Saving and growing one's money is a family value for start-up CEO

She learnt how to manage risks watching her parents’ financial adventures and acumen

- Rosalind Ang

There is no gene that gives people a propensity for financial skills, but Ms Sherry Jiang has the next best thing – parents who are shining examples of investment success and who live by their creed that one must not only save, but must also grow the money.

She learnt how to manage risks in her front-row seat watching her parents' financial adventures and acumen in investing the little they had and growing it so that the family could be stable financially.

It is surely no coincidence that her favourite games during her childhood all had a money-making and management angle. There was the economics-themed board game Monopoly, the construction and management simulation video game Rollercoaster Tycoon and virtual pet browser game Neopets.

"That's how I knew at a young age that I probably would go into some kind of business-leaning career," she said.

She realised early on that she didn't want to spend her whole life in a corporate job – she wanted freedom to start her own businesses and learn to grow her money instead of simply saving it up.

Ms Jiang, 33, enjoyed her years in big tech after her graduation. She started at Amazon, then went on to Google, where she spent six years.

"What's always driven me is a desire to humanise technology – making powerful tools more accessible and emotionally resonant so more people can benefit from them in their daily lives," she said.

But she did not forget her entrepreneurial ambitions, which led her to her current role as co-founder and chief executive of Peek, a start-up based in Singapore. It offers a money management app run by artificial intelligence (AI). The app gives users a conversational, task-based experience with coaching in financial management.