Chao Sheng Email & Phone Number

Melbourne, Vic, Au

Auckland, Nz

Advising to the Co-founder & CPO of Crimson Education (https://www.crimsoneducation.org) and other senior leaders on how to improve business operations through digital transformation & product/tooling innovation

Us

Responsibilities: In the realm of Digital Strategy Consulting, I have engaged in case studies with clients encompassing a wide array of domains, including new business establishment, go-to-market strategies, agile transformation initiatives, and the digitalization of pre-existing and incumbent businesses. Some illustrative projects and engagements include spearheading the development of enterprise organizational agility capabilities for a prominent Pakistani Telecom company, enabling their embrace of digital transformation on-site in Islamabad, Pakistan. Additionally, I took the lead in establishing the McKinsey Greater China Build Hub in Chengdu, China, achieving substantial growth in talent enrollment and demand generation. I also played a pivotal role in coaching a team of over 100 product and engineering leaders for a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, enhancing their organizational proficiency in product management and the adoption of standardized agile methodologies. Furthermore, I designed an evaluation mechanism and operational model to assess team performance for a vast product and engineering workforce exceeding 20,000 members within a leading Chinese e-commerce company, headquartered in Beijing, ChinaKey findings: After a diverse range of prior professional experiences, I once again assumed a new role, this time in a senior position within one of the world's most renowned strategic consulting firms (the first letter of "MBB"). It marked my first foray into a work environment heavily reliant on English speaking & global collaboration, and I even took the initiative to lead a project independently in the Middle East region. I melded the expertise and insights I had accumulated from my previous roles with the storytelling skills I acquired at McKinsey, applying them to the seemingly artisanal craft of slide presentations (called "deck" in McKinsey), which has very tangible effects and practical value in everyday business operations

Responsibilities: I have built a proven track record of catalyzing transformation and fostering growth. My expertise encompasses a range of strategic endeavors, including conducting comprehensive market analyses, competitor research, and user modeling to inform company strategy and product positioning, which has consistently resulted in profound business metamorphoses. One notable achievement involved successfully orchestrating a transition from a C2C to a B2C model, a monumental undertaking that involved the integration of over 4,000 full-time and 20,000 part-time teachers. Furthermore, I spearheaded the implementation of national teacher grading and reward policies across 200+ cities from 2017 to 2019. Additionally, I played a pivotal role in launching critical products, such as CRM, teacher supply chain, and student-teacher matching systems, all of which were instrumental in driving sustainable growth. My commitment to data-driven decision-making is underscored by the introduction of the Unit Economics model, which significantly reduced costs while boosting repurchase rates. Furthermore, recognizing the importance of enhancing the overall learning experience and resource management, I established an instruction and research team. Here is relevant news release for reference: https://www.sohu.com/a/258761712_356604Key findings: ChangingEdu was once a star EdTech unicorn, and when it comes to its product, operations, and strategic capabilities, we can confidently say that it is no less competitive than any other tech company on the market, even though the 1-on-1 tutoring business we are in is a tough business with relatively low profit margins. However, the eventual business success depends on many factors. We were not particularly lucky as, on the eve of the company's IPO launching in the US stocks market, in July 2021, just like other EdTech companies, we were hit hard by China's education policy changes (the famous "double-reduction" policy)

Responsibilities: While overseeing product and teacher management at ChangingEdu, I discovered that to truly grasp the essence of the business of this EdTech unicorn, it's essential to be actively involved in the teaching process. Therefore, alongside my managerial role, I also took on teaching responsibilities. My primary focus was teaching high school English. Over time, fueled by growing interest, I even obtained a teaching qualification in mainland China, becoming a certified instructor who complies with regulatory standards. Concurrently, I pursued a Master's in Education at the University of Glasgow through formal examinations and application procedures, with an expected graduation in early 2024.Key findings: This period of teaching career has been a unique and crucial segment of my professional journey. Being closely involved in frontline teaching, engaging in authentic communication with numerous students and their parents, has provided me with a profound understanding of the essence of education. Consequently, my reverence for traditional industries (vs. 'tech start-ups') has undergone a qualitative enhancement. In addition, I have confirmed my teaching and academic interests. My teaching interest lies in second language acquisition (SLA), while my academic interest centers around the origin of language and linguistic anthropology.

Responsibilities: During this phase, my primary focus shifted from product to business, with the product being one component of it. Specifically, I began overseeing the entire supply side of the company. From a quantitative perspective, I was responsible for the company's costs and gross profit. From a qualitative perspective, I was in charge of parental satisfaction with our teaching quality nationwide, as well as teacher satisfaction. Digitalization remained an important means to achieve these objectives but was no longer the sole method. It also required warm management, media exposure and online lectures, offline gatherings and social interactions with teachers, among other elements.Key findings: When attempting to drive ultimate business goals from a digital standpoint, it often feels like an effort to push for a business transformation through technology, which can frequently appear unrealistic. It's only when you're also accountable for the people that you can have meaningful discussions about business objectives and outcomes. At this point, the possibility of digitalization delivering more practical efficiency becomes greater.

Responsibilities: During this period, my primary responsibility was overseeing all of the company's B-side products, especially sales tools and teacher management tools. The test-prep & tutoring sector is a highly operational and long-value-chain business, which means that converting consumers from leads to order/deals relies heavily on skillful sales techniques. It also highlights the importance of teacher management within the supply chain. As an internet company, it is impossible to operate in a 'people managing people' manner. Therefore, the value of our 2B products lies in digitizing processes, minimizing the reliance on management personnel, and maximizing the transparency of operational data at every stage.Key findings: This part of the work was essentially a continuation of my work from the previous several years, so it was mainly about applying what I had learned in new scenarios. The biggest realization here was that, by delving deep into the education and training industry, I came to appreciate even more the need to approach digital transformation in a specific industry with great respect. You can never completely disrupt an industry that has been around for thousands of years (such as education) all at once. Talking about digital transformation, most of the time, our innovation can only be gradual and incremental.

Chaoyang District, Beijing, Cn

Responsbilities: I have served as the head of various business lines in succession, including the table booking business line at Dianping.com, merchant-side financial services encompassing loans and liquidity pooling, and the Corporate Dining Service, which is the "Enterprise Edition" of MeituanKey findings: This is the first, typical "blue-blood" internet company that I have deeply experienced at the forefront of the industry. The difference between experiencing it and not lies in the fact that once you have experienced it and reflected on it sufficiently, you can reach a level of understanding of its internal workings that goes beyond being just a user observing from the outside facade. Furthermore, you can essentially guess the general patterns of other internet companies (and the terminologies and "jargons") and the deepest reasons why non-internet companies can never truly bring about certain changes in certain aspects

Shenzhen, Guangdong, Cn

Responsibilities: I served as head of the health-card business line, which was pool-funded by annuity insurance of Ping An. I also led strategic planning and on-site bidding efforts for nationwide health insurance switching and settlement, initated by CIRC (China Insurance Regulatory Commission)Key findings: Ping An and HNA share similarities in ownership structure and business scale, but what sets Ping An apart is its strong professional managerial atmosphere. I was fortunate to have a second close-up observation of another legendary Chinese mixed-ownership conglomerate. For example, anyone who has held middle-level or higher positions at Ping An would be amazed at the scale and depth of its "Ping An University" campus in Shenzhen. Like HNA and other large Chinese conglomerates, Ping An is itself a self-contained society

Haikou, Hainan, Cn

Responsbilities: HNA Pay merged Ubill in 2011, and absorbed/transformed Ubill as the mobile payment branch of the company. I was in charge of this branch throughout my entire serviceKey findings: HNA Pay is a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines Group ("海航"), which was once a legendary conglomerate. It was neither entirely private nor entirely state-owned. From a "middle-level executive" perspective, I observed various remarkable events during the years of its most rapid growth and meteoric rise, still with vivid memories of the days working in its grand headquarters in Hainan island and the interactions with its publicly well-known leaders

Responsibilities: I co-founded the start-up and was in charge of the engineering & product team. Ubill was invested by Oriental Fortune Capital, a renowned Chinese venture capital fund; and it was later acquired/merged by HNA Pay in 2011Key findings: The dimensions of observation are the same as Handpay (the uncertainty, legendary aspects, speculation, etc., of tech startups). What sets it apart is that now I am looking at these dimensions from a more top-down perspective, which brings a whole new level of adrenaline

Responsbilities: Sand ("杉德") is the largest bank card acquiring company in Shanghai, meaning it has deployed a large number of POS terminals in merchants to accept bank card payments. I directly serve the top executive (called "Chairman") of the company, such as tracking the process of certain new business plans from concept to incubation and implementation, conducting early-stage discussions and communications with external strategic partners, and so onKey findings: How does the internal operation of a medium-sized, down-to-earth Chinese private enterprise, which has grown from grassroots origins and doesn't have high-tech labels or elements like venture capital funding or other trendy factors, function when viewed from a top-down perspective?

Responsibilities: I joined the company as the founding employee and was later in charge of the product team. Handpay was later funded by an Australian venture capital fund ("Investorlink China") and focused on mobile payment, as part of the mobile payment eco-system established by China UnionPayKey findings: How small-scale tech startups, not necessarily from prestigious backgrounds and lacking significant spot-light attention (which remains predominantly focused on a select few), operate within China's business environment with elements of randomness, serendipity, "legends", and an inherent invisibility to the outside world, while pursuing survival and triumphs, and balancing between entrepreneurial idealism, short-term profits and temptation of speculation

Cn

Responsibilities: Among the earliest batch of employees of China UnionPay, I was a C/C++ programmer working on the National Bankcard Switching & Settlement System, and I also served as the chief designer and patent owner of the innovative mobile payment product called "CUPMobile" (long before the emergence of Alipay and WeChat Pay)Key findings: How do typical large Chinese SOEs (State-Owned Enterprises) operate internally, and what are the underlying causes for their various outward manifestations (good or bad)?

Bachelor, Computer Science And Technology

Diploma, Economics

Master Of Arts - Ma, Philosophy

Master Of Science - Ms, Education