock and we all know it is not good for health. Yes, it is true: an entrepreneur needs to work very hard with his team to succeed. However, we still need to have a balance between work and life. Sometimes, having a rest helps you move beyond and work more efficiently and effectively. Sometimes I go hiking with my teammates and it’s a great opportunity to bond as well.
- Seek constructive feedback actively
While many entrepreneurs are humble enough to accept constructive feedback, they may not seek it actively. As a leader, you have to spend more time talking to your employees and actually listening to them. I have come to realize that sometimes they have brilliant ideas in mind but there’s just no opportunity for them to speak up.
- Find someone to advise you
Every entrepreneur expects to have obstacles along the start-up journey. However, if you can find someone who is willing to guide you, you can get more insights from them even though their opinions may not always be correct.
- The success manual does not exist
If you want to start your business in the future, you need to keep in mind that there is no specific guide for success. Even though there are lots of successful entrepreneur stories, we can just take it as a reference. At the end of the day, the success or failure of the business is determined by you.
Oftentimes we hear: “Your network is your net worth”, please share your thoughts on that adage and illustrate your experience.
Henson Tsai: I am lucky to have met many amazing mentors along the way, both at and since university. I find entrepreneurs are happy to share their knowledge. It is surprising but sometimes, when you send a LinkedIn message to connections, they will genuinely share their insights.
What are some professional or even personal goals you plan on tackling during the 2022 year? Share the battles you expect to face.
Henson Tsai: Going global is our goal. Last year, despite the pandemic, we managed to expand to Southeast Asia and set up our office in Singapore. This year, we plan to set up another office in the United Kingdom and enter the European market. But every market is different in terms of consumer behaviours and perceptions, so it’s definitely going to be a challenge for us.
We will continue to grow our team and develop more advanced features. In an era when Gen Z is spending more time on Instagram, we are planning to create new features for businesses to strengthen their footholds and competitiveness on social media and also streamline the payment journey on social.
With all the social media platforms available, it’s increasingly difficult to be present everywhere. Which ones do you favor for your company and why?
Henson Tsai: We believe each social media platform has its own strength. If we have to choose one, it would be WhatsApp as it is still the most popular instant messaging application worldwide.
Jerome Knyzweski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Henson Tsai for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Henson Tsai or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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