Tech in Shanghai

In this episode I sit down with Žiga Drev, Co-Founder of origintrail.io, the "First purpose-built protocol for supply chains based on Blockchain.” 

We discuss the ongoing (at the time) ICO, how their protocol will be used, and the work he and his team have done in the preceding months to prepare for this stage in their development, including graduating from Batch 2 of the bitsxbites.com accelerator program in Shanghai, and bein...

Yo!    In this episode I welcome back the VERY FIRST guest of the Tech in Shanghai podcast, and CEO of KAWO, Mr. Alex Duncan.   A LOT has happened in China over the past three years since I first spoke with Alex, especially in the technology industry.    In this show, Alex and I go deep on the positive and negative consequences of China’s rise as a tech superpower, and what it means for the rest of the world and the environment of ...

It’s been a wild year in Bitcoin, and we’re not done yet!

This year has seen several all time highs, the ICO boom, the culmination of the Bitcoin scaling debate, the initiation of hardforks, regulatory changes in China, and lots of development in the ecosystem. 

As Bitcoin’s market cap continues to climb, it is attracting evermore attention, market entrants, supporters, detractors and regulatory scrutiny. 

October has been a (relat...

Rina is the co-founder of Seedlink, a company based in Shanghai that uses AI and machine-learning to assist companies in more effectively managing their HR decisions. 

By analyzing the speech patters of candidates, and comparing that to a data set of top performs in different positions throught the company they are working with, Seedlink is able to drastically increase the likelihood that companies will make hires that are better e...

Stone Shi is the founder of the extremely popular social food-discovery app, Bon App!   In this interview we discuss the reasons why Stone decided to walk away from a lucrative corporate career, to jump into the highly uncertain world of tech startups. As well as what the journey has been like as a result, both pros and cons.   We also discuss the many challenges that consumer app startups face in terms of building a broad user bas...

Brian Tam is the founder of Creativity and Innovation Consultancy, Let’s Make Great, as well as the hot new ’startup card game’, Proto.   Brian is a 3-time Tedx speaker and is on a mission to drive the next 100 years of innovation in China. He is also a super intelligent, articulate and empathetic dude, who know’s who he is, know’s what he’s good at, and has leveraged that awareness to build the business and life that he wants.   I...

In this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast, I speak with Matilda Ho.   Matilda is the founder and CEO of sustainable farm-to-table e-commerce grocery platform YiMiShiJi (http://www.yimishiji.com) and the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Bits x Bites (http://www.bitsxbites.com), a brand new, Shanghai-based Accelerator program and VC that focuses exclusively on companies that are "shaping the future of ‘good’ food”.   ...

In this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast I speak with Bobby Lee, Co-Founder and CEO of BTCC.   This is actually the second interview I’ve done with Bobby (I highly recommend listening to the first too!), and I always feel so privileged to have the opportunity to speak with someone who is at the very forefront of something so world-changing.   Seriously, it may be hard to see now, as we are still in the early days of Bitcoin...

In this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast I speak with one of China’s most prolific expat entrepreneurs, and the founder of the ’naked’ brand and group of companies, Mr. Grant Horsfield.   For several years Grant and the team at naked have run one of the most popular and environmentally conscious resorts in all of China, which have a strong and loyal following amongst both local and expat clientele.   Then last year in 2015 t...

In this episode of the show I speak with Wolf Illing, Co-Founder of local O2O startup, Saucepan.

Saucepan is a food delivery company that focuses on providing ready-to-eat, great-tasting, and healthy meals, using the highest quality ingredients.

Launched in 2014, Saucepan has slowly but surely begun to refine it’s product and service, to one that is beginning to resonate with an ever-growing contingent of satisfied and loyal custom...

In this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast, I speak with the co-founder and CEO of ChinaScope, Tom Liu.

ChinaScope “applies big data technologies and methodologies to financial applications”. Translation? They use machines to sift through an endless amount of data, so investors can use only the most relevant decision-making insights.

As Tom proudly describes, it’s a major step towards levelling the playing field between the ‘o...

In this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast I speak with Rui ma, partner at 500 Startups in Charge of the Greater China region, and her colleague and investment associate at 500, Norman Chang.   Over the past year or so we’ve spoken with a number of great entrepreneurs on the show, but there's been a notable abscence of guests that fall in to the ‘investor’ category.  With fundraising often being a crucial component of the ...

In this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast I speak with Erik Walenza-Slabe, Director of Startup Grind Shanghai and founder of IoT One, a platform devoted to promoting the adoption of industrial internet solutions.

I wanted to have Erik on the show, not only for the interesting work he is doing, and the unique experiences he has compiled during his time in China, but also because as Director of Startup Grind, he is very-much pl...

In this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast, I speak with one of Shanghai’s most switched-on and inspiring young entrepreneurs, and CEO of Dyad, Mr. Greg Nance.

Dyad is an online, mentorship-based, university admissions preparatory service, and Greg is it’s founder and fearless leader. If you want to dramatically increase your chances of getting into the University and/or program of you choice, be sure to check out Dyad.

As for...

In this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast I sit down with another vetern of the China tech scene, Mr. T.R. Harrington.   T.R. is the founder and CEO of Darwin Marketing, a company which describes itself as ‘a data company that does marketing’.   T.R. is also an Angel Investor, Start-up advisor and mentor at China’s top accelerator program, Chinaccelerator.   I’ll warn you in advance, this was a long one. With someone as seaso...

In this episode I speak with Zennon Kapron, founder of Kapron Asia and author of the book 'Chomping at the Bitcoin'.

Kapron Asia is a well-known financial consulting and market research firm in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Zennon became familiar with Bitcoin through his work as a financial consultant in Shanghai, and watched closely in 2013 when Bitcoin-mania was sweeping through China. Chomping at the Bitcoin gives...

On this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast I speak with a legend of the Shanghai entrepreneurial community, and an all around nice guy, Mr. Mark Secchia.   Mark is the founder of the extremely well known Shanghai food-delivery service Sherpa's. Mark initially thought it was a bit odd that I wanted to have him on the podcast, as he doesn’t really consider himself as a quote ‘tech’ entrepreneur.   However, with 2013 revenues...

In this episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast, I speak with Vvivi Hu, Chief Strategy Officer for ebay Greater China.

Vvivi is also an Angel Investor through the AngelVest group, a former entrepreneur, a Harvard grad, and a published author.

I invited Vvivi on the show so she could share with us her perspective on the role of quote ‘grandfather’ technology companies in the current ecosystem, and soon realized I would be getting mu...