[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlcswRVJhnI&w=500]
StartupGrind Guangzhou’s maiden event on December 14, 2012 was kick-started with great enthusiasm from the local tech community. I took the stage with Mr. Chen Di, the 25 year-old CEO of Youmi Media, China’s 1st mobile ads platform. Mr. Chen is more comfortable with Chinese, and as such this interview was conducted in Chinese (We’ll update this post soon with an English transcript.)
A personal look at the Youmi team
When I first met Mr. Chen Di and his team in 2009, they were still students and SCUT (South China University of Technology) renting a small office near campus. They had about 10 guys crammed together all around one big conference table. Dozens of mobile phones from different manufacturers were spread across the table. One of the team members showed me a mobile game they had made. I was not convinced when they told me they were giving the games away for free and making money from in-game advertising. But then in 2010, Youmi.net was born and making headlines.
That amazed me, not only because they learned and pivoted fast, but also because I didn’t expect this from the School of Computer Science at SCUT, a popular school among employers hungry for computer science graduates. Going safe with jobs offered by the big banks or established Internet companies have been typical career choices among Mr. Chen’s classmates. I’ve worked in this school for years but haven’t seen any undergraduates who have the guts to launch a startup even before graduation. It’s very inspiring to look back on that first meeting and reflect on how far they’ve come.
Vision and perseverance
My favorite question for entrepreneurs involves the ‘bad days’ they had and how they got over them. Mr. Chen talked about the responsibility he felt over his team and the desire to survive and thrive in the Chinese market. “It’s the product vision you have that keeps you determined no matter what.” His perseverance and dedication to his team, and his vision carried him through tough times. I think Mr. Chen’s hometown may have something to do with it as well, as he comes from the same area in Guangdong as Lee Kai-shing, the famous Hong Kong businessman, and Pony Ma, CEO of Tencent Corp.
Team building
Mr. Chen emphasized the importance of a rock-solid team. Most of Youmi’s early employees were his classmates who shared the same product vision. Early on team building seemed easy enough – but as the business grew, he found he also had to attract seasoned developers and tech-savvy business devs on-board, many of whom were from big name Chinese software firms and Internet companies. And finally, Mr. Chen was able to use the investors’ social network to fill high-level positions. In the end Mr. Chen is proud of the team he’s built.
Lessons learned about the event
At Guangzhou’s first StartupGrind event, I wasn’t sure what I would find. But during the networking session, I found marketers, electronic hardware engineers, green-energy engineers and more than a few local VCs. Two of the VCs I’ve never heard of told me that early stage tech startup financing is their new category. Now is the time for Guangzhou Grinders to get things started. I’m really pleased with the turnout; this is the start of a great community.
Written by Startup Grind Guangzhou co-organizer Chance Jiang