August 2021: The Latest from Tech Buzz China
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Aug 2021 Tech Buzz China Newsletter
Hey everyone, how’s your summer holiday? We wish you stay safe and healthy. Here’s what we’ve been up to:
Tech Buzz China Livecasts are usually recorded live in front of our Tech Buzz China Insider audience, and later edited and made available to the public. They are conversations with investors and operators in China tech, and think of them as our effort to open-source our network so you can be a part of the conversations that we would typically have when we do our research! Don’t miss these! Please subscribe below!
Livecast #8: VC Ray Hu of Blue Lake Capital on China SaaS
Ray Hu is the founder of Blue Lake Capital, an early-stage VC fund in China with about $700mm under management. Blue Lake specializes in SaaS investments. Hear Ray explain:
The current state of Chinese SaaS, enabling factors and requirements for success;
Case study: Jushuitan (JST), an ecommerce SaaS and their sales strategy;
Enterprises' willingness to pay and other differences in the Chinese market;
Internationalizing.
Livecast #7: Jordan Berke of Tomorrow Retail, former Walmart China Head of E-Commerce
Jordan Berke spent fifteen years transforming the world's largest retailer into a truly digital organization by leading strategic alliances with JD and Tencent. He's now the founder of Tomorrow Retail, a consulting company. Hear about:
How does Walmart China outstrip the US in four major categories?
What are retailers in the U.S. focusing on right now?
How do retailers turn their business into a platform?
What myths persist in the industry?
And finally, what's the future outlook?
You should know that we have been actively working on a new paid, premium community for serious China tech nerds called Tech Buzz China Insider. Designed for investors and operators, we go in depth on China tech analyses that don’t typically make it into English language coverage. If you want to join us, click here to take our Insider Quiz or get referred by a current Insider! Insider has at least 4 posts per week, and we’ll be sharing with you two random selections every month. If you like this content, you know what to do, join us!
First things first -- here, we are defining a social network as a place where you can, well, you know, network, or, as Wikipedia says, "an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections."
While it is true that WeChat does allow you to build new relationships (now that international travel is paused, I do all of my new BD on WeChat, of course), that's a result of its natural flexibility, and not really its strength.
As I mentioned in the official Discord channel, I thought it might make sense to translate / summarize actual Xi Jinping thought on tech versus the misquoted, out-of-context snippets that are often put forth on the internet, especially by non-expert hacks who don't have any real networks or work experience in China but somehow managed to amass an audience (sorry, pet peeve). The full mindmap is at the bottom of this post.
Here we go. First, note that the two sections I'll focus on are separated into "Views on the Internet" and "Science & Technology." That's because as has been noted before, China usually differentiates between non-internet and internet companies.
Besides these posts, we also wrote about all the IPOs (Didi, MissFresh, Dingdong, Zhangmen, Manycore) and plenty of late stage companies of interest as well, such as China’s Atlassian. Find such topics fascinating? Join us!
As you know, we are regularly featured in media. Here is a selection of our appearances in the last month! Take a read or listen and let us know what you think!
Rest of World, Aug 2, 2021. Alibaba and Tencent are getting ahead of Beijing’s sweeping internet reforms.
The Wire China, Feb 28, 2021. The Next China is China.
Sixth Tone, Aug 20, 2021. China Floats Plan to Make the Rich ‘Give Back to Society’.
The Wire China, Aug 15, 2021. Special Delivery (cover story on Meituan).
Politico Protocol, Aug 12, 2021. Are suspensions on new users a big deal for Chinese tech?
Fortune, Aug 10, 2021. #MeToo accusers have faced backlash in China. With the Alibaba rape case, that changed.
Fortune, Aug 6, 2021. China’s Big Tech billionaires increase philanthropic giving as Beijing cracks down.
Politico Protocol, Jul 31, 2021. China’s edtech crackdown isn’t what you think. Here’s why.
Washington Post, Jul 28, 2021. The Technology 202: China is doing what the U.S. can’t seem to: regulate its tech giants.
Wired, Jul 26, 2021. TikTok a Year After Trump’s Ban: No Change, but New Threats.
SCMP, Jul 21, 2021. Will China’s cybersecurity review of IPOs close the door on tech firms raising funds in New York?
That’s all everyone! Thanks for reading this summertime issue of our newsletter. Let us know if you have any questions or comments, and we’ll see you in a few weeks!