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Startup School Beijing

conference.startupschool.org

131–140 of 193 posts

Re: Startup School Beijing

#131
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Could the whole industry disappear from the first world at a much faster rate? No. Because any country dominating the software industry will, almost by defintion, be “first world”.

That is not what first world means.

True. It means “white”. Which is why it’s largely gone out of fashion.

Re: Startup School Beijing

#132
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Agreed, investing in China is the "invading Russia" of the tech world. I'd go even one step further, it is more like partnering with Germany, except in this version of the story Germany might be successful in its quest to take over the world, because make no mistake, China is coming for your market, it's only a matter of time. It is encouraging that more and more people are finally starting to put the pieces of thi…

The vast fear and ignorance in this thread is amusing but the comparison of China to Nazi Germany is perhaps a new low, even for Hacker News? It's interesting though how people develop such warped perceptions of the world. It's exactly how the greatest disaster of the 21st century, the absolutely unprovoked and absolutely senseless American invasion of Iraq which killed a million people and directly led to the rise o…

I'd love to see a defense of Chinese policy that doesn't fall back upon whataboutism. America's shortcomings have nothing to do with my ability to criticism China's human rights abuses and appalling lack of individual liberty.

Re: Startup School Beijing

#133

I'm disappointed to know that YC has drank the cool-aid on China. Once you invest significantly in China, you quickly find yourselves beholden to the whims of the CCP. And for what? Such privileges as building their dystopian techno-autocracy for them? I don't see any signs in this statement that you are going into this with your eyes open to either the difficulties this will cause down the line, nor the morally "que…

Make no mistake. YC will slowly but surely come under pressure to give the CCP influence over content as well as access to private user data, first their own and then that they wield influence over. Don't forget the malware-ridden Chinese Skype client, LinkedIn's willingness to censor global content on China's behalf, or Yahoo's capitulation of dissident information that lead to executions. HN will likely start suppr…

I noticed that Airbnb operates in China currently. Perhaps there are other YC investments as well, but it seems this isn't the beginning of YC's investment into China.

I had begun writing up a tin-foil hat theory on why YC would open this Startup School there, until I realized Airbnb, one of YC's flagship investments is already there.

Re: Startup School Beijing

#134
post #132
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vast fear and ignorance in this thread is amusing but the comparison of China to Nazi Germany is perhaps a new low, even for Hacker News? It's interesting though how people develop such warped perceptions of the world. It's exactly how the greatest disaster of the 21st century, the absolutely unprovoked and absolutely senseless American invasion of Iraq which killed a million people and directly led to the rise o…

I'd love to see a defense of Chinese policy that doesn't fall back upon whataboutism. America's shortcomings have nothing to do with my ability to criticism China's human rights abuses and appalling lack of individual liberty.

There are plenty of people in China who are happy to discuss the pros and cons of their government, especially as compared to America. You could even read Chinese newspapers and forums (some are in English or you could even learn Mandarin!) where this stuff is hashed out all the time. But it would require courage and integrity and a real willingness to learn. It's much easier to parrot what you hear second-hand from the media, isn't it?

The real issue here isn't Chinese policy. Frankly, I doubt you're actually interested in Chinese policy or even the welfare of the Chinese people. The real issue here is the power of ignorance and fear. Reactions like above are a monument to it.

Re: Startup School Beijing

#135
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not what first world means.

True. It means “white”. Which is why it’s largely gone out of fashion.

Not really.

In the days of the Cold War there was the “third world” as in “third party”, that is any country who wasn’t in either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. Later on people came to use “first world” to mean the West which would make the former Soviet countries the second world. And the third world is still... every other country.

Re: Startup School Beijing

#136
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many tech companies started in Beijing with obvious government boosts. There is also the major research universities (PKU and Qinghua at the top, many more at tiers just under). However, Beijing is also famous for government meddling and Black Audi-style privileged that is lacking in SZ and SH. Take traffic for example, it is much saner in SH and SZ because the police can actually enforce the rules, whereas in BJ you…

I don't have nothing to support this thesis. I just shared my pure observation, after living there for a while, I notice it was a way more dynamic compared to the other 'cold' Chinese cities. Yet I think my message didn't pass through since I got downvoted

I lived in Beijing for 10 years working in tech so know it pretty well. I always surprised how much smoother things were in SH in comparison to BJ. Heck, many second tier cities (like Hangzhou) were much better run than Beijing.

Re: Startup School Beijing

#137
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is simply not true. Many foreigners have been scammed by this, working for a Chinese startup on the promise of equity, and then being eventually told it is impossible because the government won’t allow it. See: https://www.chinalawblog.com/2016/09/the-china-stock-option-... . If you are a foreigner working for a domestic startup, you simply aren’t allowed to have equity. If the company is already listed or is a…

Yes, no company can offer options if they are not public, without any exceptions as I know. Any promise of an option through a proxy subsidiary, variable interest entity for a non listed company is not legal under the republic's law. On other hand, a right-away stock transfer is fully legit. If they sell a part of the stock to a listing aggregation vessel, you can have a part of this vessel's share. Though, I keep my…

No idea why you are being downvoted, but your reply is pretty factual.

Re: Startup School Beijing

#138
post #134
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to see a defense of Chinese policy that doesn't fall back upon whataboutism. America's shortcomings have nothing to do with my ability to criticism China's human rights abuses and appalling lack of individual liberty.

There are plenty of people in China who are happy to discuss the pros and cons of their government, especially as compared to America. You could even read Chinese newspapers and forums (some are in English or you could even learn Mandarin!) where this stuff is hashed out all the time. But it would require courage and integrity and a real willingness to learn. It's much easier to parrot what you hear second-hand from…

> There are plenty of people in China who are happy to discuss the pros and cons of their government, especially as compared to America

https://vimeo.com/44078865

https://rsf.org/en/ranking

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_dissidents

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/04/24/china-assigns-every-c...

I'm sure you'll forgive my skepticism.

Re: Startup School Beijing

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you misread it. >Go to Tiananmen Square and hold up a poster-sized picture from the 1989 massacre.

Fine, make the poster say Deng Xiao Ping ordered the army to shoot the protestors at Tiananmen Square.

My point was when it comes to topics that matter there is little difference in the 2 powers.

Re: Startup School Beijing

#140
post #134
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to see a defense of Chinese policy that doesn't fall back upon whataboutism. America's shortcomings have nothing to do with my ability to criticism China's human rights abuses and appalling lack of individual liberty.

There are plenty of people in China who are happy to discuss the pros and cons of their government, especially as compared to America. You could even read Chinese newspapers and forums (some are in English or you could even learn Mandarin!) where this stuff is hashed out all the time. But it would require courage and integrity and a real willingness to learn. It's much easier to parrot what you hear second-hand from…

I'm genuinely interested in hearing pros and cons on the Chinese government from Chinese who are currently living in mainland China. Particularly on the topics that are the biggest flash points on HN - government censorship/great firewall/surveillance/social credit scores, etc. Do you have any English-language resources for this? Or decently translated sources? No snark or sarcasm - I've searched before, but either find nothing or hit a language barrier.
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