BFMK Reboot! | BRENDAN DAVIS
This week I talk about rebooting “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom”, my other show (w/Yingying Li) “How China Works”, my NEW show “If I Knew You Better”, & I tell a pretty incredible “moving to China / crazy synchronicity" story which I’ve never told on the mic before.
Why?
Because right now is a special moment in history - for China, for everyone who deals with China on the world stage, and for all of us who are affected - whether as casual observers or as active participants with skin in the game. So since there’s so much at stake and so much to talk about, I'm rebooting “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” while I am back IN China for the time being, and will continue to feed it as I travel and meet China-related guests who best fit here.
One such guest is Raymond Ma, an actor in Los Angeles who was born and raised in Hong King. He’s an old friend and he’s last week’s guest on my other solo podcast, “If I Knew You Better”. His interview is one that I think listeners of this show would especially enjoy, so I wanted to mention it here and make you aware of it.
Raymond Ma
I also talk about “How China Works”, the show I co-host and produce with Yingying Li, and some of the great guests we have coming up. Last week’s guest was entrepreneur Chris “Lu Yi” Oniya, this week’s guest is world-renowned monetary policy advisor and consultant Dr. Frank-Jürgen Richter (a former Director of the World Economic Forum, which organizes and hosts the annual conference @ Davos), and we have many more great guests in our archives and coming up as well.
In terms of what’s changing here specifically, my goal for version 2.0 of “BFMK” is to go deeper with a wider range of guests, including those with contrary opinions to my own, such as this week’s upcoming interview with journalist Tom McGregor (a writer who is both pro-China AND pro-Trump, amazingly), in an effort to have more meaningful discussions about things that matter.
In a sentence: for version 2.0, I want “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” to have less of a “my China story” vibe, and to be more of a lasting record of this time we are all living through, regardless of where we call home.
This is a short episode, but it packs a lot of info. I hope you’ll check it out, and that you enjoy it if you do. Thanks!
SEARCH “If I Knew You Better” in all podcatchers OR listen / learn more below:
LISTEN - APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-i-knew-you-better/id1457785319 / WEB PLAYER: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/website / LINKS https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/knew-resources
Raymond Ma on IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0530882/
“How China Works”:
LISTEN - APPLE: https://tinyurl.com/HowChinaWorks-iTunes / ANDROID: http://howchinaworks.libsyn.com / SOUNDCLOUD: https://tinyurl.com/HowChinaWorks-Soundcloud / STITCHER: https://tinyurl.com/hcw-stitcher / WEB PLAYER: https://www.howchinaworkspodcast.com
“Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom”:
APPLE: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom/id1237037187?mt=2 / SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/brendan-davis-2 / STITCHER: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/brendan-davis/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom / WEB PLAYER: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com
ELLIOTT ZAAGMAN | Tech Writing & Leadership Training in China
To lift directly from his LinkedIn, which says it far better than I ever could: Elliott Zaagman is best known as an executive coach, corporate trainer, and writer who focuses on how Chinese leaders and organizations interact with their global employees and the public. He focuses on leadership development, HR, and PR and is both an enthusiastic evangelist for, and honest critic of, China's tech industry.
Elliott is wicked smart and insightful, very funny, and we have one of the most real conversations - ranging from the curious debt structures in many Chinese businesses to the notable underrepresentation of Asian faces at the Bilderberg Meetings - that I've had on the show. Great talk. Enjoy!
This week’s show is sponsored by “The Complete Podcasting Course”, my new learning program on Udemy.com. Find it via the link in the show notes, and if you want a discount coupon to get the course for only $10 USD, contact me and I’ll hook you up.
Please SUBSCRIBE to “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” and rate / leave a nice REVIEW at Apple Podcasts / iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom/id1237037187?mt=2 or search and subscribe wherever YOU get your podcasts!
SPONSOR:
“The Complete Podcasting Course” - https://www.udemy.com/complete-podcasting-course/learn/v4/overview
GUEST Links:
Elliott Zaagman on Twitter: @ElliottZaagman
Elliott Zaagman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliott-zaagman
Read: https://technode.com/2018/09/13/chinas-tech-is-addicted-to-debt/
“BFMK" HOST / SHOW:
“Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigFishMiddleKingdom/
Brendan Davis on WeChat: BrendanDavis
Brendan Davis on Twitter: @VeritasInLux
Other links to LISTEN: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/podcast-links/
CYNTHIA SANTANA: The Poetry of Emotion
#053 - The Poetry of Emotion | Cynthia Santana
Cynthia Santana is from Boston and she pretty much defines the term “free spirit”. She has a background in acting and education, has traveled extensively, and knew she wanted to spend some time living and working abroad. Here in Beijing, Cynthia has become a regular at poetry slams around the city, and she is working to put together her own business that puts her poetry on clothing, using commerce to spread a very positive, loving message. Enjoy!
Please SUBSCRIBE to “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” at Apple Podcasts / iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom/id1237037187?mt=2 or search and subscribe wherever YOU get your podcasts
SPONSOR:
My upcoming e-book LITTLE FISH IN THE BIGGEST POND looks back at the first year of the show and my own favorite China adventures so far. Preorder TODAY to save more than 33% off the pre-launch price! Learn more and preorder at: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/book/
GUEST:
Cynthia Santana on Instagram: boricuainbeijing
“BFMK" HOST / SHOW:
“Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigFishMiddleKingdom/\
Brendan Davis on WeChat: BrendanDavis
Brendan Davis on Twitter: @VeritasInLux
Other links to LISTEN: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/podcast-links/
Bonus Episode: EO “Seize The Future!” event
On April 12, 2018, the Beijing Sanlitun Chapter of the Entrepreneur's Organization (EO) held an open event for both members and the interested public featuring 5 guest speakers who are all successful entrepreneurs in their field - and "Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom" was there to record it and bring it to you!
From the event invitation:
"Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) offer local entrepreneurs a fascinating look into future for its April’s learning event open to the Beijing entrepreneur community. “EO Seize the Future” brings together the Founders from 5 local start-ups to share insights about how they are targeting industries poised to grow into huge segments of China's economy."
Enjoy!
- Brendan Davis
SPEAKERS (in order of appearance):
James LaLonde
CEO of Yoli
James LaLonde is a serial entrepreneur with a deep understanding of marketing apps to Chinese end-users both in the iOS/Android space as well as the WeChat native space. Multilingual and involved in software his entire career starting from Microsoft in the 1990s where he led the Japanese subsidiary to become Microsoft's first billion-dollar subsidiary. After a 15-year corporate career that culminated as CEO of a NASDAQ listed company, James decided to become an entrepreneur and started RTM Asia (www.rtmasia.com). James has since co-founded two additional companies in China including Yodo1 (www.yodo1.com), the largest private publisher of mobile phone games in China, and now, Yoli, an innovative new way for learning new languages via WeChat.
Boonchai Limatibul
CEO of Namu Life
After graduating from Tsinghua University's MBA Program, Boonchai Limatibul worked on a number of entrepreneurial projects. Today, he focuses his talents on helping famous Thai brands build up their cross-border trade and expand into China. From a partnership with SNAILWHITE, a top Thai cosmetics brand, he built the leading cross-border trading business that enables Thai cosmetics brands to become successful in China. He is launching his own branded Thai products a based on market research to import into China later this year.
John Dietz
CEO of BangBang Pictures
John Dietz, Founder of BangBang Pictures, is onto his 20th Chinese film, and has collaborated with some of China's most successful directors including Xu Zheng, Jiang Wen, John Woo, Guan Hu, Da Peng, Sun Zhou, Deng Chao, Lu Chuan, and Han Yan. In the West, John worked on over another 20+ Hollywood films including the Harry Potter Franchise, Hunger Games, Terminator, and X-Men. John is respected and trusted by VFX and technology practitioners throughout Asia and around the world. His firm enables filmmakers to create VFX heavy Films, Television and Internet Web Series in China by supplying the planning, organization, and management needed to produce Hollywood quality entertainment within Chinese budgets.
Leandro Rolon
CEO of Defacto 3D Printing
Leandro Rolon graduated from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), one the most prestigious architecture schools in the world. His desire to work on creative architectural projects led him to China, but his entrepreneurial side influenced him to follow his passion for 3D printing. As an architect, designer, and entrepreneur, Leandro sees 3D printing as a game-changing technology that shift's our perception of reality. He and his team are working on the future of 3D printed food to create a world of customized food that will be a more nutritionally matched to each person's needs while promoting a more sustainable food supply. The impact of this technology could be huge.
Jackie Luan
CEO of Lavector
Jackie Luan started Lavector Technologies after returning from the US where she taught Marketing as an Assistant Professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. Using her extensive knowledge gained at Yale (Ph.D.) and teaching MBA courses, she started one of China's first AI-powered marketing platforms to help large domestic and international companies acquire and retain customers in China. The technology enables real-time image recognition that allows clients discover consumer insights and drive loyalty. Its automatic content syndication service assists companies to acquire customers through location-based precision advertising. Her firm is taking Big Data to the next level.
CLAUDIA MASUEGER: Making Fine Wine Fun in China
#013 - Making Fine Wine Fun in China | Claudia Masueger
“I’m a Swiss mountain girl coming from a village with 300 people. I arrived in China in 2008 with two suitcases full of wine samples and a will to rock the dragon.” - Claudia Masueger
This week's interview was a whole lot of fun, and the fact that wine was involved is only part of the reason. The real credit goes to the great energy brought to the table by my guest, Claudia Masueger. Claudia is the Founder and CEO of CHEERS Wines, a chain of retail wine stores based in Beijing. She is from Switzerland and her family has been in the wine business for four generations. Claudia combines her genetic wine knowledge, a big-hearted enthusiasm for life, a love of meeting new people and learning about them, and her business acumen in a way that makes CHEERS a true laowai success story in China.
CHEERS’ goal is to make wine drinking fun and affordable for the emerging new wine generation in China. When Claudia arrived in 2008, she had huge dreams for China’s wine market, and she’s made a big impact already. She first built a successful wholesale business with B2B sales, but a changing landscape and then a massive warehouse fire that shut them down for four months gave her time to reevaluate her strategy, and CHEERS Wines was born. CHEERS focuses on the retail consumer, selling high quality imported wines at affordable prices, and with a special emphasis on offering unpretentious wine education to customers so that they can feel comfortable learning about and enjoying wine from around the world.
Contact links and more information about Claudia and CHEERS Wines can be found below.
Also, in show news: I spent several days updating the website and also getting the Facebook page in order. Please check them both out when you have a chance, LIKE the Facebook page, and let me know what you think!
Lastly this week, a bit of personal news that also affects the show: I have been planning to launch a big international press push right around now for some time, but a surprise (and drastic hit) to my income a couple months ago has really limited my ability to do what I was planning to do. The show will always be free, but if you enjoy it and would like to help support my efforts to make it better and to get it in front of even more people, I’ve added a new DONATION page to the website that will help you do so...
You can make a one-time contribution in any amount via the PayPal link or WeChat QR code. All funds will be used to build the show, and everything helps. Note that PayPal tells me who donates, but WeChat is anonymous - so if you contribute via WeChat I won’t know who to thank unless you tell me, but thanks all the same!
CHEERS Wines:
www.cheers-wines.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheers_Wines
Claudia Masueger:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-masueger-cheerswines/
WeChat: Tseringlo
Brendan Davis on Twitter:
@VeritasInLux
BFMK website:
https://www.crazyinagoodway.com
BFMK Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BigFishMiddleKingdom/
SUPPORT BFMK via PayPal or WeChat:
https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/donate/
BFMK PayPal direct DONATION link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=K5W6EANCYSQHU
Other links to LISTEN:
https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/podcast-links/