Why there aren't many innovators in China(joezhou.posterous.com)
joezhou.posterous.com
Why there aren't many innovators in China
http://joezhou.posterous.com/startups-in-china-why-there-arent-many-innova
13 comments
I'm a Chinese Malaysian and pretty familiar with Chinese culture and their ways. For those of you who might be skeptical, I think this article quite accurate.
I've tried hard to think of recent Chinese tech inventions that are truly new, and not a ripoff of a popular existing product, and could never come up with any, until just recently. I bought one of these "Air Fly Mouse" http://www.airflymouse.com/ and it works as advertised! Here's to more innovation coming from China.
I've tried hard to think of recent Chinese tech inventions that are truly new, and not a ripoff of a popular existing product, and could never come up with any, until just recently. I bought one of these "Air Fly Mouse" http://www.airflymouse.com/ and it works as advertised! Here's to more innovation coming from China.
Did the guy who brought the Air Fly Mouse to market get fantastically rich and have the entrepreneurial spirit to turn those winnings toward a more ambitious goal, like how Elon Musk did with paypal -> SpaceX? Something is blocking the furnace of innovation over there.
Sorry, can't read the article, blocked here(China). There is plenty of money here, especially if you've got a good idea and whats needed, no shortage.
But China in general doesn't do different or new or innovative. They do better at the same thing, where better usually means cheaper, but not always. If they can't compete in that way, then they just try to get the government to crush any non-Chinese competition.
But China in general doesn't do different or new or innovative. They do better at the same thing, where better usually means cheaper, but not always. If they can't compete in that way, then they just try to get the government to crush any non-Chinese competition.
I'd like to know if Posterous itself is blocked in China or just the blog page?
Posterous. I had to use VPN to post. Seriously
Trying to run a web startup on a censored internet is like trying to build a skyscraper on a foundation which magically disappears.
ha ha, i'd take censorship over patents anyday.
But you can both!
Well, in a broad sense. Government censorship and government granted monopolies go together naturally.
Well, in a broad sense. Government censorship and government granted monopolies go together naturally.
Perhaps you could post the text of the article here at Hacker News?
[deleted]
This was the most damning line in the article and points to a genuine breakdown in the ecosystem, or lack thereof:
"Actually a more common practice is that VCs would have take one of the pitches he really likes and just hire a bunch of engineers."
"Actually a more common practice is that VCs would have take one of the pitches he really likes and just hire a bunch of engineers."
Where's the incentive to innovate if you have a huge market with tremendous cultural barriers to entry for the most innovative companies in the rest of the world?
Agreed. The risk for innovating is too high. When there are ideas up for grabs in the US, why not just take it and localize it. This is simply a rational decision.
My read on China is that there is a weaker society culture while also having a stronger family culture. This probably means that a lot of startup financing will be from families as the middle class grows and there is spare cash around.
The reason I think - China is choked for capital. Yes, there is money, but not a lot. Unless you are doing are doing a government contract (i.e. building infrastructure) or are in real estate, you don't get much capital. Interest rates are artificially low, but only if you can get a loan - i.e. you look very very safe. Why bother investing in business, when you can borrow at a low rate and invest it in houses?
Chinese businessmen look rich. Some of them do have a lot of money, but most are just richer than the average Chinese worker. And because the poor Chinese workers are poor, they can't bootstrap their way up so easily.
Chinese businessmen look rich. Some of them do have a lot of money, but most are just richer than the average Chinese worker. And because the poor Chinese workers are poor, they can't bootstrap their way up so easily.
Though they take a lot of flak recently, patents and patent protection are crucial for the environment in which any innovator can market his/her products, without fear of the idea being copied and mass-produced by a mega-corporation.
The internet in China isn't that good. Transfer fees are slow, there is a lot of government censorship, and not many people can afford it. Why invest in a risky internet startup, then, when there is much more money to be made in manufacturing or real estate? So the financial incentive to invest in a tech startup just isn't there. It's probably also difficult for potential startups to get good engineers, as the brightest students usually go into government or work for one of the large government-sponsored corporations that dominate the economy.
Relevant article: China's Education Army
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/158/china-education
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/158/china-education
Isn't cloning products and exporting them their forte.
In America intelligence is seen as Yankee ingenuity, building a better mousetrap. Talking back to your superiors and finding a better way is smiled on if you can produce results in the states.
In china, intelligence is seen as efficiency, doing something well, getting the right boxes filled on the exam, non-intelligence related things that are called intelligence. Go talking about how the yuan is pegged to the dollar instead of gold and the government won't hire you because you aren't parroting the group think (I have experience talking to some china-women about this). Try to break out of your class and get beaten back into it.
It's the culture. I really think if china could break out of it's meek-slave mentality and have them start thinking that the Earth is theirs for the taking if they want it, then it could blow United States out of the water a thousand times over. Educate the meek slave class sleeping giant with care! It took thousands of years to craft a group of people who will work and not fight back when exploited.
In china, intelligence is seen as efficiency, doing something well, getting the right boxes filled on the exam, non-intelligence related things that are called intelligence. Go talking about how the yuan is pegged to the dollar instead of gold and the government won't hire you because you aren't parroting the group think (I have experience talking to some china-women about this). Try to break out of your class and get beaten back into it.
It's the culture. I really think if china could break out of it's meek-slave mentality and have them start thinking that the Earth is theirs for the taking if they want it, then it could blow United States out of the water a thousand times over. Educate the meek slave class sleeping giant with care! It took thousands of years to craft a group of people who will work and not fight back when exploited.
They can't afford ethics, honesty, "care and affection" and stuff. But without it they can't beat the slave spirit so hardly ingrained in their social DNA. Egg and the chicken, huh? They need to propagate the wealth in their system so they can stop worrying about the cash and start being themselves.
> Yes, there's a lot of money but there's not enough ethical business people.
Well, that's bound to happen when a generation suddenly becomes rich for first time in long family history. You kind of had it coming.
It'd take some metabolism cycles to ingest the wealth they come by. Until then they'll act like pigs on money steroid rather than the rich.
Best to avoid the shitbag of shitstorm until they learn to be civil.
Well, that's bound to happen when a generation suddenly becomes rich for first time in long family history. You kind of had it coming.
It'd take some metabolism cycles to ingest the wealth they come by. Until then they'll act like pigs on money steroid rather than the rich.
Best to avoid the shitbag of shitstorm until they learn to be civil.
This doesn't lead to a very entrepreneurial culture, although there are many who will still try to start their own business. Then you start to hit the barriers discussed in the article. Another barrier you can hit is that if you start to become successful, the government will appoint a party member to your management. Further, if you are in certain fields, the government erects tax and regulatory obstacles that will create an advantage for state-owned enterprises.
It's unfortunate... there are enough in the under-35 age group, who might actually break out of the old culture and innovate. They face a lot of obstacles and that will be bad for China's long-term outlook.