In the new podcast episode of German Innovators in China (GINN), Johannes and Bettina sit down with AI and automotive expert Ke Zhu.

Key Highlights:

1. Accelerating Autonomous Driving: Discover how cutting-edge generative AI models are revolutionizing the development of self-driving cars by creating realistic driving scenarios for enhanced safety and efficiency.
2. Journey Towards AGI & singularity: Listen to a thought-provoking discussion on the advancements steering us closer to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and the implications for industries and governments worldwide.
3. Process Automation Revolution: Learn how AI-driven automation is reshaping business processes, boosting human efficiency, and redefining operational standards across various sectors and regions.

About our guest:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ke-zhu/

Join Bettina and Michael Maeder, Partner at the renowned executive search firm August Leadership, as they uncover the secrets to building and scaling high-performing Chinese-German teams.

From what startups need to thrive in an intercultural setup to identifying the right mindset in potential partners, this episode is packed with actionable insights and expert advice for anyone navigating the global business landscape.

Felix Reinshagen, CEO and co-founder of NavVis, shares his personal China experience and explains why the market is so important for deep tech startups today.

He points out that entering the Middle Kingdom early on can help you to fully understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks of a new technology, especially in deep tech. And he finds that being focused on a few, well-defined industry segments is a key success factor in China sales.

Last but not least, Felix calls on all startups to meet their Chinese competitors in China first (rather than letting them surprise us in other markets).

About:

NavVis: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navvis/

GINN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/german-innovators/

Felix Reinshagen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felix-reinshagen-527ab97a/

Bettina Scheibe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bettina-b-scheibe-b069b45a/

Jason Alleyne, co-founder and Managing Director of the startup CFO-AI, shares how collaboration and gamification have made a difference for his personal journey in the Chinese market.

He finds that family pride, group KPIs and the incentivisation of societal behaviour via gamification play a key role in China and are the secret sauce that makes Chinese businesses so successful.

Chapter marks: 

(00:00:00)  Intro

(01:09:08)  Zero bias for max collab mindset

(02:44:02)  Collaboration and gamification

(04:12:19)  InnoHive innovation game

(09:06:21)  Multinational and heterogenous setup

(10:55:21)  Growing cfo-ai with PE

(14:02:21)  Getting rid of limitations / 1+1=110

(17:53:03)  Re-imagination / societal good

(22:59:01)  Family pride / group KPIs

(25:59:04)  Collab with a few / competition of many

(30:54:04)  Thinking in boxes / gamification

(33:44:08)  Incentivisation of societal behaviour

(36:38:07)  Gamification of healthy eating

(42:08:06)  Summary

About: 

cfo-ai: https://reimage.cfo-ai.com/

GINN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/german-innovators/ 

Jason Alleyne: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-alleyne-413a248/ 

Bettina Scheibe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bettina-b-scheibe-b069b45a/ 

In this episode, Bettina talks with Felix Wendlandt, founder of the beer brand Brander Urstoff, about how to develop tailored business strategies for the Chinese market. 

Felix shares his experience on how and why to build a mainly Chinese team, how to master sales challenges in China, and why you might not want to stress the German origin of your brand nowadays if you’re operating in a traditional industry like beer brewing.

Last but not least, Felix recommends his favourite accelerator programs to enrol in if you plan to build your business in China.

About Brander Urstoff:

• http://branderurstoff.com/
• http://www.brander-urstoff.cn/

About EO:

• https://www.eonetwork.org/shanghai

About Felix Wendlandt:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/felixwendlandt/

About GINN:

• https://www.linkedin.com/company/german-innovators/

Should we take Chinese competition seriously? Which industries are challenged most by Chinese competition? Bettina speaks with Peter Legner, CEO at Schenck Shanghai Machinery Corporation (Dürr Group) and CEO China at HOMAG Group, about his experience from 30 years of doing business in China, his latest learnings and his view on new technology trends in the Middle Kingdom.

Key take-aways:

1) Stop underestimating Chinese competition or you might find yourself losing significant market share.

2) Successful Chinese competitors aren't only challenging us in China, but have long started moving into our home markets.

3) Fields of competition include ALL industries, namely future technologies, traditional industries, consumer tech, B2B & the industrial space.

4) Everyone should be well informed about Chinese competition - NOT only corporates and SMEs, but ALSO startups and investors.

Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-legner-9829948/

Stay tuned and subscribe! We’re here to support you - Your German Innovators in China network.

Bettina speaks with her guest Maren Petry, National Senior Director Innovation at the German Chamber of Commerce in China, about innovation activities of German companies in China and their global impact. They have a closer look at the German Chamber's latest innovation survey "Innovation from China going global" which was just published on June 28th, 2022 in collaboration with the German Chamber's partner BearingPoint.

Key findings include:

1) Competition is the main innovation driver for German companies in China.

2) The Chinese market is not only important with regards to its sales volume, but also with regards to its potential of becoming an important R&D hub for global solutions.

3) Chinese competitors are really strong in their R&D, especially in the establishment and expansion of the same. Advanced R&D processes driven local teams contribute to their success.

4) Chinese competitors are so much quicker with regards to the time-to-market because of their extensive knowledge and usage of the social commerce system, which leads to new forms of customer engagement and also quick feedback loops between customer and manufacturer.

Find out what German companies can do to further improve in these fields.

And most importantly: Enjoy and subscribe! ;)

Link to the referenced survey:
https://china.ahk.de/de/news/news-details/german-innovation-from-china-going-global-amid-a-complex-innovation-ecosystem-german-chambers-innovation-survey-2022

In the first episode of the new GINN CHINABEATS series, Bettina and her guest Kevin J. Worner have a fresh look at developments in the European and Chinese startup ecosystem, and discuss differences in communication, networking and execution. 

Key learnings include:

1) European entrepreneurs should forget about frameworks and push the limits.

2) Social media is the key to modern business communication, and can lead to an exponential growth of personal business networks.

3) Mass entrepreneurship is a success factor for fast innovation: 100 above average thinkers will for sure come up with a great solution, while 1 excellent thinker might not.

4) A highly digital consumer base, as well as young talent educated in STEM / AI, play an important role in the perception of technological opportunities.

Enjoy and subscribe! 

In this episode, we will talk to Carina and Farah. Both founders chose Shanghai to be their favorite place to live long before they actually met each other. After becoming friends they decided quickly to build their own company and to shake up the skincare market in Asia and globally. Their company NUDE by Korea is dedicated to producing eco-friendly skincare products with natural and organic ingredients. 

Tune in for a very insightful conversation. Not only did we talk about NUDE by Korea, its business model, their marketing approach, but also about Carina and Farah's personal story as entrepreneurs, the community of social entrepreneurs in Shanghai, as well as the sustainability movement in China, and Chinese consumers openness towards new sustainable products. 

We hope this episode provides you with valuable insights. If you have particular topics that you would like to see covered in the coming episodes or have any other feedback, feel free to contact us.

References and mentions: 

NUDE by Korea: https://nudebykorea.com 

Wechat official page: NUDEcare

Instagram: instagram.com/nudebykorea

Carina's LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/carina-schaefer-610b7353/

Farah's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/farah-lopez-del-aguila-b0155768/

Till's  Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/tillammelburg/

GINN Linkedin:  linkedin.com/company/german-innovators/ 

In this episode, we will talk with Patrick Theobald from Peakboard. Peakboard is a startup company with headquarters in Germany, which established a remarkable footprint in China. By visualizing and networking real-time data, Peakboard enables especially manufacturing and logistics companies to optimize their processes in an easy plug-and-play manner.  Patrick Theobald, founder of Theobald Software and Peakboard, was mainly responsible for bringing Peakboard to China. He will walk us through the whole journey from going to China for the first time, through getting the first customer projects, until employing their first employee. We will discuss the decisive moment when Patrick had to decide to either go all-in on China or pull-out and abort the China mission.  We will tackle IP, distribution partners, talent, cultural differences, and more.  

We hope this episode provides you with valuable insights. If you have particular topics that you would like to see covered in the coming episodes or have any other feedback, feel free to contact us.

References and mentions:

GINN Linkedin Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/german-innovators/

Peakboard: https://peakboard.com/

Patrick's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-theobald-9aa598a/

DC Hub: https://dc-hub.de/

TechCode: https://techcode-germany.com/home/

Till's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tillammelburg/

Welcome to the new GINN Podcast Series "GINN Chinapreneurs Podcast Series". In the following 7 episodes Till Ammelburg, GINN Berlin, will talk to German entrepreneurs that built up their venture in China as well as German founders that internationalized their company towards China. 

In the first episode, we are talking to Julian Mergenthaler who founded Blitz Laser in Shenzhen, a laser processing company. Till and Julian will talk about why Julian took of to China, why he chose Hong Kong as an entry point, how he built a customer base with Chinese clients only, how he manages IP and talent challenges and much more. 

We hope it will provide you with some valuable insights. If you have particuliar topics that you would like to see covered in coming episodes or have any other feedback, feel free to contact us. 

References:

GINN Linkedin Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/german-innovators/ 

Julian's Company Page http://www.blitz-laser.com/

Julian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-mergenthaler/ 

Till's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tillammelburg/ 

All types of businesses are facing challenging times, but challenges also always provide opportunities: Katja Kleindienst (founder of German Innovators in China) and Dr. Osman Sacarcelik (Director of Startup Grind Frankfurt) are talking to Kevin Johannes Wörner (Head of Xnode Shanghai) who is building bridges to help foreign startups conquer China.

Some of the Questions answered are:
-Should China be on German Companies' expansion list?
-What are the risks and opportunities in the post-epidemic economy?
-How can you prepare for a succesful market entry in China
-What is the attitude of Chinese metropolis like Shanghai towards German startups?

Bettina sits down with Chris, the Director of the Innovation Centre at AHK Greater China, to explore the world of Chinese unicorns and the hurdles faced by Chinese startups amidst geopolitical tensions, political instability, and rising national protectionism. Tune in for a captivating episode packed with intriguing stories and valuable insights!

In 2018, naked Hub, a leading coworking & technology business founded in China in 2015, was exited to WeWork. At that time, it had hosted over 1 million guests from China and around the world, and provided over 10,000 members across 24 locations with the community and services they needed to make a life, not just a living.

Jonas Wolf was one of the key employees helping to lead naked Hub to success. In this episode, he shares his story withBettina and Johannes, and sheds light on the importance ofcommunity building as entrepreneurial success factor in the Middle Kingdom.

About Jonas:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamjonaswolf

Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, Richard Brubaker has spent the last 20 years in Asia working to engage, inspire and equip those around him to take their first step.

Bettina and Johannes chat with Rich about his passion, his take on China's motion in sustainability & ESG, and what this means for China's future economic development.

About Rich:

Rich’s work is centered around building foundations of knowledge, understanding core issues, engaging stakeholders, and doing what it takes to move forward. He has overseen the development and execution of more than 250 projects focused on solving the social, environmental, and economic challenges in Asia.

Rich is Chairman of the Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility Committee of the American Chamber in Shanghai, runs his own podcast formats on sustainability and social entrepreneurship, and is a passionate founder and entrepreneur.

If you want to engage in a personal discussion with Rich, he can be met at sustainability conferences across Asia where he speaks about ESG, social innovation, corporate social responsibility and leadership.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker/

Time Stamps:

00:00 Intro

00:31 Presentation of Rich and how his China story got started

06:14 Chinese cities experimenting with sustainability competitions

11:00 Evolution of collaboration in the sustainability space

14:08 Rich's projects and his biggest sustainability clients

24:29 The Chinese Government's incentives for more sustainable business models across sectors

32:13 Sustainability initiatives and the 5-years plan

34:10 Big tech giants pushing China towards greater sustainability targets

37:05 Learnings from the sustainability coaching of Chinese brands

41:22 Outlook: Rich's favourite moonshots

44:00 Outro

Helping brands and their products stand out with sustainable and circular design, is the mission of Tim Binnion, founder and CEO of (better)labs. He is one of THE key persons regarding the topic of circular economy in the Shanghai ecosystem and shares his passion and knowledge at conferences all across Asia.

In this episode, Tim and Bettina discuss the status and outlook of circular economy approaches in the Mainland and Kong Kong, and introduce some startups you might want to know.

Time stamps:

00:47 Intro of Tim and (better)labs

02:38 Circular economy learnings from Shanghai & Hong Kong

05:37 Why Hong Kong is more advanced than the Mainland

08:12 Circular economy and the Chinese industrial complex

11:30 China's agenda

13:55 A problem of implementation?

16:49 Battery swap stations in EV

23:25 Chinese startup competitions as sustainability accelerator

26:28 China's sustainability blueprints - why do they sometimes fail?

28:42 Niches for international sustainability startups in China and potential learnings

30:31 Unique lessons learnt in China with global spill-over potential

33:54 Smart warehousing

35:24 Outro

Join Bettina and Chance Jiang, web3 developer, passionate entrepreneur and China AI expert, on their discussion of China's AI strategy and its development from early academical research to national core strategy.

About Chance:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chancejiang/

Time stamps:

01:09 intro of Chance Jiang

01:55 development of AI in Chinese Academia

04:04 China's specialisation in international comparison

06:33 Chinese academia and China's industry working hand in hand

08:53 AI and smart home

10:35 AI and smart service robots

14:20 expected development of this interconnection in the coming year

18:02 the government's approach and focus areas

24:48 AI and user feelings

27:35 China aiming to protect itself and its people

32:36 recruiting of Chinese AI talent - a challenge?

34:42 can AI reach a point in intelligence?

37:55 China's AI goals for the upcoming years

40:23 crypto and smart contracts

42:56 Chance's hopes for the AI in the next 10 years

In this episode, Bettina talks with Philippe and Felicia from Swissnex in China about the Swiss "super tool box" of highly integrated services and why "hitting the ground running" is one of the best IP protection strategies in the Middle Kingdom.

Key tips / take-aways include:

• Deep tech startups usually have a significant competitive advantage which is hard to copy overnight. If you are a deep tech founder and are still worried about being copied, don’t come to China.
• Startups entering China should not be in R&D stage, and be well prepared. Once landed in China, they should hit the ground running to further ensure their competitive edge.
• Early collaboration with multinationals and support networks like Swissnex is a great way to progress quickly and gain access to trustworthy information about potential local partners.

About the guests:

Philippe Roesle is CEO at Swissnex in China, Consul at the Swiss Consulate in Shanghai and Head of the Science, Technology and Education Office at the Swiss Embassy in Beijing.

Felicia Wang is Startup Manager at Swissnex in China. She runs the Innosuisse China camp program which aims at empowering Swiss deep tech startups' market validation and entry in the Chinese market.

About Swissnex:

Swissnex is the Swiss global network connecting the dots in education, research, and innovation. The six Swissnex locations (Bangalore, Boston, Shanghai, San Fransico, Rio de Janerio and Osaka) and their outposts are established in the world’s most innovative hubs. Together with around twenty Science and Technology Offices (STO) and Counselors (STC) based in Swiss Embassies, the network contributes to strengthening Switzerland’s profile as a world-leading innovation hotspot.

Links:

Philippe Roesle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippe-roesle-%E4%BD%95%E8%BE%89-71423a89/

Felicia Wang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicia-%E7%8E%8B%E8%B6%8A-00a2b4123/

Swissnex in China website: https://swissnex.org/china/

Swissnex in China on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/swissnex-china/

GINN: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/company/german-innovators/⁠⁠

Bettina Scheibe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bettina-b-scheibe-b069b45a/

Johannes Paul Lehmann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-paul-lehmann-mba-68048084/

Jelte Ansgar Wingender, CEO of the businesses FoundersLair, Dealflow and Flair, shares his best practices on how to manoeuvre the government-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem in China. He further gives hands-on advice on how to secure your IP if you are building a hardware startup.

Key tips include:

1. Enter Chinese startup competitions since it is a great way for you to develop an understanding of the government-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem, its dynamics and your Chinese competitors. 
2. Use the FoundersLair platform to gain an overview of startup competitions and find the best fit for your industry.
3. Try out China’s 2nd TIER cities if you want to test out your product. (Your office might still be best located in BJ and SH, as they offer the best international connectedness.)
4. There are multiple ways to effectively protect your IP in China. Foxconn (Honhai Technology Group), for example, can help hardware startups to file Chinese patents to secure their hardware related IP.
5. Investigate China with your own team first and truly understand, learn and build trust. Don't outsource to a partner or middleman from the start.

About:

Jelte Ansgar Wingender: ⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/jelteansgarwingender

FoundersLair website: ⁠⁠founderslair.com⁠

FoundersLair on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/founderslair

Foxconn IP Consulting: https://www.honhai.com/en-us/

GINN: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/company/german-innovators/⁠⁠

Bettina Scheibe: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/bettina-b-scheibe-b069b45a/

Bettina and Wei Zhou, CEO of the Shanghai based accelerator XNode, discuss how startups can scale their China business and become successful in China long-term.

Key tips include:

1. Work closely with international corporates and international networks during your market entry phase.
2. Find a Chinese middleman on the ground who can grant you access to local governments, state owned enterprises and Chinese corporates. This middleman can be a Chinese manager, a sales channel partner or an accelerator with strong Chinese ties.
3. Form a China entity which is separate from your global business, and which implements a China-for-China approach. China-for-China means having a separate product, separate strategy and separate operations tailored to the Chinese market.
4. Consider giving the majority shareholding of your China business to your Chinese partner. Your China entity would hence count as a Chinese enterprise and gain better access to networks, customers and funding opportunities.

About:

XNode website: ⁠www.thexnode.com/

XNode on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/6579325/admin/feed/posts

GINN: ⁠linkedin.com/company/german-innovators/⁠

Wei Zhou: ⁠linkedin.com/in/wei-zhou-30919b/

Bettina Scheibe: ⁠linkedin.com/in/bettina-b-scheibe-b069b45a/