We recently had the chance to connect with Chen Li and have shared our conversation below.
Chen, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your customers?
One of the most surprising things I’ve learned about our customers is how deeply community influences commerce for them. When we started Palmstreet, we imagined a marketplace where people could buy and sell unique plants, collectible items, and handmade goods. What we didn’t fully predict was how much buyers cared about who they were buying from, not just what they were purchasing.
Our customers aren’t just shopping; they’re forming relationships. They follow their favorite sellers like influencers, tune into their live streams to learn, laugh, and ask questions, and often support them the same way you would support a friend’s small business. It’s not transactional; it’s personal.
This level of connection has reshaped how we think about growth. It’s shown us that the future of ecommerce isn’t just about efficiency or convenience; it’s about trust, storytelling, and belonging. And for Palmstreet, that community isn’t a “feature”; it’s the engine driving our entire live commerce platform.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Chen Li and I am the co-founder and CEO of Palmstreet. Palmstreet is a one-of-a-kind live shopping platform used by over 2 million people to buy and sell unique items like rare plants, aquatics, beauty products, handmade goods, collectibles, and luxury items. Before Palmstreet, I spent years at big tech companies like Meta and Apple, helping those large companies scale, but I kept feeling pulled to strike out and build something of my own.
What makes Palmstreet unique is that the users of our platform know each other, they talk during and after live streams, and they have built strong relationships with each other across all categories on the app. Palmstreet empowers sellers to build real businesses through authenticity. Whether it’s a rare houseplant grower, an aquatics breeder, or a collectibles seller, our platform allows them to demonstrate their expertise, go live on their time, answer questions with no lag or interruption, and form real relationships with their customers who appreciate what they do.
Right now, we’re focused on expanding tools that make live commerce easier and more profitable for entrepreneurs. These tools will allow them to scale without needing to rely on influencer fame, tight marketing budgets, or a full-time production team. Our mission is to make it possible for anyone to turn their passion into a successful business, one live stream at a time.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
I always learn from the best people in different fields.
My mentor at Apple taught me so much about how to build world-class products—it’s all about unrelenting pursuit of details. I learned how to develop reliable software that is robust against all kinds of scenarios. I also learned why it’s important to always challenge my own and each other’s work again and again—the painfulness and iterations are necessities to creating world-class products.
Then I learned from Dr. Jian Lu, who was my mentor during my internship and later became president of LinkedIn China, about how to build a startup—the importance of always thinking big, how to pace fundraising, how to design an organization given different stages of a company, and the many competitive environments, while also tailoring different strategies.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
All my wounds were earned building Palmstreet—any setbacks before this feel insignificant by comparison.
A memorable one comes from the early days when I ran customer support for the platform. In a live-streaming environment, the emotions of buyers and sellers become greatly amplified and ultimately manifest as extreme demands directed at customer support. During the most stressful times, our platform GMV exploded 10 times in 6 months, together with our support ticket volume. So on top of already long working hours, I had to spend another 4 hours each day calling and comforting angry customers, drafting updated versions of customer support processes at 10pm every night, and preparing for follow-ups the next day.
I decided wounds and scars are better for entrepreneurs and startups—they make the founder and the business stronger. A wound will heal by itself when you learn something from it.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I have been and will always be committed to strengthening human connections. When I worked at Instagram, the company’s mission was to create meaningful connections through cameras. Then I helped build Firework, whose product was to connect people with creators through short videos. Now I’m building Palmstreet, which is the online main street of the world, connecting people through hobby communities and live streaming video format.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
When I sit by the seaside and watch the waves. By observing the magnitude of Mother Nature, I am reminded of how small humans are, how small I am, and how small my seemingly huge problems are. Humans are so short-lived compared to the universe, but whatever we build, if used and loved by other people, becomes the meaning of our presence.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://palmstreet.app/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palmstreetapp/
- Twitter: https://x.com/palmstreetapp
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/palmstreetApp/
Image Credits
Palmstreet
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