LUKE PRIDDY: Teaching and Traveling with Cloud English & Yoli
#052 - Teaching and Traveling with Cloud English & Yoli | Luke Priddy
Luke Priddy is a teacher, traveler, a “maker” and a thinker. He is the founder of Cloud English, a co-founder of Yoli, a GPS treasure hunter, and a self-described “slightly unconventional” guy who finds grace in the middle spaces of life. We had a great talk, and Luke is such a natural interviewer that he even turned the tables and had me answering the questions more than usual. Enjoy.
PREORDER my e-book LITTLE FISH IN THE BIGGEST POND here:
https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/book/
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SPONSOR:
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Use the offer code BIGFISH at the checkout, and save 10% off your first shipment!
BD’s “My Stackry Unboxing Video": https://youtu.be/FvEWXxzZm3I
GUEST:
Luke Priddy -
Yoli Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yoli/yoli-fund-your-dream-lifestyle/
For Yoli tutors: Yolichat.com
Website: Cloudenglish.net
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CloudEnglish
BDC (Brendan Davis Consulting): https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/brendan-davis-consulting/
“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/
JAMES LALONDE: The Language of Entrepreneurship
#048 - The Language of Entrepreneurship | James LaLonde
James LaLonde is a 6th generation Texan with a French-sounding name, but he’s been a student of Asia for decades. He grew up on a ranch in South Austin but his interest in and passion for languages and cultures led him on a very unexpected journey. He was an intern for IBM and later a key team member of Microsoft’s early efforts in Japan, but he always had his eye on China. He met his current partner and founded Yodo1, which has become the most successful private company in China's online gaming space. The story of Yodo1 is a podcast in itself, but there is a lot more to discuss - including James and partners’ new venture Yoli, which is the leading on-demand language learning app on WeChat. We also talk about his efforts mentoring young entrepreneurs for Chinaccellerator, his upcoming book The Tao of Startups (which he’s writing natively in English, Chinese, and Japanese for the different editions), the potential impact of China’s Belt and Road initiative and the new Free Trade Zone on Hainan Island, and much more.
I’ve previously met James at two of the EO events that I released as bonus episodes, so if you’d like to hear him presenting to a live audience, be sure to check those out, too. Links to everything discussed are in the show notes, so be sure to check out James’ website and writings to to hear his thoughts on a wide range of issues from his highly accomplished, unique perspective. Enjoy!
This episode of “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” is brought to you in part by our sponsor, Stackry. Stackry is the global leader in international parcel forwarding from the US to anywhere in the world. The way it works is that you shop at any US retailer, have your packages shipped to your Stackry address, and once everything has arrived, Stackry consolidates your stuff and ships it to you anywhere in the world, even China, saving you up to 80% of the shipping costs versus shipping things directly from the store. Stackry provides free storage, same day consolidation of your packages, and a tax-free US address for you to use. Sign up TODAY via the link below, and use the offer code BIGFISH at the checkout to save 10% off your first shipment.
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
Other links to LISTEN: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/podcast-links/
SPONSOR:
Stackry “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” sign-up link: http://bit.ly/BigFish2018 or (if bit.ly doesn’t work for you) https://www.stackry.com/?utm_source=Big_Fish&utm_medium=Campaign&utm_term=10%25
Use the offer code BIGFISH at the checkout, and save 10% off your first shipment!
BD’s “My Stackry Unboxing Video": https://youtu.be/FvEWXxzZm3I
GUEST:
James Lalonde links and QR codes -
Yodo1:
http://www.yodo1.cn/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yodo1
Chinaccelerator bio:
https://chinaccelerator.com/mentors/james-lalonde/
LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/in/jameslalonde
Yoli:
http://yolichat.com/
Articles:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hainan-legend-making-james-lalonde/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/imitation-sincerest-form-flattery-james-lalonde/
The Tao of Startups (book page):
https://www.startuptaobook.com
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
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.