These days, if you have a great idea and are able to “sell” it to the world, you can become rich super-fast.
Current valuations of online companies are already much higher than many traditional brick and mortar companies in the world today.
For example, Forbes has estimated Grab’s valuation at US$16 billion. Tan Chong Bhd’s market capitalisation is at RM1.16 billion.
The following story is not about an online company but an engineering graduate who started working for US$16 (RM65) per month and today is worth US$8.3 billion (RM33.8 billion).
Wu Yajun was born in 1964 in Chongqing, China and studied at the Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi’an when she was 16 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
She then worked at a factory for US$16/month. In 1988, she was a journalist for the China Shirong News Agency. In 1993, Wu was inspired to start what would become known as Longfor Properties with her then husband, Cai Kui.
Longfor sold its first property project in 1997 in Chongqing at US$157 per sq metre and was one of the earliest shopping-mall developers in China.
Wu was CEO from 2005 to 2011 then stayed on as chairperson. She was the richest woman in China until 2012 when she got divorced and lost almost US$3 bil.
In 2017, she was seventh on a global list of self-made women billionaires. Today, Wu is the richest self-made woman in the world, followed by Diane Hendricks, who is worth $5.5 bil.
She avoids publicity and says she has nothing to talk about, being a person wishing to only focus on her own business.
As Wu Yajun is another super-wealthy individual related to the real estate business, perhaps focussing on ideas related to opportunities in the property sector is the way to go.
One of the fastest and easiest ways to start moving forward with any idea is to write about it. Today, you can easily create a video talking about an idea, and become a successful YouTuber earning many thousands every month. Think about it.
This article first appeared in kopiandproperty.com
Charles Tan blogs at property investment site kopiandproperty. He dislikes property speculators and disagrees that renting is better than buying. He thinks it’s either property or poverty. He is presently the CEO of an auction house auctioning assets beyond just properties.