Christopher Tsao is a senior corporate legal counsel whose career has focused on complex transactions, investment strategy, and business development. He has worked across private equity, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, capital markets, and emerging financial technologies, advising on matters that require coordination among legal, investment, management, and operational stakeholders.
His experience includes assessing new opportunities, structuring investments, conducting due diligence, negotiating commercial terms, preparing transaction documentation, managing regulatory requirements, and supporting portfolio companies after closing. Tsao has also contributed to acquisitions, restructurings, product launches, reporting, post-investment planning, and expansion initiatives.
Tsao served as associate director and legal counsel at Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments Limited, where he supported investment and compliance matters involving private equity, venture capital, listed companies, debt products, and secondary investments. Earlier, as vice president of legal at Kenetic Capital, he worked on cryptocurrency and blockchain investment transactions, structured instruments, joint ventures, corporate finance matters, intellectual property, and regulatory engagement. He also supported the launch of a Bitcoin tracking product approved by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission.
At the beginning of his career, Tsao trained and practiced in the corporate group at Baker McKenzie, advising on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, capital markets, and corporate matters. He holds an LLB from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a postgraduate certificate in laws from the University of Hong Kong. Based in Asia, he works in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Tsao is also an entrepreneur and the founder and sole owner of 99 Bottles in Soho, Hong Kong. He built the bar concept while practicing law full-time, demonstrating the same combination of strategic planning, negotiation, and hands-on execution that has defined his professional career.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
My day starts early and finishes late. I get the kids ready to go to school and commute from the countryside into town. My day is packed with calls and meetings, but I go to the gym to switch off and decompress at lunch. The workday continues after I get home and put the kids to bed. I make it productive by setting out all my tasks one day at a time and gamify it by knocking them down and crossing them off one at a time. It keeps the dopamine hits coming and stops me from procrastinating wherever I am working from.
How do you bring ideas to life?
The 99 Bottles business idea came from my own experience standing outside 7-Eleven in Lan Kwai Fong drinking with friends. In Hong Kong the nickname is club 7-Eleven. It’s a popular way for people to experience nightlife on a budget, as there are no outside drinking restrictions in this city.
My wife (who was my girlfriend at the time) questioned why she was getting dressed up to stand outside 7-Eleven with my friends and I, and I thought that was a very valid point. So I created the city’s first “sexy 7-eleven” with self-serve fridges full of craft drinks, a small bar counter, and alfresco drinking on the street. It looks and feels like a 7-Eleven, but with soul, music, and good vibes only. It also has a functioning toilet. Take that 7-Eleven!
What’s one trend that excites you?
The loneliness epidemic is a global problem that is acute in Hong Kong. Particularly, people think that loneliness affects the retirees and elderly the most, but studies have shown that it’s actually the relatively young working-age people who are surrounded by people at work and in the city, but find no connection or genuine human interactions.
I think the explosion of social wellness and fitness addresses that epidemic to various degrees of authenticity, and I am constantly thinking about ways to start a second business in wellness that is rooted in delivering a superior experience within an existing business model, in the same way I started 99 Bottles.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
My daily hour in the gym over lunch time helps me to reset mentally, releases the endorphins, and sets me up for the rest of the day.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Be open-minded. Human civilization was built by people who believed in things that didn’t really exist in the observable world, like law, money, and religion. The best opportunities arise from powerful ideas that sound outlandish and downright crazy.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
You can become anyone you want by repeatedly telling yourself that that is who you are over time. Your mind will find a way if you will yourself into it.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
A lunchtime exercise routine is non-negotiable in order to keep your mind focused. Even a short workout gives me a chance to reset before returning to the rest of the day.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Meditating and walking to clear my mind. This helps me reset and return to what needs my attention with greater focus.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
I have adopted a five-year plan on where I want myself and my business and my career to be, similar to state planning cycles, and work backwards on what I need to achieve to get there.
I find five-year time periods to be optimal for several reasons. First, it’s long enough to discount distortions from a bad week, month, or even a bad year Second, it’s not so long that it’s unrealistic to have any idea where you will be. Thirdly, there are enough five-year periods in my career that each period should look significantly different than the next.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
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What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I think that physical, offline, and socially connected experiences are going to become a premium experience that people are willing to pay for. There are plenty of wellness businesses built around leisure, sport, and self-care, but those do not help provide purpose or meaning. I think there is great potential in a community-based business where users get matched with real-life everyday jobs or volunteer positions in all walks of life (everything from food kitchens, education, sports, manual labor, and NGOs). Whoever can remove the friction involved in that (curated experiences, applications, insurance, mental barriers, commitment flexibility, and logistics) can create a win-win business that gives people greater satisfaction than any wellness club can.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
I don’t rely on one specific piece of software for productivity. I choose the software that best fits each task and use it to stay organized and meet deadlines.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
Surf camp for my elder son and me. We have both caught the surf bug and it’s a fantastic bonding experience to be learning this sport together. It also reminded me to do things just for fun and not always to achieve some specific personal goal.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
The psychology of money. It helped me reframe how I think about money and investing and steered me through some important market cycles where critical decisions had to be made.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I haven’t watched anything recently that stood out. I’m always open to suggestions.
Key learnings
● Finding business ideas based on your own life experiences and frustrations is the most obvious place to start.
● It is perfectly feasible to hold down a full-time career and have a side quest business that can bring you passive income for years to come.
● In the AI everything age, loneliness and a lack of purpose are epidemics that also create enormous meaningful business opportunities.