China Herald: When in China, do not follow your gut feeling

William Bao Bean

Many foreign companies fail when they try to enter the China market. According to William Bao Bean, a partner at Shanghai venture capital firm SOSV, dealing with over 120 startups per year, that is because they follow too often the instincts they take along from their home market. Wrong, he tells in the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Why is it so hard for overseas companies to succeed in China?

The biggest challenge for overseas companies in China is not the Chinese government, regulations or laws. When you’re a company coming into China from the United States, Europe or Southeast Asia, you’re entering a completely different market.

Think about it like this – when you learn how to do something, you might spend 10,000 hours and become an expert. You develop a gut instinct. But once you go into a market that’s different, like China, your gut instincts are wrong.

One of the reasons major US internet companies have failed in China is because people making the decisions often have their instincts tell them what to do, as opposed to the data they have.

More in the South China Morning Post.

William Bao Bean is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you looking for more experts to help you deal with the China risks? Do check out this list.