Owning a US$500 million global hedge fund and retiring from Wall Street as a multi-millionaire at the age of 37 may seem a distant dream for many of us. But for Chatri Sityodtong, something was still “missing in his soul.” In 2011, he eventually turned back to start a business out of his greatest passion as a kid: martial arts.
Chatri Sityodtong started ONE Championship to celebrate Asia’s greatest cultural treasure and its deep-rooted Asian values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline and compassion. Today, it gives Chatri great joy that ONE Championship has become the world’s largest martial arts organization.
Although he had lived through poverty, Chatri does not believe that we were put on this Earth just to pay bills, buy a big home, and drive a nice car. He believes that we were born to unleash our potential so that we may give back to the world more than we receive. Through his companies and foundation, Chatri hopes to alleviate some of the injustices of poverty and inequality throughout the world. Inspired by his vision to pay it forward, we visited ONE Championship’s swanky office within the city to uncover more from the man himself.
Lessons from Harvard Business School:
The most important thing is to find a circle of friends who are like-minded in values and dreams. While I was incredibly lucky to have discovered that circle by sheer luck, it is still important to be conscious about who you surround yourself with. While we had fun together, our values and vision for what we wanted in life were very similar to each other too.
Moreover, I believe a degree is not everything. I have met people with amazing Bachelor’s, Masters, and PhDs who honestly end up doing nothing much in life. On the other hand, I have also met many others who are uneducated but immensely successful in what they are doing. Lifelong learning is not about collecting certifications, but about an organic and insatiable desire to learn every single day.
On mentorship and role models:
Although I do have very good friends around me, I was unfortunately never lucky enough to be personally mentored in life. Nonetheless, I have always been a voracious reader since young and remain fascinated by individuals who are able to achieve extraordinary things in life irregardless of the field they are in. Some examples are Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Steve Jobs, Muhammad Ali and Richard Branson. Therefore, in many aspects, those individuals served as my so-called “mentors” and role models to help me unleash my potential in life. Presently, I mentor many employees and students at ONE Championship and INSEAD respectively.
Giving back more than we receive:
Inspired by the life of my Muay Thai master, Kru Yodtong Senanan, and my own experience with poverty, I launched the EVOLVE Community Outreach Program almost 10 years ago as a way for the EVOLVE Family (students, instructors, World Champions, fighters, and staff) to give back to the world.
With partners like the Boys Town Home, Singapore Children’s Society, Children’s Cancer Foundation, and several other organizations, the EVOLVE Community Outreach Program serves as a pro-bono program for various orphanages, youth homes, and charities and as a platform to unleash human potential through martial arts. Since 2010, the EVOLVE Community Outreach Program has been helping the less fortunate and underprivileged through charitable donations, free martial arts training, life mentorship, gift drives, and sponsored activities such as Movie Nights, Bowling Parties, and Team BBQs for kids from humble backgrounds.
EVOLVE has a mission to change the world for the better by making a positive impact on the lives it touches. A big part of our joy stems from giving back to the community, especially to the less fortunate. Almost all of our instructors and World Champions overcame a life of hardship and poverty with very little food and shelter. Martial arts gave them confidence, tenacity, discipline, and a path to a better life. God has blessed me with so much good luck throughout my life and I genuinely feel that it is now my duty to help millions of people dream more, live more and be more in life!
Building a strong culture at ONE Championship:
If people fight solely for themselves, they might quit and fail easily. However, when you start fighting for a much bigger purpose than yourself, it becomes much harder to fail. When people ask me how I have built ONE Championship into Asia’s largest global sports media property in history in just a mere 7.5 years, I always tell them that it is the magic of our extraordinary team of superstars, dreamers, rebels, mavericks, achievers, rockstars, adventurers, and originals.
I will also be reminded of a story that my Martial Arts Master taught me as a young child: “To be the best, you must surround yourself with the best.” There is also a famous saying in the martial arts world: “If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions.” When I look around ONE Championship, I only see Lions and Lionesses who are striving to be the very best version of themselves together. Every single year at ONE Championship, we only give out one job offer for every 200 applicants because I fundamentally believe we have to surround ourselves with the best. Personally, I am surrounded by people who are smarter and hungrier than me in every way, and that helps me become a better CEO. As a leader, I am genuinely blessed to be serving the greatest team in the world.
Definition of success and personal life motto:
When I was poor, I naively thought that making plenty of money would make me happy. However, that is absolutely untrue, and I believe that the world has it wrong. Success does not create happiness. Happiness creates success. Do what ignites your soul with people you love. Happiness is your reward and success will inevitably follow. As a by-product, you will make money! Ultimately, the more good you do and the more people you help, the more money the business will make.
To put everything into perspective, I would rather be a failure at something I love than be successful at something I hate. Do not fall for the trap of the highest pay, but seek internally on what truly makes you happy and sieve out the noise. How would you want to live your life? What values resonate with you? You may pick the highest paying job out of university, but if it is not something which you are particularly passionate or obsessed about, your career trajectory is going to be very flat. However, if you take on a lower paying job doing something you genuinely believe in, your career trajectory is going to be much more vertical.
Greatest advice for current undergraduates:
Firstly, find a circle of friends that will inspire you to dream more and do more in life. We do not have to be so practical at all times by following conventional means – learning a variety of subject matters is highly beneficial too. Next, practice more self-reflection to find out more about your strengths and weaknesses. Last but not least, look deep within to discover how you would want to leave your mark on this world.
All in all, your happiness has nothing to do with what the rest are doing, so ignore them in search of your own truth. Of course, find a mentor who has already achieved what you aspire to achieve in the future.
Being a true entrepreneur:
In my opinion, the future of Singapore and Asia is entrepreneurship because it drives innovation and progress for a country. Again, do something that ignites your soul. I have received plenty of business pitches from the MBA students at INSEAD, and they are always finding the fastest way to earn the biggest money – that is not entrepreneurship. The minute the money is not there or becomes too hard to get, you quit because there is simply no passion beyond that. Instead, find a problem which you could solve for the world, and which millions of people would benefit from.
One must also be prepared to embrace failure, have resilience and grit in all circumstances. There will always be doubters and naysayers; so be prepared to tackle any problems that might come your way. I think the greatest entrepreneurs are able to attract and retain the very, very best talent to fight with them through tough times.
The most important aspect of a leader:
Leaders must stand for a certain set of values and do everything possible to defend, nurture, and protect those values. I strongly believe that the secret sauce for any company lies within its culture and values. They are the bedrock of the greatest companies on the planet and truly inspire extraordinary achievement. Additionally, the leader is also only as good as the team. Put together, when a leader and his or her team have shared values, aligned goals and a common mission, wonderful things can happen.
On the future of ONE Championship:
ONE Championship has partnered with the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA), the independent governing body for the sport of mixed martial arts worldwide, with a multiyear partnership to elevate the sport of mixed martial arts and prepare it for entry into the Olympics. We share the authentic martial arts values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline and compassion in the same spirit of the Olympics. With this philosophical foundation, I will do everything in my power to lead our sport into the Olympics!
Recent Comments