WEBVTT - Son of Chinese Factory Workers Built This $1.5 Billion Startup

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<v Speaker 1>Back in two thousand four, a young guy called Colin

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<v Speaker 1>Huang joined Google as a computer programmer. His timing couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>have been better. He arrived at Google just a few

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<v Speaker 1>months before it went public, which meant Colin was given

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<v Speaker 1>stock in the company just as Google's value was about

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<v Speaker 1>to surge. Three years later, colin stock was worth several

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<v Speaker 1>million dollars. This young man from a Chinese family of

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<v Speaker 1>very modest means was now a millionaire many times over.

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<v Speaker 1>The thing is, if he had just stayed at Google,

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<v Speaker 1>Colin would have been able to cash in on even

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<v Speaker 1>more Google stock and gotten a lot richer. How does

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<v Speaker 1>it feeled to leave that money on the day. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not a very big decision for me. Actually, well it

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<v Speaker 1>sounds like a big decision. But at least at that time,

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<v Speaker 1>it was fairly easy for me. Not a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>people would choose to walk away from so much money.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm pretty sure I wouldn't. But Colin was confident that

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<v Speaker 1>he was making the right choice because I think I

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<v Speaker 1>will I will be rich, I think I will be well.

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<v Speaker 1>I was fairly confident that I will be successful, So

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<v Speaker 1>I think, um, the time is more priceless to me.

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<v Speaker 1>Today we can tell you that Colin turned out to

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<v Speaker 1>be right. He went on to create not just one,

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<v Speaker 1>but four companies in China as the country's startup scene

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<v Speaker 1>was taking off. He's become rich as a result, and

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<v Speaker 1>he's just getting started. Hi am Akito, and I'm Peter

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<v Speaker 1>Ahlstrong and I'm David Rambling. And this week on Decrypted,

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<v Speaker 1>We're going to hear from Colin about his journey from

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<v Speaker 1>the vegetable fields of rural Hanjo to the pinnacle of

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<v Speaker 1>success in China's booming startup scene. China still has a

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<v Speaker 1>reputation as a copycat. I Do is China's Google, Ali

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<v Speaker 1>Baba is China's Amazon. Even the smartphone Mega show Me

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<v Speaker 1>is mostly known as the local answer to Apple, but

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<v Speaker 1>founders like Colin are shattering those old ideas. So far

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<v Speaker 1>this year, China has created just as many billion dollar

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<v Speaker 1>startups as the US. Will explore the role that Colin

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<v Speaker 1>Huong and entrepreneurs like him could play in the next

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<v Speaker 1>phase of the global tech industry. And with these new

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<v Speaker 1>Chinese companies aspiring to global success, should Silicon Valley be

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<v Speaker 1>worried about these upstart rivals? Stay with us? Okay set

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<v Speaker 1>the scene for us here well, it was a beautiful

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<v Speaker 1>sunny April day, perhaps the best time to visit. Shanghai

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<v Speaker 1>is a population to more than twenty four million people,

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<v Speaker 1>by some measures, the largest city in the world. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a financial center and a transportation hub. Sitting at the

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<v Speaker 1>mouth of the Yankee River. For centuries, it's been a

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<v Speaker 1>critical port for trade between China and the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the world. Mm hmm. You know, like most Chinese cities

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<v Speaker 1>these days, Shanghai is home to quite a few up

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<v Speaker 1>and coming startups. And even though we still use this

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<v Speaker 1>word start up to describe these companies, in reality, some

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<v Speaker 1>of these are massive businesses, right, that's right. There's some

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<v Speaker 1>enormous private companies in China. In fact, the seven most

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<v Speaker 1>valuable startups according to the research firm CB Insights, four

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<v Speaker 1>of those top seven are Chinese. Yeah, that's right. And

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<v Speaker 1>you know some of them are gradually becoming household names

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<v Speaker 1>outside of China. You know, Ali Babu is pretty well

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<v Speaker 1>known um as the startup that succeeded, and you've also

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<v Speaker 1>got the likes of Shami and you know, other companies

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<v Speaker 1>like that, and you're seeing real innovations come out of

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<v Speaker 1>China too. In particular, ten cent, which is probably a

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<v Speaker 1>bit less well known outside of China than Ali Baba is.

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<v Speaker 1>They've been able to pioneer their messaging service we Chat

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<v Speaker 1>in a way that is beyond some of the things

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<v Speaker 1>that we've seen in the West. It has payments included

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<v Speaker 1>in it and all sorts of apps wrapped into the service.

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<v Speaker 1>And on this particular trip, you guys went out to

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<v Speaker 1>Shanghai to go visit Collin's latest company called pinn Dwo Dwell,

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<v Speaker 1>that's right, it's PDD for short, as he likes to

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<v Speaker 1>call it. This company is two years old and it's

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<v Speaker 1>grown so fast that it's now the largest private e

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<v Speaker 1>commerce company in China based on revenue volume. And David,

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<v Speaker 1>what was it like inside their offices, Well, it's an

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<v Speaker 1>interesting mix. Actually, you've got a lot of waterways to

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<v Speaker 1>boost the fung sway of the place, but it's also

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<v Speaker 1>head dick. You walk down corridor is filled with desks

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<v Speaker 1>and on them up engineers typing away or sleeping on.

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<v Speaker 1>Like most of the countries, engineers in China are not

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<v Speaker 1>only demitted, but actually encouraged to take naps whenever they tie.

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<v Speaker 1>Having a sum of cots inside rooms. Wow, and PDD

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<v Speaker 1>must have a pretty impressive valuation at this point. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>it's still a private company, so this is a valuation

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<v Speaker 1>on paper. But investors valued the company at about one

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<v Speaker 1>point five billion dollars after a recent fundraising round. That's

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<v Speaker 1>more than ten million R and B. Yeah, and Colin

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<v Speaker 1>says that gross merchandise volume, or g m V as

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<v Speaker 1>it's called in the e commerce industry, has now reached

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<v Speaker 1>about four billion rooming b per month. Rooming b is

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<v Speaker 1>the Chinese currency. We want it to be something like

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<v Speaker 1>an e commerce visual Facebook and Peter, what does he

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<v Speaker 1>mean by that? PDD is sort of like a mash

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<v Speaker 1>up between a social network and an online shopping app.

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<v Speaker 1>A few companies have tried this before, mostly without very

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<v Speaker 1>much success, And now pd D is really unlike any

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<v Speaker 1>other company out there. Compared editors are either just doing

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<v Speaker 1>e commerce, so for Ali Baba, for Taba, or for Amazon.

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<v Speaker 1>There they're just like a search engine, right. The search

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<v Speaker 1>engine serve as a scenario where I user has a

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<v Speaker 1>specific purpose or they're just in social networking. When you

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<v Speaker 1>go to Facebook, a lot of times you're just brows

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<v Speaker 1>You have nothing to do, You're just trying to waste

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<v Speaker 1>your time. But Colin didn't get here overnight, and his

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<v Speaker 1>journey to this point is so unlikely, it's pretty incredible

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<v Speaker 1>that it happened at all. So I was born in Hanzo,

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<v Speaker 1>but not in the in the center of the city.

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<v Speaker 1>I was born on the moor of the city. And

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<v Speaker 1>my parents are very normal people. They are both of

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<v Speaker 1>the man factory workers. None of them finished junior high.

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<v Speaker 1>I was pretty good at the math and I got

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<v Speaker 1>a meadow from one of the Olympic competitions in mathematics.

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<v Speaker 1>So I got a entrance to exam ticket to apply

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<v Speaker 1>to the high school I eventually went to, which is

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<v Speaker 1>Contro Foreign Language School, Hanto Foreign Language School. It's one

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<v Speaker 1>of the most selective high schools in the whole province.

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<v Speaker 1>At first, Colin didn't even want to go because the

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<v Speaker 1>name of the school is says foreign language school, right.

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<v Speaker 1>Because I was very u into mathematics and the physics

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<v Speaker 1>and all those and so I was talent. My teachers say,

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<v Speaker 1>and then my parents, I don't want to go to

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<v Speaker 1>that school because I don't want to study English. Colin

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<v Speaker 1>was only twelve at the time, and the president of

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<v Speaker 1>the school persuaded him to go, so he went and

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<v Speaker 1>it changed life, could open my eyes, right, a very

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<v Speaker 1>different kind of um, different kind of families. And for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>at that time, as I remember, the daughter of the

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<v Speaker 1>mayor of the city at that time was in my class. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>well for kids like Milly, but the mayor of city

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<v Speaker 1>is a very big, big boss. Right. Changing schools was

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<v Speaker 1>one of the early experiences that helped Colin grow more

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<v Speaker 1>confident and evolved from the country kid to feeling more

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<v Speaker 1>comfortable with the best, the brightest, and more importantly, the

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<v Speaker 1>most powerful people in China. Colin went on to Zichang

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<v Speaker 1>University and studied computer science. Then he made another move

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<v Speaker 1>that changed his life. He applied to graduate school in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States. And what were your first impressions when

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<v Speaker 1>you went to you ask Wisconsin? You, Um, it was

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<v Speaker 1>very cold. It's really cold, um, and the food is

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<v Speaker 1>not so delicious. Other than that, it's pretty good. So

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<v Speaker 1>now Colin is in his early twenties and he's at

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<v Speaker 1>the University Wisconsin and Madison. At that time, Wisconsin ran

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most well recognized computer science programs in

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<v Speaker 1>the country. It was a prestigious place for Colin to

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<v Speaker 1>study and it had the potential to open up a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of doors for him. But Colin's biggest issue, at

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<v Speaker 1>least at the beginning, was homesickness. Um, but the food

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<v Speaker 1>was so you know, it's a big problem for me.

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<v Speaker 1>I just cannot I missed the Chinese food at that moment.

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<v Speaker 1>So I a half t a UM out of school

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<v Speaker 1>so that I have extra money to go to the

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<v Speaker 1>Chinas restaurant. Almost the average for every meal for anyone

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<v Speaker 1>who didn't go to college in the US at T

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<v Speaker 1>A short for teaching assistant. It's a way for students

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<v Speaker 1>to earn a little extra money. Colin did internships and

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<v Speaker 1>got to know perspective employers here. Turned at Microsoft in

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<v Speaker 1>China and then at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

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<v Speaker 1>He found out one important thing about the economics of

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<v Speaker 1>working in the two countries. I think in my last

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<v Speaker 1>year UM off my undergraduate UM, I went to Paging

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<v Speaker 1>to be a visiting student or intern of Microsoft Research Asia.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, so I did an interne there for like

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<v Speaker 1>three years four months in Beijing. UM. At that time

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<v Speaker 1>I think I got six thousand I m B a month,

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<v Speaker 1>which is which is already more than the salary of

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<v Speaker 1>my my mom um much more actually, UM. Then I

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<v Speaker 1>went to Universal Wisconsin, and in the first summer in US,

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<v Speaker 1>I went to Microsoft to Redmond, h and the salary

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<v Speaker 1>was six thousand of U s STRs and the same person.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, it's roughly seven times as much. Seven times yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>seven times as much. At the time, it's actually eight

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<v Speaker 1>times eight times as much. When he was getting ready

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<v Speaker 1>to grab wait, Microsoft wanted to hire him, and so

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<v Speaker 1>did a bunch of other top US tech companies. So

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<v Speaker 1>my professor wrote me, I think like several letters too,

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<v Speaker 1>like Oracle, Microsoft, im UM. So I got acceptance from

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<v Speaker 1>from both three. So at this point, most people in

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<v Speaker 1>colin situation would be over the moon. Choosing between three

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<v Speaker 1>of the world's biggest, best tech companies. That's something that

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<v Speaker 1>most engineers like him can only wish for. Colin did

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<v Speaker 1>something that was really unexpected. He actually went to Google's

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<v Speaker 1>website and he applied for a job. Remember at this

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<v Speaker 1>time Google was just to start up with a few

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<v Speaker 1>thousand employees. It had a promising product, and there was

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of buzz around the company, but it was

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<v Speaker 1>certainly no Microsoft. Microsoft was really famous at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>right and um, and it's very established and if you

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<v Speaker 1>want to get a green card, it's probably the best

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<v Speaker 1>place to go. Um And but the thing is that

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<v Speaker 1>after internal twice and like I spend more than half

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<v Speaker 1>a year at the Microsoft right both both in China

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<v Speaker 1>and US, I found that the company, it's a very

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<v Speaker 1>good company. But it's just that I was a very

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<v Speaker 1>too small part of that. Right, I had very little

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<v Speaker 1>influenced on what's going on in Microsoft. And I can

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<v Speaker 1>imagine who I will be like six years down the road.

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<v Speaker 1>Collins says he always knew he eventually wanted to start

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<v Speaker 1>his own company. I would have about to choose something unknown,

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<v Speaker 1>although it may become something worse, but it could be

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<v Speaker 1>better because it's something else, all right. And right there

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<v Speaker 1>that day collins decision in two thousand and four may

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<v Speaker 1>have been the first time that Colin really showed that

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<v Speaker 1>he was different. He didn't want security, he didn't chase

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<v Speaker 1>after the green card in the high salary. He went

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<v Speaker 1>after uncertainty. He went after risk. And it paid off. Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>it paid off big. In the three years Colin was

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<v Speaker 1>at Google, its share price went from about eighty five

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<v Speaker 1>bucks a shared to more than five hundred dollars. His

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<v Speaker 1>options were worth a fortune, so seven he was ready

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<v Speaker 1>to strike out on his own. It's probably worth noting

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<v Speaker 1>here for our listeners that China's had an uneven history

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<v Speaker 1>with private enterprise. The Communist Party won control of the

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<v Speaker 1>country after World War Two, and it socialized much of

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<v Speaker 1>the economy. It wasn't until the economic reforms of Dum

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<v Speaker 1>Shopping in the late nineies and the early nineties the

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<v Speaker 1>entrepreneurs were finally encouraged to start businesses. He opened the

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<v Speaker 1>door to a new era. The quote to get riches glorious.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's really only one generation after China deregulated its

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<v Speaker 1>economy that Colin Huong, at the age of seven, decides

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<v Speaker 1>he's going to leave Google in the chance to make

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<v Speaker 1>millions more if he stays to start his first company.

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<v Speaker 1>We asked him why because of my father, I think um,

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<v Speaker 1>although he's a he only probably spent two to three

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<v Speaker 1>years in the primary school, but and he himself is

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<v Speaker 1>not a successful business man, right, but he always wanted

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<v Speaker 1>me to be a successful business man. Colin sold his

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<v Speaker 1>first company after about three years. He went on to

0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:54.680
<v Speaker 1>start two more companies with his partners, and those ventures

0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.560
<v Speaker 1>did so well that he had enough money to stop working.

0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:02.600
<v Speaker 1>At the time, I was not that old yet, right,

0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:06.600
<v Speaker 1>So I was thinking what should I do? Right? Um,

0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:10.320
<v Speaker 1>should I just go back to us and do a

0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:15.520
<v Speaker 1>hedge found and um trying to be smart in the

0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:22.440
<v Speaker 1>sevendary market, or or try to do something different or

0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:31.600
<v Speaker 1>to wrong business which is more inferential or a different

0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:35.720
<v Speaker 1>business model. The idea he eventually came up with is

0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:40.680
<v Speaker 1>a combination of social networking and online commerce. A few

0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.400
<v Speaker 1>companies have tried social e commerce, including Facebook and Twitter,

0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:50.320
<v Speaker 1>but none of those experiments have really worked out very well. Well.

0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:56.000
<v Speaker 1>I didn't know exactly how to do a social e commerce,

0:16:56.080 --> 0:17:01.280
<v Speaker 1>but I just have a very strong feeling that with

0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:04.679
<v Speaker 1>the booming of the social media, there got to be

0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:12.560
<v Speaker 1>a commercial model, commercial model that can monday tize there's

0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:18.840
<v Speaker 1>the social traffic. That's one kind of belief I had

0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:24.719
<v Speaker 1>that at a time, and the set I'm thinking that, Um,

0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:29.159
<v Speaker 1>I think if there is a social commerce or it

0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:32.560
<v Speaker 1>comes model, that it comes model that leverage is the

0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:39.280
<v Speaker 1>social media, then the team we had at the time

0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:43.000
<v Speaker 1>is probably the one that is most competitive in that area.

0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:47.320
<v Speaker 1>That's because Companies number two and three that Colin founded

0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.840
<v Speaker 1>were a back end services company for retailers wanting to

0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:55.440
<v Speaker 1>sell online and a gaming company. This new venture drew

0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:58.919
<v Speaker 1>on the experience Colin had gained in both of those industries.

0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:03.280
<v Speaker 1>He reads Try Capital in May of and launched the

0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.040
<v Speaker 1>app a few months later. The pinj or Door app

0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:10.399
<v Speaker 1>quickly proved pretty addictive. So David, how do people use

0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:13.560
<v Speaker 1>the app? Most people use it within we Chat, which

0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:17.239
<v Speaker 1>is the ubiquitous messaging service in China. You open up

0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.560
<v Speaker 1>we Chat and you search for PDDs micro store and

0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:24.680
<v Speaker 1>the home screen comes up. It's got tabs like food, clothes,

0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:27.280
<v Speaker 1>and bedding. Once you pick a category, you get a

0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:29.720
<v Speaker 1>vertical list of products that you can scroll through, say

0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.640
<v Speaker 1>light cheese or apples in the fruit section. I'm looking

0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:34.240
<v Speaker 1>at it now and I can see a whole bunch

0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.800
<v Speaker 1>of weird looking tops and what looks to be some

0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:41.560
<v Speaker 1>rip off Dora the Explorer slippers. The app has the

0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:45.560
<v Speaker 1>feel of a game, colorful photos and hidden bargains. Deals

0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:48.480
<v Speaker 1>change every day, and as you scroll through a category,

0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:52.080
<v Speaker 1>the discount of prices shown below the image. For example,

0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.720
<v Speaker 1>you click on an image of eight mangoes with the

0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.960
<v Speaker 1>price tag of thirty four point eight. Then, but when

0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:00.520
<v Speaker 1>you actually go through to it, if on the price

0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:02.960
<v Speaker 1>is actually thirty nine u N If you buy it

0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:05.920
<v Speaker 1>alone to get the discount, you actually have to find

0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:09.280
<v Speaker 1>a friend to join in the purchase. But because you're

0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:12.400
<v Speaker 1>already on we Chat, it's pretty quick to instantly pitch

0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:18.240
<v Speaker 1>to others. The most successful result of there's a Design

0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:23.480
<v Speaker 1>is that, um, a lot of people are sprouting words

0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:30.120
<v Speaker 1>of PDD by themselves, right without to add a TV commercial. Oh,

0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:36.439
<v Speaker 1>that's really something hard to achieve. PDD went from gross

0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.960
<v Speaker 1>merchandise volume of about a hundred million reming B a

0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:45.480
<v Speaker 1>month in early six to three billion by December. The

0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:49.520
<v Speaker 1>company has now got over four billion RMB per month,

0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:51.960
<v Speaker 1>or more than half a billion dollars in gm V.

0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:57.440
<v Speaker 1>One of Colin's top priorities now is dealing with counterfeit products. China,

0:19:57.480 --> 0:19:59.920
<v Speaker 1>of course, has a long history of fake goods being

0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.439
<v Speaker 1>sold both online and offline, and about two hundred of

0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:07.760
<v Speaker 1>Collins seven employees at PDD are working on quality control.

0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:11.280
<v Speaker 1>These are workers dealing with customer complaints about fake and

0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:14.280
<v Speaker 1>damage goods. But then PDD has to go to its

0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:19.520
<v Speaker 1>merchants and persuade them to actually compensate customers. More difficult,

0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:22.159
<v Speaker 1>it has to convince them to stop selling these goods

0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:26.160
<v Speaker 1>all together. And what was the reaction, Like, oh, here's

0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.240
<v Speaker 1>what Colin told us. And they even set people to

0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:35.800
<v Speaker 1>the office just to like throughout our employees right like

0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:40.800
<v Speaker 1>in the middle night and here the offices and you

0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:44.359
<v Speaker 1>know all the building. Yeah. Um, and that's why you

0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:47.680
<v Speaker 1>have the security guys. Yes, yes, yes, even like a

0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:52.040
<v Speaker 1>slash and into the face itself some Mafar employees. So

0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:57.680
<v Speaker 1>that's that's the things already happened. Um. Not only that

0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:06.439
<v Speaker 1>they even um chase um our employees back to their homes,

0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:11.440
<v Speaker 1>like even your hamjo and like when kind of threatened

0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:16.399
<v Speaker 1>their their wife their wives and a kiss. Colin Huang

0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:20.080
<v Speaker 1>and PDD are an example of how China's technology industry

0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:23.840
<v Speaker 1>is changing. There's more venture capital money, more entrepreneurs, and

0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:28.160
<v Speaker 1>more startups that work on real innovations. Ten years ago,

0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:32.960
<v Speaker 1>when I started my first company, I think, ah, almost

0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:38.320
<v Speaker 1>all the people are focusing on commercial success. H they

0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:41.760
<v Speaker 1>don't really care. I do exactly the same thing. But

0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:50.479
<v Speaker 1>now I think a small group of China's entrepreneurs are gradually, um,

0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:54.800
<v Speaker 1>sort of care more about the things the Silicon Valley cares,

0:21:55.320 --> 0:22:02.200
<v Speaker 1>which is the novelty of your idea, right, Um, the

0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:07.400
<v Speaker 1>the creativeness and whether there's something cool or not right

0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:14.359
<v Speaker 1>people will look at you, um, whether you're doing novel things,

0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:19.959
<v Speaker 1>whether you're really contributing value to the society. Um, these

0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:32.120
<v Speaker 1>things that gradually kind of uh growing. So, Peter, that's

0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:35.280
<v Speaker 1>an amazing quote from Colin because he sounds just like

0:22:36.440 --> 0:22:40.160
<v Speaker 1>everyone else and Silicon Valley here. What's your take on

0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:45.440
<v Speaker 1>where China's tech industry is right now, where the ecosystem

0:22:45.520 --> 0:22:48.760
<v Speaker 1>is for startups? Well, just the past few years, you've

0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:51.920
<v Speaker 1>seen a real increase in the amount of venture capital

0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:55.280
<v Speaker 1>money moving into these startups. Uh, And you've seen a

0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:58.840
<v Speaker 1>lot of very big companies coming out of China. Some

0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:01.080
<v Speaker 1>of the best known are d d for example, the

0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:04.399
<v Speaker 1>ride hailing app, but there's also a whole series of

0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:08.200
<v Speaker 1>other ones that are not as well known outside of China, David.

0:23:08.320 --> 0:23:12.359
<v Speaker 1>For you, as a reporter covering the tech industry in Beijing,

0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:15.399
<v Speaker 1>it must be a pretty exciting time. No, it is.

0:23:15.840 --> 0:23:18.080
<v Speaker 1>Every single time I go out to me to start up.

0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:20.280
<v Speaker 1>It's really interesting to see the little things of what

0:23:20.359 --> 0:23:22.800
<v Speaker 1>they're doing. You know, if they're not if they're not

0:23:23.040 --> 0:23:26.000
<v Speaker 1>sleeping on couches or you know, at their own desks.

0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:28.359
<v Speaker 1>Then frankly by the Chinese standard. They're just not working

0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:32.520
<v Speaker 1>hard enough. I went to one place, which actually the

0:23:32.800 --> 0:23:37.160
<v Speaker 1>startup that does hot time job searches, and they actually

0:23:37.160 --> 0:23:39.800
<v Speaker 1>had a small room right next to the CEO's office

0:23:39.840 --> 0:23:43.439
<v Speaker 1>when they had three bunk bits for sales, stuff to sleep,

0:23:43.680 --> 0:23:46.560
<v Speaker 1>and they worked too hard into the night. Earlier on

0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:49.560
<v Speaker 1>in the show, we talked about how Colin isn't the

0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:53.520
<v Speaker 1>only serial entrepreneur out there, that there now quite a

0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:56.919
<v Speaker 1>few people in China who are on their second, third, fourth,

0:23:57.280 --> 0:24:00.320
<v Speaker 1>maybe even fifth start up, like a lot of the

0:24:00.359 --> 0:24:05.439
<v Speaker 1>famous founders here in Silicon Valley, UM, Peter and David,

0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:07.879
<v Speaker 1>Can you talk about some of the other people who

0:24:07.920 --> 0:24:11.040
<v Speaker 1>are like this in China. One of the other serial

0:24:11.160 --> 0:24:14.880
<v Speaker 1>entrepreneurs is Late June. He's been involved in a number

0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:19.920
<v Speaker 1>of startups, most recently uh show Me, the smartphone maker. Uh.

0:24:20.160 --> 0:24:23.560
<v Speaker 1>It's been giving Apple and Samsung challenges within the country.

0:24:23.600 --> 0:24:27.240
<v Speaker 1>It's been expanding outside of China, particularly in India, and

0:24:27.359 --> 0:24:30.160
<v Speaker 1>now show Me is diversifying beyond smartphones into all sorts

0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:33.840
<v Speaker 1>of other products. And you've also got ten Cents pony Ma.

0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:37.520
<v Speaker 1>I mean, his main company is listed now, but it

0:24:37.600 --> 0:24:40.720
<v Speaker 1>continues to be a factory of startups churning out new

0:24:40.760 --> 0:24:43.840
<v Speaker 1>products and new services, some of them that copy each

0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:48.720
<v Speaker 1>other every single day. With China's new push to innovate,

0:24:48.920 --> 0:24:51.399
<v Speaker 1>I asked whether this is a threat to the US

0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:55.800
<v Speaker 1>dominance of the technology industry. I want to say it's

0:24:55.840 --> 0:25:02.840
<v Speaker 1>a threat. I wouldn't say it's a complimentary. It's just

0:25:02.960 --> 0:25:08.920
<v Speaker 1>that like people are doing different things, and like we're

0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:12.280
<v Speaker 1>trying to find the areas that we can do better.

0:25:13.000 --> 0:25:15.680
<v Speaker 1>But Colin doesn't think there is an equivalent to PDD

0:25:15.720 --> 0:25:19.960
<v Speaker 1>in either Shanghai or Silicon Valley. He's told some investors

0:25:20.280 --> 0:25:22.600
<v Speaker 1>it's got the potential of drawing to become one of

0:25:22.640 --> 0:25:28.320
<v Speaker 1>the biggest e commerce giants in China. Well, if it's

0:25:27.720 --> 0:25:35.200
<v Speaker 1>as if it's only, um, hey, little dog, I shouldn't

0:25:37.160 --> 0:25:44.080
<v Speaker 1>I shouldn't want him to be an elephant. Right, If

0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:49.160
<v Speaker 1>by nature it's an elephant, then I shouldn't be satisfied

0:25:49.440 --> 0:25:54.280
<v Speaker 1>or I shouldn't kind of trying to controuse the elephant

0:25:54.280 --> 0:26:00.359
<v Speaker 1>to be a dog. Right. So if it's an all phant,

0:26:00.760 --> 0:26:06.400
<v Speaker 1>then it has to grow to be elephant to be healthy. Right.

0:26:06.880 --> 0:26:11.720
<v Speaker 1>So it's really a question of whether that e comments

0:26:11.760 --> 0:26:17.720
<v Speaker 1>a very shop Facebook, how big it is, whoa I

0:26:17.800 --> 0:26:20.600
<v Speaker 1>thought it was a mouse. Now Dan, I think it's

0:26:20.640 --> 0:26:24.879
<v Speaker 1>a dog. Now I think it probably maybe it's an elephant,

0:26:25.520 --> 0:26:40.200
<v Speaker 1>but I'm not sure. And that's it for this week's Decrypted.

0:26:40.440 --> 0:26:43.240
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening. We'd love to hear what you thought

0:26:43.240 --> 0:26:46.280
<v Speaker 1>of this episode. Record a voice message and send it

0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:50.160
<v Speaker 1>to us at Decrypted at Bloomberg dot net or I'm

0:26:50.200 --> 0:26:54.280
<v Speaker 1>on Twitter, it's at p Lstrom and you can reach

0:26:54.320 --> 0:26:58.400
<v Speaker 1>me at David Ranting and I'm at Akita seven. If

0:26:58.400 --> 0:27:00.919
<v Speaker 1>you haven't already, please subscribe right to our show on

0:27:01.000 --> 0:27:04.919
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts or your favorite app. While you're there, please

0:27:05.000 --> 0:27:07.680
<v Speaker 1>leave us a rating and a review. It really helps

0:27:07.720 --> 0:27:11.199
<v Speaker 1>more listeners find this show. This episode was produced by

0:27:11.280 --> 0:27:15.400
<v Speaker 1>Pia gut Cary, Liz Smith, and Magnus Hendrickson. A big

0:27:15.400 --> 0:27:17.760
<v Speaker 1>thanks to Robin and Jello, who edited the Prince story,

0:27:17.840 --> 0:27:21.000
<v Speaker 1>David Ramilly and I wrote about Colin Wong and PDD.

0:27:21.760 --> 0:27:24.440
<v Speaker 1>You can find it at Bloomberg dot com slash Tech.

0:27:24.960 --> 0:27:27.800
<v Speaker 1>Alec McCabe is head of Bloomberg Podcast. We'll see you

0:27:27.840 --> 0:27:28.320
<v Speaker 1>next week,