Earning My Fintech Stripe//s

I am excited to start my new role leading Asia Pacific Communications at Stripe; to help accelerate the region’s online economy and the commercial agility of APAC businesses with one of the world’s most ambitious and fastest growing technology companies. 

Stripe is a technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. You might have heard how the company helps businesses from all over the world access the global online commerce market with sophisticated software tools. In fact, many exciting Asian and global organizations are powered by Stripe – such as Amazon, Booking.com, Facebook, FashionValet, Grab, Khan Academy, Kickstarter, Klook, Shopify, Slack, Spotify, UNICEF, Zoom Video Communications and many more. Stripe’s products are helping them quickly expand globally and build new kinds of revenue models. 

So, why Stripe? 

Well, throughout my career, I have been privileged to enjoy front-row seats at some of the most revolutionary companies during truly transformative times. It’s where I honed my love for the sense of adventure that comes from working towards an inspiring, yet challenging, future vision. At Stripe, I look forward to building what we’re calling a “global payments and treasury network” – creating the infrastructure that will make it possible for hundreds of millions of businesses to participate in global commerce via the internet, regardless of where they come from. 

You’d think that much of this has been solved but only a tiny fraction of global commerce is happening online (~6-7%) and the financial services space is changing faster than it ever has. There are so many gaps to close to make it really easy for a company to do business wherever they want: accepting payments and understanding how consumer behaviours differ around the world is one of them. Being compliant is another. And keeping up with the fast pace of innovation in technology simply makes it incredibly costly and time-consuming for businesses to be competitive. If you’re a small business, a century old institution or a startup, how are you supposed to keep up? All this has become even more vital in a post-COVID-19 era, now that the whole world has come to rely on the internet to buy and sell goods and services. 

Besides Stripe’s mission, I was also drawn to the company by the people I’ve encountered at the company. Speaking with them, I often walked away from each conversation feeling like I wanted to continue the conversation further with whom I felt were very gracious, bright, engaging people; clearly a great reflection of the company culture as well as the talent Stripe brings on board. 

I also love how Stripe is committed to the APAC region. We are building out local engineering capabilities, with our hub in Singapore and our new engineering office in Japan, to ensure locally relevant solutions that help businesses grow further. Tens of thousands of businesses in Australia and New Zealand rely on Stripe since we launched in 2014 and 2017, respectively. We’re also available in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and are eyeing to expand into many more countries (stay tuned!). 

All this is certainly a lot, but we’re only getting started! Some consider Stripe “the internet’s most undervalued company,” so there is still much more to do. 

Wish me luck as I take on this new challenge! 

(Or join me – we’re still growing the team!)

Thank you Public Affairs Asia, For The Shoutout!

My sincere appreciation to the team at Public Affairs Asia for highlighting my latest career move; as Netflix’s Head of Corporate Communications for Southeast Asia.

I’m was especially amused that you’ve called the announcement on my blog as, “one of the most innovative appointment announcements” you’ve come across. 🙂

Read the story here.

Thanks for this kind feature, Marketing Magazine!

A special word of thanks to Rezwana, Janice and other friends at Marketing Magazine for covering my latest career move with Netflix! Link to article here.

Netflix hires Leigh Wong as SEA head of corp comms

(Full text after the jump) 

Now showing: Head of Communications – Southeast Asia, Netflix

I’m thrilled to announce that, earlier this week, I started my new role at Netflix as Head of Communications – Southeast Asia, based out of Singapore.

In this role, I will report to the Vice President of Communications – Asia, and be part of a team to help to formulate, execute and sustain a global communications strategy for Netflix in the Asia region. I will also focus specifically on corporate and policy communications issues.

It’s really quite exciting, though somewhat surreal, to be working at Netflix. I mean, I still remember Netflix back in college (showing my age here!) when it was still mailing DVDs! Since then, I’ve watched how it’s pivoted – successfully – to become a leader in technology and entertainment today!

What really got me excited about working at Netflix was discovering its Culture Memo – which I first encountered several years ago (as a slide deck). I get why it was hailed as “the most important document ever to come out of the Valley“; and believe this is the “secret sauce” to the company’s ability to pivot successfully, again and again.

The Culture Memo lit a fire in my belly – it felt like I was screaming “YES” to a lot of things, like: “People Over Process,” “Working In A Dream Team,” and “Freedom & Responsibility.” It also crystalized my thoughts and gave me the language to appreciate how lucky I have been to have great leaders, managers and mentors throughout my career who have embodied these principles, which resonate so meaningfully with me.

It’s a privilege to now have this opportunity to play my part in making Netflix more of a hit here in Asia!

Well, wish me luck… #onwards!

Starting My Trip As Uber’s Head Of Communications For Southeast Asia

Just a little over a year ago, I started my trip at Uber to lead communications for Singapore and Malaysia. A lot happened and I was proud to notch several key wins within my first year.

Now, one year later, I begin the next leg of my trip with Uber!

Following a search that included internal and external candidates, I’m superpumped to begin my new role as Head of Communications for Southeast Asia. In this role, I will be responsible for the Communications teams based out of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

I am thrilled to grow my career in one of the most exciting companies on the planet! Even with everything that has recently happened – the truth is, we’ve only just begun. As a company, we are making definitive progress as we continue to focus on profitability. In Southeast Asia, there is so much more potential to realise even when you consider our transport and UberEATS businesses alone!

We will focus on growing Uber as a sustainable business in the region: serving riders and consumers; driver-, delivery-, and restaurant-partners; as well as other key stakeholders – by helping Southeast Asia’s cities unlock growth and mobility with Uber’s smart innovation.

Are we there yet? Do we have everything figured out?

Like I said, we’ve only just begun.

Some of the most enduring and respected companies of our time have gone through their own version of a ‘redemption journey’ – and it is a privilege to play a role in this chapter of Uber’s story.

Here’s to the exciting ride ahead!