ASCENT – Details, episodes & analysis

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ASCENT

Fangdi Pan & Linda Zhang

Technology

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/39d. Total Eps: 12

ASCENT podcast is your in-depth look at the fastest-growing Asian businesses. We deliver exclusive, deep-dive research into the strategies, struggles, and secrets to success of Asia's top market leaders and tech companies. Whether you're an investor, founder, or just curious, this is your backstage pass to the business revolution happening in Asia and beyond.

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🇫🇷 France - Technology
11/07/2026
#71

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miHoYo (Creator of Genshin Impact)

Season 2 · Episode 4

Sunday, June 28, 2026 • Duration 02:10:48

How did three anime and gaming nerds turn a cash-strapped dorm hobby into a multi-billion-dollar global empire? This episode explores the fascinating history of miHoYo, the powerhouse studio behind Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Honkai Impact 3rd. Driven by their iconic philosophy, "Tech Otakus Save the World," founders CAI Haoyu, LIU Wei, and LUO Yuhao navigated a relentless journey. Long before capturing astronomical revenues and establishing themselves as China's third-largest gaming giant behind Tencent and NetEase, these Shanghai Jiao Tong University engineering students bonded over their love or Neon Genesis Evangelion, survived on mere thousands of downloads and faced harsh interrogation from a skeptical investment community.

This episode traces how the studio survived critical, high-stakes milestones. From winning initial funding through entrepreneurship competitions to securing their one and only angel investor, they repeatedly went "all-in," reinvesting every cent of the company's income into their next game in development. Bypassing standard mobile gaming strategies, they leveraged a crucial partnership with Bilibili during China’s 2013 smartphone explosion and splurged on premium Japanese voice actors to completely capture the core otaku demographic.

We also examine miHoYo's hyper-productive live-service culture, flat organizational structure, and the dramatic split that saw CAI Haoyu step down to pursue a 2030 vision of a virtual reality world powered by emotional AI large performance models.

modern mobile game development and live-service success.

👉 Subscribe & Follow: ASCENT Podcast on Substack

📖 Episode Chapters

00:03:12 Introduction & Gathering of the Three (but Actually Four) Otakus

00:16:00 The Spirit of miHoYo: Cai's Manifesto & the Debut Project: The Legend of Saha

00:23:10 FlyMe2TheMoon: Another Tribute to Neon Genesis Evangelion

00:40:57 Houkai Gakuen 1 (Zombiegal Kawaii) & 2 (Guns Girl Z): How Gacha Made a Real Difference

00:53:49 Honkai Impact 3: The 3D Bet That Paid Off

01:03:19 Genshin Impact: Zelda Crisis and Liyue Triumph

01:22:18 Never Underestimate Fans: Genshin 1st Anniversary Review-Bombing 01:26:42 Genshin Impact Economics Explained: Gacha

01:30:22 Investment Bucket I: Expanding The Game Portfolio, Pipelines & Failure Graveyards

01:37:55 Investment Bucket II: Philosophically Interesting Technology Bets

01:45:05 Splitting Paths: Gaming Development vs. Frontier Cutting-Edge AI Research

01:55:26 Company Culture and Our Final Thoughts on the Future of miHoYo

🚩 Correction

1:28:48 50/50 mechanism halves the chance of a time-limited 5 star character is drawn, not double

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CATL

Season 2 · Episode 3

Friday, May 1, 2026 • Duration 01:49:21

How did a kid from a small mountain village in Fujian end up building the company that powers one in every three electric vehicles on the planet? This episode explores the rise of CATL (aka the “TSMC of batteries”) and its founder, Robin Zeng.

It begins with CATL’s predecessor, ATL, and a risky $1 million bet on a flawed battery patent that nearly destroyed the company — until it unexpectedly led to a breakthrough deal supplying Apple iPods.

CATL was later spun out amid government policy shifts and EV subsidies, and scaled into the world’s largest battery maker in just six years. Its first major test came with BMW, where passing an 800-page technical audit proved it could meet strict automotive standards—unlocking global partnerships.

Today, CATL continues to push its limits, expanding into grid-scale energy storage, aviation batteries, and next-generation technologies like sodium-ion and solid-state systems to stay ahead in the global energy race.

👉 Subscribe & Follow: ASCENT Podcast on Substack

📖 Episode Chapters

00:00:00 The Battery Giant You’ve Never Heard Of

00:02:30 Robin Zeng’s Origins and Early Career at TDK

00:06:26 Robin’s Mentorship Trio and the Birth of ATL

00:18:27 The $1 Million Gamble: Surviving the Bell Labs Patent Crisis

00:25:09 Path Back to the Old Employer TDK

00:35:18 Early Signs of EV’s Rise and the Scientist Who Saw the Future

Birth of CATL: A Spin-off Out of Necessity

Nestlé, Starbucks, and Yunnan Coffee

Season 2 · Episode 2

Wednesday, March 11, 2026 • Duration 01:55:51

Imagine you're a French missionary in the 1800s, trekking through the mountains of southwest China. You plant some coffee seeds — partly out of habit, partly out of hope.

You probably never imagined those seeds would one day supply Nestlé, attract Starbucks, and help birth a domestic coffee brand that would open more stores than McDonald's has in the entire United States. Yes — that's Luckin Coffee. And that's China.

In this episode of ASCENT, we trace 150 years of coffee history in a nation that was never supposed to drink it. From Cold War export deals to Nestlé's quiet supply chain takeover. From Starbucks introducing the latte to a tea-drinking public, to a ferocious retail war that's reshaping the entire global industry.

And underneath all of it: the mountains of Yunnan — one province that grows over 98% of China's coffee, and is now pushing the boundaries of specialty fermentation in ways that have the world's top roasters paying attention.

China's coffee story isn't just about scale. It's about a country figuring out, on the fly, how to be both the factory and the tastemaker. That tension — between industrial muscle and boutique ambition — is what this episode is really about.

👉 Subscribe & Follow: ASCENT Podcast on Substack

📖 Episode Chapters

00:02:12 Coffee as a House Plant: French Missionary Sows the First Seed in the 19th Century

00:06:15 1950s: Coffee as an Export for the Soviet Bloc

00:21:05 1980s: The Nestlé Revolution - Building the Supply Chain

00:46:26 Creating a Coffee Kingdom: Nestlé’s Quality Standards and the 4C Certification

1990s-2000s: Starbucks and the Initiation of Chinese Coffee Culture

Manus AI

Season 2 · Episode 1

Saturday, January 31, 2026 • Duration 01:56:30

This episode explores the playbook behind the meteoric rise of Manus AI, the startup that redefined the "AI agent" landscape and secured a historic acquisition by Meta for over $2 billion.

In just nine months, Manus went from a stealth spring launch to a $125 million revenue run rate, earning its reputation as China’s "DeepSeek moment." We dive into the technical breakthrough of "computer use"—the frontier where AI agents move beyond chatting to actually operating virtual workspaces to build websites, conduct deep market research, and analyze data like a human professional.

We trace the company’s high-stakes origins, from the previous startups of its three co-founders to the ZhenFund partnership that acted as the ultimate catalyst. Finally, we analyze why Meta bet $2 billion on a 9-month-old product and what this means for the future of WhatsApp, small businesses, and the global AI arms race.

👉 Subscribe & Follow: ASCENT Podcast on Substack

📖 Episode Chapters

00:02:30 Meta's $2 Billion Bet on Manus AI

00:05:48 Understanding the Leap from LLMs to AI Agents

00:12:12 The Tool Geek: Red XIAO (CEO)

00:27:38 The Scientist-Builder: Peak JI (Chief Scientist)

00:45:54 The Product Philosopher: “Hidecloud” Tao ZHANG (CPO)

00:56:14 The Catalyst: ZhenFund

01:09:30 Start of Butterfly Effect and Monica

01:15:54 The Great Pivot: Killing an AI Browser to Build Manus

01:25:04 Going Viral: The Launch That Shocked the Global AI Community

01:36:43 Meta's Plan? WhatsApp, SMBs, and the Future of Productivity

01:52:55 Poem: The Spirit of M - By Manus

Holiday Special

Season 1 · Episode 8

Wednesday, December 31, 2025 • Duration 38:56

What a year it's been! To all our amazing listeners, thank you for joining us on this wild ride through 2025. Ever wonder who else is tuning into ASCENT with you? Or what company totally blew Linda & Pan away this year? We've got all that and more packed into our special holiday episode!

Building ASCENT has been an incredible journey, and your support has been the fuel. We couldn't have done it without you.

Now, we're gearing up for Season 2, and we want YOU to help us make it epic. Hit the link in our show notes to fill out the form to help us shape Season 2 of ASCENT!

Happy holidays, everyone! Let's get into the show.

🙋 Help shape Season 2 of ASCENT! 2-Minute Form Here

👉 Subscribe & Follow: ASCENT Podcast on Substack

📖 Episode Chapters

00:01:01 Seven Companies of 2025: Insta360, DeepSeek, Red Bull, Xiaomi EV, Pop Mart, Game Science, ANTA

00:04:51 Numbers Reveal! Where are Our Listeners - Top Cities & Top Countries

00:13:56 “Company of the Year” - Linda’s Pick & Pan’s Pick

00:24:48 “Things That Should’ve Been Included in the Episodes But Oops We Forgot” - Linda’s Pick & Pan’s Pick

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ANTA (The Owner of Arc'teryx)

Season 1 · Episode 7

Friday, December 5, 2025 • Duration 02:08:34

When you think of the biggest names in sportswear, who comes to mind? Nike, right? The undisputed king. And Adidas, the eternal number two. For decades, that’s been the story. A two-horse race.But what if I told you there’s a third giant? A company that, in just the last few years, has quietly become the third-largest sportswear brand in the world, with a market value that’s now neck-and-neck with Adidas.

And what if I told you that you probably own something made by this company, but have no idea? Ever worn a pair of FILA sneakers? Played tennis with a Wilson racket? Gone skiing with Salomon boots? Or maybe you’ve coveted one of those high-end Arc’teryx jackets? All of those iconic brands… are owned by the same company. A company you’ve likely never heard of: Anta Sports.

In this episode, we will discover how Anta Sports rose from a rural Chinese workshop to become the world’s third-largest sportswear empire, challenging giants like Nike and Adidas. We will uncover founder Ding Shizhong’s high-stakes strategies: surviving the post-Olympic inventory crisis with a radical Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) pivot and transforming FILA into a fashion powerhouse. Finally, we dissect the audacious "Snake Swallows Elephant" acquisition of Amer Sports (Arc'teryx, Salomon, Wilson), revealing the financial engineering behind Anta's multi-brand global dominance.

👉 Subscribe & Follow: ASCENT Podcast on Substack

📖 Episode Chapters

00:02:16 Anta's Humble Origins and Ding's Beijing Hustle

00:23:19 The Prince of Gymnastics vs. The Underdog

00:34:49 Pivoting to the NBA: Conquering Basketball

00:50:00 The Inventory Hangover: Surviving the Post-Olympic Crash

Game Science (Creator of Black Myth: Wukong)

Season 1 · Episode 6

Saturday, November 1, 2025 • Duration 01:46:32

This episode dives into the inspiring journey of Game Science, the Chinese studio that defied industry giants with their global hit, Black Myth: Wukong. Discover how disillusioned Tencent veterans Feng Ji and Yang Qi bet everything on a single-player, PC-only game rooted in Chinese mythology. We trace their decade-long quest from compromise to triumph, exploring the creative philosophy, financial risks, and artistic passion behind a game that sold millions in days. This is the story of proving a small studio could conquer the global stage and redefine what's possible for Chinese game developers. A must-listen for gamers and entrepreneurs alike.

👉 Subscribe & Follow: ASCENT Podcast on Substack

📖 Episode Chapters

00:01:02 Intro

00:01:59 CEO Feng Ji’s Journey from Science Major to Game Junkie

00:11:26 The Artistic Talent Behind Wukong: Yang Qi

00:18:10 Source Material: Journey to the West and the Game's Backstory

00:30:47 The Predecessor: Lessons Learned from the Tencent Asura Project

00:38:42 Game Science is Born: Survival and Compromise

00:47:55 Building a Myth: The Six-Year Grind of Black Myth: Wukong

01:04:45 The Hype After the Trailer: Game Science's Response to Media and Investment

01:31:14 What's Next? Zhong Kui, Expectations, and the Future of Game Science

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Pop Mart (Maker of Labubu)

Season 1 · Episode 5

Friday, September 26, 2025 • Duration 01:41:50

Step into the world of Pop Mart (泡泡玛特)—the Chinese collectible toy giant that turned “ugly-cute” designer figures into an international sensation. In this episode, we reveal founder Wang Ning’s journey from a small Beijing shop to a multibillion-dollar brand leading the global blind-box craze. What key business foundations did the Pop Mart team lay before launching Labubu to enable such massive worldwide success?

🔑 What You’ll Learn

Pop Mart’s Rise: From humble Beijing beginnings to global blind-box dominance.
Design to Factory to Store: Behind the scenes of how Pop Mart identifies artists and creates blind-box designs.
Business Model Secrets: The gamified blind-box strategy driving explosive growth.
The Labubu Effect: How one IP became a global hit thanks to social media.

Whether you’re into designer toys, collectibles, or retail strategy, this deep dive shows how Pop Mart built a worldwide following—one blind box at a time.

👉 Subscribe & Follow: ASCENT Podcast on Substack

📖 Episode Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction: the “ugly-cute” monster that blew up the internet

00:05:00 From CDs to grid shops: Wang Ning’s college hustles

00:12:02 Surviving the early years: cash-strapped and cornered

00:16:03 The VC lifeline: how Mai Gang’s faith saved Pop Mart

00:24:58 Sourcing the management team from MBA class

00:30:40 The great pivot: from licensing to IP powerhouse

00:41:03 The blind-box formula: Molly, Labubu, and the gamified craze

Xiaomi EV

Season 1 · Episode 4

Friday, August 15, 2025 • Duration 01:59:13

Today we are covering a company that built its name on viral smart phones and a "magic touch" for creating every kind of smart home appliance imaginable. We're, of course, talking about Xiaomi.

This company, which started far from the automotive world, has just launched its first two EV models, and the result is stunning. The SU7 sedan and the YU7 SUV have become one of the most wanted and pre-ordered EVs in China. It also made the fastest EV sports car in history so far.

This is Xiaomi EV.

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📖 Episode Chapters

00:00:59 Intro

00:02:47 The “Tony Stark” of China: the story of Lei Jun

00:10:41 Building an empire: the Kingsoft years and the founding of Xiaomi

00:25:18 More than phones: a breakdown of Xiaomi's business lines

00:34:17 Blacklist, boardrooms, and a big decision: how a crisis led to the EV venture

00:45:09 The EV hunger game: navigating a “game of elimination"

00:57:17 The SU7: a masterclass in smart EV manufacturing

01:17:15 The "Halo effect" of Ultra: how racing puts Xiaomi on the map

01:33:17 The numbers game: sales, market share, and industry trends

01:39:54 Demand outruns the factory: the production challenge

01:45:15 The fastest to profit: Xiaomi's future and global ambitions

Red Bull

Season 1 · Episode 3

Wednesday, July 9, 2025 • Duration 02:01:20

Today, we dive into the fascinating story of a global powerhouse that, on the surface, appears distinctly Western, yet boasts surprising Asian roots.

This isn't just a company that sells a drink; it sells a feeling – the promise that "gives you wings."

It's a brand that established dominance not through traditional advertising, but by deeply embedding itself in the worlds of niche sports, adrenaline junkies, athletes, artists, and innovators, cultivating an exceptionally strong and loyal following within these high-influence communities.

Instead of mere ad placements, it operates like a full-fledged media company, producing high-quality documentaries, films, music, magazines, and other digital content, often with the product subtly, or even entirely, in the background.

Yes, you have guessed it, we're talking about Red Bull.

In this episode, you'll discover its humble beginnings in Asia, its journey to Europe, its groundbreaking marketing and content creation strategy, its evolution from sports sponsor to team owner, why you can find at least four different Red Bull cans in China, and the ongoing legal battles it faces.

👉 Subscribe & Follow: ASCENT Podcast on Substack

📖 Episode Chapters

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:20 Thai origins: Krating Daeng and Chaleo Yoovidhya

00:09:55 The Austrian visionary Dietrich Mateschitz

00:14:50 Conquering Europe (with a lot of bans)

00:40:48 Journey into the world of extreme sports and media production

01:07:14 From sponsorship to ownership: F1 & football

01:24:45 Same bulls, different drinks: TCP Red Bull, Red Bull Austria & Red Bull China

ASCENT – Details, episodes & analysis

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ASCENT – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Substack1

Google Docs1

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Substack1

Google Docs1