Shurong Li is Head of Marketing at Tokeny, she joined the company in 2018.

Reflecting on the 6-year Journey

You’ve been with the company for six years now, starting as an intern and now leading the department. How has the company supported your growth during this time?

Giving up is how we define failure. Thanks to this spirit, we’ve been given a safe and supportive environment to try, fail, and try again until we succeed. It feels like each single one of us is an independent entrepreneur within a group of entrepreneur communities. We embrace failures and we celebrate wins. I’m really thankful for being part of the team where I feel fully empowered and trusted throughout each stage, from the beginning as a junior to now holding a leadership position. This drives me to push my limits to keep learning and growing.

Tokeny’s Culture Involvement

Tokeny has grown significantly since you joined. How has the company culture evolved in your opinion?

In the early days, when we were just a team of 8, everything felt like an exciting experiment. We moved extremely fast, and exchanged ideas freely, and every day was a new opportunity to innovate. Our culture thrived on flexibility and passion. As we grew to over 40, things began to shift. All departments grew bigger, and communication across teams became more complex.

We’ve introduced standardized processes and well-defined personal objectives and key desired results that have brought order without stifling creativity. Our culture, in my view, has only become stronger. We’ve managed to keep a safe and supportive environment where everyone can do their best work, knowing they have a clear goal to achieve and a process to follow. It’s this balance between agility and structure that makes me excited about our future.

The last point I’d like to emphasize is that our team is committed to both achieving results and maintaining work-life balance. When urgent matters arise, we tackle them swiftly and efficiently, ensuring that nothing is left unresolved. At the same time, if no urgent issues arise, we ensure that our team members can fully enjoy their holidays, recognizing that recharging is essential for sustained performance. Management genuinely puts people first, valuing rest as a way to prevent burnout and keep energy levels high. This balanced approach allows us to consistently deliver exceptional results while keeping the team motivated and at their best.

Leadership Style

Now that you’re the Head of Marketing, how would you describe your leadership style, and how do you ensure that the collaborative and supportive environment you first experienced continues to thrive under your guidance?

When I think about leadership, I often reflect on the lessons I’ve learned from those who have led me, especially our CEO, Luc. Luc is a true visionary, someone who inspires everyone around him. Watching him lead, I realized that being a great leader isn’t just about giving orders, it’s about being a supportive mentor who inspires others to reach their full potential. I would describe my leadership style as such as well.

I believe in the power of starting with why. Whenever I give guidance, I always begin by explaining why a task is important and why we should approach it a certain way. This approach helps my team understand the bigger picture and see how their work fits into our overall goals. And often, it sparks new ideas and better solutions, as team members feel empowered to contribute their perspectives.

At the heart of my leadership philosophy is a simple belief: it’s all about caring for people. I strive to create an environment where everyone feels safe, supported, and valued. To me, leadership is about being human and supporting people to achieve great things. After all, when people feel cared for and understood, they are more likely to bring their best selves to their work.

In the end, my goal is to inspire my team, just as Luc has inspired me, to believe in themselves and in the impact they can make. I think all of the leaders at Tokeny have a similar approach, and this is what drives Tokeny to achieve extraordinary things. By building a culture of trust, clarity, and shared purpose, we honor one of Tokeny’s core values: putting people first.

Company Values in Practice

You mentioned in your previous interview how much you appreciated the creativity and boldness the company encourages. Can you share an example of a project where you or your team took a bold approach, and how it was received?

Creating the non-profit ERC-3643 Association was one of the boldest steps we’ve taken, driven by our vision of unlocking open finance for everyone. At first, it seemed like we might have more to lose than to gain. By forming a non-profit association, we welcomed contributions from anyone. We knew it would drive opportunities for others and create more competition.  However, we believed in a bigger picture.

Our mission is to break down the silos of finance, because that’s the only way we, as an industry, can achieve what we all want: an open and connected financial world. Forming a non-profit association was a bold decision we made to reach that goal, and it paid off.

Today, ERC-3643 is recognized by financial institutions and governments as a market standard. More than 75 members have joined the association, and numerous partnerships have been formed thanks to interoperability. It has even been awarded the “Best Initiative of the Year” by Deloitte. We will continue contributing to the industry through this association to accelerate the adoption of onchain finance.

Reflections and Future Outlook

If you could give advice to your younger self, just starting out at Tokeny, what would it be?

If I could give my younger self advice, it would be to start long-term content creation much earlier. I began focusing on it only four years ago, but writing is valuable for all professionals, not just those in marketing. It helps solidify knowledge, clarify thoughts, and deepen understanding. I’ve grown to enjoy it so much that it’s become a personal habit, where I write and reflect regularly. It’s not just about writing more, but about crafting concise and impactful communication. This practice has sharpened my thinking and helped me quickly dive into and understand any new topic.

As someone who has been with the company through significant milestones, where do you see Tokeny going in the next five years, and how do you envision your role evolving in that journey?

Over the past seven years, I’ve witnessed the market shift from having no institutional interest to now working closely with many of them. The transformation has been remarkable. We’re currently at the early adopter stage of the technology adoption curve of tokenization. The next five years will be the most exciting yet, as we expect massive adoption to really take off. Looking ahead, I see Tokeny playing a pivotal role in accelerating the adoption of onchain finance.

While the technology itself is not an issue when working with a provider like us, operational shifts are challenging because they change how the value chain works, requiring each stakeholder to adapt. As a tech provider, our goal is to make the integration and operation processes as seamless as possible, ensuring everything runs smoothly. However, for this to happen, everyone in the value chain needs to understand the benefits of tokenized assets, as well as the risks of not adopting them, so they don’t become blockers to adoption.

All it takes is market education. My role will continue to create educational and engaging content that people are genuinely interested in reading, watching, and sharing. By spreading knowledge, we can guide professionals to thrive and understand why they should embrace onchain finance and how they can succeed in this transition. Together, we can drive the future of finance, transforming the way the world transfers and manages value.