VIP Class Notes (Ally)

Vocabulary

In the long run, my aspiration is to become a C-level executive in a Chinese fintech company that serves global/multinational financial institutions. In the short term, I will aim for the chief of staff position in a fast growing fintech company to develop the executive mindset by working with the CEO.

My interests in finance began with my first internship at AXA insurance company in New York. At work, I saw hundreds of insurers getting frustrated by the terminologies of our products. As a sales assistant, I simplified the complex terms into a common language that’s easy for them to understand. It was then when I realized how powerful my words can be, and I decided to become a communicator in finance who breaks down all the barriers of the industry.* A year later, I joined the Bloomberg sales program in Beijing, with a goal to introduce the Bloomberg terminal to the financial market in China.

Bloomberg terminal in China was widely perceived as an old-school information provider that barely has changed since the 90s. Instead of going with the flows, i decided to make it stand out by emphzing our global perspective. While China was opening its bond market to offshore inevstors, I became the Bond Connect advocate, leaveraging our powerful e-trading platform to let both sides meet on Bloomberg. By the end of 2019, our team onboarded 80% of market participants with licenses to buy and sell China bond, becoming the key driver and the must-have solution in Chinese bond internationalization. Succeeding in localizing a global product in a fast growing market, I started to wonder if I can make a local fintech company shine on a global stage, so I joined DataYes waiting to find out.

• use Bloomberg to demonstrate my communications skills -> bigger dream? move to datayes
• In order to be a true communicator who can make a difference, I realized what I already know as a sales is not nearly enough.

By the time I joined the company, it had had a several back-to-back rough quarters even with the most advanced AI technology in fintech, so I went beyond my existing scope, partnering with the C-levels to identify the root of the stagnation. I realized the first problem is a lack of clear strategy guiding us through difficult decisions when facing the pressure from investors and having a shortage in cash flows. The second problem is a missing talent in managing a fintech company. Out CEO is a quant expert from Blackrock, most of our product managers are top performers from Tencent and Alibaba, but I am one of the few that have directly worked in a fintech company that have a rough idea how to run grow and maintain enterprise fintech products. I am deeply awared that as a sales and marketing profesional, what I have accumulated is not enough to save a company heading to a wrong direction. A top MBA program will greatly accelerate my searching for the solutions mentioned above.\u000b
Fintech is a rising and young industry in China, the issues I faced in DataYes are very likely to occur in other fintech companies too. I believe the Wharton MBA can empower me to become an inspirational business leader that unlocks the potential in fintech companies in China and unleashing its value to the globe.