Street Talk: Lou Chan
For one week only, Post-80s university graduate Lou Chan (left) became the Shadow CEO of Groupon, the group-buying website, after winning the CTgoodjobs contest. He tells Emily Wu how he enjoyed his taste of the high life and what’s he’s doing with his $30,000 “salary.”
HK Magazine: How did you come across this “Shadow CEO” contest?
LC: I happened to read about this contest on the recruitment site when I was fishing around for opportunities. I had just quit my previous job as an FX spot trader. I studied finance at the University of Toronto and learned about business and marketing, so I thought, why not give it a try?
HK: How many rounds did you go through to secure the job?
LC: There were around 300 contestants. We were divided into groups of five and given the discussion topic of which government official we would pick to be the spokesperson for Groupon. I chose Henry Tang Ying-yen as I think he’s very presentable and has established a good relationship with people in the business circle. Others in my group talked very articulately; I didn’t say a lot but pinpointed the main points. After getting into the second round, we all made a one-minute TC commercial to promote Groupon, so I wrote a song about a day as the CEO. I just imagined how it would be like.
HK: What made you stand out in the crowd?
LC: I tried my best to be myself. I didn’t do anything special to impress the judges. I was so blessed to become the second most popular in the public voting session and was lucky to be favored by the judges.
HK: What was most amazing event in your five days as the CEO?
LC: I had a really packed schedule every day. I had to handle real projects and ad hoc tasks assigned by Danny [the real CEO of Groupon]. It’s rare for me to get the chance to have a nice meal at Jockey Club, enjoying the races while sipping red wine. I also had a ride on the helicopter and chatted to many top people from big companies such as Alibaba.
HK: Did you get into any trouble?
LC: Of course, and my problems started right at the beginning.
I had to go to Macau to attend a meeting and close a business deal at the newly opened Galaxy Hotel. When I was going through the customs E-channel, I was shocked to find that my identity card was torn up, with the top part of it was totally gone. Luckily, others helped me get it through. But that wasn’t the end of it,
I felt ill on the third day. I’m a breakfast guy, but I didn’t have any that day and I lost my appetite all day. I had to go home early to rest and I couldn’t enjoy the city’s nightlife with Danny.
HK: How did you feel on your last day at Groupon?
LC: I felt great, because I got the chance to boss people around—haha! I had a really good time with the staff at Groupon; most of them are Post-80s, like me. Though I was the “Shadow CEO” for only five days, I could sense that they really treated me as their real team member and respected me.
