Asia Startup Pulse

247是中国领先的娱乐活动票务平台，最近刚融资200万美金Pre-A轮，由Artesian Venture Partners领投，SOSV和海涛资本跟投。2018年一年247全年收入达到490万美金。这期播客我们邀请了247的CEO Greig Charlton以分享公司的成长故事。247早期也参加过中国加速的加速器项目。

247tickets is a leading social commerce platform for entertainment in China, which just secured $2M in Series Pre-A led by Artesian Venture Partners with the participation from SOSV and Haitao Capital, and the company’s annual revenue in 2018 reached $4.9M. Greig Charlton, CEO at 247tickets and alumni of Chinaccelerator, joined us to share 247’s growth story today. After listening to this episode, you will understand how the new idea was born, how to deal with your competitors, the biggest challenge to run a business in China, and also how difficult it is to fundraise in China. In the future, 247tickets plan to utilize AI technology for personalizing the user experience.

Show notes:

[1:15] Introduce Greig and 247

[2:54] How did 247 start in Shanghai

[6:30] Why those existing platforms couldn’t solve the problem

[10:40] Traditional e-commerce VS Social Commerce

[12:50]Why social commerce has been more successful in China

[14:30] The market was too niche?

[17:53] User profile

[20:17] The team behind the product

[21:50] Find the right people to join your team

[24:10] Challenges to run business in China

[29:35] Work with other well-funded competitors

[33:31] Fundraising in China
[38:10] Future for 247

Many thanks to our host Oscar Ramos, guest Greig Charlton, 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 and share with your friends!

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

Email us: [email protected]

95%的企业退出是收购，而非IPO。并且其中几乎一半是在B轮之前。今天这期播客我们邀请了全球领先硬件加速器HAX的合伙人Benjamin Joffe来分享他对于企业退出的调查和洞见。在本期播客中，你将知道中国企业退出与海外企业退出的区别，中国企业如何在全球开展收购策略，以及对创业者而言，你应当如何计划退出和如何在被收购后更好地与大企业整合。

Benjamin在这一领域做过非常深入的研究。有兴趣者可以查看他的文章。

https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/31/what-every-startup-founder-should-know-about-exits/

如果喜欢我们，就请订阅我们吧！

95% of exits are acquisitions rather than IPO. Also nearly a half of them are before Series B. In today’s episode, we invited Benjamin Joffe, who is a partner at the leading global hardware accelerator HAX and has made nearly a thousand angel investments, to share his insights about exits. Here you can find out the big differences between exits in China and exits in the rest of the world, how Chinese companies develop the acquisition playbook globally and also for entrepreneurs, how you can plan your exits and the better way to integrate yourself into another corporate body.

Check out Benjamin’s articles about exits: What every startup founder should know about exits 

https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/31/what-every-startup-founder-should-know-about-exits/

Show Notes:

[2:02] The reality about exits

[3:00] The big differences between exits in China and exits in the rest of the world

[4:27] Motivations for Chinese companies to start exploring acquisitions

[6:09] Are Chinese companies looking for new things that are not in China

[7:52] Specific phenomenon across Chinese M&A activities

[11:20] Chinese acquisitions in China

[13:09] How founders plan exits

[15:28] How founders should change the strategies based on the feedback

[17:56] The typical exits happen before Series B

[19:19] Sell your company before you close the round or do it right after

[21:30] Competitions and options among corporates

[24:42] Chances of International corporates seeking M&A opportunities in China

[28:27] Founders’ challenges about potentially selling a company to Chinese buyers

[32:03] Founders should be careful about the information disclosure in the due diligence process

[35:19] How founders make themselves visible to potential buyers

Many thanks to our host Oscar Ramos, guest Benjamin Joffe, 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: www.linkedin.com/company/the-china-startup-pulse/

Email us: [email protected]

创业公司增长、融资甚至退出的出路之一就是跨国企业。这些跨国企业在与创业公司合作时寻求的是经济回报还是策略价值？对于创业者而言，让跨国企业成为他们的利益相关者会产生什么挑战和机会？海外跨国企业如何看待在中国市场的机会？本期播客，我们采访了在跨国风投工作近20年的Andrew Gaule，从跨国企业和创业公司两方面分析，并提供建议。

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: www.linkedin.com/company/the-china-startup-pulse/

Email us: [email protected]

很多人对中国市场中养老健康服务的需求保持怀疑态度。我们今天邀请的嘉宾China Senior Care的 CEO Mark Spitalnik就是在整个领域的先行者，他很早便在中国建立提供养老产品和服务的公司，试图教育市场、将国际化经验带到中国以及将产品本土化给中国消费者。正如他所说，“中国消费者不是没有需求，而在于他们并不知道这些服务指的是什么”。

此外，在本期播客中，他还分享了他如何开始建立这家公司，最初建立时所遇到的挑战以及他眼中中国市场的潜在机会等。

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: [email protected]

中国加速八分之约演讲系列的第二期由一位投资人、一位成功创业者和一个科技行业专家分享创业者应当避免的错误和失败。他们分别是Fenox Venture Capital的中国区总经理Sophie Yao，曾经负责Firefox亚洲区用户社群的Gen Kanai以及成功将自己的创业公司卖给腾讯的Hike Messenger的印度创业者PK。在这期播客中，他们将个人经历，以及从中习得的经验教训，与各位创业者分享。

中国加速每年在上海举办两次公益性质的创业者分享峰会，邀请8位成功创业家在8分钟内和观众分享心路历程，新一期创业团队也将进行第一次公开的电梯路演，致力于帮助和鼓励更多在中国乃至全球的造梦者。

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.

中国加速八分之约演讲活动回来啦！今天，我们从2018年秋季2场八分之约活动中精心挑选了其中3个演讲与您分享。这3个演讲都围绕着理解自我和实现自我如何影响创业为主题展开，演讲者包括Inner Circles创始人（女性创始人）Em Robin ，Beijing Mindfulness Centre北京冥想中心创始人Dalida Turkovic以及Grata创始人Andrew Schorr。

中国加速每年在上海举办两次公益性质的创业者分享峰会，邀请8位成功创业家在8分钟内和观众分享心路历程，新一期创业团队也将进行第一次公开的电梯路演，致力于帮助和鼓励更多在中国乃至全球的造梦者。

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.

新年快乐！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.

在投资人尽职调查系列播客的第2期，我们邀请了Blockchain Founders Fund的合伙人Aly Madhavji和Mansoor Madhavji分享其如何在尽职调查的过程中评估区块链创业公司。他们分享了其尽职调查过程、策略和偏好，以及他们与部分项目合作的案例和细节，这些建议同样对非区块链的创业公司有帮助。他们特别提及了：信任、产品、市场表现、财务等。

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: [email protected]

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.

正在寻找融资的创业者不可避免地需要接受投资人的尽职调查。为了让创始人们更清楚地理解投资尽职调查的过程，我们制作了2期特别系列播客，邀请投资人来分享他们尽职调查中的注意点。

这期播客录制于前不久在杭州召开的Money20/20中国活动。主播Oscar Ramos采访了Click Ventures的创始人兼管理合伙人Carman Chan。Click Ventures曾经成功投资Spotify, Meetup和其他科技公司。

在这期播客中，Carman分享了她是如何评估市场表现、团队、产品、创始人应当有所准备的部分、公司的合适计划、以及针对亚洲公司和其他国家公司所做尽职调查的不同。

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, 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 in terms of 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

中国用户体验（User Experience UX)市场和国际市场有何不同？如何本土化你的产品以适应中国市场？Samuel Jesse是UX研究实验室UXSPOT的创始人，坐标上海。他在UX领域有着长达10年的经验，他和我们分享了作为国际设计师与中国客户工作的经验，对中国消费者的最佳实践，以及为什么移动端如此重要以及产品本土化。

What are the differences between the�Chinese market and international market regarding User Experience (UX)? What are the crucial principles to localize your design for the 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.