Manifold Shenzhen is the Technology Capital of the World, with Taylor Ogan – #107
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Mar 12, 2026 Taylor Ogan, founder and CEO of Snowball Capital who lives in Shenzhen and invests in Chinese tech, gives a front-row view of the Greater Bay Area. He recounts Shenzhen’s rapid rise, Nanshan’s tech clusters, and tours for Western VCs. They discuss on-device agentic AI in Chinese phones, Huawei’s ownership model and geopolitical frictions, plus how Chinese firms act independently of the state.
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Urban Village Land Sales Created New Billionaires
- Urban villages that sold development rights minted substantial wealth for original villagers, creating many millionaires and dozens of billionaires.
- Developers negotiated allocations of built units, yielding rental income and rapid local wealth creation.
Companies Often Act Independently Of Beijing
- Many major corporate decisions in China, even provocative ones, are often made by companies without explicit central government approval.
- Taylor described Shenzhen firms taking autonomous risks unless coordination is required for events like APEC.
Huawei Launched Mate 60 Without Beijing Signoff
- Taylor relayed Huawei launched the Mate 60 when US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited, and Huawei claimed they did so without government approval.
- The launch surprised global observers because Huawei produced a domestically made ~7nm phone CPU under sanctions.