Tony Gao: The Invisible Side of a Young Entrepreneur

Written by Hanzhang Qin

Tony Gao, born in 1994, is a young entrepreneur who was listed on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list in 2017. He co-founded Easy Transfer, China’s largest platform for international students to pay their tuition fees. How did he break into the competitive market for tuition payments, and what inspired him to start a business while in college? This article will look back at Tony’s entrepreneurial journey and the challenges he faced along the way.

Born into an intellectual family in Beijing, Tony’s father worked in finance, and his mother was an accountant. A summer school experience during high school convinced Tony to study in the United States, as he longed for a diverse educational environment and a liberal atmosphere. However, upon arriving in the U.S., Tony found that paying tuition, a seemingly simple task for locals, was unexpectedly complicated for international students. It required not only filling out numerous English documents and student information forms but also providing detailed information about the school’s bank account, enrollment certification, and more. This was a major challenge for Tony’s mother back in China. From that moment on, Tony began thinking about how to solve this tuition payment problem.

Tony successfully applied to the University of Southern California, where he met Shang Xiao, his co-founder and former high school classmate. Shang, who had interned at Nelnet, believed their student payment platform was worth learning from. Tony agreed, and the two decided to start a business together. In the early stages, Shang communicated their ideas and plans to Nelnet’s management. Although Nelnet expressed concerns about the feasibility of the project, they still signed a cooperation agreement. However, 2013 was not a smooth year. China’s major banks faced international reputation damage due to money laundering scandals. Even after completing a 200-page investigation report, Nelnet decided to cancel the agreement. After briefly reflecting on their setback, Tony and Shang decided to pursue the project on their own. In March 2013, Easy Transfer was established with a registered capital of 1 million yuan. Shang was mainly responsible for the product, including platform design, development, and process management. Tony, on the other hand, focused on university outreach and market expansion.

The product and technology aspects were not challenging for the duo, who managed to launch their website within a month and a half. However, connecting with American high schools and universities proved to be difficult. If they couldn’t secure these resources, their entire venture would be in vain. In April of that year, Tony and his team began traveling back and forth between the East and West coasts of the U.S., covering 200,000 kilometers and negotiating with 300 schools. Despite many setbacks, they made no progress. It seemed impossible for a college freshman like Tony to negotiate partnerships with top universities like an investment expert. But when all hope seemed lost, the director of Tony’s high school extended a helping hand. After a 3-hour conversation, the director signed a cooperation agreement with Tony, saying, “Today you take pride in your alma mater; I hope that tomorrow it will take pride in you.” With one school as a model, the following months became much easier. Tony and Shang quickly secured partnerships with top 50 high schools and top 100 universities in the U.S., including prestigious Ivy League schools such as Harvard, MIT, and Yale by the end of 2013.

Tony initially thought that his connections with American universities would easily secure domestic bank partnerships, but he constantly faced rejection. Banks did not trust a 19-year-old and could not see any potential profit in his product, as studying abroad and paying tuition fees were low-frequency behaviors. Undeterred, Tony unilaterally asked the bank to propose a collaboration term. Eventually, the bank agreed to a stringent condition of charging a 0.8% to 1% transaction fee. Although this was better than the 3% credit card fee, it was much more expensive than traditional offline wire transfers, meaning his company had no cost advantage.

Despite the harsh reality, Tony managed to secure 200 orders for the bank within a few months. The following year, the bank lowered the transaction fee to 0.2%. However, during the early stages of the company, the costs of events and promotion were significant. After several events, their million-yuan balance quickly dwindled. Tony asked his father for another million yuan, which his father readily provided as a learning experience. By June 2015, the company had nearly depleted the funds again. Tony and his partner quickly realized that they could no longer rely solely on their own capital.

In early June, Tony and his partner met the renowned Chinese angel investor Xue Manzi at an angel investment event and presented their financing plan, but Xue didn’t respond. Tony, who had already bought a ticket to return to Los Angeles on June 12th, decided to try contacting Xue again on June 10th. During their meeting, Tony only had five minutes to present his plans and goals. Whether it was Tony’s age or Xue’s understanding of the business model, Xue finally approved the financing plan, saying, “The product is the entrance, and the community is the business model. I’ll invest in this project! Please don’t let me down.”

With the support of the financial mogul, Tony’s company began to expand rapidly, with the number of registered customers quickly surpassing 5,000. In the first three months of 2016, the transaction volume increased to over 100 million, and the team expanded to over 40 members. In April 2016, the company received a Pre-A round of financing worth tens of millions of RMB from IDG Capital. In the first quarter of 2017, the transaction volume reached 1 billion, a tenfold increase year-on-year.

Thus, a successful study abroad payment platform was born. Although starting a business relies on timing and luck, we can see from Tony’s experience that his determination, courage, and confidence were the catalysts for creating EasyTransfer. Today, the platform continues to thrive and expand, providing a seamless solution for international students to pay their tuition fees. Tony’s entrepreneurial journey serves as an inspiring example of perseverance and innovation, demonstrating that even in the face of adversity, it’s possible to achieve great success with the right mindset and resources.

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