Asia Startup Pulse

Global Founder’s Capital, in spite of its global presence, has been a late entrant to China. However, in a very short time in the region, they’ve become a force to reckon with investing in some very promising companies. 

Coincidently, enterprise SaaS in China has been gaining speedy momentum in the recent past. Why is this the right time for enterprise investment in China? Is China still relevant for incoming VCs? Why is enterprise SaaS a must-watch trend for 2021 and what is driving this growth? 

In this episode, we invite Shao Lee, Partner at Global Founders Capital, who spearheads their China operations. We talk about GFC’s investment thesis and their unique proposition of Geographical Arbitrage. We dive deeper into understanding the Chinese ecosystem and the drivers of enterprise SaaS in China. As a leading investor in the TMT/ SaaS space, Shao shares his insights on how GFC evaluates enterprise SaaS companies in China.

Show Notes

01:19 - Introduction to Shao Lee and motivations to become a VC

04:18 - What is Global Founders Capital?

05:53 - Bringing the Rocket Internet model to Asia

10:19 - GFC’s Geographical Arbitrage

13:00 - How to discover new business models?

14:45 - Why is it time for Enterprise investment in China?

17:10 - Trends in Chinese companies overseas expansion

19:00 - GFC’s investment decision-making process

20:34 - Founder’s pedigree in the decision-making process

25:45 - Late entrant to China: Is the market still worth entering for VCs?

27:40 - China’s competitive value proposition in global market

32:24 - VC Trends for 2021: The Rise of Enterprise SaaS

35:22 - The drivers of Enterprise SaaS

38:24 - Evaluating Chinese Enterprise SaaS companies

Many thanks to our guest Shao Lee; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

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The likes of Alibaba, Tencent, and Pinduoduo have managed to rise as tech giants in China but have failed to leverage this dominance and influence to a global scale. One such company that has managed to strip away from that label and is successful in expanding overseas and in branding its product as a global pass is ByteDance. But, what has enabled it to do what most Chinese companies have not been able to do? We dive deep into answering these questions. 

What is the key differentiator of ByteDance compared to other prominent video-platform players? What breakthroughs has ByteDance overcome to flourish worldwide? What takeaways can be extracted from the gala of TikTok’s global success? 

In this episode, we invite one of our special friends Matthew Brennan, author of “Attention Factory; The story of TikTok and China’s ByteDance”. He is often featured in global media and has delivered presentations on Chinese digital innovation to global firms such as Google, Tencent, DHL, etc. Having monitored the Chinese tech ecosystem closely for a number of years, Matthew is well-positioned to answer our questions, dig deeper into ByteDance’s remarkable success, and share his insights on the mobile-tech environment in the East and West. We will also discuss the digital marketing schemes partaking in all startups and all kinds of business sizes. Last but not the least, some key insights on future tech innovations that can be observed from the ByteDance case.

You can find the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Attention-Factory-TikTok-Chinas-ByteDance/dp/B08L3NW6VM/

Show Notes:

02:09 Introduce Matthew Brennan

03:20 Why ByteDance is able to build a global product, TikTok

05:57 TikTok, the product and technology

09:42 TikTok’s from-zero-to-one journey

16:30 TikTok’s monetization model and their new initiatives

22:20 Lessons from the success of ByteDance

30:40 Contact Matthew

Many thanks to our guest Matthew Brennan; host Ryan Shuken; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

To join our listener group on WeChat, please add SOSV Helper (WeChat ID: sosvhero) and ask for the group  invitation.

Follow us on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-startup-pulse

Email us: [email protected]

We are very honoured to invite Peng T. Ong, co-founder and managing partner of Monk's Hill Ventures, to join our first episode of Asia Startup Pulse today. 

Monk’s Hill Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage tech companies, primarily Series A, in Southeast Asia. Peng is an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, founder, and investor in Silicon Valley and in Asia. He is based in Indonesia and is a board member of Glints, ELSA, Finaxar, and Intelligent Video Solutions. Prior to Monk’s Hill Ventures, he was a Venture Partner at GSR Ventures in China. 

In this episode, we talk about Peng’s journey as an investor and how he perceives the great potential in Southeast Asia. More importantly, he summarizes a very important trend in SEA’s startup ecosystem, "Technification". We also talk about the impact that China's Internet giants have on SEA through investments and M&A.

Show Notes:

1:54 Peng’s journey as an investor

3:22 Main differences btw seed round and Series A

9:15 More capital investment in SEA

10:20 The most interesting trend in SEA

10:56 “Technification” in China

12:24 The opportunities of “technification” in SEA

14:33 “There is no way for a company to grow that fast without technology”

17:31 The core DNA of a successful founding team

18:54 China’s role in SEA’s service industry

22:22 The role of Chinese and Japanese corporate venture capital in SEA

26:20 The infrastructure development in SEA

28:25 A hard push on deep technology in SEA?

Many thanks to our guest Peng T.Ong; host Oscar Ramos; producers  Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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Welcome to another episode of the China Startup Pulse. Today we talk about GameStop, a company that has the global financial markets buzzing. What we’ve seen with GameStop is a very unusual incident and so, we are bringing not one, but two guests on the episode who bring differing perspectives on what happened with GameStop and what it represents. With everything that has happened with the GameStop stock in the last several days, ultimately leading to some brokerages restricting retail investors from buying the stock, an interesting debate around centralization vs decentralization has surfaced. 

Is the GameStop saga a pivotal moment for DeFi? Do we need more decentralization in the financial markets? Does DeFi have enough merits to transcend the traditional financial markets or is it too early to make that call? 

And we have the right guests to share their perspectives on this matter! Our first guest is Michael Friedman, CFO of Xinhua Pictures. Mike previously held the position of Director at Shune River Capital where he was responsible for investment, financial analysis, and risk management. He has over two decades of experience in global financial markets. 

Our second guest today is Aaron Choi. Aaron is the VP of Global Business Development for Kava Labs, a blockchain solutions platform providing DeFi services such as stable coins, bonds, and lending to crypto users across many blockchain networks. 

Previously, Aaron led the International Business for BTCC, one of the earliest and longest-running Bitcoin exchanges. He is an expert in the crypto industry and digital advertising and marketing. He is also an advisor to several blockchain projects where he advises on blockchain, token issuance, and token economy-related matters. 

Please remember, the views expressed in the episode are strictly for educational purposes and must not be taken as investment advice.

Show Notes:

[02:43]  What happened with GameStop?

[13:59] Centralisation vs Decentralisation. Is GameStop the pivotal moment for DeFi? What are its merits and demerits?

[34:55] Closing Remarks

Many thanks to our guest Benjamin Qiu; host Oscar Ramos; producers  Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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Today we’re bringing you the final episode of our Chinaccelerator 8x8 Global Speakers Series where we invite some of the most accomplished members of the global startup ecosystem to share key lessons for startups in eight minutes or less. 

Our first speaker is Yara Paoli. Yara is the former VP of Growth at Skyscanner (acquired by Ctrip) and is currently the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Scientist of Growth OS, a growth enabler company. Having contributed to growing Skyscanner from a 32-employees small startup to a GBP 1.4 Billion valued company with over 1,000 talented people working across 60+ markets, Yara is the perfect guest to talk about growth mindset, which she talks about in this episode. 

Our next speaker is Adam Najberg, Global Head of Content at Alibaba Group and Former Global Director of Communications at DJI. Having been in the field of journalism and PR for over 25 years, Adam has amassed a wealth of experience in storytelling. Today, he talks about why storytelling is important for startups, and how someone else could tell their stories if startups don't do it themselves. 

Finally, we have Shamik Talukder, co-founder of Be Tagged, an influencer marketing company, and the founding member of the largest Radio FM Network in India, Radio Mirchi, and former Vice President at Viacom 18 Media. In his talk today, he shares two important lessons that the covid19 pandemic has taught him and how he believes that could help startups.

Show Notes:

02:18 - Yara Paoli

11:30 - Adam Najberg

19:27 - Shamik Talukder

Many thanks to our guest Benjamin Qiu; host Oscar Ramos; producers  Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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This is the second episode from our Chinaccelerator 8X8 Global Speakers Series, where we bring 8 influential speakers to share their insights and experiences in 8 minutes. We have some great speakers lined up for this episode.

In today’s episode, we bring 3 exceptional speakers with their insights.

First up, we have Mikaal Adbulla, co-founder and  CEO of 8 Securities, Asia’s first mobile-only investing service and robo-advisor, that was recently acquired by SoFi. For entrepreneurs, constraints are everywhere: from finding capital to finding the right team. But only if you have experienced those constraints, are you able to learn how to be creative, agile and focused. In today’s talk, Mikaal shares how having excess capital could be a constraint for startups.

Our second speaker is Lily Liu, an angel investor and also co-founder of fintech startup Earn.com, which was acquired by Coinbase. In her talk, she breaks some of the biggest myths of being a CFO and explains how being a Chief Financial Officer is more about managing risks holistically and their role in a company’s long-term sustainability.

Last but certainly not least, we have Vu Van, co-founder ELSA Corp, one of the world’s best and smartest English pronunciation app, powered by AI. Given what the company does, it is easy to assume that Vu Van is a technical genius. But the interesting fact is, Vu does not come from a technical background. She draws from her own experiences to explain why having a tech background is not a pre-requisite to building a tech company and how not having such a background could be a blessing in disguise instead.

Show Notes:

02:25: Mikaal Adbulla: Thriving Despite Constraints

08:04: Lily Liu: Managing Risks Holistically

19:57: Vu Van: Building a Successful Tech Startup Without Technical Background

Many thanks to our guest Benjamin Qiu; host Oscar Ramos; producers  Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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Welcome everybody to another episode of the China Startup Pulse. We have a special one today. We are back with our Chinaccelerator 8x8 Global Speaker Series with eight influential speakers from all over the world to share their insights for startups in eight minutes.

In today’s episode, we bring not one but two incredible investors to share their insights in building and investing in global businesses, bringing different perspectives drawn from their own careers.  Stay tuned for insights from Shannon Kalayanamitr and Per Welinder.

Show Notes:

02:30: Shannon Kalayanamitr

12:05: Per Welinder

Our first guest is Shannon Kalayanamitr, Partner at Gobi Partners. She has made her mark in the tech world building businesses such as Orami/ MOXY, Lazada, and PPTVThailand] and driving the ecosystem through tech investments as CEO of the IKIGAI GROUP and 5GCatalyst Technologies, in Southeast Asia.

In today’s talk, Shannon brings a very unique approach to viewing M&As and marriages. Like marriage, M&A is a long-term commitment. And like marriage, M&A also requires a lot of work in order to be successful. Shannon gives some interesting insights that are applicable to both marriages and M&As.

Our second speaker is the legendary skateboarder Per Welinder, who many people may know from the movie, Back to the Future. Per is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist focusing on culture, lifestyle, and consumer technologies. He has co-founded influential skateboard and lifestyle brands including Birdhouse, Flip, Baker, etc.

In today’s talk, Per shares his story of how he transitioned his career from being a professional skateboarder, starting his own skateboard company, to becoming a venture capitalist and investing in lifestyle companies and the lessons he learned along the way. He is sure to entice the audience with his entrepreneurial insights as he has done with his skills on the skateboard.

Many thanks to our 8X8 speakers; host Oscar Ramos; producers  Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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Today, we have a very special episode we are bringing to you, together with She Loves Tech. 

She Loves Tech is the world’s largest startup competition for women and technology. During the last 6 years, they have created the environment necessary for female lead startups to thrive. Championing the best entrepreneurs through education and mentorship, to solve the funding gap for women.  

R&D and innovation are terms very often used interchangeably, especially in the business world. But how do these differ from each other? Do all inventions drive innovation? Does all the innovation require a new invention? And what is the role that startups play in the space? 

We have the perfect guest to answer these questions and more. Dr. Yongqin Zeng a scientist and engineer today Senior Director of Philips Research & Innovation and Lead at Philips open innovation program for healthcare startups. Her long and rich career has seen her do over a decade of research in academia before joining the private sector where she has done it all. She led multiple research departments in different industries, drove several venture projects that led to the creation of two new business units, and also facilitated over 10 Open Innovation projects involving universities, hospitals, and of course startups. Dr. Zeng’s work on Open Innovation is also featured in the book “Innovation in China” published by MIT in 2016. 

In this episode, Dr. Zeng helps us dive deeper into innovation and R&D from the perspectives of academia, corporations, and startups. 

Show Notes

2:24 Introduction to Dr. Yongqin Zeng

3:18 Moving from research in academia to research in the corporate world

4:30 Difference between R&D and Innovation.

7:00 Do all inventions drive innovation?

11:27 How monetization shapes the R&D pipeline for corporates.

18:28 Deep dive into healthcare startup ecosystem: The competitive advantage they possess to deliver results

20:51 Synergies between healthcare startups and hospitals: China trend vs Global trend

23:00 Strength of Open Innovation in healthcare ecosystem outside China

24:55 Models that will shape the future of open innovation

28:16 Open innovation models improving UI and UX in the healthcare industry

32:35 Getting in touch with Dr. Yongqin Zeng

Many thanks to our guest Benjamin Qiu; host Oscar Ramos; producers  Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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The pandemic has changed the way how we meet, do business and plan for the future, but has it slowed down the pace of Chinese technology companies going public in overseas markets? Absolutely not! Chinese companies are coming out as winners, as now they are looking into overseas markets to secure more financing. 

In today’s episode, we asked the hard questions. How has the pandemic impacted on global financial markets? What has changed in 2020 when it comes to Chinese technology companies and the relationship between China and other markets? And what do these changes mean from a policy and legal perspective? 

Today, we will invite one of our old friends Benjamin Qiu, Partner of Loeb & Loeb, an international law firm based in the US and Asia. He has over 15-year experience in working with high growth companies in China and big VC firms such as GGV and Sequoia Capital. He is the perfect person to answer our questions and expand on the future outlook of the post-covid startup world. We will also talk about the relationship between China and other Asian markets including Southeast Asia and India, and how the recent events will change the way that China invests in those regions.

Show Notes:

02:01 Introduce Benjamin Qiu

02:41 More Chinese tech companies got listed in overseas markets

05:02 China’s financial policy reforms

08:42 How the pandemic has impacted investors’ investment deals

12:54 Reasons behind the fast market recovery in China

16:05 Trends about China going to Southeast Asia

20:43 The impact created by the geopolitical intensions between China and India

Many thanks to our guest Benjamin Qiu; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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Welcome to the second episode of our new series “Inside the VC Mind” where we bring you the professionals from the venture capital world, who will deliver their observations, thoughts, and opinions.

Today we are going to talk about those startups that investors missed but would have loved to invest in, with Remington Ong, Partner at Fenbushi Capital, Ray Yang, Partner at Marathon Venture Partners, and William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV and Managing Director at Chinaccelerator and MOX.

Our guests:

Remington Ong
Remington is Partner at Fenbushi Capital, one of the earliest and most active blockchain-focused venture capital firms, where he has managed investments into over 40 leading startups around the world leveraging blockchain technology to disrupt a wide range of industries, such as finance, healthcare, supply chain, and consumer goods.

Ray Yang

Ray is Partner at Marathon Venture Partners, a China-based early to growth stage fund focusing on digital healthcare transformation. Prior to Marathon Venture Partners, Ray was MD at Northern Light Venture Capital and Investment Director at Orchid Asia Group Management. Many of his investments have achieved listings on major stock exchanges or achieved exit via M&A, such as Burning Rock Riotech, a Chinese biotech company  went public on NASDAQ.

William Bao Bean

William is General Partner at SOSV. a US$740m+ venture capital fund known as “the accelerator VC”. He is also the MD at Chinaccelerator, SOSV’s global Internet accelerator and the first accelerator to launch in China in 2010 and MOX, the mobile-only accelerator platform with 130m smartphone users in SE Asia. Before SOSV, William was one of the founding MDs at SingTel Innov8 Ventures and Partner at Softbank China & India Holdings. 

Show Notes:

01:00 Talk with Remington Ong

06:41 Talk with Ray Yang

14:00 Talk with William Bao Bean 

Many thanks to our guests; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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Email us: [email protected]