Show Notes
Topics Discussed and Key Points:
● Rui speaks on her work with the Tech Buzz China podcast and community
● How accurate is the data we are getting today from the fundraising world in China?
● What is it like to do due diligence on Chinese tech companies looking for investors?
● Rui describes the trip she conducted in 2019 to bring foreign investors into China
● Trends in China’s tech scene today
● The impact that new data privacy regulations have had on social media in China
● Business trends that are commonly misunderstood by foreign investors
● Western digital ecosystems versus China’s
Episode Summary:
Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Rui Ma, an angel investor and fund consultant whose work involves identifying superior-tech investment opportunities in both the US and China.
She is the creator of Tech Buzz China, a paid community for investors and operators interested in China tech. Rui also co-hosts the biweekly Tech Buzz China podcast.
Finally, Rui is the Executive Chairman of the nonprofit Rookie Fund, which aims to be the best student-run fund for discovering and investing in student entrepreneurs in Asia.
Asked how often companies release prevalent misleading or outright fraudulent numbers to potential investors, Rui says that transparency has become the norm in recent years, especially in the tech world. She adds that doing due diligence on tech companies in China is virtually no different from how one would do so in the U.S.
In any case, she contends that due diligence is less about determining the accuracy of data, but about understanding the wider economic and even political or cultural context around the company’s performance.
What is more important is doing “character diligence” on management, and this can only be done effectively from having extensive experience on the ground as well as being in touch with the right industry contacts.
Rui speaks on current trends in China’s tech scene. She directs much of her energy towards cross-border eCommerce which has been on the rise since the market is becoming increasingly populated with both foreign-educated entrepreneurs and those who have simply accumulated a lot of experience working in China’s tech space.
Also, many companies are now putting their focus on creating their own branded products instead of exporting unbranded products wholesale, which China had been known for in previous years.
Finally, Rui describes common misconceptions that foreign investors have about the business world in China, including the “opportunistic” mentality of Chinese entrepreneurs and business leaders and their continued reliance on Western companies when it comes to deciding on best practices for starting, scaling, and managing their organizations.
Key Quotes:
“Of course, you hear stories of fraud and such; but, really, it’s about understanding the details of what you’re looking at, because, whatever the company presents to you—you just need to double-check that you fully understand. You could have a contract for x, y, z-million dollars, and it could be true. But when you read the contract and understand the contingencies, you may want to discount that number or look at it differently. The details really matter here. I don’t think it’s at all different from what you would do here in the U.S.”
“The most important thing [when it comes to due diligence] is not necessarily data itself, but whether you truly understand what is driving the force or what is behind the economics. [...] I found that a lot of the information or ‘additional color’ that you need—that you can’t get from the data—is very important. This is where being on the ground and having experience and having industry contacts and having worked there a long time really helps you because then you can do, let’s call it ‘character diligence’ on the management.”
“These days, if you don’t have the skill to build relationships and execute deals completely virtually, then you need to develop that ASAP because lots of people can and there is a lot of willingness to do that. You do not need to meet face-to-face.”
“The opportunistic mentality of Chinese entrepreneurs and companies is underappreciated by investors globally.”