GEP Life

Come to China: Get On the Grind

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Sat, 28 May 2011 00:52:00 +0000

There is so much chatter now in the international business world about new business opportunities in China. A primary reason for this is that the Chinese domestic market is so damn huge, and consumers in China are increasingly demanding more, newer, and better products and services.

Retail sales in China are growing by a whopping 15% a year. Currently 12% of the world’s luxury goods are bought by China, and Ernst & Young predicts that by 2015 this figure will reach 29%. Although there are pervasive issues surrounding distribution of wealth, social injustice, and poverty—especially among migrant workers and in China’s Western provinces—as a whole, standards of living are rising, per capita income is increasing, and Chinese consumers are becoming more sophisticated and demanding. Savings are diminishing and spending is snowballing, especially among China’s emerging middle class which is larger than the entire population of the United States. In the past 5 months, the GEP class has met many successful entrepreneurs that have struck it big in China: with import-export, real estate, cars, pharmaceuticals, French wine, digital advertising, high-tech tracking products, and a sprawling gamut of commodities and consultancy services. China’s domestic market is the next great frontier for international companies to conquer, and all of the corporate cowboys and trailblazers are going out East for a piece of the rewards.

Some cautionary tales from American companies in China: this March, Mattel closed down its flagship Barbie store in Shanghai because Chinese girls simply weren’t interested in buying overpriced, blonde American dolls; Home Depot shut down its Beijing outlet because in China, labor is relatively cheap and the notion of DIY is almost nonexistent; this January Best Buy announced that it would close all of its Chinese stores since the Chinese electronics appliance market is already saturated with cheaper local competitors like Guomei and Suning. There are common motifs to these Chinese failures: sometimes it’s entering late to an already developed local market, but most of these corporate botches are due to a fundamental cultural misunderstanding of Chinese consumers and an inability to localize.

US companies that did strike it big in China were exemplary localizers: KFC—with the help of Taiwanese management—designed a menu of congee, sesame-seed cakes, and spicy chicken rice, which Chinese can’t get enough of; Wal-Mart has also succeeded spectacularly in the East, expanding into the grocery business and selling popular fresh produce. China’s domestic market is full of opportunities, but it seems that if companies want to make their millions, they must recognize the complexity of China and adapt their products to the market—not try to adapt the market to their Western bestsellers.

Since the first capitalistic reforms and its opening up to international business in 1978, China has become the ‘factory of the world’…a place of sweatshop conditions and an army of cheap workers, environmental degradation and lax regulations…where any multinational could manufacture their products for cheap and undercut the suckers still basing production in their home countries. As a consequence ‘Brand China’ was not known internationally for its rich history, or scenic beauty, or for being the ancient technological pioneers of the world…but rather as a cheap factory for economy goods, a massive corporate playground that could be ravaged for its natural resources and desperate people that would work for near slave-level wages. The same sad story of supplier nations and developing countries all over the world…

But things have changed… Chinese companies like Gilee (which took over Volvo), Lenovo (which acquired IBM’s PC division), and Shanghai Tang (internationalizing high-end fashion), are revolutionizing the way China is perceived globally. China is not just the place to produce your products—which is becoming more and more expensive, and multinationals are beginning to infiltrate new production bases like Vietnam and Laos—but a place to sell them. As China is now the largest recipient of FDI in the world, it is clear that many foreign entrepreneurs and companies are setting up shop here to take advantage of this country’s alluring domestic market.

So down to the matter at hand… as a GEP class—a pack of 59 supposed international entrepreneurs—what have we done about the opportunities at our doorstep in China? How have we taken advantage of being immersed into this promising and lucrative business scene? Will we start up in China?

In short…I can proudly say that we’ve done a lot! And despite being thrown into a completely different culture, and being stuck in punishing classes for so many hours, many of us have gotten our hustle on and seized opportunities and really tried to get things started in China.

On that note, I’m going to dedicate some of the next posts to celebrate our grind as true entrepreneurs... To praise some of the entrepreneurial initiatives and business ideas that have come out of our GEP experience in China.

Look out world, here we come…

-Seb

Chinese Auto Industry: A Growing, Complex Battleground

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Tue, 24 May 2011 03:53:00 +0000

Cars in China are hot! China is the largest automobile market in the world, with sales rising 32% y-o-y to $18.06 million. In China, cars mean status—and the bigger they are, the better.

There are big opportunities in China for international car companies. Since cities like Shanghai and Beijing are already chock-full of smog-spewing vehicles, companies are growing their sales successfully in second and third tier cities, increasingly in the rural markets. Throughout the country, long cars are cool, imported cars are perceived as quality and symbols of wealth, and there is a growing niche among young, internationally exposed Chinese that want stylish, smaller cars. The Electric Vehicle (EV) market is now booming in China, with HSBC anticipating China’s share of the global EV market to rise from 2.7% in 2010 to 35% by 2010. The Chinese government is also heavily supporting this eco-friendly auto sector, encouraging EV production in pilot cities with incentives, and forcing government employees and taxi fleets to use green cars.

There is a lot of money to be made in the Chinese automobile industry, and global players within the industry like Audi and BMW are positioning themselves to take slices of the pie. However, the car game isn’t always easy…there are always requirements and obstacles to overcome. As a foreign car manufacturer that wants to enter China, you have to partner up (50-50 Joint Venture) with a state-owned car company. This arrangement isn’t always easy, and as the state owned companies usually manage the distribution channels for vehicles, they always expect to get a piece out of foreigners’ money-making. Government restrictions on the amount of cars registered in major cities like Beijing and Hangzhou also put a cap on potential car sales. But China’s market is incredibly vast and segmented, and many car companies are smartly concentrating on traditionally overlooked markets in smaller cities and rural areas.

Internationally, Chinese car companies are also starting to make a big name for themselves: exports are likely to continue rising after increasing by 64% in 2010. Promising companies like Chery and BYD (whose EV division received a $230 million investment by Warren Buffet) are making major sales abroad, especially in developing countries. Last year, Gilee—a Zhejiang-based company with an entrepreneurial history—made the game-changing acquisition of the Swedish car company Volvo. The Chinese auto industry is dynamically changing, growing…and whether as a manufacturer or market for cars, Chinese cars are on the cusp of dominating the globe.

So opportunists welcome! There is plenty of cash to be made in the Chinese car market. But be warned…if you want to get a piece, you will have to deal with hefty government interventions, and the competition (from international players, the state, and private companies) is incredibly fierce.

-Seb

Going to Guilin

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Sun, 22 May 2011 04:41:00 +0000

April 26th

We continued drifting…tickled by a slight breeze, alongside the green bush, and stone huts, and sun-beaten rice farmers standing on the river banks. We had lunch on a rustic patio overlooking the ravine…the food was great: Li River fish with a pork-veggie salad. Hunchbacked women with earnest faces tried to sell us oranges; stray dogs roamed around, all foamy and mangy and cute. Zhenzhen and I went for a walk into the mountainside…up stone trails, with jungly underbrush on either side, past gardens and lonely wooden houses—hidden amid that labyrinth of deep emerald green. We stumbled onto a farm house that seemed abandoned, except a cow was still tethered to a tree. I pet it, and the beast nuzzled me thankfully. I imagined buying a house here someday, disappearing from the world and just writing, and wandering…dying a happy man.

We re-boarded our bamboo vessel and were crisscrossing the Li River again. There were farmers and oxen, toiling in the sun, feet and hooves splashing in the marshy wetlands. We saw the ‘Rock of the 9 Horses’—a cliff-face where Zhou Enlai (The Republic of China’s 1^st Prime Minister) famously discerned 9 stallions from the rocky splotches… but they just looked like splotches to me. We reached a view of the river that was replicated on the packaging of a local Guilin cigarette brand… Then we surveyed the river from an angle that was exactly replicated on every 20 Yuan bill… I had been looking at this place for months without even knowing it. Guilin scenery is nestled deep into the subconscious of, and used by, each of the 1.3 billion people in China. It was impressive…

We finally scraped onto a distant bank, said goodbye to our charming boat driver, and took a car to a nearby ancient town that Zhenzhen knew about. The town was old and beautiful…roofs splintered and dilapidated, leaning houses made of stone and wood, humble Buddhist enclaves inviting in devout rural farmers. I imagined the place was the scene of some traditional ceremony, or age-old feud, or epic Kung Fu battle. Zhenzhen and I took a path into the woods, and now I felt like I was truly in the countryside. We greeted a few men swinging pitchforks into the dirt, saw orange peels being dried in the sun for medicinal uses, and walked by a dingy hovel with a pack of old men playing cards—“Hello!” one said, welcoming me to his town.

It was all very touching, and beautiful…and disgustingly hot. Beneath my load of backpacks I was sweating profusely. We walked out of the ancient town, through a more modern bit, and hopped onto a bus that would take us to the center of Yangshuo.

-Seb

Going to Guilin

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Sun, 22 May 2011 04:23:00 +0000

April 26th

I woke up at 5am, fumbling around in the darkness for my pants. Zhenzhen—my Chinese friend from my old University—was coming early, and I had to go scoop her up at the station. I found her at a street vendor’s stand, slurping noodles and smiling. Zhenzhen is an awesome girl: proudly Chinese, totally uninhibited and joy-seeking, and always happy and carefree about what anyone thinks of her. We walked back to WADA where I scarfed down a Western breakfast and packed up my trampish possessions. It was a crisp morning: at 7am the streets were already bustling and we caught a bus to Yangshuo—where Zhenzhen said the real beauty of Guilin was hidden.

Rumbling along the highway, past green mountains and countryside, the bus stopped near a river that slithered between the cliffs. As we got off, elderly ladies tried to sell us wooden ducks, trinkets and squirt guns, but we marched straight past to the riverbank where we rented ourselves a bamboo boat.

Drifting off into the scenic Li River, craning my neck around at the front of our raft, I was awe-struck by the quiet beauty of this place... The mountains looked like gelatin drops frozen in place, their green and rocky brown contours dripping off them like piles of gigantic dough…the water lapped around us, rippling into millions of diamond rivulets… It was a prehistoric beauty, like floating into the set of Jurassic Park, or exploring James Cameron’s Avatar world, or sailing down choppy Amazon waters towards the secrets of a vast Incan jungle.

My fantasies were interrupted by a peasant woman scrubbing her clothes in the river, and a little girl spraying water over the reeds. I felt so lucky to be here.

-Seb

A New Entrepreneur for the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Sun, 22 May 2011 04:02:00 +0000

During this week I have heard about two scandals. One happened on an international level and another one in Russia. The international scandal was regarding Apple and its lawsuit against Samsung for copying its products – iPhone and iPad. What was more interesting is that another scandal appeared after somebody discovered that Apple has a special device on its iPhone. It collects information about the location of cell phone users and sends it to Apple’s center. Company management said that they need this data in order to improve the products quality. Not of course all of the information is secured and Apple will never use it illegally…they say.

Another scandal happened a few days ago in Russia. The CEO and a number of other managers from one of Russia’s banks were accused of stealing money from the bank customers’ accounts through online banking.

This news made another idea come to my mind concerning entrepreneurship. We all know that there are three types of entrepreneurship; social entrepreneurship and individual entrepreneurship are most common. I am sure you also remember that we have intrapreneurs too, those who are desperately hired by big corporations but still know – deep inside -that they are “entre”.

So, we have three types of entrepreneurs: social entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and the classic individual entrepreneur. Classic entrepreneurs are generally not concerned about the social benefits their business creates. They do not see helping those people who are dying somewhere on the planet, as a core goal for their business. They do not put anywhere in their business plan milestones like, “building a church as soon as I break even.” What they are really concerned about is how they will make money and who they will have to pay their debts too. They plan their business without thinking of society, environment and the etc. Well so what?

I do not see the egoism concerning all these peoples understanding of responsibility when they do business: responsibility for securing all the information about me traveling around the world with my iPhone, my money in their banks, or possible radiation coming from a product they offer.

When we talk about being social, I suggest starting first from understanding the responsibility that comes with launching a start-up. If you are lucky enough to find or be the IT guru introducing a new product that will significantly enhance the quality of all human life, yet you just need all of my bio information to do so, I want you to understand that you need to take full responsibility for anything that might happen afterwards with access to that information!

Let’s imagine that you are a smart kid. You have read a bunch of books about entrepreneurship. You have listened to a bunch of lectures about the subject. You have been acknowledged as one of the best students in the class. You have seen great opportunities. You have developed a promising business model. You have found resources: money, people, and so on. You are doing great! Except that you do not understand that having started something (a business) makes you responsible for all the consequences that come out of it. If you do not understand that, you should be afraid of the unnecessary “business” that may come to you… business that not only endangers you, but more importantly me as a customer.

I do believe that social entrepreneurship is a good thing, but I believe as soon as we start talking about responsible entrepreneurship we will see a significant increase in the social benefits our businesses bring to consumers.

-Dasha

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:32:00 +0000

Day 2 - January 27th, 2011

I walked slowly past these statues, observing their caricaturish facial expressions…

In all of the temples there was at least one monk guarding these spiritual palaces. They were much friendlier than the monk that had rejected us on the first night…greeting with a smile, bow of the head and clasped hands, wearing a brown over orange outfit… I imagined that some of these men would become Buddhist saints someday, and earn their place alongside Buddha, encased in gold forevermore for their extraordinary acts.

I’d heard of some pretty incredible tales about Buddhist monks: surviving without food or jackets for months in a cave during merciless winter—in a trance-like meditation; telepathy and telekinesis; a few Shaolin monks defending their monasteries from hordes of enemies with the bad-ass Kung Fu skills they’d invented.

These men had a reserve of spiritual power that I could perceive… I could feel their energy somehow just by walking by. I made a few friends among the monks, communicating with my more than broken (shattered) Mandarin, telling them where I’m from and that their temples were very beautiful.

-Seb

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:11:00 +0000

Day 2 - January 27th, 2011

After every hundred steps we would come onto a temple - sometimes they were simple, humble little enclaves within yellow walls; other times more extravagant, big wooden structures with pointed roofs, statues of Chinese dragons, colorful red and turquoise ornaments, with towering incense burners on the outside...

Visiting the insides of these temples was also awe-inspiring. There was always a golden centerpiece in front of the entrance—usually either Dizhang or a Buddha.

After the Teng Dynasty, most Chinese Buddhist temples honored the Chinese interpretation, also known as, 'future Buddha' in Indian Buddhism. This is the Buddha I think we are all most familiar with in the West: a smiling face (happiness), long ear lobes (signifying longevity and long life, since the earlobes are the only part of the human body that never stops growing), and a big, fat belly (signifying prosperity). If you rub it, it brings you good luck!

The Buddha statue is almost always accompanied by a statue of the 'defender of Buddhism' (a scary guy with a sword), and by a series of 'Buddhist saints' - monks that held an important place in the history of Buddhism, but didn't quite make it to Nirvana.

-Seb

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:26:00 +0000

Day 2 - January 27th, 2011

We were on our way up the stairs… that endless stairway to heaven. As I was wearing 7 layers and thermal pants, I would constantly fluctuate between sweat and icy cold.

Arpita and Abi—two chirpy girls in our group—kept slipping in the snow, squealing before eating a face-full of powder. We bought them bamboo slippers at a little store along the path to give them some traction on the ice. Only these ‘blondes,’ as we sometimes call the girls, would have worn their ‘cute looking boots’ on a dangerous expedition like this one…

As we climbed the countless stairs, we passed by small groups of snow-laden houses built into the side of the mountain…shrines with incense sticks burning in honor of Dizhang…huge stones next to waterfalls frozen in motion…pathways between bamboo forests enveloped in mist…

-Seb

Chinese Real Estate: The House that Greed Built

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:08:00 +0000

Real estate in China is hot! For several years property prices have increased year over year by a whopping 7.8%, making the most populated country on the planet also one of the most expensive places to live. In 2009, China’s housing price to income differential was the highest in the world, surpassing metropolises that are notoriously pricy to live in:

Owning a home is a cornerstone to the Chinese way of life…if you’re an eligible young bachelor without a semi-mortgaged pad, well son… you’re going to have trouble finding a wife. In China, to get married and have a baby (which is pretty much what everyone expects you to do), you have to own your own house. And not just renting a property for some years and then moving, as is customary in the West, but settling down in one home and paying off the mortgage until it truly belongs to you. The only catch is that the land upon which the house is built always belongs to the government, and after 70 years (even if 3 generations of your bloodline have slaved away to own that property), the Party has the right to take away that house from you again.

Nevertheless, it seems that nothing dissuades Chinese homeowners…they simply need houses. No matter how ridiculously expensive home prices are jacked up, some Chinese consumers have always been willing and able to pay. Many landlords and wealthy Chinese families have made quick millions, flipping properties and expanding their real estate empires. It’s been good for some, and bad for many more…however, it seems that this hustle has reached critical mass. The jig is up…

China's Modern Ghost Towns

In every Chinese city that I visit I see developments full of vacant apartments, ghost houses with no lights on in the night, cranes standing motionless over halted construction sites. Many people in these cities—especially migrant workers, the lower class and increasingly the middle class—can’t afford to pay these extortionary prices anymore. Many 20-something year olds that I’ve met on the road are frustrated and angry…four-fifths of their first-job salaries go to paying for their first (and only) apartments. They are stuck paying mortgages early in life, on houses that will probably be seized from their grandchildren by the government. Many are fed up…and many simply can’t afford it anymore.

But the real estate game is still booming... but many fear that the speculatory bubble is about to burst, and are bracing themselves for the crash.

So opportunists welcome! If you have major capital at your disposal, you might still be able to squeeze in a few quick real estate millions in China. But it seems that the window of opportunity is closing…and personally, I wouldn’t invest anymore into an industry whose foundations are already buckling, and are bound to someday come tumbling down.

-Seb

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Sat, 07 May 2011 14:41:00 +0000

Day 2, January 27^th—2011

Dizhang was once a man—but an exceptional man that did great good throughout his lives until he finally achieved Nirvana.

But being in that long-sought mythical place—being finally a Buddha, Dizhang couldn’t forget the poor suffering humans on Earth that he’d left behind. So he decided to leave that eternal paradise and come back to Earth to help us.

Dizhang

This made Dizhang a ‘Bodhisattva,’ a Buddha that left Nirvana to help others achieve it. In China, there are 4 famous Bodhisattvas: one of Wisdom, Diligence, Mercy (with 10,000 arms to help as many people as possible), and finally Dizhang—the Bodhisattva of Hell.

He earned this title because he didn’t simply come back to Earth to help us…Dizhang committed to living in Hell, suffering in that damned dominion until every single person on Earth has achieved Nirvana.

Each of the 4 famous Bodhisattvas has their own Holy Mountain in China, where Buddhist temples are built especially to honor them.

Jiuhua Shan—the Holy Mountain we were now climbing—belonged to Dizhang.

-Seb

The New China: Calling All Opportunists...

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Sat, 07 May 2011 14:34:00 +0000

In the past year, China has not only become the largest creditor nation and second largest economy in the world…but also the most explosive and lucrative hub for new business and entrepreneurial opportunity. This country is hot and everyone knows it.

The multinationals and VCs have been flocking for years. Every successful business person I’ve spoken to tells me to stay here, to learn to speak Mandarin fluently, and to wait and make shitloads of money. After 4 months of breathing, and eating, and studying China…the GEP class has been scoping the scene, looking for new opportunities…trying to see where young, ambitious entrepreneurs could fit into this global paradigm shift. China is changing… This is a pivotal moment in Chinese history—in world history—and we’ve been incredibly lucky to be here, somehow connected to entrepreneurship and business. China is the place to be right now; the opportunities here are massive. So, as a humble opportunist looking for love and loot in all the right places, this is what I can share with you guys…

-Seb

Going to Guilin

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:17:00 +0000

April 25

It was a long and terrible night… my computer died after 20 minutes, and I had no choice but to alternate between rickety reading and sleep. The Mandarin radio chatter kept blaring next to me, but after 8 hours the lights finally went out and I dreamt of my little brother and big empty spaces.

I woke up again…hurting and disoriented…in disbelief that the sun was out. There is something soul-destroying about observing the raw, slow passage of time…I celebrated each brutalizing hour. I wasn’t sure what time the train would arrive in Guilin…so I could just…wait some more. I bought pears for breakfast/lunch and looked at the countryside passing me by. Outside the weather was warm…there were green marshlands and rice terraces and barefoot farmers throwing seeds into pools of water…it was beautiful, and kind of depressing to see the sunlight slowly ooze away again. After the darkness conquered, I started to freak out again—I wasn’t sure which stop was Guilin, and was afraid of missing it. My panic must have been palpable, because another helpful Chinaman signaled that Guilin was his stop, and that I could get off with him. Somehow I understood…

After more than 24 hours of train-hell, we finally arrived at the Guilin train station. It was 8:30 pm, the night was hot and sticky, and I felt like walking…through a crammed exit line, out into the honking, glimmering streets of the city. I wanted to find my way to the hostel walking…somehow I navigated with the scribbled directions in my pocket…past the little girl screaming and playing in the dark, the shirtless vagabond, the greasy mechanics glaring behind cigarette embers… I made it to WADA hostel, an English-speaking oasis with bamboo benches, cold beer, and very shitty pizza. I chilled out deliciously, watching Californication before climbing into my shared room bunk bed. My Chinese roommate didn’t speak much English, but he told me his name was John.

-Seb

The Real Culture Iceberg

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Thu, 05 May 2011 13:00:00 +0000

During the last decade a lot of new business sciences have appeared in university curriculums. It is safe to say that entrepreneurship is a good example of a new subject being studied. However, as of late, there is another subject the world has become passionate about… I would say, a bit too passionate about – intercultural management and communication.

It looks to me like people became so concerned with high-context, power distance, together with all the icebergs (on and under the water) that they forgot that being a master in communication means being a master in small details.

Examples… I will give you an example. During my semester in China a group of GEP students decided to organize a two day event – a business idea pitching competition that attracted more than 160 people on the first day alone. In our group of organizers we had both Chinese and Western students. As it always happens during the preparation for such an event, we had been meeting ten times per day, sending thousands of emails back and forth and calling each other non-stop.

Everything went well… at least I felt like everything went well. A lot of rushing around – yes… A lot of unforeseen problems (that were all eventually solved)– yes… Real problems relating to miscommunication – NO WAY. Until one day, one of our team members told us that we (the westerners) were behaving arrogantly towards our Chinese members. Hearing that was surprising to me.

And you know what we realized after that conversation? We really had behaved arrogantly! We just did not realize the manner in which we were coming across to our Chinese peers… sincerely we did not.

For example, we would discuss two different options for our event venue and then decide that one was better than other as it looked more “western”. Automatically, it sounded like the Chinese style was not as “high class” as western style. Did I mean it like that, or think about it when I was discussing the venue? NO! Could other members see it as being offensive? Well, looking back on it I could see how they might think it. I would be lying if I said that now I didn’t understand why...

Just think, it could be one small sentence in your email, a sentence you did not even notice. You wrote and forgot about it in two minutes. One small sentence, and all of your efforts towards having an open and global mind-set end with some of your team feeling alienated and offended.

I believe I quite clearly understood Mr. Hofstede. Nevertheless, all my knowledge of his reputable work did not help me to remember the small details that are so important – in what you say, in what you write, in what you show and how you show it… Even small intonations play an important role. Adjusting to another culture is like walking the tight rope – no relaxation even for a minute.

While we are pretending that we are GLOBAL entrepreneurs we need to remember that having a global mind-set means drawing the whole picture, working hard on every small detail.

-Dasha

Going to Guilin

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:39:00 +0000

April 24th, 2011

Yesterday they kicked us out of our dorms…the hallway was a mess of shoes, pizza boxes, papers, samurai swords, and other discarded junk. Saying goodbye is always strange…I finally made it to Shanghai to drop off my suitcases at the Luxury Management Girls’ Place. Their apartment was infected with salmonella and laziness…everyone had the shits. That night I grabbed a beer with Yves Tiers and his Belgian posse, in a bar called ‘Zapatas,’ where scantily-clad women poured tequila shots down my throat.

The next day, I’m moving again…with my big red backpack and my laptop slung across my shoulder. I tried to make it to Shanghai Railway Station South by 4:43pm, but…I didn’t. I went to the wrong train station, 3 Chinese retards misdirected me, and my IPod was too loud to hear the conductor’s voice… I arrived at the station 2 minutes after my train had departed. I almost hyperventilated, and wanted to break things.

Luckily, a bespectacled Chinaman came to my rescue, and I replaced my ticket for one leaving at 7:40pm. I sat at KFC for 2.5 hours, munching on wings and preparing myself for the 23 hour train ride to Guilin. I got on, settled into a third-bunk bed (50 centimeters from the ceiling). I looked at the purple stains above me and thought, “How the fuck am I going to survive this one?”

-Seb

The 'E' is for Entrepreneurship

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Wed, 04 May 2011 01:42:00 +0000

Overlooking our previous blog posts, I’ve noticed that there are a lot of entries about travelling, and cultural adaptation, and other GEP shenanigans… but there is very little in this blog about entrepreneurship. For fuck’s sake man, this is the Global “Entrepreneurship” Program after all…the subject certainly deserves a bit of attention.

How has our class evolved as entrepreneurs? Have we embraced the startup religion? How have we recognized and seized entrepreneurial opportunities in China?

Back in Lyon… we were still reeling from the novelty: the new place, the French, the excitement, our new GEP family. We were still feeling each other out…who had connections, and where? What were our previous work experiences? Who could we work with in the future? And who were the real entrepreneurs that were going to strike gold (or go social and strike good) in the next 5 years?

We assumed that besides the travelling and ridiculous adventure that this program offered, everyone that applied wanted to start-up, or at least had a healthy interest in entrepreneurship. In the early days, we found out tidbits of information about each other…there was a vast spectrum of corporate experience: from none at all, to a few internships, to working for family businesses, to being employed at several high-browed investment banks, firms, and consultancies. A GEPer had started an NGO called Tuk-Tam—an organization dedicated to creating an active informational network for Bulgarians who are looking to make a difference in Bulgaria. There were other fledging ventures started by classmates, like Cambio Co.—a social enterprise that sells clothes and handcrafts to help Bolivian street children with its profits, and NP Global Advisors—a company that organizes global internship opportunities that involve consultancy and entrepreneurial learning.

The only really seasoned entrepreneurs in the GEP 2011 class were some of our Chinese classmates: Pan Junlun, whose small factory in China produces and trades mechanical components; Chen Huawei, who after several years of employment at international trading companies, has started his own trading and supply business and opened up his own store in Yiwu; and Yang Zhongshui, whose already profitable startup produces merchandise with Chinese university insignias.

As our classes in Lyon progressed, we got to know each other better, work in teams together, and see who among us wanted to make his/her first million before they hit 30, or mastermind the next invention that will change the world, or pioneer a great social enterprise that will improve the lives of millions. As we heard more about ‘corporate entrepreneurship’ in class, we learnt that some of our classmates didn’t want to start-up, but be innovators and mavericks within large corporations. Disappointingly, we also learnt that some of our classmates weren’t even interested in entrepreneurship at all. They just did this Masters to become more employable… And others just did it to travel…

But some were still hungry…you could tell…they had that swagger, that wolfish look in their eye, that quiet determination…that desire to be masters of their own destiny…

Regrettably, the GEP is a Master’s degree, and this world tour does have to fulfill certain academic requirements. In France, the consultancy projects with start-ups did give us a flavor of entrepreneurship…but after so many lectures, and theories, and analyzing case studies of successful startups belonging to other guys… it was clear that any real entrepreneurship, or development of our own businesses, would have to happen outside of the classroom.

Has our class managed to do something truly entrepreneurial together? Will there be any new businesses born out of this global experiment?

And how have we taken advantage of China—the modern Mecca of business and entrepreneurial opportunity?

I think these subjects deserve a bit of attention…

-Seb

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Wed, 04 May 2011 00:34:00 +0000

Day 2 - January 27th, 2011

The bus’ wheels crunched in the snow as we came to a stop.

This was as far up as cars could go. 9 GEPers stumbled out of the bus and looked around… Huge sloping mountains in the distance, dotted with bamboo stalks and shrouded by mist… Snow falling on a frozen river… Pine trees with white powder coagulating each green strand…

I had that awe-inspiring feeling, when you see something so beautiful that you know you won’t be able to describe it…you can’t take a picture of it, can’t capture it…just try to register it in your memory as best as you can…

We started walking up a hill, breathing fast, gently showered by snow, just looking and taking photos…

In the distance there was a mountain with a beautiful red and yellow temple built on its peak. It looked like it was teetering on its edge, about to tumble down and get swallowed by that misty precipice… How did they build that?—I wondered. Tree’s branches reached up to the mountain like the fingertips of hands paying homage…the Jiuhua Shan’s base stood unmovable in front of us…its celestial peak, too high and foggy for us to see.

We’d reached the foot of the stairs.

Our mission was to make it to the top…like that brave monk so many years ago that built a great temple and died at the peak of this mountain to honor Dizhang.

-Seb

A Little Throwback Piece

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Mon, 02 May 2011 02:03:00 +0000

Somewhat delayed, but we felt we had to make a throwback to that very special journey. Welcome to a continuation of…

The Moroccan Diaries

Day 1—December 2^nd, Casablanca:

The wheels screeched as we landed on the airstrip in Casablanca.

19 GEPers + 1 Japanese traveller piled out of the plane and waited for our luggage by a rickety conveyor belt. Many of us exchanged Euros for the local Moroccan currency, Dirham (1 Euro = about 10 Dirham). As I traipsed around the Casablanca airport I caught my first glimpses of the Islamic world: signs written in beautifully sloped Arabic…the diamond-shaped patterns and horseshoe arches of Moorish architecture…men wearing brown fezzes and robes…some women wearing Westernized clothing while others were covered by white fabric... The GEP crew finally regrouped, counted 20 members, and ran like a pack of wild hyenas to barely catch the train.

I found myself sitting alone on the train to downtown Casablanca. I looked out the window to catch glimpses of Morocco. I was immediately overwhelmed by a strangely familiar feeling…the place was startling, and beautifully underdeveloped, and felt like home…like Bolivia or something. We sped past trash heaps, some dilapidated shacks, decrepit old buildings—some with a colonial majesty, others urban and grimy…I saw children by the side of the tracks playing with sticks; in the background, a green tropical undergrowth, which I certainly wasn’t expecting to see in Northern Africa. Some of the GEPers sitting close by befriended a smiling stranger: Hanan, a local woman that noticed we were foreign and offered to show us a good restaurant in downtown Casablanca.

Our home in Casablanca

We arrived at our stop, and paraded our suitcases into the Hotel Ibis where we’d made reservations. Poor Hanan had to bear with us…and with the usual noise and confusion of checking-in and registering passports from almost 20 different countries. Outside dusk was descending upon the city, and our pack of tourists finally began walking toward a restaurant of Hanan’s choosing.

The Streets

We walked for a long while… despite Hanan’s guidance, many times I thought we were lost. Going in circles did give us a chance to see the city though…to get a feel for the Casablanca streets. We saw chickens dripping with oil from their rotisseries…cafes with wrinkly faced men talking while drinking coffee or tea…haggard motorcycle mechanics with black-stained fingers…colorful murals with Arabic on walls…a few smelly and stumbling drunks, that our Chinese GEPers scurried past…a fusion of French and North African architecture, clothing, and vibrations… We came across street vendors that sold papaya-like fruit with big black dots. “It’s cactus,” Breiter said, but I think he was wrong… At sunset, for the first time I heard that voice over loudspeakers at the mosque, announcing evening prayers—the chants and calls reverberating through the rubble of the streets.

Finally we arrived at Hanan’s restaurant, the ‘Etoile Centrale’.

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Sun, 01 May 2011 16:11:00 +0000

Day 2 - January 27th, 2011

The Jiuhua Shan is one of 4 Holy Mountains in China, and has a very special meaning in Chinese Buddhism.

Buddhists believe that our decisions and acts on this Earth really matter, and our choices will be reflected in our next life…after we die we are reincarnated into greater or lesser beings. Wrongdoers may perhaps come back as a rat or a cockroach; do-gooders will have better fortune and happiness, and accumulate enough wisdom and goodness throughout their lives to finally reach Nirvana.

The Buddhist 'Samsara': Wheel of Rebirth

Nirvana is Buddhist paradise, a heaven which ultimately boils down to nothingness—the beauty of non-existence and not having to deal with earthly troubles and pains. Only people who have done great good, and achieved an almost divine level of wisdom and inner peace could ever reach that place…

The first man to reach Nirvana was Siddhārtha Gautama, an Indian prince that could not find happiness in his luxurious palace when outside there was so much suffering and pain. Siddhārtha wandered India…giving up all his wealth, touching the lives of others, almost starving, flagellating himself…until one day, in a state of deep meditation, he found the meaning of Nirvana beneath a Bunyan tree.

Siddhārtha was the first to reach Nirvana—he was the first Buddha.

The Jiuhua Shan Holy Mountain is dedicated to another special man that achieved Nirvana once…

His name was Dizhang.

-Seb

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 01:07:00 +0000

Day 2 - January 27, 2011

Despite bundling myself up in 6 layers of sweaters, thermal pants, and a cheap sleeping bag bought from the ‘Trust-Mart’ in Hangzhou—I woke up several times with a face that felt frostbitten and tried to bury it into my pillow for warmth.

We all got up around 7am, didn’t bother showering, and gathered for a breakfast of muffins, sweet milk, and fruit in somebody’s room. Kristina—the feisty and fearless Bulgarian of our group—had fallen prey to the winter sickness. She was laid up in bed and wouldn’t be joining the perilous climb.

The rest of us geared up and made our way to the bus. Of course, Jean-Jacques—the only Frenchman of the GEP—took a prolonged cigarette break, and was almost left behind.

We began our ascent up the mountain, our party now 9 strong, eager to climb the fabled Jiuhua Shan.

-Seb

The Whale Riders Debut Show

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:25:00 +0000

Hello my lovely GEPers,

Now that we’ve all been introduced to our first GEP baby (Wikimommy.net—an online startup created by two GEPers), we think it’s time to introduce you all to the first GEP bastards…

Introducing THE WHALE RIDERS… a super conglomerate of GEP rock stars that have finally come together to play in Hangzhou, China. We’ve been rocking out in a little music school for a couple of months…and now, we are pleased to announce our debut performance:

When

Wednesday, April 20^th (a day after our last presentations)

Party starts at 8:30pm

Where

Reggae Bar, Hangzhou, China (just a few blocks walking from Xixi Campus)

131 Xueyuan Road

学院路131号

0571 8657 5749

Come

Celebrate rock stardom, sheer awkwardness, and the end of our unforgettable Chinese experience together.

See you all there,

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 07:06:00 +0000

Day 1 - January 26th, 2011

The cohort of 1o travellers regrouped to venture out in search of dinner.

It was snowing more heavily now, and the troop of GEPers began to scavenge through that mountain village like so many stray cats that we’d seen in China. It was a charming place: storefronts with little Buddhist charms and trinkets, markets selling junk food and fruits and popular mountain mushrooms…but no restaurants.

We finally asked a shopkeeper that guided us to a dark building that looked like somebody’s home. After he banged for a couple of minutes, we were greeted by a pudgy woman.

Tea Guzzlers

The place was actually a restaurant. We had noodles with wild mushrooms.

Then we all went to our rooms, bundled up for the cold, and crashed.

Tomorrow we climbed to the top.

-Seb

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:27:00 +0000

Day 1 - January 26th, 2011

I came out onto a courtyard that looked like a set from ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’: an archaic bronze well with carvings in the middle, stone archways, typical Chinese rooftops with wooden shingles and colorful pointed tips, mustard yellow walls with thick red doors and dragon-head knockers…

I could hear the praying ceremony clearly, in front of me, in a powerful-looking building illuminated by lights from the inside. My friend and travel buddy, Tomas Froes—a fearless Portuguese man with a magnetic smile and an insatiable ‘joie de vie’—was the first to approach, creeping with cat-like stealth, inching up the stairs high enough to see through a misty window. Froes popped his head up for a millisecond, saw something, and quickly dashed back to rejoin the onlookers.

I had to go next. I ducked down, tip-toed and made it up two slushy steps… slowly, I poked up my head far enough to catch a glimpse through the glass…

I saw a row of monks in orange robes, sitting on the ground and chanting in sync with the drum…another monk slightly elevated than the rest, wearing a conical hat, waving his hands and directing the prayer…a glimmer of gold in the background—and that was all. I quickly bent down and scuttled away like a peeping Tom, afraid of getting caught.

After a few more from our group took peeps, we all went back downstairs with a rekindled desire to stay in this magical place. Brieter and the Buddhist negotiator soon rejoined us as well. Breiter reported that the rooms were okay—albeit a bit cold.

Now this is where things began to get complicated… After presenting our student IDs and passports, they told us that actually, they could only accept Chinese ID numbers to make a booking at the temple. It was a matter of going to the police station, registering, and getting the appropriate papers. Breiter translated and we discussed: What the hell? Where was the police station, and was it even open at night?

We told Breiter to negotiate and try to find a way around this. But as soon as the Chinese jabber began again, a higher authority emerged.

The monk came down from upstairs, orange pants tucked into brown furry boots, covered up by a brown jacket and furry fez-type hat. He looked at each of us up and down, severely. I noticed he was a bit cross-eyed and tried my best to give off a respectful, innocent vibe.

The monk raised his arm and barked something to the negotiator. Brieter looked taken aback and confused. He translated: “No foreigners allowed.” Huh? We looked at the cross-eyed monk pleadingly, but he just raised his hand and shook his head no. He wasn’t having us. What was his problem? Had he caught us peeking or something?

So we left that temple, with a bitter taste of rejection and an ominous feeling about it… We got back to the minivan and accepted the driver’s offer to stay at his cheaper hotel. The place wasn’t bad at all: spacious, with TVs and heaters; just a cracked tub and limited access to warm water.

-Seb

Heng Dian

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:44:00 +0000

Day 1

A few weekends ago the GEPers visited Heng Dian, a city locally dubbed as ‘Chinese Hollywood.’

Our first stop was at Heng Dian World Studios: a super complex of old looking buildings, picturesque lakes with coy fish, and gardens with fake trees and flowers for actors to look convincing in. This studio is the heart of Chinese cinema, with total assets of over 3 billion RMB, producing international blockbusters like ‘Hero’ and ‘Warlords’—starring Jet Li. The CEO of this Chinese film monster, naturally a local legend, is famous for having 173 Mercedes Benzes sitting in his cavernous garage.

Open publication - Free publishing - More china

We snapped photos like movie stars, experienced a very unscary Haunted House, saw actors on the set of a shoot, shot arrows at targets for 10 Yuan, and rode around on rented bikes—“Nihaoing” and ringing our bells at any unlucky Chinese that crossed our path.

We also saw a group of Chinese acrobats perform—an awesome spectacle of girl hoisting, hat throwing, man impaling, plate spinning, and rope swinging. Just look at these circus freaks go:

After that, we paid 40 Yuan to watch our first COCK FIGHT! We couldn’t believe this was legal… But hey, this is China. I had a few moral spasms about paying to watch such animal cruelty…but the Chinese ringleader assured us that the battle wouldn’t be to the death. So no need to avert your eyes…just check out these seriously pissed off roosters:

Our next visit was to a different movie set: an exact replica of the Qing Palace—the emperor’s most opulent crib during China’s first Dynasty. The place was huge… with a massive courtyard, castle walls, horses, hundreds of steps, and an impressive hall with a golden throne and pond for wish-coins. This was also the place where ‘Hero’ was filmed—recognized as China’s first international blockbuster. We beat the palace drum, saw actors on a set, and stood on the same sacred turf where Jet Li kicked so much Imperial ass.

Open publication - Free publishing - More china

We ended the day at ‘Dreamlike Valley,’ one of the largest amusement parks in Asia. We watched a show where several GEPers got wet by fake rains and floods, saw dancers on stage in glittering outfits, and rode on tall metal towers that dropped and flipped and swirled. There is something strangely euphoric about being locked into a plastic seat and staring down at the ground from hundreds of meters in the air. We squealed like baby piglets.

Open publication - Free publishing - More china

The day ended by watching an elaborate show that involved flashing lights, samurai warriors in LED suits, dancers in multicolored spandex, fire-breathing metal dragons, and fluorescent lava oozing down the sides of a behemoth, fake volcano.

-Seb

The GEP Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:23:00 +0000

The GEP class has come together to organize their first-full scale entrepreneurship event: The GEP Weekend!

With the tireless work of many dedicated GEPers…what started as an ambitious kernel of an idea has blossomed into a full-fledged, 2-day entrepreneurial competition: featuring business pitches from Chinese and international teams, an expert panel of judges and VCs, mentors with extensive entrepreneurial experience, keynote speakers, and even a cash prize for the winning team!

Open publication - Free publishing - More gep

Putting this bad boy together in a couple of months was no easy feat… As many of us didn’t speak Mandarin or were unfamiliar with the way things get done in China… negotiating with Zhejiang University for resources and funds, finding local companies and VCs to become our sponsors, organizing the venue and logistics and food, and marketing this event to Chinese entrepreneurs and business students—was one HELL of a task.

But with lots of networking, help from our Chinese classmates, sweet-talking presentations, website building, brochure-writing, and many sleepless, zombie-eyed nights in front of computer screens (especially from our Eastern European heroines, Ilona and Dasha)—WE DID IT! Congratulations to all the GEPers that took part in making this debut GEP Weekend actually happen!

Open publication - Free publishing - More gep

In the past few weeks, many GEPers have also started to get the most out of each other’s skills—forming entrepreneurial teams with classmates to work on real business ideas. Let me be the first to say: ‘THANK GOD!’ After month upon month and hour upon hour of grueling lectures and assignments…it sure feels good to sideline business school academia for a moment to finally get our hands dirty with real entrepreneurship.

So if you happen to be in Hangzhou, China this Friday and Saturday (April 8-9th), come and attend the GEP Weekend at Zhejiang University’s Zinjingang Campus! And if you have any burning business ideas on your brain, then you’d better register soon because this thing is happening in less than 2 days!
For more details about the event, who is coming, and what role you can play, please visit: www.GEPWeekend.com.

Come share your ideas. Listen to the ideas of others. Network with real entrepreneurs and industry experts. Take part in developing the next best thing and start up tomorrow.

GEP Weekend!

It’s on.

Now may the best team win.

-Seb

Confessions of a Drifter

noreply@blogger.com (Global Entrepreneurship Program) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 08:49:00 +0000

Day 1—January 26, 2011

The small van made its ascent up the mountain, lurching around every corner with cliff face on one side and foggy nothingness on the other… Good thing that by then it was too dark for us to see how steep the drop was.

Finally, we made it to the little mountain village on top. Underneath the arches with bulgy-eyed Chinese lions, we rolled to a stop in front of the temple.

2 people stayed in the car and the rest of us went to assess the conditions of this Buddhist accommodation. The outside was beautiful enough, with a mote-like river flowing beneath the entrance and Chinese symbols painted on yellow walls. Up here it was snowing now, and every corner and statue was capped with powdery white. Picturesque scene on a dark, snowy mountain. Beautiful…

When I entered the temple, Breiter was already in a side room making Mandarin queries. There was a guy talking back (who didn’t really look like a monk), and two women that mostly smiled and giggled.

“OK,” Breiter translated, “so he says we can stay, but the rooms will be freezing cold I think. But we get blankets.” Mixed reactions…some of the boys were willing to tough it out, but the girls and the sickly ones weren’t. “So the monks aren’t going to serve us breakfast?” chimed in a wise-ass.

We wanted to take a look at the inside of the temple and rooms.

“OK,” said the Buddhist negotiator, “but only one.” Breiter translated; murmurs of outrage and demands for explanations. “It’s because the monks are praying,” Breiter translated.

At that moment I strained my ears…and could hear the faint cacophony of chanting and the beat of a ceremonious drum. Melodic and soothing…

So Breiter ended up going upstairs to the main temple area with the guy, while the rest of us waited frustratedly at the foot of the stairs. The chanting and drumming grew louder…to the point where we couldn’t take it anymore, and a few of us had to go up to take a peek…