JD.ID’s Head of Corporate Business Development and B2B Solutions, Andrew You shares about the importance of having the right learning attitude in pursuing success.
Andrew, would you mind telling us about your current responsibilities at JD.ID and within the Chambers of Commerce?
My corporate role at JD.ID is Head of Corporate Business Development, B2B Solutions and Government Affairs as well. In addition to that I’m also on the board of the Hong Kong – Indonesia Business Association and I’m also one of the directors within the Indonesian Chambers in Hong Kong. These are my three roles directly related to Indonesia.
Many people struggle handling half as much responsibilities, but not you. How do you manage all of these?
Most important is knowing how to prioritise. Working at JD.ID is an exciting occupation that definitely consumes most of my time, and the other public roles are very much part of my passion as well, which is bridging connections between Hong Kong and Indonesia in business and beyond through different events, functions and policy making on both countries.
At the end of the day it’s also about the calling and passion. Since I relocated a year and a half ago to Jakarta, I’m very lucky I’ve been doing things that I really care about and getting into keeps me excited and thirsty.
JD.ID has seen tremendous growth in the recent years, with you being an integral part of it for the last year and a half. What are some qualities you attribute this great success to?
I believe this has a lot to do with my CEO, Zhang Li. He started everything up with his team at the time and when they invited me to join I saw a lot of opportunities. We both agreed that the e-commerce sector in Indonesia is really competitive. One of my philosophies says that we need a unique positioning, and that applies to any companies. Compared to other e-commerce companies, I think JD.ID’s corporate and B2B solutions offers something unique in the form of a platform that uses O2O concept—Online to Offline vice versa—and also with a lot of corporate procurement solutions, open platform, big data and we also invest in a lot of logistical solutions like warehouses.
Being the sixth unicorn in Indonesia, I think JD.ID has a pretty unique position, and we are constantly looking for long-term partnerships with different companies and corporations. Seeing to our customers’ needs is always a very part of our core business.
What is the future plan for the rest of 2020 for JD.ID?
Recent global development has not been kind to a lot of business, and I believe because of our e-commerce business model, JD.ID has not been impacted that much and we are still expecting substantial growth this year. Having said that, we will continue to exercise more caution and awareness in terms of allocating our resources and human resources, because right now everything is interconnected in this world.
Apart from the aggressive growth as having that starter mentality, we are also getting more careful on how we allocate our resources. And I’m seeing this as a positive opportunity to continually streamline and restructure some things to increase effectiveness and efficiency.
How do you personally define success?
Looking at my background, I grew up in Hong Kong, a city where everyone is looking for success from day one as they striving for influence or being more resourceful. I’m grateful for my family upbringing as well.
How do I define success? Number one for me is having that feeling of fulfilment and the presence of purpose in your everyday life. There’s still many people around us who doesn’t know what they want, which I think is fine, but you have to be aware that you are in search of something. I think that’s also part of the ultimate goals. But first you need to know what is it that fulfils your life. The second thing I would say using your influence, power, resources to answer that calling to help others. Beyond just giving to charities for example, this could also mean, for example, at work, where you are able to motivate your colleagues and make a positive impact around the workplace. This is also very important.
Last but not least, I think success is also defined as having a vision in your life. For me, a lot of people joked how I never have white hair in Hong Kong and I don’t really complain a lot, because honestly in a developing country and an emerging market there’s always ups and downs, so I see most things as opportunities. Having that vision to keep you going forward is very important.
What advice can you give to others seeking success?
We’re living in this business where there’s a lot of smart individuals. Having the right manner is very important. Being able to learn from more senior people helps a lot. I have several senior mentors and very successful individuals both in Hong Kong and Indonesia whom I’ve been very fortunate to be able to learn from. I would say have the right learning attitude and not be afraid to be around people that are smarter than you are, especially in times when you are lost or weak, fine those who can help you and inspire you to move forward and get better.
