At the second China VC & PE Eventin London last week, Ozaki-san of NIkko AntFactory presented some striking data about Japanese and Chinese demographics. I am trying to get hold of the slides and will upload them here. China is already Japan’s largest trading partner (both exports and imports) while for China, Japan was its #1 trading partner but is now at #3 (behind EU and USA).
He also mentioned how China is getting “expensive” (Uniqlo, the Japanese clothes maker has already moved half of its production facilities out of China) and “rich” (# of plasma TV sets sold are already more than Japan).
Some more quick notes:
- JVs are hard to execute in China (Alexia)
- Deals are getting more realistically valued (Fernando)
- JV model of creating a China Fund may not be the best approach…Easier option is to buy an existing management company (a la Sequoia, KPCB)
- Direct transplantation of deals may not work
Quote of the Day: “…The “Pioneers” are the ones with the arrows in the back…” (Courtesy Charles)
Related Post:
Amidst the global downturn, China continues to amaze…
October 15th, 2008
Posted by
Shantanu |
China, Conferences and Panels, Venture Capital in Asia |
no comments
From an email I received y’day:
According to Zero2IPO Research Center statistics, a total of 29 domestic and foreign VC firms established 40 funds during Q2‘08. This figure represents US$3.02B of capital available for investing in Mainland China marking a record high for a single quarter.
Additionally, 159 Chinese entrepreneurial firms receiving venture capital disclosed investment totaling US$1.20B. In comparison with the same period last year, the number of deals and the disclosed investment amount increased 31.4% and 73.5% respectively.
Keeping up with the “booming…China investment market”, Zero2IPO is organizing its second China VC & PE Event in London next month. Try and be there.
I will be speaking just after the tea break on investment opportunities for European investors in China.
September 10th, 2008
Posted by
Shantanu |
China, Conferences and Panels, Emerging Markets, Venture Capital in Asia |
2 comments
Quick notes from a Web 3.0 panel discussion that I participated in [ at the Red Herring ATRE Conference in Mumbai y'day ]
1. Satya Prabhakar (Founder and CEO, Sulekha.com) mentioned: “Scarcest commodity in the world is human attention”
2. Seth of meebo.com talked about meebo and the challenges of monetising web 2.0 startups/ user traffic
3. Gerard Rego (MSC Software) spoke about the bottom of the pyramid markets
4. Gurudatt mentioned how the NetAlter.com might transform the current Internet architecture
I was on the panel that discussed Web 3.0.
I mentioned how:
1. Non-US users of internet (86% of total) growing at 30% vs. 3% growth of US
2. Epicentre decisively moving to Asia (driven primarily by large user base in India and China (e.g. Japan’s lead in mobile payments/ S Korea in broadband
and shared my thoughts on Web 3.0/ and how it is marked by three main features:
1. Internet Unplugged (i.e. going wireless and accessible not just through your PC/mobile but also through your game console, e-book, TV, fridge)
2. Internet 3.0 = Its all about the consumer (Consumers #1 users of semiconductors in the world (vs. IT + Government) AND Consumer IP traffic expected to surpass enterprise in 2008
(ARM has shipped more than 6bn microprocessors to date, mainly due to mobile and the microprocessor in consumer goods )
3. NOT just about the consumer BUT its all about *me* – personalised everything (search, contetnt incl news)
The Challenge is to “How to make it pay?”
November 6th, 2007
Posted by
Shantanu |
Conferences and Panels, Technology & Innovation, Venture Capital |
no comments
Last Thursday, I made a brief presentation at the InvestorNet ICT Round Table in Copenhagen on “Why Asia and Why now?”.
The audience was a mix of European VCs (primarily from Scandinavia) and the discussion centred on what is happening in Asia and how that affects Europe’s lead in innovation and competitive edge…You can see the slides here
The failing Incubator model…?
At the same event in the afternoon, I heard a very interesting talk by Sam K Steffensen of 5te - an incubator situated in the IT University in Copenhagen. Sam was refreshingly direct and deliberately provocative…He said that the traditional incubation model is not working and people (and policy-makers) have not woken up to the possibilities (and the reality) of an inter-connected world…
Sam went on to criticise the environment for innovation in Europe and said that if you are a start-up, it does not help to be in Europe…(I almost had a sense of deja-vu: “No longer catching up with Silicon Valley…“)
March 15th, 2007
Posted by
Shantanu |
Conferences and Panels, Europe and Asia, Globalization, My Presentations |
5 comments
Last Thursday (18th Jan), I shared a panel on “The New Argonauts: diasporas and talent flows“ with Li Gong, Cong Cao and AnnaLee Saxenian at the ”Atlas of Ideas” conference in London.
We briefly talked about the “global flows of talent, and the shift that is underway from ‘brain drain’ to ‘brain circulation’” around the world as skilled immigrants and professionals from Asia return home to start on their own or contribute indirectly to indigenous capability development.
This was followed by a lively Q&A session which spilled over an hour where we debated these views and the impact of these talent flows on innovation in the US and Europe.
Swati Piramal challenged the view that there was little propsect of fundamental innovation happening in India and I mentioned a few bottom-of-pyramid businesses that have the potential to threaten established business models in developed economies (see one of my earlier posts on this topic)
One of the attendees asked a very perceptive question about identities and allegiance of these “new argonauts“…Another asked whether these talent flows can be moderated and whether Governments should consider intervening to influence these flows…
All in all, lots of food for thought…
Here are the slides I shared with the audience before the Q&A.
January 24th, 2007
Posted by
Shantanu |
Conferences and Panels, Immigration, India, My Presentations |
no comments
Late in Dec ‘06, I shared some slides with students at the Vidya Prasarak Mandal’s Instt of Management at Thane (near Mumbai) on how India was at an inflection point.
And yet, in many ways, the emergence of India is not “new” but a re-distribution of global economic wealth and power. In the presentation, I also highlighted some of ancient India’s scientific and technological achievements and argued why the massive growth that India is witnessing will be sustained in the long run.
Here is a copy of the slides.
January 11th, 2007
Posted by
Shantanu |
Conferences and Panels, India, My Presentations |
one comment
