Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tell-tale signs of tough times
Greying hair, balding heads, somber talk--it's been a tough year in the Asian private equity community, and it shows! The AVCJ awards dinner at the China Club was a time to celebrate those who survived and achieved against all odds. But the mood was not very uplighting.
Stephen Roach of Morgan Stanley Asia set the tone with a speech about how a V-shaped economic recovery will be hit by four headwinds: the remaining half of the toxic assets still to be written down, the breadth of the downturn globally, an inability of China and India to boost the global economy by making up for a slowdown in U.S. consumer spending, and China's continued reliance on a boom to bust export-led economy. He encouraged those gathered to enjoy the night's food and wine because "it's not going to get any better soon."
On with the show: awards for best in the business, with a few asides. Picking up an award for private equity professional of the year, Jean Eric Salata of Baring Private Equity Asia took a look at his photo displayed on the screen, and couldn't help but remark about his thinning hair line. George Raffini of HSBC, collecting an award for lifetime achievement, also commented on his photo, where he sported brown hair, not the mostly grey today. It could be that photos used were out of date. But I think it's probably more than just that.
Moving on, the venture capital of the year award went to Andy Yan of Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund. It's interesting to note that three of the five contenders for this trophy have Softbank in their careers. I think this says a lot about the venture empire that Softbank's maverick investor Masayoshi Son has built.
Now, if the inventors in the world can only find a way to reverse the time clock!
PS - Dan Schwartz (photo above) did not leave the event empty-handed. Though a nominee for the lifetime achievement award for his "lifetime's work in Asian private equity," the former leader of AVCJ got a trophy, naturally enough, for publisher of the year. That brought smiles to those gathered, including those insiders (AVCJ publisher Allen Lee, for one) who master-minded the show. It's always good to have some light-hearted fun at these industry events, as Qiming's Gary Rieschel, who was taking bets on the winners, knows all too well.
Stephen Roach of Morgan Stanley Asia set the tone with a speech about how a V-shaped economic recovery will be hit by four headwinds: the remaining half of the toxic assets still to be written down, the breadth of the downturn globally, an inability of China and India to boost the global economy by making up for a slowdown in U.S. consumer spending, and China's continued reliance on a boom to bust export-led economy. He encouraged those gathered to enjoy the night's food and wine because "it's not going to get any better soon."
On with the show: awards for best in the business, with a few asides. Picking up an award for private equity professional of the year, Jean Eric Salata of Baring Private Equity Asia took a look at his photo displayed on the screen, and couldn't help but remark about his thinning hair line. George Raffini of HSBC, collecting an award for lifetime achievement, also commented on his photo, where he sported brown hair, not the mostly grey today. It could be that photos used were out of date. But I think it's probably more than just that.Moving on, the venture capital of the year award went to Andy Yan of Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund. It's interesting to note that three of the five contenders for this trophy have Softbank in their careers. I think this says a lot about the venture empire that Softbank's maverick investor Masayoshi Son has built.
Now, if the inventors in the world can only find a way to reverse the time clock!
PS - Dan Schwartz (photo above) did not leave the event empty-handed. Though a nominee for the lifetime achievement award for his "lifetime's work in Asian private equity," the former leader of AVCJ got a trophy, naturally enough, for publisher of the year. That brought smiles to those gathered, including those insiders (AVCJ publisher Allen Lee, for one) who master-minded the show. It's always good to have some light-hearted fun at these industry events, as Qiming's Gary Rieschel, who was taking bets on the winners, knows all too well.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Forbes: Beware Sand Hill Road
In case you missed this, here's my debut Forbes commentary on tech. Here, I comment on how Sand Hill Road is losing its thunder to Chinese tech hotspots--and why. After more than 10 years covering emerging tech trends globally, I'm bound to have formed some opinions and viewpoints. So here goes. 
Click on
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/06/china-kaixin-baidu-intelligent-technology-fannin.html
As usual, turn to the Asian Venture Capital Journal, better known as AVCJ, www.avcj.com, for my regular news coverage of tech and venture (and some other topics too!).
Happy reading! Rebecca
Click on http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/06/china-kaixin-baidu-intelligent-technology-fannin.html
As usual, turn to the Asian Venture Capital Journal, better known as AVCJ, www.avcj.com, for my regular news coverage of tech and venture (and some other topics too!).
Happy reading! Rebecca
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Kai-Fu Lee & Peter Liu
Now that many venture capitalists in China are no longer funding young companies, it's little wonder that there's room in the market for initiatives like Kai-Fu Lee's Innnovation Works. The incubator lab will seek to identify and nurture winning ideas among young Chinese entrepreneurs, and the best among them will have a chance to be funded by Innovation Works and its backers, which include Chinese venture capital firm WI Harper. Wonder if we will see more types of companies like Maxthon, the China-based web browser that Peter Liu of Harper funded a few years ago? I'm also wondering how the link-up with Harper will impact the lab's ability to work with other venture firms to tap the best startups.
Lee has considerable connections and knowledge of the Chinese entrepreneurial scene, and his backers -- Liu as well as Steve Chen of YouTube and others entrepreneurial leaders -- are equally well suited for the task. But amid all the press and PR about the new venture, questions continue to swirl around about what Lee's move means for Google China, and why he's leaving now. The fact is that he was not able to move the market share needle much against local search competitor Baidu. Even so, his departure from Google China is likely to mean Baidu may gain an even stronger advantage.
Lee has considerable connections and knowledge of the Chinese entrepreneurial scene, and his backers -- Liu as well as Steve Chen of YouTube and others entrepreneurial leaders -- are equally well suited for the task. But amid all the press and PR about the new venture, questions continue to swirl around about what Lee's move means for Google China, and why he's leaving now. The fact is that he was not able to move the market share needle much against local search competitor Baidu. Even so, his departure from Google China is likely to mean Baidu may gain an even stronger advantage.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
China lessons
After following venture investor Lip-Bu Tan of Walden International for more than a decade now, I found it interesting to hear him talk about how he might have done things differently. At a recent China 2010 panel discussion at the Churchill Club, Tan says the number one lesson he learned in 20+ years of Chinese dealmaking is the importance of going local. These days, Tan is spending one week every month in Beijing. He's also made sure to hire local Chinese who can get into the inner circle with other dealmakers and importantly, government officials. Interestingly, Tan found that bringing in talent from Hong Kong or Taiwan didn't work well in China. But, hiring a Caucasian manager who could speak Chinese DID work. Tan surmised that's because there's a fascination in China with westerners who can speak the language better perhaps than even he -- a native Singaporean -- can. This made some folks in the crowd wondering what role they might have in China. See CNReviews post by Silicon Valley mover and shaker Elliott Ng.
PS: Tan is looking noticeably relaxed despite the fact that he now holds two jobs at the same time. Not only does he still lead the team at Walden, but he's the head of Cadence Design Systems.
PS: Tan is looking noticeably relaxed despite the fact that he now holds two jobs at the same time. Not only does he still lead the team at Walden, but he's the head of Cadence Design Systems.
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