The Hong Kong online grocery startup that wants to be a super app

This article is from an episode on The Jay Kim Show. This is heavily revised from the original show transcript. For the full interview, go here.

Clarence Ling is the co-founder and chief development officer of Ztore, a Hong Kong-based online grocery startup.

Apart from managing one of the largest private property development companies in Hong Kong, Ling has helped dozens of overseas companies with their Asia expansion. He is also an active investor in more than 20 startups globally, including on-demand logistics firm Lalamove.

In this interview, Ling and I talk about how he went from investing to building a startup, what Ztore is, and its future plans.

Clarence Ling, co-founder and chief development officer of Ztore

Could you tell us about your background?

After graduating from college in the US, I came back to Hong Kong not knowing what to do because I got rejected by all the banking jobs I applied to – all 22 of them.

My career started with Deloitte (professional service), then Bloomberg (financial data) and Savills (real estate services). After that, I joined the family business.

One day, I got a call from one of the former foreign ministers of the UK government, asking me if I wanted to work with him. He was the largest yacht maker in the country. I agreed and started to reach out to companies in China and Asia. Eventually, I was able to find an acquirer for his company.

Since then, I’ve helped other companies fundraise in China. But I started to realize that I wasn’t adding much value as a broker.

In 2014, I met a startup that was building an indoor theme park. I loved their idea and I wanted to help them figure out the fundraising and expansion strategies. Since then, I’ve invested in startups.

How do you know which startups to invest in?

I didn’t know what to do at first. But I really admired the passion and the vision that the two co-founders of the indoor theme park company had. I think I’ve been pretty good at evaluating people rather than the business model.

I wouldn’t say I’ve been a very successful startup investor – I’ve made a few bets that were not that good. But my investment theory involves supporting visionary startup founders, and not focusing on how much I’d get out of an investment.

For example, in 2014, I could have easily invested in GoGoVan, which is bigger than Lalamove. But I connected with Shing Chow (Lalamove’s co-founder and CEO) on LinkedIn and asked him, “Would you like to grab a coffee?” A few days later, we met for about two hours, and I said, “Just let me know how much allocation you have. I would really want to be involved.”

So I don’t really put on the typical investor hat when I meet with entrepreneurs. I only invest in companies that I think I could add value to.

How did you go from investing to building your own startup?

Tell us more about Ztore.

Do you have any plans to expand globally?

What’s your advice for the entrepreneurs in Hong Kong?