#Asia #China What Corporate VCs Get Wrong About Startups with Andrew Gaule, CEO of Aimava

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One way for startups to grow or even exit is to work with corporates. Are corporates looking for financial return or strategic values while working with startups? For entrepreneurs, what are the challenges and opportunities to have corporates as their shareholders? How do overseas corporates see the chances in China? In this episode, we invited Andrew Gaule who has almost 20 years experience in Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) to analyze both sides of the table and delivered insights and suggestions for corporates and startups.

Show notes:

[1:10] Introducing Andrew Gaule

[4:57] The land of corporate venture capital (CVC)

[7:50] Challenges to have corporates as shareholders

[11:13] The motivation of CVC – financial return and strategic values

[19:15] How to protect startups’ advantages

[21:50] Things that CVC are doing wrong when approaching startups

[24:10] Corporates to think about China

[28:30] How to leverage the innovation in China for the rest of the world

[32:40] Challenges of CVC in China

[38:08] Concerns for startups to work with Chinese investors

[39:24] The impact of Trade War

Many thanks to our host Oscar Ramos, guest Andrew Gaule, editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com.

If you like us, please give us a 5-star review on the podcast platforms and share with your friends!

Follow us on Linkedin: http://bit.ly/2WqCBdD

Email us: eva.shi@chinastartuppulse.com

from The China Startup Pulse http://bit.ly/2Rt13qT

#Asia #China Tackling the healthcare challenges of the China’s aging society with Mark Spitalnik , CEO of China Senior Care

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Many people don’t believe that the senior care is a big healthcare need in China. Our guest for today, Mark Spitalnik, CEO of China Senior Care, is actually one of the first movers in this area from 2009 to educate the market, bring the international experience to China and also localize the product for the aged in China. As he mentioned, the fact is “Chinese customers don’t know what senior care is” rather than “they don’t want it”.

In addition, he also shared how he started the company, the initial challenge he was facing and also the untouched opportunities to look at in China.

China Senior Care provides senior healthcare services to promote the health, happiness, and independence of residents in China. It offers geriatric care services for the aged. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Hangzhou, China.

Show notes:

[1:30] Introduction and Mark’s experience in China

[4:30] How the single child policy influenced the China society

[5:10] Introduce China Senior Care

[6:18] First challenges Mark had to face while building up China Senior Care

[9:10] How Mark introduced the product to Chinese customers even though people did not believe senior care is a giant healthcare need in China

[12:00] How to educate the market

[15:14] How localized the product is

[16:00] How the dynamic of the team helped with the product and service

[19:10] The biggest needs coming with more Chinese people saving money

[24:00] The opportunities that are untouched in China to look at

[26:20] Contact Information and sign off

Many thanks to our host Ryan Shuken, guest Mark Spitalnik , editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com.

If you like us, please give us a 5-star review on the podcast platforms and share with your friends!

Follow us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-china-startup-pulse/

Email us: eva.shi@chinastartuppulse.com

from The China Startup Pulse http://bit.ly/2T5AXvM

#Asia #China How Can Failure Make You Strong; 8X8 Speakers Series (2/2) with Sophie Yao, Gen Kanai, and Prakhar Khanduj (PK)

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The second episode of the 8X8 Speakers Series is about lessons learnt from failures from the perspective of an investor, a successful entrepreneur and a tech expert.

The first talk in this episode is delivered by Sophie Yao, China Regional General Manager of Fenox Venture Capital, who shared 3 most “effective” ways to screw up a startup based on her experience working with startups. Problems include no market needs, wrong timing, management issues and also the way you spent the money, etc.

We also have Gen Kanai who used to grow communities of tens of thousands of Firefox users across Asia, to share the lessons he got from Firefox’s failures. Currently, he works as the Director Of Strategic Partnerships at Animoca Brands.

Prakhar Khandui (PK) is a serial entrepreneur who sold his company Pulse to Tencent-backed Hike Messenger in India. He also delivered 2 mistakes and 3 failures he learnt in this episode, for example, selling the startup too early is not a good choice.

Chinaccelerator’s 8X8 Speakers Series invite 8 of Chinaccelerator mentors – serial entrepreneurs, industry experts and investors – to share their personal stories about entrepreneurship twice a year in Beijing and Shanghai.

Show Notes:
2:05 Sophie Yao’s talk
13:39 Gen Kanai’s talk
23:16 PK’s talk

Many thanks to our speakers Sophie Yao, Gen Kanai, and Prakhar Khanduj (PK), editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com.

from The China Startup Pulse http://bit.ly/2MdL8f7

#Asia #China Know Yourself and Be Yourself; 8X8 Speakers Series (1/2) with Dalida Turkovic, Em Roblin and Andrew Schorr

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8X8 Speakers Series is back! Today, we are happy to present you the first 3 talks selected from Chinaccelerator 8X8 Speakers Series events in Autumn 2018 about how knowing yourself matters while running your business. Em Robin, Founder of Inner Circles, is a female entrepreneur for 8 years who shared “Entrepreneurship is about sharing what you created”. Founder of Beijing Mindfulness Centre Dalida Turkovic shared her personal journey including how she experienced the depression and financial crisis. Andrew Schorr, Founder of Grata, delivered his insights about how crucial it is to be honest with yourself, have passion and experiment.

Chinaccelerator’s 8X8 Speakers Series invite 8 of Chinaccelerator mentors – serial entrepreneurs, industry experts and investors – to share their personal stories about entrepreneurship twice a year in Beijing and Shanghai.

Show Notes:

01:44 Em Roblin’s Talk

10:57 Dalida Turkovic’s Talk

22:12 Andrew Schorr’s Talk

Many thanks to our speakers Em Roblin, Dalida Turkovic and Andrew Schorr, editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com.

from The China Startup Pulse http://bit.ly/2SJzhYO

#Asia #China China’s Role in 4 Investment Areas with Sean O’Sullivan, Managing General Partner of SOSV

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Happy New Year everyone! Today we invited Sean O’Sullivan, Founder and Managing General Partner of SOSV, the fund behind Chinaccelerator, to start the Year 2019 for China Startup Pulse and our listeners. In this episode, Sean shared his experience in China and provided his analysis of the investment trends in biotech, food tech, hardware, and software areas. Also, he pointed out the role of China in the global technology ecosystem and the impact that US-China trade war will have on startups and investors.

Sean’s entrepreneur life started in 1985 as a founder of MapInfo, bringing street mapping technology to personal computers. MapInfo went on to become a $200 million public company. He is also the co-creator of the term “cloud computing”. Now, Sean is managing SOSV, a Venture Capital firm which is running 6 accelerators in the world supporting investments in over 700 startups.

Show notes:
2:20 What brought Sean to China in the 1990s

3:24 Start in Dalian

6:20 Examples in Food Tech

12:20 Chinese investors’ growing interest in Biotech companies

13:57 Investing in the education industry

16:41 Other important areas in China, such as machine learning

18:57 Hardware accelerator HAX’s Chinese portfolio

21:25 The perceptions of Chinese technologies from investors out of China

24:25 How the US-China trade war impacts the startups and investors

26:38 Sean’s opinions on the fast-growing Chinese software companies such as TikTok

28:10 Sean’s predictions about China in 2019

Many thanks to our host Oscar Ramos and guest Sean O’Sullivan , editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com.

Again, thanks to all of our listeners for the support in 2018 and the team is looking forward to providing more insights in 2019.

from The China Startup Pulse http://bit.ly/2BUrj7N

#Asia #China How VCs do due diligence: blockchain and priorities with Aly Madhavji and Mansoor Madhavji, Partners of Blockchain Founders Fund

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In the second episode of our series on due diligence, we learn from Blockchain Founders Fund about how they evaluate blockchain startups and what they specifically look for in the due diligence process.

Recording from Money 20/20 China in Hangzhou, our host Oscar Ramos had an in-depth discussion with Aly Madhavji and Mansoor Madhavji, partners of the Blockchain Founders Fund, who shared their insights about their due diligence process, strategy and preferences when evaluating blockchain projects, and the examples how they work with early-stage projects, which is also illuminating for other startups. Here are some keywords they mentioned: Trust, product, traction, finance, etc.

Show Notes:
01:32 Introducing Aly and Mansoor

03:00 Portfolio and their Investment Strategy & Philosophy

06:10 How do they work globally?

07:21 Stages of Investment

07:35 First Step in Due Diligence for Blockchain

10:37 Transparency and Trust Matters

11:54 Checking Background and Company’s Strategies

13:30 How do companies react to your due diligence and how does that matter

14:38 Bringing in External Parties to the Due Diligence Process

15:23 Other Important Areas for Due Diligence

16:48 Product Evaluation in Blockchain Companies

19:06 Role of Stress Test

20:10 Measuring Traction and Evaluating Analytics

22:08 Financial Due Diligence

25:52 Their Perspectives on Startups Outsourcing Key Team Roles (e.g. CFO)

27:41 Do they look into Cliffs? 
28:55 Additional Tips from Aly and Mansoor

30:29 Due Diligence in East Asia

32:37 Contact Information and Signing Out

Contact them!
Twitter: @BlockchainFF
Twitter: @aly_madhavji
Email: mansoor@blockchainff.com

Companies mentioned:
https://www.cryptyk.com/
https://every.shop/
https://www.taloflow.ai/

Many thanks to our host Oscar Ramos and guest Aly Madhavji and Mansoor Madhavji , editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com.

from The China Startup Pulse https://ift.tt/2C4zy2y

#Asia #China How VCs do due dilligence (1) with Carman Chan, Founder & Managing Partner of Click Ventures

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Entrepreneurs looking for funding can not escape from the due diligence from investors. In order to have more founders to understand the process of investment due diligence, we are introducing a new and special series, where we talk with investors about due diligence.

Recording from Money 20/20 China in Hangzhou, Oscar Ramos talked with Carman Chan, Founder and Managing Partner of Click Ventures who successfully invested in Spotify, Meetup and many tech companies. 


In this episode, Chan shared insights on how they evaluate traction, team, product as well as what founders should have prepared for investors, the proper plan for companies to work on and lastly the differences in Asia versus the West regarding due diligence.

Show Notes:

1:32 Carman Chan’s strong background in data and mathematics

2:08 Introducing Click Ventures, investment thesis and projects

3:38 Due Diligence process

4:25 Importance of company metrics

6:36 Best tools to measure traction

8:30 Red flags Carman met in the process

10:30 Due Diligence in product

12:47 Product roadmap

13:20 Importance of the founding team

14:04 Missing team members

15:07 Team related problems in Due Diligence

15:55 Other parts Carman evaluates including advisors, founder vesting plan, etc

17:22 Relationship with co-investors in Due Diligence

18:25 Differences in Asian Companies compared to those from other countries

22:11 Contact Information and Signing Off

from The China Startup Pulse https://ift.tt/2P93tKj

#Asia #China UX Best Practices and Product Localization for Chinese Consumers with Samuel Jesse, Co-Founder of UXSPOT

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What’s the differences between Chinese market and international market in terms of User Experience (UX)? What’s the key principles to localize your design for Chinese market? Samuel Jesse is the right person to talk with who co-founded a UX research lab UXSPOT in Shanghai. With 10 years of experience in UX, we talked with Samuel about his experience working with Chinese clients as an International designer, UX practices for Chinese consumers, Why mobile is crucial and more about product localization. Here’s a short quote from Samuel , “when something is [well] designed, it gives that perception of trust, it transfers that perception of quality.”

Show Notes:
00:00 Introduction & Summary
01:20 Introducing Samuel Jesse
2:00 Moving from Beijing to Shanghai
2:46 Working with Chinese Clients
3:40 Shanghai vs Beijing Environments
4:31 Initial UX Design Projects with Local Clients
6:14 Change in Chinese attitudes towards UX
7:31 A UX Research Lab in China
9:10 UX Approach and Test in Chinese market
10:21 Importance of Mobile
11:14 Differences between Chinese consumers and international market
12:48 Issues in Translation
14:10 User Verification for Mobile Users
14:45 UX Best Practices in China
16:20 Establishing Trust through Design
18:08 Good Design in China
19:40 International and Chinese UX Differences From Design Perspective
20:40 Implications of Familiarity with Local Companies
22:55 Copy-Cat Culture in China
25:03 Chinese Companies going International
26:34 Over-Localization
27:33 Contact Information and Sign Off

Many thanks to our host Oscar Ramos and guest Samuel Jesse, editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com.

from The China Startup Pulse https://ift.tt/2FtPxea

#Asia #China Bridging the gap between China-India startup ecosystems with PK, co-founder of InstaLively and Pulse (Acquired by Hike Messenger)

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PK is an Indian entrepreneur and angel investor in social network, content and live-stream space who built, grew and finally sold his startups InstaLively and Pulse to Tencent-owned company Hike Messenger. After selling them, PK came to China for new opportunities and challenges where he started being a consultant for Various Startups which helps China-India Startups and VCs in building the next billion Internet users in Indonesia and India, as well as mentoring founders for Chinaccelerator.

In this episode, PK shared his journey about selling startups to Tencent and also delivered insights about the China-India startup and investment ecosystem, including the challenges to localize Chinese companies in India and how the Chinese data drive model works in India, etc.

Show Notes:
1:00 Introducing PK
1:37 Introducing InstaLively
2:51 Process of Tencent Buy-Out
6:57 Experience with Mergers and Acquisition
9:28 Transition with Hike Messenger
10:10 Difficulties from culture differences
11:50 Due Diligence
13:30 Alignment with the new team
15:02 Moving to Beijing and the experience in China
17:20 China-India tech ecosystem
20:45 The Belt and Road Initiative in China
23:01 Advantages and obstacles of Chinese investment and startups in India
26:05 Challenges for Chinese companies to localize in India
28:20 What works in China doesn’t necessarily work in India
30:19 Will Indian companies be able to come to China?
31:38 PK’s future plans
32:20 Contact PK (Full name: Prakhar Khanduja)

Feel free to leave a comment and start a conversation with us! If you have an ideal guest whom you would like to listen to, please let us know and we’ll do our best to realize it!

Many thanks to our host Oscar Ramos and guest PK, producer Eva Shi, editor David and Geep, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

from The China Startup Pulse https://ift.tt/2OHOQx3

#Asia #China Managing from Zero to IPO, with Ben Hu, Co-Founder, CTO and Head of Adult English of Liulishuo

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Liulishuo is an AI-powered English language learning platform operated by the AI firm LAIX founded in 2012 and it went public on New York Stock Exchange in Sept 2018. We are lucky to have Ben Hu, Co-Founder, CTO and Head of Adult English of Liulishuo to share the first 6 months of starting the company, their early successes, the growth, as well as his insights about managing a team from 5 to 200 people. “Empathy and strategic thinking together make the management easier.”

As of June 30, 2018, Liulishuo has over 83.8 million registered users and 7.2 million average monthly active users in 175 countries. The average daily time per user is 60+ minutes.

Show Notes:

0:00 Summary
1:24 Introducing Ben Hu
2:13 What is Liulishuo?
4:25 Artificial Intelligence’s Evolution and Change
6:56 Ben Hu talks about the product launch and first version of Liulishuo
9:05 Length and process from ideation to first launch
10:44 Ben Hu shares about Liulishuo’s beta experience
11:15 Engagement with Liulishuo’s beta user experience
11:55 Metrics used in Early Days
13:19 Ben’s advice for past-Ben, in the Early Days of Liulishuo
15:16 Practices for entering Chinese Markets
19:17 Management in Liulishuo’s expansion
22:10 How Hu developed management skills?
24:00 Decision-making in Management
25:36 Ben Hu’s management framework for unlocking potential
28:34 Exciting technology in Education Space
30:43 Wrapping Up and Closing Thoughts
31:35 Contact Information and Job Postings
31:52 Close Off and Partner Appreciation

Feel free to leave a comment! If you have an ideal guest whom you would like to listen to, please let us know and we’ll do our best to realize it!

Many thanks to our host Oscar Ramos and guest Ben Hu, editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com.

from The China Startup Pulse https://ift.tt/2D6BVTg