Interview, written by: Authority Magazine
Compiled by: Frank, Foresight News
Authority Magazine: Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Yi He: I co-founded Binance in 2017 because I saw the opportunity to leverage cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to provide others with greater financial access and freedom. Currently, I lead business, investments, marketing, and brand strategy as co-founder and head of Binance Labs, the incubator and venture arm of Binance.
Over the past six years I have worked in many different areas and roles, leading business units across marketing, client services, M&A and investments, and now as the company continues to mature I am able to bring all of that experience and Professional knowledge is brought into a more "coaching" role. Throughout this process, my ultimate goal has remained the same: to ensure and safeguard the long-term success of the company to the benefit of its users.
We wouldn't exist without our users, who are at the heart of everything we do.
Before co-founding Binance, I served as Vice President at Yixia Technology, a mobile video technology company that developed popular mobile apps such as Miaopai, Xiaokaxiu, and Yizbo. I was responsible for leading brand strategy and marketing operations and was a vital part of the financing strategy that drove the company’s valuation to over $3 billion.
Between 2014 and 2015, I was also the co-founder of another crypto-asset exchange (Foresight News notes, He Yi served as the co-founder of OKCoin). Before joining the blockchain field, I was an anchor on a TV station. Earlier, I also worked as a teacher and an assistant psychotherapist.
I came from a humble background, growing up in a small province in China where economic opportunities were scarce and higher education was even rarer. Most people in my hometown drop out of school before they turn 16 to work in factories. I also questioned the nature of money at that time and read many books, but did not find the answer. It wasn’t until 2013 that I first encountered Bitcoin and saw a path that could actually solve the global economic barriers.
This ultimately led to my decision to become the co-founder of Binance in 2017 and aspire to change the future of finance. As co-founder of Binance, I led the business strategy that helped Binance become the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world within six months of launch and transformed Binance from its early days as a single platform for cryptocurrency trading to become The global blockchain ecosystem has enabled it to build a unique user-centered model.
Throughout my career in crypto, I have been passionate about increasing transparency and accountability, and increasing economic freedom in the industry through all of my efforts as a leader in the space. Based on my upbringing, I have developed a passionate philosophy around creating better wealth distribution and increasing monetary freedom through the fundamental means of cryptocurrency/blockchain.
The belief that I have always adhered to is to do valuable things.
Authority Magazine: Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started leading Binance?
He Yi: In September 2017, the first month I joined Binance, China introduced a policy banning cryptocurrency exchanges. The Binance founding team, including myself, was stationed in Shanghai from July to September 2017 when the company was in its early stages of development.
Therefore, policy changes caused us to withdraw from the Chinese market and enter the global market, which also caused me to leave my cultural and linguistic comfort zone and need to learn English and different cultures and business cultures around the world. Despite repeated setbacks in the industry, we decided to persevere and go all-in on cryptocurrencies. Even in the face of tremendous challenges, my belief in the tremendous potential of cryptocurrencies remains steadfast.
Authority Magazine: Can you share the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting a business? Can you tell us what lessons you learned from this?
He Yi: This is not a mistake, but a practice that sometimes causes controversy. We were one of the first companies in the industry to help users recover cryptocurrencies that were lost or mistakenly sent to the wrong address/blockchain network. We put in more effort for our users than other companies at the time, however some people in the industry felt that our intervention was too much. Too much.
As most cryptocurrency traders and industry insiders know, recovering funds sent to wrong addresses, as well as recovering funds from Scam scams or Rug Pulls is difficult. Many Rug Pulls are associated with DeFi projects and are listed and traded on DEXs, where governance decisions are coordinated by the community and require approval by their network’s validators.
Binance is a centralized exchange and has no control over funds in the decentralized ecosystem, but we will support the community where possible by blacklisting attackers’ addresses (this requires approval from network validators) and support Law enforcement investigates and identifies criminals. We invest significant time and resources in our internal security and investigation teams to do this. Our users come first and our top priority is protecting them and the ecosystem.
Most of the time, we receive thanks and positive feedback from our users. But in some cases, users expect quick resolution and may blame us for not being prompt or providing enough help. Looking back, these were interesting opportunities for reflection and learning about how sometimes doing the right thing can backfire. But we always learn from every criticism, insist on doing the right thing even if it means additional challenges, and always adhere to our core values of user-centeredness.
Authority Magazine: No one’s success would be possible without help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are particularly grateful for who helped you achieve what you have today? Can you share a story about this?
He Yi: CZ, founder and CEO of Binance.
Binance has grown rapidly and has become the world's leading cryptocurrency platform in a short period of time. During this period of rapid development, I sometimes pushed too aggressively and CZ gave me direct and constructive feedback. Keeping me grounded and always making sure I and the team are doing the right things has helped me grow and reflect quickly and become more mature over time.
Authority Magazine: According to EY, only about 20% of funded companies currently have female founders, which is both a huge historical improvement and an indication that more still needs to be done to empower women to start companies, according to you From your perspective and experience, what are the main factors currently preventing women from starting companies?
He Yi: In many industries, you will find that the proportion of women in leadership positions is very small. The fundamental reason is that social expectations limit women's personal and professional development, and people are often influenced by their environment and shaped by social norms and values.
Many women don’t speak out or pursue leadership positions because their families, schools, or friends don’t encourage them to do so. I suggest that women should take a more proactive approach and seize opportunities. They'll never know what they can do if they don't try. In tech or other emerging industries, women can be bolder and take more risks. Through pathways of education and opportunity, women should continue to challenge themselves and know that they can be successful leaders. I encourage women to rise to the challenge.
There are definitely some barriers that hold women back, and overcoming them does take a huge amount of effort. The good news is that we are seeing more and more female leaders playing important roles in the crypto industry.
As for Binance, we have an internal culture and various efforts to support female leadership and employees, including external Women in Technology programs (education and scholarships) to encourage more women to embrace and participate in the cryptocurrency and innovation industries.
Authority Magazine: Can you help shed light on some of the things that individuals, society or governments can do to help overcome these barriers?
He Yi: For individuals:
You should develop your personal abilities and skills and remain a lifelong learner, this is how you compete and succeed;
You must be confident and assertive in character, and you must have a strong mentality. Even with the pressures of life, work and being a woman in society, keep moving forward and trying. Don’t be ashamed of your ambitions, stay true to yourself and don’t let others belittle your abilities, especially yourself, as your own mind can become a battleground;
Don’t focus too much on your identity as a woman, focus on your output and getting things done;
For society, we need to encourage gender diversity in the workplace, by promoting equal access to educational resources, such as creating inclusive learning environments, and providing mentoring and networking opportunities for women, and challenging gender stereotypes in daily work, like the crypto industry Such emerging innovative industries tend to provide more opportunities for people, and I encourage more women to bravely join them.
At Binance, we recognize the value of bridging the gender gap and have been actively working to close it. More than 35% of Binance’s senior leadership, including executives and managers, are currently women. Our organization provides a very supportive environment for female executives and employees to succeed, including promotion opportunities after maternity leave, as long as they are strong in ability and output and can successfully lead a team, which many women at Binance have experienced Overcame this situation and received a promotion.
Authority Magazine: As a female founder, can you share a few reasons why more women should be founders?
He Yi: True equality can only be achieved when there are enough female founders in the world that there is no longer a discussion and topic of "why more women should be founders." From an ideological perspective, breaking the glass ceiling for women means truly equal opportunities.
There are no real differences in skills and abilities between women and men. Regardless of gender, everyone has unique gifts. Women should not be constrained by society, environment and history, and their talents should be encouraged rather than suppressed. More female founders can inspire more women to fearlessly chase their dreams. In this process, we will see a more diverse and colorful entrepreneurial environment, with more innovative ideas emerging to promote further global development.
Additionally, women make up half of the world’s population, and having diverse teams and leadership allows us to have a comprehensive view that is not limited to one demographic group. The world is more global than ever, and diverse perspectives are critical to success.
Authority Magazine: What “myths” about entrepreneurs would you like to dispel? Can you explain what you mean?
He Yi: The positive “myth”: seeing the founders’ success and achievements, when the reality behind the scenes is that we work hard every day, endlessly, to continue to develop our strengths and achieve “rapid” growth .
A taboo “myth”: Successful women or founders use their appearance to gain more opportunities, or it’s a result of their accomplishments and it’s a form of discrimination. I personally don't care about people's criticism of me, whether it is myths or misunderstandings, I don't live for others and have a clear understanding of who I am. Successful founders and leaders continue to break down the myths, misunderstandings, and stereotypes they face every day.
Authority Magazine: Is being a founder suitable for everyone? What specific characteristics do you think increase the likelihood of a person being a successful founder, and which type of person might be better suited to looking for a “normal job” as an employee?
He Yi: Founder Traits - Successful founders are lifelong learners. They are ambitious, have a bottom line, and have strong execution capabilities. They know that their background (originality) is not important, but their skills and ability to make effective decisions, especially in the face of uncertainty. When they face the unknown, they know that perseverance is more important than giving up. Entrepreneurship is fraught with uncertainty and requires making good decisions under challenging circumstances with limited information. They know the importance of the bottom line, and the importance of iterating and executing quickly.
Job type: Most young professionals start their careers with a “regular job” type. They should start their careers by striving to gain a comprehensive understanding of the world. This will allow them to gain experience in different fields and better understand themselves and the nature of their work. In this way, they will learn how to withstand pressure and develop qualities such as vision and strong execution.
Binance has an entrepreneurial culture that encourages internal entrepreneurship, allowing people to challenge themselves and launch their own projects in a relatively low-pressure environment. We like to recruit employees with entrepreneurial experience because they are more likely to have a better understanding of themselves and their abilities.
Authority Magazine: What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started my business”? Why (please share a story or example each)?
He Yi: Only one. Don’t dwell on regrets, accept negative or positive outcomes with grace because it’s a part of life and will provide valuable lessons no matter what.
I prefer to be aligned with stakeholders, maintain transparency, and accept all potential outcomes once a decision is made. While some may seek more knowledge or advice before embarking on a project, I believe failure and difficulty are essential to personal growth and we cannot fully understand them unless we experience them firsthand.
Authority Magazine: How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Yi He: When I co-founded Binance, we helped reshape the crypto industry to make it more user-centric. For example, we have significantly reduced transaction fees to benefit more users. We also took the lead in building a leading customer service system when the industry was just starting and developing to help users solve problems in a timely manner. At its core, the crypto industry is focused on increasing efficiency today, which aligns with our mission to advance monetary freedom and our unique user-centric culture.
Additionally, I helped create Binance Labs, our venture capital and incubation arm to give back to the industry and expand adoption by supporting and investing in strong projects and startups with long-term growth potential. We have invested in cryptocurrency and Web3 projects, managed over $9 billion in total assets, covered over 250 portfolios from 25 countries on 6 continents, and incubated 50 projects.
We help many young entrepreneurs and startups build and grow their businesses, which is what drives Binance Labs and Binance.
Throughout my tenure at Binance leadership, I have also made a commitment and effort to give back to the community, including spearheading the creation of our philanthropic arm, Binance Charitable Foundation. Binance Charity is the first blockchain-powered non-profit organization dedicated to promoting transparent philanthropy. We have donated more than $30 million to date through a range of global sustainability efforts, including philanthropic work and donations, to help alleviate poverty and economic inequality and increase education and opportunity for women.
We have launched several philanthropic initiatives such as the Lunch for Kids Programme, Web3 Scholarships, Pink Cares Project (a social impact initiative to tackle period poverty) and many more.
Authority Magazine: You are a huge influencer, if you could start a movement that would bring the most good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
He Yi: Many years ago, someone asked me what kind of person I wanted to be. I said I wanted to be someone who could change the world.
So far I have achieved some small efforts aimed at bringing positive change in the world, but it is not enough and I will continue on this path to do more.
Cryptocurrency makes money more efficient, and I want to help more people (including regulators and key populations) see the real value behind it and how it can help improve lives in society as a whole.
Mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies will bring huge benefits to the majority of people and is an effective way to drive financial inclusion and improve lives for greater well-being. I believe that in 10 years, cryptocurrencies will be as standard a part of daily life as mobile phones or electronic payments. It will be transmitted in global value chains in the same way that the Internet transmits information. We and the industry are only just getting started. We hope that through cryptocurrencies Further promote financial freedom and fairness, thereby improving the lives of more people.
Authority Magazine: Is there a person with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why?
He Yi: Overall, I hope to have dinner with and learn from successful people in various fields, especially those who are industry pioneers. Examples include Elon Musk, who embodies first principles and continues to push boundaries; Jeff Bezos, who emphasizes long-term thinking; and Sheryl Sandberg, who empowers many women in the workplace.
Also, I admire Lady Gaga and Angelina Jolie, who remain true to themselves, ambitious, and independent even in the face of criticism.
