Earlier today, ONE Championship, an Asian sports media company, announced they’ve just secured equity investment from Sequoia Capital, which now brings their total funding to $100 million.
I recently had the pleasure of talking to their chairman and CEO, Chatri Sityodtong, while he was in Hong Kong for RISE, and was immediately struck by his passion and determination to build a business.
But what has led to the rapid rise of ONE Championship? I spoke with Sityodtong about experiences and uncovered five key factors behind the success of this burgeoning business.
1. Secure The Best Partnerships
For any business to scale efficiently, you need to leverage partnerships. And ideally, major ones. When mentoring the startups in our accelerator, Betatron, we always emphasize this on a daily basis.
It quickly became apparent that anything Sityodtong does, he only goes for the best. Regarding investor partners, they have that box checked. With Sequoia now on board, who have invested in some of the world’s leading global brands like Apple, Google, WhatsApp, Oracle and YouTube (just to name a few), ONE has an investment partner who can take them to the next level.
Aside from investment, other notable global partnerships they've managed to leverage over the past few years include Disney, Facebook, Marvel, Under Armour, Sony, Universal Music Group, GoDaddy, Haier, Kawasaki and L’Oreal.
2. Focus On Asian Fighters
Asia has been home to martial arts for the past 5,000 years, so it made sense for Sityodtong to build a company based on these historical and traditional values.
Sityodtong told me, “ONE focuses on creating Asian martial arts heroes and developing local talent. Because of this, over the last few years, ONE Championship has emerged with the largest selection of elite Asian martial artists and world champions, who practice various martial arts that have originated in Asia. These include Silat, Muay Thai, and Lethwei, to name a few. In terms of big names in the MMA industry, we have local Asian stars such as Angela Lee, Eduard Folayang, and Shinya Aoki.”
3. Leverage Online Broadcasting & Social Media
ONE holds at least one live event each month across cities all over Asia. Their plans for 2018 are even more ambitious with 24-30 shows scheduled. These live events are key to developing their online broadcasting technology and social media channels. Yes, it’s important to put on the best "live" show, but it's also crucial to focus on producing the best, high-quality online broadcasts of that event and invest heavily in your social media channels to generate attention.
By honing this online strategy, ONE Championship has shown a 58% increase in total fans year on year, nearly five times more video views at 299 million, and over three times more social media shares at 746,000.
4. Localized Events Tailored To Each City
ONE Championship has consistently provided fans with a unique experience at its live events. Sityodtong told me, “We want to ensure the atmosphere is always electric and the pace is very fast, laden with elements of a party-like environment or that of a rock concert.”
Each event is slightly different. Sityodtong knows that understanding each country’s culture is the key to creating the best, tailored event for each city. This has led to our events consistently selling out, all across the region.
5. Learn Business Lessons From Martial Arts
Sityodtong, 46, is a black-belt and former fighter himself. Now though, he is purely focused on driving the organization forwards. Yet before he became a self-made millionaire, he came from extremely humble beginnings.
During the Asian financial crisis, his parents and younger brother became homeless and had to survive on one meal a day. His father went bankrupt and abandoned the family, leaving Sityodtong to pick up the responsibility and provide for everyone.
Sityodtong explained to me, “martial Arts can be a great teacher of valuable life and business lessons. These include patience, discipline, understanding your opponent, learning to deal with discomfort, and most importantly, learning to get back up every time you get knocked down, which happens on a daily basis as an entrepreneur.”
Sityodtong added, “Martial arts actually saved my life and rescued me from hardship, poverty and the constant perils that come with a life spent living constantly on a knife edge.”
Learning these important life lessons early on and combining them with martial arts make Sityodtong today a business force you wouldn't bet against.
