ADVANCE.AI CEO Shou Dong: How I seize opportunities on the world stage
Advance Intelligence Group co-founder and ADVANCE.AI CEO Shou Dong believes that when you think you can solve a problem better than anybody else, you have in hand a business opportunity. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Li Yaning finds out more about his entrepreneurial experience and views on the current AI wave.
In just eight years, Advance Intelligence Group grew from an idea discussed among three partners into a fintech powerhouse valued at US$2 billion, serving 40 million users. With US$700 million raised over five years, how did this company, once lauded as Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing tech unicorn, achieve such rapid evolution and success?
During the Springboard Fireside Chat hosted by Lianhe Zaobao on 18 June, Advance Intelligence Group co-founder and ADVANCE.AI CEO Shou Dong shared his entrepreneurial experience and views on the current generative artificial intelligence (AI) wave.
ADVANCE.AI, a subsidiary of Advance Intelligence Group, came about because the team “discovered a problem”. In 2016, Shou and his partners were on a business trip in Jakarta when a local driver disappeared with the money they had pre-paid him for their three-day trip — he had fled with the money because he was desperate to pay for a family member’s medical expenses.
Shou realised that many people in Indonesia lack a credit history with financial institutions, making it difficult for them to secure loans from formal sources despite their urgent need.
“When you find a problem and think you can solve it better than anybody else, you have in your hand a business opportunity,” he said.
Born in Zhejiang, Shou had always been immersed in the province’s business culture, and it seemed like “entrepreneurship” was part of his genes.
Subsequently, Shou and his partners rented a small office in Singapore and founded ADVANCE.AI. Using data and AI, they provide identity verification services and solve other credit challenges in Southeast Asia’s emerging markets, offering financial services to those previously unable to access them.
They also offer their technology as a product to other financial institutions and businesses, forming two major business models: business-to-business and business-to-consumer.
Seed of entrepreneurship
In fact, Shou’s entrepreneurial beginnings happened much earlier. Born in Zhejiang, Shou had always been immersed in the province’s business culture, and it seemed like “entrepreneurship” was part of his genes. But it was during his time in university that sparked the thoughts about starting a business.
Back then, a campus intranet created by Wang Xing, now Meituan’s founder and CEO, was all the rage and was even dubbed “China’s Facebook”. Shou was deeply inspired by Wang after hearing him speak at an entrepreneurship sharing session at Tsinghua University. Shou said, “I basically followed in Wang’s footsteps after that, furthering my studies in the US and then returning to China to start a business.”
One night in early 2015, after working as an engineer in the US tech industry for four years, Shou took a big leap: he bought a plane ticket to return to China. Recalling his motivation, Shou said, “China promoted the ‘mass entrepreneurship and innovation’ slogan back then. I couldn’t contain my excitement and decided to return home. I didn’t know what I wanted to do exactly, but I just knew that I wanted to start a business.”
Shortly after, Shou took the first step in entrepreneurship: working with other entrepreneurs. He joined a startup that had just completed its Series A funding round as a tech partner and worked there for a year and a half.
In mid-2016, he felt that it was time to start his own business. So he embarked on a new journey with two partners — an endeavour that continues to this day.
Shou and his partners realised that while there are many platform companies focused on financial inclusion in China, there is almost none in Southeast Asia.
Key to success lies in comparative advantage
Shou is often asked: why fintech, and why Southeast Asia? He thinks that capitalising on a comparative advantage is an important factor in entrepreneurial success, and this is what ADVANCE.AI did to identify industries and markets.
After identifying a huge unmet need for financial services in Indonesia, Shou and his partners realised that while there are many platform companies focused on financial inclusion in China, there is almost none in Southeast Asia. They wondered: could they bring this model from China to emerging markets in Southeast Asia?
“All our partners have studied abroad and they thrive in unfamiliar environments. They are tech-savvy, have experience in finance and are capable of raising funds. So then, we should pick a market with the most comparative advantage, and that’s how we landed on Southeast Asia — it is near China and also an overseas market,” Shou shared.
After choosing Southeast Asia as their main market, Shou and his partners established the company’s headquarters in Singapore. He said that there seems to be a “mutual attraction” between Singapore and his company. Companies need a place that attracts talent, builds teams, and draws top-tier venture capital; Singapore welcomes tech startups looking to take root in the country and offers plenty of tax and talent incentives.
Headquartered in Singapore, ADVANCE.AI provides services for the fintech wave surrounding emerging markets globally. Shou stated that in the past seven to eight years, the company capitalised on the opportunity in Southeast Asia, and will possibly look to Latin America or Africa next. Anticipating and preparing for the next wave has been the rationale behind the company’s global expansion.
He [Shou] summarised that entrepreneurs must have two qualities: courage and tenacity.
Shou felt that for entrepreneurs to decide on their direction, there is no need to have a grand system or concept at the beginning, nor a need to engage a consulting firm to conduct market analysis from top to bottom.
He said, “Opportunities abound in everyday situations; it’s all about having the vision to uncover them, to identify problems that can be solved. The size of the problem doesn’t matter; if you can solve a genuine issue, you can create commercial value.”
He reiterated the importance of discovering a problem, as he felt that it is like a foothold for the flywheel of entrepreneurship to spin. “When choosing a problem, one should see if there’s a possibility of a flywheel effect,” he said
Courage and tenacity as essential qualities
In his ten years of entrepreneurship, Shou has endured hardship and also reaped the harvest. He summarised that entrepreneurs must have two qualities: courage and tenacity. Courage, just as he had when he flew back home in a fervour. He commented, “Many would dilly-dally, never taking the first step. Naturally, nothing else would follow.”
Tenacity is a quality that cannot be overstated. Shou feels that entrepreneurship is just as hard as Elon Musk described, “like eating glass and staring into the abyss”. The possibility of success is small, hence entrepreneurs must be able to face all sorts of uncertainties and challenges head on, and have the determination and ability to bounce back even from the darkest times.
Including “AI” as part of the company name is also a reflection of Shou’s aspiration. The company has been constantly investing in the field of AI over the past seven years, coming up with products on facial recognition, ID optical character recognition and more. Now, in the thick of the generative AI wave, Shou said that the company is keeping up with the trend and exploring possibilities in this direction.
He added that Singapore as a financial hub is home to a large number of financial institutions and asset management companies, such as hedge funds and family offices, and is thus a prime market for testing AI applications in a finance setting.
“If the company goes public, my next move might be to start another company and continue the journey of entrepreneurship. This is the stage that allows me to stay in top form.” — Shou Dong, CEO, ADVANCE.AI
Selling shovels when others dig for gold
“When everyone is digging for gold, sell shovels”.
This is the mantra for Shou and his partners as the bosses of a tech service company. Shou said that with this new wave of AI, the prospects for selling shovels are increasing, and it all depends on how one capitalises on the opportunity.
Even after years in management, Shou retains a deep passion for the current AI revolution akin to that of a research scientist. He cheerfully commented that if he were not speaking at this entrepreneurship sharing session, he would be at home reading academic theses. He is enthusiastic about understanding the base logic, nature and numbers behind this current wave of AI, as the company must continue to evolve technologically.
He shared, “It is essential to understand how technology is evolving, and the limits of large model capabilities. You must find out what your company can do that others can’t, and this judgment is based on your understanding of the underlying technology.”
Just as the company transforms itself, Shou said that as an entrepreneur, he has evolved and changed in the past decade. He said, “Change is essential for entrepreneurship; if you don’t adapt, your company will perish. You are your company’s ceiling; hence, you must keep pushing yourself towards the next level. Moreover, it’s a personal imperative for successful entrepreneurs to possess a wide-ranging understanding, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous learning.”
Shou shared that he leads a strict, self-disciplined life, with a regular schedule, diet and exercise. He refrains from frivolous entertainment or socialising to ensure that he has enough energy to deal with the challenges at work. While it may be difficult at times, he finds it necessary for an entrepreneur.
Shou views entrepreneurship as a stage, where the high-pressure environment spurs his growth and enables him to reap the benefits.
He has high regard for and aspires to become like US businessman Charlie Munger, who was committed to his business until his death at 99 years old.
Shou’s company is now poised for an IPO, pending favourable market conditions. He said, “If the company goes public, my next move might be to start another company and continue the journey of entrepreneurship. This is the stage that allows me to stay in top form.”
This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “ADVANCE.AI首席执行官寿栋：创业这支舞 要跳到99岁”.
