Singapore Entrepreneur Benny Lee Talks About Getting Started (Part 1/4)
Benny Lee (Founder of Benroth Int’l) interview – Intro from John Exley on Vimeo.
While I studied abroad in Singapore at National University this past spring semester, I was inspired by the interviews Andrew Warner (founder of Mixergy) was doing. So, I set out to interview entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and business leaders in the area so that I might share what I was learning about the business and startup landscape in Asia.
This is the 1st segment of my interview with Benny Lee. Benny is the Founder and Managing Director of Benroth International, an exporting consultancy based in Singapore and servicing manufacturers from the West in entering the Asia Pacific Region. Benny is also the Vice President of the National University of Singapore’s Business School Alumni Association and he authored the international marketing book “Hold The Char Siew!”
As a thought leader on the impact of geopolitics on business in Asia, Benny’s approach to forming business relationships was particularly fascinating to learn about. Before we set a date to film the first segment, Benny took me out to breakfast, lunch, and brought me over to his office for a meeting. He told me in depth about his life, career, and the projects he was involved in. He even gave me a copy of his book to read and several articles he had published in Singapore’s business newspapers. So, by the time I started the interview, I had a deeper context for who Benny was and we had already established rapport. Because of that, interviewing him was quite simple…it was a natural conversation.
Update: All of this is just the normal way of doing business in China. Relationships come first. In the 3rd segment of my interview with Benny, he explains what you need to know to succeed in China.
I consider myself blessed to say that by the end of my experience in Singapore, he was like family to me and I was calling him “Uncle Benny”. When my mom, brother, sister, and Uncle Tom came to visit me at the end of the semester, Benny brought us all to Chinatown and hosted us for dinner. He is the real deal, a genuinely great guy and sharp businessman. I hope you enjoy all 4 segments of the interview!
Full disclosure: this being my very first recorded interview, it did not come without mistakes. It was actually my first time doing a video longer than 10 minutes in HD, so I didn’t know that it would cut off before we finished the segment. It was difficult to discover this afterward, however I acknowledged my misstep and from there onward I always asked a friend to come with me to manage my camera. My apologies!
Many thanks to Benny for making the time to do such a complete interview. In segments 2, 3, and 4 Benny explains how to do business in China (hint: don’t copy Google), breaks down the step-by-step process of exporting to Asia (update: now watch segment 2 here), and talks about the future of Singapore.
What do you think about Benny’s story? Please feel free to leave me feedback on how to get better!
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