NPR's All Things Considered Doing Chengdu -- May 19-23
National Public Radio's All Things Considered Show will be broadcasting from Chengdu, China, from May 19 through May 23. (h/t to Barking At The Sun, which is itself based in Chengdu).
For years, my firm had been getting calls from software companies looking to go into Chengdu, but almost without exception, none of them did. Then, maybe around six months ago, we started getting calls from software companies that were doing more than just thinking about going into China, they were ready to go. Many of these companies are going in with joint ventures where their US software is licensed (with all sorts of IP protections) to the joint venture for use/sale in China and the joint venture sells, markets and supports the software in China and also engages in software development for new or improved product for both China and the United States/Europe.
Chengdu is hot these days and NPR will be there.
Comments
I am certainly impressed by the trust those software folks above who are now ready to take the big leap (the greatest leap forward?) into JV's are putting into their Chinese JV partners and into the "all sorts of IP protections" to protect their new or old software.
And they are certainly much more courageous (or much more foolhardy) (or perhaps just much better and more specifically informed) than their predecessors who had hesitated. And one could legitimately ask why those forerunners (or fore crawlers) ended up getting cold feet other than that perhaps it was December and they were wearing flip flops.
The last time I personally was in Chengdu I thought it was one of the best places in China to buy pirated VCD's, CD's and all sorts of Software. And with the best selection that I personally had ever come across. But did I buy any for myself? Of course not, I went back to the U.S. and paid twenty times more and loved myself silly.
Or maybe it was just that my friends who live in Chengdu knew the city better and exactly where to go to get the best "hot" stuff which is so ubiquitous anyway that it's actually almost freezing cold even in August.
But that was about a year ago. So it's not unlikely that things have changed a whole lot over the past six months and are now progressing apace about as fast as IP protection in general, the talks with the Dalai Lama, improvement with human rights and "the greening" of the environment.
But it's also always true that "nothing ventured, nothing gained" Though it equally goes without saying that one should watch out for "something ventured, something lost".
Striking the right balance between never being too skeptical or eternally optimistic with always being skeptical and perpetually pessimistic is maybe what wise and well informed risk taking and entrepreneurship are all about?
And so the best of luck to those brave people.... something which also NEVER hurts.
Posted by: Max jones | May 10, 2008 10:40 AM
NPR are doing a lot of programs from China these days. One of the best series I have come across is OnPoint's China done from Shanghai.
http://www.onpointradio.org/china/index.php
Posted by: David Li | May 11, 2008 8:39 PM