Analyse Podcast

In episode 325, Tim Culpan from Bloomberg joined us to dissect the most important deal that rocked the Asian business and technology landscape with Facebook investing 5.7B into Reliance Jio. We began the conversation with Tim to set the context behind the deal and what both Facebook & Reliance Jio Platforms stand to gain from this partnership and their ambitions to win the market with a super app concept that is now popular in China & Southeast Asia. Tim also examined the implications to what it means for the Chinese technology giants from Alibaba to Xiaomi in India and the US technology giants such as Google and Amazon. Last but not least, Tim discuss the recent debacles which SoftBank faced with their investments and whether there is a silver lining for the Vision Fund. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Tim Culpan (@tculpan, Linkedin, Bloomberg), Columnist at Bloomberg [0:29] Since our last conversation, what have you been up to? [1:23] Facebook investment in Reliance Jio and its impact on India [2:39] Ref: Facebook and Ambani Can Be Happy Together by Tim Culpan and Why Facebook is betting big in India by Ravi Agrawal (Source: Foreign Policy) To start, Facebook has invested $5.7 billion for a 9.99% stake in India’s Reliance Jio Platforms, a three-and-a-half-year-old subsidiary of the nation’s most valued firm, Reliance Industries, and the biggest telecom operator in the country with more than 370 million subscribers and valued Jio at a pre-money valuation of $65.95 billion, makes Facebook the largest minority shareholder in the Indian telecom network. To help our audience to start the conversation, what does the telco Reliance Jio do and why they are influential in the India telco market? (Note: Mukesh Ambani is the richest tycoon in India - see AA episode 264 with James Crabtree who profiled him and his family in the book “The Billionaire Raj”) What is Jio Platforms and Mukesh Ambani, the person behind Jio Platforms and his ownership of Reliance Industries, the largest Indian conglomerate. [4:38] Why did Facebook invest in Jio? [6:58] How will Facebook extend its influence of its platform (and we include Whatsapp and Instagram) across India through this investment in Reliance Jio? [8:33] How would this partnership between Facebook and Reliance Jio Platforms help the small and medium businesses and jumpstart their Jio Mart initiative? [10:51] Does Jio Mart will built or be built into the super app under Whatsapp based on this alliance? [13:25] What does this alliance between Facebook and Reliance mean for the China tech giants (Bytedance, Alibaba via Paytm, Xiaomi and Tencent) in Indian market? [15:00] Will Google and Amazon consider the same path now that Facebook did the investment? [18:10] What does Reliance Jio gain from the alliance with Facebook in India? [19:51] How will ecommerce or the mobile landscape change in India with this alliance? [21:25] What does this mean for China and US tech giants entering into India which is becoming more protectionist in the past two years? [22:44] Will SoftBank’s Vision Fund fail in the end? [25:31] Ref: Masayoshi Son's Impatience Just Cost $17 Billion, Bankers Keep Vision Fund Going With Rubber Bands and Being a Sore Loser Doesn't Make WeWork’s Neumann Wrong Why did the Vision Fund experience a set of continued problems from its investees such as Wework and Oyo? [25:54] What can we learn from SoftBank’s other failed investments for example, Zume, the pizza startup in the Bay Area? (QOTD: “A visionary founder with a fire hose of money can’t solve every problem.” by Sarah McBride in the article)  [28:42] What has happened to companies which have gone public such as Slack and Uber? [31:06] Are there any silver linings for the Vision Fund, for example, Grab, Didi or Bytedance? [32:43] Does the Vision Fund have a future? [35:50] Closing  [37:01] Any book or stuff to recommend? [37:19] Tim's recommendations: dance music in the 1980s, 1990s & 2000s and Youtube Where can our audience find you? [38:01] Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted and produced by Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin) and originally created by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin). Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack.

In episode 324, Rui Ma, co-host of Tech Buzz China podcast and a trusted voice on China Tech joined us on a conversation to dive deeper on the anonymous report that unveiled Luckin Coffee's recent debacle. We start with a quick history of Luckin Coffee with Rui Ma breaking down the backstory on how Luckin Coffee's alleged fraud came to light and the impact after the fallout. Rui Ma dived deeper beyond the original story with an analysis of the anonymous report entitled "Luckin Coffee: Fraud + Fundamentally Broken Business". Last but not least, she discussed the implications of Luckin Coffee's debacle and how investigative reporting and corporate activism will impact the public listings of Chinese companies in the US. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Rui Ma, Creator & Host of Tech Buzz China podcast by Pandaily produced by SupChina (LinkedIn, @ruima) [0:26] Since our last conversation, what have you been up to? [0:30] Luckin Coffee Debacle [1:36] Disclaimer: The information provided here by our host and guest are not here to encourage buying or selling any equities mentioned here and investing is strictly our audience’s own responsibility. So, please do your homework.  Origins of Luckin Coffee has been covered by Matthew Brennan in Episode 279 and it was starting to challenge Starbucks Cafe in China two years back. Highly recommended: Rui Ma and Ying Ying Lu in Techbuzz China Episode 65 (Extra Buzz Special): Luckin’s luck ran out To help our audience, Luckin Coffee (瑞幸咖啡) started off with the on demand delivery model and did not have physical stores similar to Starbucks. Then it started scaling up by burning investment cash and building physical stores. The investors came from a variety of sources (according to CB Insights): venture capital (JOY Capital), asset management fund (BlackRock), private equity (Centurium Capital), China International Capital Corporation or CICC (investment bank) and GIC (the sovereign wealth fund in Singapore).   Let’s start from today and work backwards to what happened that led to alleged fraud of Luckin Coffee being announced by the company. How was alleged fraud for Luckin Coffee come to public attention? (Source: Luckin Coffee’s filing of 6K) [3:04] What was the alleged fraud about and how much has been uncovered? [4:23] Who are the people behind the alleged fraud? [5:27] What is the impact given the announcement of the alleged fraud by Luckin Coffee, from stock crashing to customers rushing to claim their coffee? (Source: SCMP) [7:08] Luckin Coffee has been a strange story in China. What is the business model that led to them going public? [9:11] The Anonymous Report titled “Luckin Coffee: Fraud + Fundamentally Broken Business” [11:40] Citing the Extra Buzz Newsletter #7: “The report was very extensive 89 pages, utilized 92 full time, 1418 part time staff on the ground who recorded 11,000 hours of video, which is almost 3 years worth of store days covering 620 stores in 38 different cities.” Basically, it is this report that fanned the flames for Luckin Coffee in their present state. However, there’s a lot of confusion of who did the report, for example, 燃财经 Rancaijing and Muddy Waters leeched off from the report (and somehow Western Media mistakenly attributed to them). So, the first question, what are the key facts behind the report? [12:24] The report have two interesting parts titled “The Fraud” and “The Fundamentally Broken Business Model”. Let start from the first part “The Fraud”, what are the key smoking gun evidence and red flags cited that led to the alleged fraud claim in the report?  What are the business model flaws cited in the report that claims that Luckin Coffee has the fundamentally business model? [15:16] Let’s zero in to one key red flag from the “Fraud” section: “Number of items per store per day inflated by 69% in 2019 3Q and 88% in 2019 4Q, supported by 11,260 hours of store traffic video”, can you explain how the report presents its investigation and use the numbers to get to the conclusion? [18:44] The anonymous report took a very strong look at the unit economics of Luckin Coffee (Business Flaw #3) at page 78: what are the key arguments from the report that establish that Luckin Coffee is not able to be profitable? [20:40] With such a construction of an elaborate report and this entire episode can be turned into a “Billions” TV series episode (by Showtime), the $1m dollar question: who is behind the report and what is their motivation behind it? [24:06] Aftermath  Who benefits from the entire Luckin Coffee’s debacle? [25:44] The hedge funds Starbucks in China, given that 30% of their revenues came from China before Luckin’s entrance to challenge them.  One interesting consequence of this Luckin Coffee episode, is the quality of investigative reporting for corporate fraud in China. The anonymous report took a lot of effort in constructing the actual picture by people going undercover to find out the actual numbers. We notice that this is getting better whenever each scandal pops up in the market. Does that mean that we will see more of these exposes? [27:16] What are your first thoughts when the report was first released into the public? [30:00] Do you think that how Chinese companies should do to dispel myths or being challenged about their businesses? [31:48] What do you think that the US investor learn from this episode? [33:30] Do you think that the English and US media have reported the Luckin Coffee narrative properly? [35:47] Closing [37:52] Rui Ma's recommendation: Dan Grover "How Chinese Apps Handled COVID-19" Carol's video on how millennials cope with COVID-19 with the apps on their smart phone. Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted and produced by Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin) and originally created by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin).  Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack. analyseasia · The Anonymous Report that brought down Luckin Coffee with Rui Ma

In episode 323, Charles Reed Anderson, our long time guest of the show and host of TechBurst Asia joins us to discuss his latest venture, SparkLabs Connex, a new accelerator program for smart city technologies under the SparkLabs Group. Before diving deep into the new venture, Charles discuss the challenges of smart city rankings and how they did not reflect the reality of what is happening on the ground. Then he began to discuss the rationale of SparkLabs Connex and why it is time to start an accelerator program specifically on smart city technologies. Last but not least, he break down how the global program works, offered his perspectives on what types of entrepreneurs he would seek to fund and address how SparkLabs Connex will operate in a COVID-19 world. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Charles Anderson (@CRASingapore, LinkedIn), founder of Charles Reed Anderson and Associates, host of TechBurst Asia (iTunes, Spotify, @techburstasia) and now general partner for SparkLabs Connex. [0:24] What have you been up to since we last spoke? [1:10] You have recently written an article about smart city rankings and why the rankings do not reflect reality. Can you talk about why this is the case? [1:40]  SparkLabs Connex [5:45] Can you briefly introduce your new venture SparkLabs Connex from the SparkLabs Group? (Source: TechCrunch) [6:00] There are already a lot of incubators and accelerators across different geographies, but very few have succeeded. Why do you think that this is the time to start another one? [7:57] What are the industry verticals or technologies that SparkLabs Connex is looking into? (5G, IoT, Smart Cities)? [9:15] How does the model work for SparkLabs Connex and how does it work with the ecosystem, for example, partners? [10:50] Why are the vendors willing to work with you as many accelerators have been building partnerships across industries? [13:44] How does SparkLabs Connex work for entrepreneurs? [15:05] What are the traits of startup founders that you will seek to invest in? [17:05] What are the types of technologies which you will specifically look into as you invest in the space? [22:00] Omate: elderly care watch from Shenzhen and expand in France [22:40] Can you share the stories of early applicants into the program? [24:40] Can you share the geographical profiles of startups in SparkLabs Connex and whether there are preferences over some geographies? [25:40] Are there any additional things which you want the applicants to know? [27:40] Given the recent coronavirus outbreak, do you think that it will slow down the growth of IoT and 5G in the market? [28:25] How about technologies in IoT and 5G which might have come up during the COVID-19 outbreak? [29:55] Press releases: SparkLabs Group launches Connex, an accelerator program for smart city technology (TechCrunch) SparkLabs Connex, a New IoT, Smart City & PropTech Accelerator, Unites the Supply & Demand sides of the Technology Ecosystem to Accelerate Access to Innovation (Business Insider) Closing [32:30] Charles recommendations: Parag Khanna's "The Future is Asian" Where can we find him? Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted and produced by Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin) and originally created by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin).  Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack.

In episode 322, Rui Ma from Techbuzz China joined us to discuss Bilibili in China and discuss how the video site has grown from a niche community of anime lovers to its now proclaimed "Youtube of China". Starting from the origin story, Rui Ma traced the backstory in how Bilibili came to be and how the site has diversified their monetisation revenues from esports, ecommerce to advertising. Last but not least, she discuss how Bilibili balances its current growth strategy against the patience of the community behind after going public. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Rui Ma, Founder of Euzen Labs and Host of TechBuzz podcast by Pandaily produced by SupChina & Extra Buzz Newsletter (LinkedIn, @ruima) [0:28] Since our last conversation, what have you been up to? [0:31] Bilibili in China [1:19] Can you talk about the origin story of Bilibili and how it has become a platform for fans who are experts in certain niches such as anime in China? [1:40] Who are the founders of Bilibili? [5:08] What are the monetization models for Bilibili? [7:55] How much that Bilibili has ventured into e-sports after acquisition of an e-sports team? [10:24] What are the major similarities & differences between Bilibili and Youtube?[12:50] User experience on Bilibili - bullet comments [15:44] Most popular phrases that come from bullet comments in 2019 - AWSL [17:30] Can you describe how users actually register and get themselves memberships on the Bilibili? How is this different from public social networks out there such as Facebook, Wechat?  [18:45] What are the interesting partnerships that Bilibili has done so far for example, New Year Gala with Xinhua Agency and ecommerce with Taobao (Alibaba)? [21:02] Do you think that the Bilibili model can be exported to the US, India or Southeast Asia? Are there already examples of similar models out there? [22:55] The balance between growth and user community interests in Bilibili [26:30] Other references: Check out Techbuzz China's Episode 57: Bilibili - The YouTube of China? Closing [28:30] Anything if you want to recommend that inspire you recently? [28:35] David Epstein "Range" How do my audience find you? [29:01] Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted and produced by Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin) and originally created by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin).  Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack.

Gareth Nicholson and Sarah Dai from South China Morning Post discuss the China AI Report 2020, including key themes, growth drivers, cultural differences, dominant verticals, AI talent pipeline, and hardware advantage in China. They also explore the future potential and challenges faced by AI companies, such as Baidu and Alibaba, and the impact of the US tech war and coronavirus epidemic. The hosts express gratitude to the guests and provide information on accessing the report.

In this episode, Carol Yin and guest host Deng Yuying, CEO of Esevel continues their conversation on the COVID-19 coronavirus and examines its impact from China to Asia Pacific. They discuss the latest updates on how the coronavirus has now spread to Korea, Japan, Italy, Iran and US, while examining how different industries from tourism, airlines ,ecommerce, pharmaceutical and health supplies are affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Last but not least, they analyzed the short, middle and long term impact of the virus and break down the different scenarios on where this may lead in the upcoming months in 2020. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Carol Yin (@carolyujiayin, LinkedIn), Host of Analyse Asia and guest host Deng Yuying, CEO of Esevel (@yuyingdeng, LinkedIn) [0:55] The Wuhan Coronavirus and its impact to Asia Pacific Part 2 [1:00] What has been the recent updates in China with respect to the COVID-19 virus? [1:07] Since our last conversation, what has happened with the Coronavirus globally? (US, Italy, Korea and Japan) [2:35] Which countries have closed their borders to China now in both flights and immigration? [3:25] Business Impact of COVID-19 in China and Asia Pacific How about the foreign multinationals such as Tesla, Foxconn and Apple where they are highly dependent on the Chinese supply chain? (Reference: Apple) [5:00] Can you talk about the countries in Asia Pacific which are affected? [7:21] Japan: Schools are closed and the likelihood of cancellation of the Tokyo 2020 olympics  Korea: How Korea has suddenly reported a surge in cases Southeast Asia: Indonesia and Thailand [11:02] Let’s examine the short, middle and long term impact for industries in detail [12:35] Tourism [12:55] Airline Industries: There is a possibility of airlines going bankrupt as Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have announced paycuts for their staff. [15:30] What are the industries benefited from the coronavirus? [16:30] Technology industry: Gaming industry (Tencent), Ecommerce (Alibaba), Zoom - remote working [16:50] Pharmaceuticals and medical supplies (shortage of masks and sanitizers) [18:50] What should we expect in the next couple of weeks and months? [19:30] McKinsey Report: COVID-19 - Implications for Business Report on 27 Feb 2020 Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted and produced by Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin) and originally created by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong, Linkedin).  Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack.

After a long hiatus, in Episode 319, our host Carol Yin takes the seat to discuss the recent COVID-19 coronavirus and examine the impact of the pandemic to the rest of Asia Pacific and globally in two part series. In the first part of the series, together with the guest host, Yuying Deng, Carol related her experience living through the challenging times in China before and after the COVID-19 virus broke out. We discuss the origins of the virus, the measures in how the Chinese government are dealing with the outbreak, the outpour of grief from the Chinese over Dr Li Wenliang's death and broke down the major misconceptions perpetuated by media outlets. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Carol Yin (@carolyujiayin, LinkedIn), Host of Analyse Asia and guest host Deng Yuying, CEO of Altizen (@yuyingdeng, LinkedIn) The COVID-19 Coronavirus (WHO site) and its impact to Asia Pacific (Reference: Nikkei Asia Review) A view of how the pandemic with the COVID-19 virus started before and after the outbreak made public and during Chinese New Year from Carol's perspective [0:52] To start, let’s take a chronological approach to the whole incident, how did the coronavirus originated in Wuhan and started spreading across Asia Pacific and other parts of the world? [8:49] Wuhan is a major transportation hub and the city is of the size of Pittsburgh in the US. Did the Chinese New Year holidays catalyse the spread of the virus due to the large scale movement of people within China? [12:58] How about the virus? Where did it originate? How does it compare to the SARS situation in 2003 or similar outbreaks? [14:54] What are the symptoms for someone who contract the coronavirus and how do we know if we suffer from flu or the coronoavirus? [17:15] What has the Chinese government done so far in China? [19:10] How are the small and medium businesses in China coping with the outbreak? [26:21] What is the situation within Wuhan itself and the rest of China? [27:15] What are the misconceptions that the rest of the world have with regards to the coronavirus? [30:46] What is it like now living in Shanghai and dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak? [33:00] When are things likely to go normal in China such that the Chinese government will stop the pause button currently with their response to the situation? [36:03] Dr Li Wenliang's death and why the Chinese were outraged by his death. (Source: Financial Times) [37:00] As of today (and recording is accurate as of 9 Feb 2020), how many cases are confirmed in China and the rest of the world? [40:40] The impact of COVID-19 on groceries deliveries [45:25] Misinformation in the Internet across the world with tech platforms struggling to deal with them (Wechat, Twitter) [46:40] Wechat fact checking platform against Twitter's no fact checking. Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted and produced by Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin) and originally created by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong).  Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack.

Shai Oster, the Asia Bureau Chief from The Information reviews the year of 2019 on how the technology giants in China and SoftBank have fared and offers his annual predictions to what will be happening in 2020. Shai reviewed his 2018 predictions and ranked how each of them have gone for 2019. In addition, he offered his perspectives on how Huawei and ByteDance will face constant challenges in their overseas expansion and whether SoftBank will raise their 2nd fund and the downstream impact from their debacle with Wework trickling down to Oyo, Didi and Grab in 2020. Last but not least, Shai throws forward what he thinks will happen in 2020. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Shai Oster (@beijingscribe, LinkedIn, TheInformation Profile), Asia Bureau Chief in The Information  So since your last appearance on the show, what have you been up to? 2018 predictions  Didi to IPO in end 2019. ByteDance will continue to grow and fight Facebook in Southeast Asia, but will not IPO.   Ant Financial’s path to IPO is not clear. What will happen to Xiaomi with their overseas expansion? First-quarter of scary growth in China and followed by the wave of government stimulus in China. State of China and SoftBank for 2019 What are the few events which you feel that 2019 has shifted the trajectory for SoftBank and Chinese tech giants? Event 1: The US and China Relationship: There is obviously a lot of tension between the two countries, and a display of that tension can be seen in what has happened to Huawei in the last year. There was the trade ban that is forcing US companies like Google & Qualcomm to stop providing to Huawei & also the FCC ban that stops the use of government fund to purchase equipment from Huawei. It seems like Huawei is always in the news these days, from their product launches, to their lawsuits, and also the recent employee detainment allegations. How has Huawei been doing and coping with all the challenges they’re facing in the U.S.?  Do you think that the Huawei CEO has been responding well to the critics? What is the future of 5G for Huawei across the world?  Event 2: The SoftBank debacle with Wework and Vision Fund 2 We all know that WeWork is not what used to be, so has Vision Fund 1 reached the peak with Wework’s collapse? How has that changed the way how the public markets have perceived the startup unicorns given that Uber have not performed well for their IPO and Wework failed to even go public?  Will Oyo in India be the next on a similar trajectory with Wework?  Will SoftBank be able to raise the 2nd Vision Fund in 2020? Are the other unicorns backed by SoftBank in danger, for example, Bytedance and Grab?  Event 3: The public markets for Chinese Tech Startups Alibaba has just popped in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, after Xiaomi and Meituan-Dianping, do you think that HKSE will be the Chinese tech startups’ port of call for IPO? With the chaos in Hong Kong and investors moving their assets from Hong Kong to Singapore, do you foresee that the HKSE will lose its pole position as a financial hub and what it means for chinese tech giants planning to go IPO? Other long term implications & effects to businesses & tech companies?  Event 4: Bytedance Will Bytedance end up in the same predicament similar to Huawei? Bytedance is also getting pushback in India, does that mean that the overseas growth potential for this company will end?  Event 5: Overseas expansion for Chinese Tech Titans Will the Chinese Tech Titans focus on Southeast Asia, India and the rest of the world instead of continuing its trajectory to put a foothold in the US? Can they compete with Google, Amazon and Facebook in these nascent markets?  What will be your predictions for 2020 and what are the key things you will be watching out for? China & US relationship in 2020  China economy Tiktok will retreat from US, scale back & renew their focus on China, India, Southeast Asia & Africa Huawei  Shift of Money out of China and US into Southeast Asia and India from VCs and PE funds. Closing How do my audience find you? Check out the Information's new app: "Tech Top 10"  Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted and produced by Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin) and originally created by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong).  Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack.

Simon Kemp, founder and CEO of Kepios joined us to discuss the recent Digital 2019 Q4 Global StatShot Report and share the major observations in how Asia Pacific has shifted social media from the west to the east. Starting from the report, Simon shares the key major observations including Asia's rising, Tik Tok vs Facebook and how 5G will shape mobile and social media in 2020. Last but not least, Simon offers his predictions on the digital world as he looks forward to 2020. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Simon Kemp (@eskimon, LinkedIn), Founder & CEO of Kepios We met during the live show in Singapore and many thanks for coming on as one of our three mysterious guests on the show. Since our last conversation, what have you been up to?  Shift to the East: We Are Social Q4 Report and Q4 2019 StatShot Report. Reference: The DataReportal library of free reports What are the key major trends that you have observed globally and then specifically to the Asia Pacific? In this Q4 report, you talk about Asia’s rising, can you break down what the key observations are? How has been the growth in social media like in Asia Pacific: is it growing, stagnating or declining? Based on the recent backlashes on Facebook, does the data show that the social media site has been on a decline? And are other platforms owned by Facebook such as Whatsup & Instagram been affected? What about Tik Tok? How has their growth in Asia Pacific like? Do you think that Tik Tok will face significant headwinds in the US similar to Huawei? Specifically, the top apps in the Asia Pacific are no longer just confined to China but also in Japan and Korea as well, is it a foreshadowing of a longer trend? What are some new social media sites/apps/networks that you are monitoring that no one else is looking at in the region? How is 5G transforming China & Asia Pacific in this quarter? What should we be looking forward to in 2020?  Closing Do you have recent recommendations of books or anything else to share? Simon's recommendations: Danny Denhard’s newsletter, How can my audience find you? Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted and produced by Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin) and originally created by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong).  Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack.

Rebecca Fannin, author of "Tech Titans of China" and founder of Silicon Dragon Ventures joined us for a conversation to discuss her new book and offered her perspectives on how China will reshape the world with their breed of tech giants: Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and many more. Rebecca began with the story of her career and how she came to cover Chinese technology companies from its earliest days. She discussed the major themes of her new book, and how the current trade tensions will shape China's path in the technology space and why we need to start thinking of China as originators of technology rather than the misconceptions that they are copycats. Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included): Rebecca Fannin (@rfannin, LinkedIn), Author of “Tech Titans of China” and Founder of Silicon Dragon Ventures [0:16] As a young person who also works for a media company, I must ask, how did you start your career? [0:32] What advice would you give to young people looking to be a tech reporter or a media entrepreneur? [3:55] You have started covering China tech much earlier than most people with your first book “Silicon Dragon”, what are the major key misconceptions you have observed in how other parts of the world cover China? [5:30] As you have interacted with many key entrepreneurs such as Robin Li and Jack Ma, who is the most interesting entrepreneur in China who you have interviewed so far? [7:13] Tech Titans of China: “How China’s Tech Sector Is Challenging the World by Innovating Faster, Working Harder, & Going Global” [10:30] What are the main themes of the book and who are the intended audience? [10:40] We have known the Baidu-Alibaba-Tencent or BAT in short that are core key companies in China similar to Amazon, Google and Facebook in the US. How are they different? [13:20] From copiers to now originators, what are the key turning points for China to become a technology power in the world? [15:45] Is the government and their regulations the key reason why the tech giants in the US do not manage to penetrate into China? What are the other key reasons as to why the US tech companies have so many problems entering China? [17:50] If China has not banned Google, Facebook or Twitter, would these companies have succeeded? [20:10] We are increasingly seeing the decoupling of China and the US technology sector given the current US-China trade war. Do you think that the global supply chain which powers tech companies from both countries will break apart with what happened to ZTE and Huawei? [22:17]  How does China have evolved in these three key areas [22:19]: Ecommerce [22:22] AI [25:18] Drones and robots given that they have the most established and well developed manufacturing ecosystem in Shenzhen while US manufacturing has declined over the past three decades [27:58] Where do you see the future of Chinese tech for China and will it start spilling to the rest of the world given its nascent influence in India, Southeast Asia, and Africa? [29:17] Which tech giants in China are currently interesting from your perspective? [31:20] Closing [33:42] How can my audience find you? [33:52] Podcast Information: RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Himalaya Spotify Libsyn Google Play Overcast FM SoundCloud Luminary Twitter Facebook Video Facebook Page Linkedin Stitcher Castbox RadioPublic Acast PodBean ListenNotes TuneIn The show is hosted and produced by Carol Yin (@CarolYujiaYin) and originally created by Bernard Leong (@bernardleong).  Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, "The Beginning" from Red Cliff Soundtrack.