In China's working culture, time's are changing - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

For a long time, working around the clock - from 9 to 9, six days a week known as the 996-rule - was common in China's startup working culture. But those times are changing, says SOSV managing director William Bao Bean, a leading voice in China's startup scene to the BBC. “China has moved from a society that was told what to do, to one that is doing what it wants to, and that’s also a millennial thing,” he says.

The BBC:

There are historical reasons behind the emergence of the 996 culture. When China’s tech and start-up scene started to flourish in the early 2000s, most companies sought employees willing to work around the clock, something which helped some of them grow into the country’s biggest companies. Tech company Tencent, for example, is among the world’s five most valuable firms. 

“For the last 10 or 15 years, the work culture has been extremely intense,” said William Bao Bean, a venture capitalist and the managing director of start-up accelerator Chinaccelerator. And because China’s tech companies, who were among the first adopters of unpaid overtime, are now the largest employers, companies in other fields have also started to make their staffs work longer hours in a bid to match their success. 

The normalisation of unpaid overtime led to the invention of the phrase 996 – but Bao Bean says the very existence of the phrase is also a sign that attitudes might be changing.   

“The fact that there is now a word for it and that we are having a conversation about this shows that the market is maturing,” he says. 

However, Bao Bean says that people who like their work environments are not grumbling about the hours. Companies who inspire their employees offer good compensation packages and that are prestigious can find people to work 996 without complaint, he says. 

“China has moved from a society that was told what to do, to one that is doing what it wants to, and that’s also a millennial thing,” he says.

More at the BBC.

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.

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How startups can avoid Facebook and Google - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Startups are mostly at the mercy of quasi-monopolies like Facebook, Google, Tencent or Alibaba. William Bao Bean, managing director of Shanghai-based SOSV tells in this elevator talk how his no.1 accelerator helps them to avoid spending money on those giants to get access to an audience, creating a win-win situation.

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

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Getting a launching platform for your startup - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Most internet startups are at the mercy of Facebook, Google, and in China Tencent or Alibaba to get a launching platform. William Bao Bean, managing director of Shanghai-based SOsV, co-founded the Mobile Only Accelerator MOX, an independent platform offering not only capital but also an audience to launch, he explains in the News Lens.

The News Lens:

MOX member companies can tap support that includes financing from SOSV, the US$300 million VC fund that oversees MOX, and access to audience that sidesteps the life-sapping expenses involved in acquiring users through Facebook and Google. Founding teams can also tap the advice and knowhow of 270 global mentors. 

MOX founder William Bao Bean summed it up: “It doesn’t matter how good your app is – no one will ever see your app or platform unless you pay Google, Facebook or a bunch of Chinese guys [Alibaba, Tencent, etc.]. They charge 20 to 30 cents per app launch, and it’s impossible to make that back in emerging markets.” 

SOSV is regularly ranked among the most active seed investors in the world by Crunchbase, the data-driven company analytics service, and 60 percent of the companies in MOX’s previous three batches have either raised money or broken even (or both), with 30 percent closing or about to close US$1-3 million in the last year, according to Bao Bean. 

In return for offering up a share of their revenue and equity, MOX companies are provided with up to 150,000 users to help localization and optimization as they enter each of the markets in MOX’s coverage, which spans Southeast Asia, India, Eastern Europe and South America.

More in the News Lens. 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.

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Lessons for crossing borders - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Try to solve a problem, even when that means you have to throw your ideas in the bin, tells William Bao Bean an Australian audience. When people in India or China do not have the problem you try to solve, going there does not make sense. The managing director of Chinaccelerator helps preparing for the next four billion of customers.

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this 
list.

Timing and resilience, key for success startups - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Many cities, including those in China, are teeming with startups. Many will fail, some will succeed. Timing and resilience are two factors that are crucial for the success of startups and their founders, says William Bao Bean, managing director of the Chinaccelerator at the WIT Bootcamp 2017, according to Web In Travel.

Web in Travel:

“The best founding teams are like cockroaches, they get stepped on and go crunch a little but then keep on running,” a quote by William Bao Bean, general partner of SOSV and managing director of Chinaccelerator best sums up what make a better startup, and perhaps set it on the road to being a unicorn. 

Speaking at the panel session on “What makes a better startup” at WIT Bootcamp 2017 in Singapore yesterday Bao Bean used this example to show the resilience of a startup in Shanghai which, despite a few difficult years on surviving on little income, difficulty in finding investors and a host of other factors working against them. 

The question of timing is also important as this startup was five years too early, he added.

More in Web in Travel. 

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Are you looking for more tips on the Chinaccelerator by William Bao Bean? Check out this video.

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Cross-border startups, guided through the Chinaccelerator - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Crossing borders is challenging for startups. Willliam Bao Bean, managing director of the Chinaccelerator, guides us through their crowded Shanghai offices, and explains this unique collaboration between starting entrepreneurs, governments, companies, while finding a way through massive numbers of interns. He addresses 42 questions on his day job in Shanghai.

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.

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How Taiwan can become an economic tiger again - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Taiwan used to be one of Asia's economic tigers, but has a hard time to follow dynamic change of the past decade. VC-veteran William Bao Bean tells the Red Herring what the island can do to improve its startup culture and lure Taiwanese entrepreneurs back.

The Red Herring:

Now, with Southeast Asian neighbors hopping aboard to make the region one of tech’s brightest, Taiwan is trying to get its tiger roaring once more. 

Taiwan is home to around 140,000 manufacturing SMEs, the majority of which are based in the country’s densely-populated capital, Taipei. Few, however, have transitioned into software. William Bao Bean, a partner at investor SOSV and managing director at Taipei-based mobile-only accelerator MOX, believes there are three reasons why. 

The first, he says, is investment: “There are many well known Taiwanese internet entrepreneurs. The issue is that they founded a startup, left Taiwan and never came back. One of the most important things about having a startup ecosystem is that they come back and invest through angel investment dollars. That did not happen.” 

Bao Bean’s second reason for Taiwanese startup stagnation is that hardware investors are “quite risk averse. In the early days of the internet, ten years ago, they did a couple of internet projects and ended up losing money. So they came to the conclusion that either their family lacks investment or the internet sucks.”... 

Bao Bean and his MOX colleagues are trying to “encourage people to come back” to inject life into Taiwan’s startup ecosystem. “I pay for plane tickets and hotels for anybody who wants to come back and mentor for a few days,” he says.

More in the Red Herring.

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

Aussie startups: stay away from China - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Managing director William Bao Bean of the leading Chinaccelerator, on tour in Australia, warns Aussie startups to stay away from China and much of Asia, he tells the Australian Financial Review. They should look for their opportunities much closer to home, he added.

The Australian Financial Review:

"I think Australian start-ups should take a look at expanding closer to home. The vast majority do not belong in South East Asia or China," he said. "Something you build for Australia is almost certainly not going to work in the rest of Asia. If you want to expand there, the first step is to take your product and throw it in the garbage. Then take your special sauce and build a new product."

Mr Bao Bean, who has also worked with Softbank China and India and SingTel Innov8, also recommended Aussie entrepreneurs interested in Asia "get out of the building" and spend time exploring and understanding the market before attempting to launch a business there.

Despite his hesitancy around the potential of Australian businesses in Asia, Chinaccelerator has backed two local companies in the last three years – travel services business Chozun and careers platform QLC.io. To meet more local start-ups, Mr Bao Bean has arranged an event at Sydney start-up hub Haymarket HQ on Wednesday. With both companies he has backed, Mr Bao Bean said rather than being specific to the Asian market, he saw potential in them as global platforms. "It comes down to solving a problem. For Chozun, it's not a Chinese problem, it's for international travellers. With QIC, they're solving a problem for millennials and connecting them to jobs in start-ups and those jobs are all with English-speaking companies," he said.

More in the Australian Financial Review.

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check this list.  

Why our startups do not focus on the US, yet - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Shanghai-based VC William Bao Bean explains why the China startups he supports focus on South-East Asia and Eastern Europe, rather than the US. "We are trying to break the grip of Google and Facebook on startups."

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 innovative experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Why most startups should avoid China - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

It sounds odd to hear from the managing director if the Chinaccelator in Shanghai, but William Bao Bean sees it as a success when startups decide to avoid the China market and explore other markets. "Interestingly enough, the greatest help that Chinaccelerator can give to start-ups considering China is convincing them otherwise," he tells Inc-ASEAN.

Inc-ASEAN:

“99% of international start-ups don't belong in China. Locals have a better market understanding and better ability to raise capital. China is the number two market in the world for VC investment—meaning no foreign company is ever going to be better funded, even UBER,” says (says William Bao Bean, the managing director of Chinaccelerator and MOX and general partner at SOSV.) Hence, it is important that the accelerator focus on international companies that have a competitive advantage in areas, such as adtech, education, fintech, and cross border commerce, and are difficult to clone... 

Bao Bean also feels that a data-driven approach is crucial when expanding, if only because relying on our own skills can lead us astray. 

“The biggest problem with international start-ups and even corporates is that what makes them a winner in their home market, their experience and domain knowledge, can be a liability when they go into new markets. Gut instinct and pattern recognition, developed over years of failing and succeeding, is suddenly more likely to send a founder in the wrong direction than the right,” he says, adding that their approach overcomes these biases and even leads entrepreneurs to make discoveries that hadn’t occurred to them previously. 

Chinaccelerator is itself expanding, in a manner of speaking. According to Bao Bean, they are partnering with venture capitalists and accelerators in Southeast Asia and even South Asia to help recruit start-ups with an interest in China. Interestingly enough, the greatest help that Chinaccelerator can give to start-ups considering China is convincing them otherwise. 

“Our biggest value can sometimes be to tell a company that it doesn't make sense for them to enter the Chinese market,” he says.

More in Inc-ASEAN.

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 strategy advisers at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.    

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Cross border e-commerce of the future - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

China´s consumers have been eager purchasers of foreign products, but getting them at the right price proved to be troublesome. New startups are going to make that choice easier, predicts William Bao Bean, general partner at SOSV and managing director of Chinaccelerator, in TechNode, after closing days of presentations by startups. 

TechNode:

When you think ecommerce, you probably think Alibaba, JD, Xiaohongshu, or Ymatou. However, they better be careful: there’s a fresh batch of startups that are looking to disrupt the cross-border ecommerce market. 

“Chinese consumers have been buying those foreign products for quite some time, but they would have to go there or have daigou to get the items; they don’t know where to get the best price,” William Bao Bean, general partner at SOSV and managing director of Chinaccelerator told TechNode. 

The key focus for Chinaccelerator Batch 10 was cross-border commerce. Among the eleven companies that graduated from Batch 10, five companies were offering cross-border ecommerce: LUXSENS, Fashory, CoolHobo, TrustLuxe, and Groupmall. 

These companies tackle cross-border ecommerce by leveraging their unique strengths. LUXSENS is using data mining and analytics to figure out where the best price is, brand by brand, product by product, and country by country. Fashory is using key opinion leaders (KOLs) on Chinese platforms to find hot items, while CoolHobo uses VR to inspire customers.

More at TechNode.

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 on e-commerce at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

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Why we prefer Shanghai over Beijing - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

The ChinaAccelerator, a tech-focused US$200m fund, picked Shanghai over Beijing, although typically most IT firms started off in Beijing. Shanghai is more international, says managing director William Bao Bean in the Economist. 

The Economist:

Lack of government support is cited as the second-greatest challenge to entrepreneurs globally but it is not an issue in Shanghai. In fact, 85% of the city’s entrepreneurs deem their government “very or somewhat effective,” by far the highest figure globally. “It’s pretty simple,” says William Bao Bean, Partner at SOSV and managing director of Chinaccelerator, a global venture capital firm and China based accelerator. “In China, government support is local and a way to build a tax base.” He considers Shanghai to be among the most aggressive in Asia.  No wonder: in April 2016 the local government announced new regulations that will cover up to RMB6m of venture capital losses in case of a bad investment. 

Although growth has slowed, China is still booming by international standards with GDP increasing at about 6.7% in the first quarter of 2016 and Shanghai offering some advantages compared to other cities in the country. “It is more international than Beijing,” says Mr Bean. For this reason, many companies opt to place their marketing and sales departments in the city and foreign brands often establish their headquarters here. Beijing is home to the majority of R&D initiatives and large domestic players, such as Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba, which means the ecosystem is just stronger there overall. “The reason we chose Shanghai,” says Mr Bean, who runs a tech-focused US$200m fund, “is that it is the most international city in China, both in terms of the level of English spoken but also because our focus is to help Chinese companies go global.”

More in the Economist.

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

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China startups: tougher to get capital - Andy Mok

Andy Mok

Getting funding has just gotten a bit harder for China´s booming startup scene, says VC Andy Mok in Bloomberg. “There’s a greater emphasis on revenue and profitability among startups that they are focusing much more on top line and cost control.”

Bloomberg:

For now, the pain should be confined mostly to smaller startups. China’s home to the largest herd of unicorns or billion-dollar startups outside of the U.S., with at least 79 private companies worth more than $1 billion, according to Shanghai-based IResearch. The U.S. in comparison has about 96, according to CB Insights. 

“There’s a greater emphasis on revenue and profitability among startups that they are focusing much more on top line and cost control,” said Andy Mok, managing director of Beijing-based headhunting firm Red Pagoda Resources LLC. “It’s shifted from growth at any cost to more scrutiny of traditional business metrics and they’re looking much more carefully at headcount.”

More in Bloomberg

Andy Mok 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.

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Markets need experts, no bureaucrats to run their business – William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

China´s call for innovation has caused a lot of action by government departments on different levels. But most initiatives are run by officials or universities, not the experienced business people the markets need, tells William Bao Bean, the managing director of one of the Chinese incubators to Reuters.

Reuters:

Almost 80 percent of the capital for the innovation centres springing up around the country is coming from the government or universities, which are state-backed in China, or a combination of sources, iiMedia said. 

"In any sort of market, you want the experts making the decisions, not some technocrat or bureaucrat," said William Bao Bean, investment partner at venture capital fund SOSV, which invests in startups. "You don't tend to see too many successful companies come out of a government-based decision-making process."

More in Reuters.

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Earlier we discussed with William Bao Bean what governments can do to stimulate innovation. Get out of the way, is his key advise.

Taiwan startups have to learn to make mistakes - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Startups in Taiwan have huge opportunities, but they tend to be too conservative, says William Bao Bean,  Managing Director of Chinaccelerator. Especially, they needs the guts to fail, he tells The News Lens.

The News Lens.

“Taiwan’s startups have a huge opportunity,” (William Bao Bean) says. There is an abundance of highly educated technical and engineering talent with global experience and good command of English. The cost of R&D is also relatively low in Taiwan. 

However, generally investors and entrepreneurs tend to be more conservative. There is a culture of disrespect for failure. Taking the risk of failing or embracing international collaboration seems to be a mental obstacle that is hard to get through, which limits the potential of business development. What Taiwan needs are more role models who take risks and achieve success. Taiwan’s market is small, so entrepreneurs should go global, Bao Bean says. 

An investor’s support and an entrepreneur’s ambition, it’s a chicken-and-egg problem. But no matter how, “Young people have to be brave to fail and just don’t make the same mistakes again. Embrace failure. Only through failing will you learn how to succeed,” says Bao Bean firmly.

More in the News Lens.

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Earlier we discussed with William Bao Bean how mobile payments are going to hurt traditional banks and credit card companies

A slice of Silicon Valley in Taipei - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Taipei-based startup accelerator MOX has been taking off, bringing a piece of Silicon Valley and jobs to Taiwan. Chinaccelator Managing Director William Bao Bean explains in the Taipei Times why Taiwan offers a good breeding grounds for mobile only startups.

Taipei Times:

MOX comes from a lot of money — it is one of six global accelerators run by SOSV, a US-based US$250 million (NT$8 billion) venture fund. Each accelerator is sector-based. The companies they choose must spend at least two months in MOX’s Taipei office, working closely with Bean and other staff who “accelerate” their progress by linking them to a variety of crucial resources or helping them localize their product. 

“We look at the team and traction,” MOX Managing Director William Bao Bean (賓威廉) says. “We look at users and whether they come back. We don’t care about how much money they have because they’re not paying.” 

With local advertising and internet services platform General Mobile Corporation (GMobi, 通用移動) as a partner, MOX’s companies receive free advertising to Gmobi’s 100 million users in Southeast Asia. 

“When you start out, the most amount of money is acquiring the customer,” Gift on the Go CEO Alok Singh says. 

“With us, all you have to do is make your app awesome,” Bean says. “We’re trying to flip the model [of having to pay for advertising first].” 

Bean says a big part of the work is helping these companies localize to their new target market. 

“Southeast Asia is mobile first and mobile only,” he says. “You have to change your product, your user experience, how you make money.” 

For example, one company had to downsize its app from 40mb to 10mb to accommodate local internet resources. 

Bean hopes to involve some Taiwanese companies in future batches as the company recruits its second batch later this year. 

“The future of Taiwan tech is Internet,” Bean, who started his technology investment career in Taiwan, says, adding that he can help new local companies move into emerging markets. 

As a mentor at Taiwan Startup Stadium, Bean had already been working with some of these locals. But when MOX made offers to several Taiwanese companies for the first batch, Bean says he found that investors were wary of this new model that required sharing equity, which isn’t popular here but is the norm in Silicon Valley. 

As a global company, MOX could theoretically be based anywhere, and Bean’s answer is simple. 

“It’s nice here,” he says, referring to the convenience, good food, reasonable weather and so on. 

He adds that it is also a good balance of infrastructure and rent costs — falling somewhere between Hong Kong and Bangkok. Plus, Bean says you can recruit talented staff who mostly speak English for a lower cost. 

Bean also hopes to foster somewhat of a local mobile startup community. For example, every week when the companies are in Taiwan and every month otherwise, MOX flies in international experts for a happy hour event that is open to the public, with free drinks and a barbecue afterward — which Bean calls a “Silicon Valley style get-together.” 

Finally, he hopes to attract more people like Roncori who also find that Taiwan is a great place for an Internet startup. 

“They’re moving here, they’re creating jobs,” he says. “You’re bringing international expertise from around the world and actually living here as opposed to visiting a few times. It helps create that community.”

More in the Tapei Times.

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 innovation experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Check out this list here.

William Bao Bean discusses the future of banking

The next four billion internet users will be mobile only - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

The first billion internet users entered the space using their PC´s. But the last four billion users will be mobile only, says innovation expert William  Bao Bean in Tech in Asia, talking about the MOX demo days. To reach those billions, innovation startups also has to be mobile.

Tech in Asia:

MOX is a program by SOSV, a US-headquartered venture capital firm that invests in seed- and growth-stage tech startups. The difference is, it’s doing so through its own accelerators. The firm also operates IndieBio for biotech, Urban-X for smart cities, Food-X for restaurants, HAX for hardware, and Chinaccelerator for internet software. 

“In the US and Europe, you have one billion people who started using the internet on PCs,” MOX managing director and SOSV partner William Bao Bean tells Tech in Asia. “In China, one billion people will soon be online, first on mobile – the largest mobile-only population in the world. That’s the next billion.” 

MOX operates out of Taiwan and is about what William calls “the last four billion” – specifically Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America. MOX partners with one of William’s local investee companies, GMobi, which offers smartphone advertising services and a payment platform.

More in Tech in Asia.

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Check out this list.

William Bao Bean discusses how mobile payments are going to change the financial world

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Big data: a small window of opportunity in China - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Startups should not expect to find the Promised Land in China, told VC-veteran William Bao Bean an investment conference on China in Tel Aviv last month. 95 percent of you should not be here, he told according to the Times of Israel. With one exception: Chinese internet companies cannot deal with algorithms. They urgently need mathematicians.

The Times of Israel:

So what chance does an Israeli entrepreneur have in China? The only way is with a sort of “spirit guide” who knows the playing field, and can find an opportunity – and Bean believes he has found it, in WeChat. “A couple of years ago Tencent decided that it would be better to partner with start-ups instead of destroy them. At Chinaccelerator we have developed several start-ups that allow us to use the WeChat platform to monetize social activity.” For example, one of the start-ups has developed an e-commerce platform for WeChat verticals, “so we have an e-commerce application for wine, luxury, travel,” and other verticals, said Bean. 

But as Tencent and the other conglomerates try to compete in the more sophisticated areas of tech, like big data, they realize they need some outside help. “In China people do not value mathematicians, so it is very hard to find people who are good at algorithms,” said Bean. “It sounds ironic, but the Chinese in China are not very good in math. The good mathematicians in China fled to the West because they get paid a lot more over there. 

“That’s where you guys come in,” said Bean. With all the mobile usage and data collection, companies like Tencent are awash in data, “but they have no idea what to do with it.” Israeli tech experts and big data start-ups have an opportunity to build applications and services for “the next billion,” the rising population of the Far East that is already dominating the international tech scene. With Israeli big data skills, Bean believes companies like Tencent – and the product groups within it – will see an advantage for themselves over their competition, internal and external. 

The fact that Israeli entrepreneurs have skills that Chinese firms need will act as a brake on the average Chinese CEO’s competitive instincts, sparing locals from the ulcer-wrenching competition Chinese companies face. As someone who knows the playing field, Bean believes that the right companies can succeed – and those that do will be able to tap into a huge market opportunity. 

But Israeli tech firms hoping to make it in China need to act fast. 

“We’re actually making a bet here that Tencent won’t change its mind and go back to trying to destroy the start-ups we are bringing into the Chinese corporate sphere,” said Bean. But he believes that once the conglomerates – and their product groups – see what Israel has to offer, they will make an exception to their “crush, kill, destroy” rule. 

“I’m all about unfair advantage, and bringing Israeli technical and programming skills will definitely give any company that works with start-ups based on Israeli tech an unfair advantage.” That, Bean said, might just be enough to enable an Israeli start-up to thrive in the toughest business environment they will ever face.

More in the Times of Israel.

You can find his full speech here.

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 on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

Cheating on funding, China´s startup warfare - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Eyebrows were raised when China’s food delivery service Ele.me last week announced it raised funds worth US$630 million, while in reality it was less than US$400 million. Startup expert William Bao Bean was not amazed. China´s startups are very competitive, and cheating on figures is part of that, he told VentureBeat.

VentureBeat:

Inflated figures in China’s funding rounds are not uncommon, and it’s an issue known to many in the industry there. “China is a very competitive market,” William Bao Bean, managing director atChinaccelerator and a partner at SOSV, told VentureBeat in a phone interview. “So anything you can do to unsettle your competitors is fair game.” 

SOSV is a Shanghai-based VC firm with a $250 million fund that focuses on accelerating over 120 startups each year. Bao Bean wished to make clear that he had no comment on the Ele.me case in particular. 

“It scares the hell out of your competition if you raise more money than their entire valuation,” he added. “Often what happens is that on the amount raised, they add a zero… It’s psychological warfare, China-style.” 

While the actual investment amounts eventually come to light when VCs do their own internal due diligence at follow-on rounds, often leaked funding news gets picked up by individual media outlets in China — and then goes viral with little fact-checking on the part of the journalists picking up the story second-hand. 

“I think this is a problem that you see more often in China,” he said. “It’s less common outside of China because the consequences of misreporting fundraising are much more severe.”

More at Venture Beat.

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