Design’s Strategic Value for Business with Yiying Lu, “Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business”

09/19/20 • 39 min

During this week’s episode, we will discuss the value of design in early technology startups with Yiying Lu, the award-winning artist behind the Twitter Fail Whale and Dumpling emoji, named as “Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business” and Microsoft's “Top 10 Emerging Leader in Innovation”.

Show notes:

02:08 Introducing Yiying Lu

03:00 How design helps with product experience

05:30 The role of emotional needs in design

10:50 Design as a strategic tool for tech companies

14:40 How early stage founders should pay attention to design

19:50 Own a cross-cultural mindset

27:33 Failed campaign examples when foreign companies enter China

31:50 Yiying’s cross-cultural campaign cases

Many thanks to our guest Yiying Lu; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

Email us: [email protected]

Show notes:

02:08 Introducing Yiying Lu

03:00 How design helps with product experience

05:30 The role of emotional needs in design

10:50 Design as a strategic tool for tech companies

14:40 How early stage founders should pay attention to design

19:50 Own a cross-cultural mindset

27:33 Failed campaign examples when foreign companies enter China

31:50 Yiying’s cross-cultural campaign cases

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

Email us: [email protected]

Previous Episode

Managing a $1 billion pre-IPO fund, with Sophie Yao, China General Manager of Pegasus Tech Ventures

Our guest today is Sophie Yao, the China General Manager of Pegasus Tech Ventures, which some people may know for their notable investments like SpaceX and Airbnb. Sophie currently manages a $1 billion fund that predominantly focuses on pre-IPO deals.

Show Notes:

1:48 Introduction to Sophie Yao

2:59 The CVC 4.0 Model

4:33 Rationale behind corporate partnering with single LP funds

6:58 The $1 billion pre-IPO fund, what it is and why Pegasus invests in pre-IPO deals

8:04 Risks associated with pre-IPO deals

9:46 Pre-requisites in a pre-IPO deal. How do you measure returns?

12:28 Role of the pre-IPO investor in supporting companies

13:40 Evaluating potential investments

16.14 Next wave of IPOs from China

20:58 Revenue vs Technology: What matters more in deep tech investment

23:12 Does investor behavior shape the type of companies in China?

24:36 China’s STAR market and how it has performed so far

26:15 Companies doing well in the STAR market

26:45 Alibaba Ant dual IPO: Inflection point in Chinese companies' perspective on IPOs

28:41 Foreign companies listing in STAR market

29:23 US-China deteriorating relations and impact on internationalization of Chinese tech startups

31:29 Luckin’s impact on the perception of listed Chinese companies

34:36 Lessons for Series A or B founders

36:54 Pegasus’ area of investment and how to contact Sophie

37:53 Pegasus’ Incubation program

Many thanks to our guest Sophie Yao; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

Email us: [email protected]

Next Episode

Inside the VC Mind Ep1: The Top Mistake that Founders Make During Fundraising (Helen Wong, Gary Yang, Jeff Chi)

Our guests:

Helen Wong

Helen is Partner at Qiming Venture Partners and a founding team member at GGV Capital. Qiming is an early to growth stage venture capital firm, which currently manages four USD funds and three RMB funds with over $1.7 billion in assets.

Helen’s successful exits at Qiming include Mobike (sold to Meituan), Luojiswei (unicorn valuation, sold to Tencent), and Lagou (sold to 51jobs). Helen was awarded by Forbes as Top100 VCs in China in 2018.

Gary Yang

Gary is Founding Partner at SkySaga Capital and Director of the China Venture Capital Association. Graduated from Tsinghua University, one of the top universities in China and the world, Gary is an experienced investor who led the investment of dozens of companies, including Yanjiyou, a well-known bookstore chain brand in China, Pencil Media, an upcoming tech media focusing on startup news, and more.

SkySaga Capital is an early to growth stage venture capital firm, with a focus on industrial upgrades such as consumption upgrade and supply chain upgrade, and deep tech such as AI and biotech.

Jeff Chi
Jeff is Founding Partner at Vickers Venture Partners and Former Chairman at Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association.

Vickers is a global venture capital firm with US$700 million focused on early-stage investments in Asia and beyond. The firm announced in 2017 that it has raised US$230 million to invest in startups around the world, with a particular focus on deep tech across the globe and impact investments in emerging markets. Vickers has 8 offices around the world and is one of the largest venture capital firms in Singapore and Shanghai.

Show Notes:

01:04 Talk with Helen Wong

06:14 Talk with Gary Yang

10:19 Talk with Jeff Chi

Many thanks to our guests; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

Share, subscribe, review, enjoy!

Email us: [email protected]