Getting Your Startup Acquired for $24 Million in Just 7 Months (Interview with Karl Chong, CEO of Groupon SG)

In my latest episode of Celes.TV, I’m excited to share my interview with Karl Chong, CEO of Groupon Singapore, which is one of the fastest growing companies in Singapore. Karl is the driving force behind Beeconomic, a group buying site which he started in May 2010, which got acquired by Groupon less than seven months later for a whooping $24 million!

I’ve previously interviewed Karl and his brother Christopher Chong on PE (check out: Interview: Groupon Singapore – Acquired for $24 Million in Less than 1 Year) but that was two years ago in June 2011. This interview with Karl now has him speaking from the position of someone who has been running the highly successful Beeconomic / Groupon Singapore for three years and has grown it from a humble startup of two people (just his brother and him in 2010) to 160 employees today!

Hear Karl dish his best entrepreneur advice in the video above, including the following:

• Karl’s journey as an entrepreneur—that it started as early as when he was in high school
• Is entrepreneurship for everyone? How you can be an entrepreneur no matter who you are or what you do
• The 3 P’s to achieve happiness in career/business
• Why an eye for profits is not the most important criteria when it comes to being successful in business
• What led Karl to quit his high-flying investment banking career in Macquarie Bank in 2010 Shoto start Beeconomic
• Should one start a business with the end objective to get acquired?
• Key factors which led to Beeconomic’s success and eventual acquisition by Groupon
• What Beeconomic had at that time which made it the best partnership candidate for Groupon (in 2010) over other deal-of-the-day competitors
• Importance of having a competitive advantage in running a startup and how Karl created his competitive advantage for Beeconomic/Groupon Singapore
• Why lack of funds should not stop you from starting your business
• What you should do if you have family obligations
• Biggest challenges Karl faced in starting Beeconomic and how he overcame them
• Key factors that helped Karl land his first merchant deal
• Karl’s thoughts on the key traits needed to succeed in business in today’s world
• How to handle failure in life and business

Karl is actually a good friend of mine and it is an honor to have him on Celes.TV. Check out the interview and soak in his valuable entrepreneurial tips which apply not just to starting your business but to overall life as well!

(Here’s a random clip of us featuring a candid moment before our interview.)

Further reading:

• Successful Businesses Interview Series
• Interview: Groupon Singapore — Acquired for $24 Million in Less than 1 Year
• How To Get From Earning $6/hr to $1,000/hr

(Music Credit: Sunshine by Kevin Macleod)