#Asia #China Developing a successful WeChat mini-program product with Drew Kirchhoff, Co-Founder and Head of Product of Yoli

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Drew Kirchhoff is a product guy. After studying finance in the USA and working for a diamond investment firm in China, Drew became one of the most successful product managers to publish the game Crossy Road in the market achieving more than one hundred million downloads.

“A great product manager makes a great CEO”. After being a product manager, he co-founded Yoli which allows users to learn English directly through WeChat. He shared how he and his co-founders found the market opportunities driven by the advent of WeChat, how they launched the company, developed Yoli WeChat mini-program and later, he explored deeper in the technical area to improve the product.

Show Notes:
1:20 Drew’s background and his experience in China
5:50 Working in a mobile gaming company
7:50 Brought the game Crossy Road to the market
10:28 Performance of Crossy Road worldwide – 9/10 kids were playing the game
11:38 Product management to being a WeChat Mini-program entrepreneur
12:02 How WeChat changes Chinese business
14:00 Formation, MVP launch and goal of Yoli
21:40 Importance of Mini-programs for User Experience
24:00 Relationship with funding and development
26:30 Competing with huge competitors in the market
26:52 Exciting developments in Yoli’s language education service
30:50 Understanding Conversion Rates – from product to business
33:30 Drew Kirchhoff’s contact information

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 Drew Kirchhoff, editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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#Asia #China How China’s Media Digitalization Innovates Startups with Philip Beck, Chairman of Dubeta

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Today we have invited Philip Beck, who has had more than 40 years experience in the social media and marketing industry in and out of China. He commented on China’s digital transformation and how it is infusing innovation into China’s startup space.

He continued on to discuss how agencies and big companies have created opportunities for new startups to capitalise on those opportunities and the changing profiles of startup founders that are building new companies

1:03 Philip Beck intro
2:44 Social media industry in 2004
4:16 Hongkong in 2014
5:18 Not copycats, but local Chinese version
7:10 Why Renren was a hit
8:14 What was the media planning strategy back then
10:14 Red envelop phenomenon
13:52 Digitalisation of media
15:52 New innovation in marketing in china – access to consumer data points – built a very strong consumer profile
Tencent and alibaba
Look alike profile
20:29 How does Taobao and Tmall make money
23:14 What else is happening in the media marketing space for startups
25:50 Large agencies making acquisitions
28:14 Robin 8’s changing team profile
30:07 Changes in founders’ background
31:35 How to connect with Philip

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#Asia #China The Breakthroughs of Voice AI Technologies with Chen Wei, Senior Director and Chief Scientist of Sogou Voice Interaction Technology Centre

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The system of human perceptions is multi-faceted and voice is one of the perceptions that people pay the most attention to in Artificial Intelligence areas. Sogou established a speech recognition team in 2012 to explore technologies such as intelligent voice and machine translation. Now it is obviously a leader in the Chinese voice technology field.

In this episode, we’ve invited Chen Wei, the Chief Scientist of Sogou Voice Interaction Technology Centre, to introduce the technological breakthroughs in speech recognition, machine translation and speech synthesis behind Sogou translation products.

Chen Wei and his team also developed the Zhiyin OS system which is a system with multi-modal perception capabilities including speech recognition, handwriting recognition and lip-reading ability. The edge of this technology also extends to areas such as hardware and visual identification.

Perks for our listeners: You can find a promotion code to get free tickets for NewCo Shanghai 2018 in this episode. Limited tickets and first come, first serve. https://chinaccelerator.com/newco-shanghai-2018/

Show notes:
01:23 Introduce Chen Wei
02:14 His interest in voice AI technology
03:17 Simultaneous translation demo in Chinese, English and Spanish
04:56 The job of the Voice Interaction Technology Centre
04:49 The technology breakthroughs of the translator
06:09 The technology challenges of speech recognition in 42 languages
12:44 How does the Sogou input method work
15:10 Explain the meaning of “Zhiyin” in Chinese
15:39 The reason that Sogou creates a new system Zhiyin
16:40 Realize AI technology in different Sogou products and develop Zhiyin system for different partners
18:24 Why Sogou produces a translation hardware device
19:37 Other interfaces for translation except for the voice
21:21 Future projects, such as lip recognition and virtual anchor
24:07 Potential partnerships
24:41 The gap between the industry and the universities
25:22 How to contact Chen Wei

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 Chen Wei, editor David and Geep, producer Eva Shi, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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#Asia #China The rise of Pinduoduo and how it is disrupting Chinese e-commerce with Nicolas du Cray, Partner at Cathay Capital

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You must have heard of the Chinese social commerce legend Pinduoduo, the fastest-growing mobile shopping platform featuring “team purchase” and social sharing function in China which became a $23 billion empire in under 4 years.

For this week’s episode, we invited Nicolas du Cray, an early investor of Pinduoduo and Partner at Cathay Capital – Innovation Fund to talk about Pinduoduo and Social Commerce in China. Nicolas shared how he decided to invest in this company, analyzed the strengths of Pinduoduo, and the challenges of internationalising the social commerce model. He also answered many questions collected from our listeners.

Show Notes:
0:00 – 1:24 Welcome Back to China Startup Pulse
1:26 – 2:00 Introducing Nicolas du Cray
2:06 – 3:16 Du Cray’s experience in China
3:16 – 3:49 Shift from Engineering to Venture Capital
3:49 – 4:27 What is Cathay Capital?
4:28 – 5:21 Importance of Venture Capital to Multi-National Corporations
5:22 – 7:25 Cathay Capital’s Investments and Trends in Chinese Innovation
7:26 – 8:28 Value of Foreign Venture Capital to Chinese Start Ups
8:30 – 9:06 What is Pinduoduo?
9:07 – 11:43 Social Commerce, Pinduoduo, and WeChat ecosystem
11:44 – 12:46 Cathay Capital Innovation and their Investment in Pinduoduo
12:47 – 15:22 Audience Question: History of Pinduoduo and Cathay Capital
15:22 – 17:53 Audience Question: Pinduoduo’s Innovation in E-Commerce
17:54 – 19:06 Growth Trigger of Pinduoduo
19:07 – 20:14 Pinduoduo’s Business Model and Competition in China
20:15 – 22:05 Audience Question: Challenges for Pinduoduo’s model going Abroad
22:05 – 23:05 Future of WeChat’s platform
23:06 – 23:35 Audience Question: Future of Pinduoduo
23:36 – 24:27 Does Nicolas use Pinduoduo?
24:31- 25:50 Signing Out and du Cray’s Contact Information

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 Nicolas du Cray, editor David and Geep, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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#Asia #China The Growth Story of An Emerging E-Commerce Startup with Lu Guo, Founder of Shopal

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As an early pioneer in cross-border commerce, Lu Guo chose to leave a multinational company and jump into the jungles of entrepreneurship. She shared her belief behind building her startup Shopal which aims to help global brands to build a strong presence in China through a data-driven process. She also shared her early stage business life in an accelerator – Chinaccelerator. Here is a quote from her: “The scary piece is that you only believe in system”.

Shopal is a solution provider for online and offline retailers in China which has secured RMB200 million (US$29.17 million) in a series B+ round in September 2018. Chinaccelerator SOSV invested in Shopal as one of Batch 7 companies.

Show notes:
01:06 Introduce Lu Guo
02:00 First experience in cross-border commerce space
03:37 What is Shopal and stories behind Shopal
07:23 The concept of “TP”
07:57 Lu’s motivation to leave the comfortable zone
10:31 Differences between being an entrepreneur and working in corporates
13:47 As a Vice President in Johnson&Johnson
16:30 What triggered Lu to jump into the jungle of entrepreneurship
18:50 Change and opportunities in the commerce industry
22:29 How Shopal helps global brands in China
24:20 The biggest technology breakthrough for Shopal
26:23 Data driven process
27:23 The future of Shopal
29:11 Business and life in Chinaccelerator
31:00 Contact Shopal

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 Lu Guo, editor David and Geep, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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#Asia #China The Challenges of Chinese Companies Going Global, with Omid Scheybani, Former Global Head of Partnerships and Business Development at ofo

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Many opportunities and challenges are found in the startup world under the impact of globalization. Today, we have invited Omid Scheybani, former Global Head of Partnerships and Business Development at ofo to share the challenges of Chinese business going international from the perspective of management, product and brand, and also opportunities for overseas talents working in China.

Ofo is a leading bike sharing company in China, which was valued at up to $2 billion and had over 62.7 million MAU (monthly active users) in 2017.

Show Notes:
0:00 Welcome Back and Introduction
1:50 Introducing Omid Scheybani
2:50 How Omid came to China and why he stayed
4:45 Chinese perceptions on Global Markets
8:15 Chinese Technology Going Global and shift in Chinese exports
12:27 Diversity in Chinese Business and need for International Talent
14:57 Omid’s Advice on working for Chinese companies
17:55 Challenges in Internationalization for Chinese Businesses
19:25 Adapting to Chinese Business Norms and Treatment of International Talent
20:25 Perspectives of Chinese products in International Markets
26:34 Lightning Round Questions
29:19 Spread of Chinese Products to Foreign Markets
33:31 Omid’s Contact Information

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, Ryan Shuken, and guest Omid Scheybani, editor David and Geep, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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#Asia #China The Importance of Mindfulness and how it can improve your business, with Brandon Mehrgut, founder of Shanghai Mindfulness

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Mindfulness as a tool for businesses has been growing in the West and is now starting to come to China. Brandon Mehrgut, of Shanghai Mindfulness, explains what mindfulness meditation is and how beneficial it is to the Chinese start-up culture and community. Practicing mindfulness can help improve attention, focus, and stress. It has also been practiced by important people and businesses, such as Steve Jobs and DiDi. Join us, and listen to how mindfulness can improve your business.

Shanghai Mindfulness is an English-speaking mindfulness organization. It was founded by Brandon Mehrgut and has become China’s largest mindfulness community. Shanghai Mindfulness helps overworked, stressed out people find peace and balance.

Show Notes:
0:04 Introducing Brandon
1:40 Explaining Mindfulness Meditation
2:36 Why is Shanghai interested in mindfulness?
3:09 Mindfulness application to Entrepreneurs
4:18 How can entrepreneurs practice mindfulness?
5:12 Reasons for entrepreneurs to seek mindfulness training
7:00 Silicon Valley-style mindfulness and China
9:37 How do hard-working, Chinese start-ups adapt mindfulness?
14:07 Who are the pioneers promoting mindfulness?
15:19 Mindfulness Arrives to China
17:40 Shanghai Mindfulness’s work with DiDi and other Chinese Companies
19:38 How does management implement mindfulness?
22:25 What is the data behind mindfulness?
25:55 How to contact Brandon Mehrgut

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, guest Brandon Mehrgut, editor David and Geep, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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#Asia #China The Initiatives of Business Sustainability in China with Richard Brubaker, Founder of Collective Responsibility and HandsOn China

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Chinese companies are exploring many initiatives to achieve business sustainability, including Ele.me‘s RELAB and Meituan’s emphasis on environment protection. One hot topic is that are Chinese bike sharing companies truly leading the sustainable lifestyle or just creating the waste. You can see many opportunities in different industries in China to experiment and implement your idea of sustainability. Today, we have Richard Brubaker, expert in business sustainability, to share his perspectives.

Collective Responsibility is a Shanghai-based firm to design and develop corporate responsibility, sustainability, and leadership strategy for corporates, nonprofit and academic institutions.

Show notes:
01:20 Introduce Richard
02:06 What makes Shanghai special
03:44 Why sustainability is a very important thing in China
06:19 How sustainability in China is relevant with the rest of the world
10:44 Is sustainability leading the born of China innovation
13:05 Chinese consumers are amazing early adopters. Is Shanghai a perfect lab for sustainability?
15:13 Is the booming E-Commerce industry in China sustainable?
18:16 How do you see that ele.me launched ele.me Lab because of the impact of sustainability
22:05 Are these bike sharing companies truly leading the sustainable lifestyle?
25:00 Mobike’s GPS functionality helps improve the sustainability
28:08 How consumers think about sustainability
34:14 How can a founder start thinking about sustainability in the user experience and core of the company
38:00 In the space of sustainability, which industries in China are more friendly for foreigners
40:20 How to contact Richard

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, guest Richard Brubaker, editor David and Geep, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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#Asia #China Embrace the New Retail Wave in China with Stephane Monsallier, Founder of Shops of the Future

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The buzzword “New Retail” has swept through China for over one year. What challenges does it bring to the traditional retail industry and how can international brands cope with the new retail concept? Today, we have invited Stephane Monsallier, founder of shops for the future. He shared with us his views on the very exciting concept that was born in China and is now rapidly spreading to the rest of the world.

Shops of the Future helps international brands navigate the new innovation in the retail space in china.

Show Notes:

1:27 Introduction
3:13 How things have changed in China
4:30 Changes in retail industry and how mobile payments are disrupting the industry in China
7:08 International brands coming to learn in China
8:56 Relevancy for all brands or brands that have presence in China
10:00 China is not an easy market
11:50 Hema experience in China
13:17 New retail wave of startups
15:39 Not too much about technology, but mindset change is key
17:00 Embrace the wave of new retail
19:10 The China speed
21:31 Importance of business thinking
22:45 Traditional Chinese retailers
24:49 Convenience stores
26:41 New retail changes consumer habits
28:28 How to reach out to Stephane Monsallier

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, guest Stephane Monsallier, editor David and Geep, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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#Asia #China Embrace the New Retail Wave in China with Stephane Monsallier, Founder of Shops of the Future

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The recent buzzword “New Retail” has swept through China. What challenges does it bring to the traditional retail industry and how can international brands cope with the new retail concept? Today, we have invited Stephane Monsallier, founder of shops for the future. He shared with us his views on the very exciting concept that was born in China and is now rapidly spreading to the rest of the world.

Shops of the Future helps international brands navigate the new innovation in the retail space in china.

Show Notes:

1:27 Intro
3:13 How things have changed in China
4:30 Changes in retail industry and how mobile payments are disrupting the industry in China
7:08 International brands coming to learn in China
8:56 Relevancy for all brands or brands that have presence in China
10:00 China is not an easy market
11:50 Hema experience in China
13:17 New retail wave of startups
15:39 Not too much about technology, but mindset change is key
17:00 Embrace the wave of new retail
19:10 The China speed
21:31 Importance of business thinking
22:45 Traditional Chinese retailers
24:49 Convenience stores
26:41 New retail changes consumer habits
28:28 How to reach out to Stephane Monsallier

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, guest Stephane Monsallier, editor David and Geep, organizer Chinaccelerator and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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