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YC China and Qi Lu

blog.ycombinator.com

201–210 of 360 posts

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mandarin isn't strictly necessary to live in China. Plenty of my laowai colleagues only knew a few words and got along just fine in a tier one Beijing, which admittedly is a bit behind Shanghai and Shenzhen. The only thing that really drove us out was the pollution (a huge problem in Beijing that is supposedly finally getting better). Given the US visa policy, as bad as it is, still attracts far more many foreigners…

> Mandarin isn't strictly necessary to live in China Basic question: what do you do in China for browsing, emails and maps? I suppose Google doesn't work there and all the local services would be in Mandarin, no? When I travel I use Google search, emails, maps extensively but I have no clue what would I do in China. Also FB and Twitter also likely won't be accessible. So how do I even keep touch with folks outside Ch…

I spent a couple hours setting up an OpenVPN server on AWS EC2 nano instance so it's going to be completely free for the first year. Speed is not great but enough to watch HD youtube videos, etc. I know have unrestricted internet on both my phone and macbook.

Follow this tutorial: https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/how-to-make-you...

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#202

It's amazing that a company that Paul Graham co-founded is getting into bed with an authoritarian government notorious for its human rights abuses. To succeed in China you can't go against the government. So is he going to be pushing as hard for political change in China as he is in the US, or will he remain silent as his company reaps the profits?

Believing in his good morals, the underlying hope might be to achieve change through subversion: If YC becomes popular in in China, people might visit news.ycombinator.com and find very sane liberal thinking and many shocking truths about their country.

Not gonna happen. This site would be banned or censored.

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#203

It's amazing that a company that Paul Graham co-founded is getting into bed with an authoritarian government notorious for its human rights abuses. To succeed in China you can't go against the government. So is he going to be pushing as hard for political change in China as he is in the US, or will he remain silent as his company reaps the profits?

There are a billion MORE people in China than in the US. There is enormous industry and innovation there. China's government is terrible but that is their issue to resolve. All we can do is speak out, but refusing to do business hurts Chinese and American people far more than it hurts the Chinese government. Our government kills many innocent people accidentally as part of the normal course of war, but we consider it an acceptable place to do business anyway.

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#204

It's amazing that a company that Paul Graham co-founded is getting into bed with an authoritarian government notorious for its human rights abuses. To succeed in China you can't go against the government. So is he going to be pushing as hard for political change in China as he is in the US, or will he remain silent as his company reaps the profits?

Is pg really even involved much in the direction of YC anymore?

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#205

It's amazing that a company that Paul Graham co-founded is getting into bed with an authoritarian government notorious for its human rights abuses. To succeed in China you can't go against the government. So is he going to be pushing as hard for political change in China as he is in the US, or will he remain silent as his company reaps the profits?

There are a billion MORE people in China than in the US. There is enormous industry and innovation there. China's government is terrible but that is their issue to resolve. All we can do is speak out, but refusing to do business hurts Chinese and American people far more than it hurts the Chinese government. Our government kills many innocent people accidentally as part of the normal course of war, but we consider it…

I'm sure that some more fully articulated and sophisticated version of what you've said forms the basis of YC's decision to continue pragmatically pursuing its goal of being big and important (and incidentally making lots of money).

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mandarin isn't strictly necessary to live in China Basic question: what do you do in China for browsing, emails and maps? I suppose Google doesn't work there and all the local services would be in Mandarin, no? When I travel I use Google search, emails, maps extensively but I have no clue what would I do in China. Also FB and Twitter also likely won't be accessible. So how do I even keep touch with folks outside Ch…

Many foreigners have VPNs, but many do not. They aren't the easiest thing to set up, and they often close shop a few weeks after you pay a yearly subscription fee. Email: I use outlook.com, but I shut my gmail account long before gmail was blocked. I'm weird. maps: Apple Maps on an iphone works well enough. Not sure if gmaps on Android works or not. Many Google services still work even if a few are blocked. Browsing:…

Is VPN legal? What are English options for maps with transit available without vpn?

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#207
post #198

I guess that pretty much leaves out Hong Kong, Macau then? The interview [1] by 36kr does a much better job of introduction and vision he has for YC China. Unfortunately it is in Chinese only. [1] https://36kr.com/p/5148299.html

Interesting! Unfortunately it doesn't seem to say where YC China would be based.

Some interesting snippets (G Translated):

Lu Qi: YC China's new business will include

1) business incubation, 2) talent training, 3) research and 4) public welfare.

These are all in a way that Lu Qi's plan will operate in an unprecedented way. He wants more than just new technology. Technology is only an ability to change society. He wants to establish a new ecological support for new technology to change the society. That is the correct way to open the new world in his mind.

[...]

Q: How will YC China start?

Lu Qi: Among the four businesses, the first to start is the incubator. Incubation camps are the first attempt at YC localization, but at the same time it draws on the core of YC:

1. The methodology of the incubator process and training content established by Paul Graham;

2. A network of YC alumni with more than 4,000 people. Alumni will help later entrepreneurs, and for Chinese entrepreneurs, alumni networks around the world can set up channels for offshore companies;

3. The YC brand, which is incubated by YC, is equivalent to being recognized and endorsed, and is more likely to be favored by investment institutions.

In other respects, YC China may develop its own entrepreneurship curriculum and expect to reverse the influence of American entrepreneurs because I believe that globalization is the best way to innovate. YC China's research institute will be established under the YC Global Research Institute and will establish cooperation with Chinese research institutions. Finally, the charity business is hoping to focus on solving the impact of new technologies on people's employment.

However, it is now the first day of the launch of YC China, and everything is still very early. I only have one person now. The most important thing at the moment is recruiting people.

[...]

Lu Qi: Because we need to build a new innovation ecosystem, so many players with different roles can participate.

The first is Chinese investors. Because YC China will be closer to the early projects, it hopes to establish good interaction with Chinese middle and late investors. Also, YC China will also raise funds independently, and I hope to get support from China LP.

Second, we and the big companies will also have a lot of cooperation. YC China's investment projects may be acquired, acquired, or serviced by large companies in the later stages.

YC China Research Institute will also establish contacts with government or research institutions within the enterprise, and hopes to become China's support for the country to become a big country in innovation.

[...]

Sam has said on many occasions that 10 companies will reach Google in the next decade, three to four of them will be born in China, and more than 20 years of professional experience tells me that these three or four companies must be Believe in long-term companies.

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#208

It's amazing that a company that Paul Graham co-founded is getting into bed with an authoritarian government notorious for its human rights abuses. To succeed in China you can't go against the government. So is he going to be pushing as hard for political change in China as he is in the US, or will he remain silent as his company reaps the profits?

Believing in his good morals, the underlying hope might be to achieve change through subversion: If YC becomes popular in in China, people might visit news.ycombinator.com and find very sane liberal thinking and many shocking truths about their country.

Ah yes, the superior thinking of top minds that frequent news.ycombinator.com

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#209
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. It's not about empowering everyone on the planet, it's about creating companies which become billion dollar unicorns 2. The probability of Unicornism is directly related to the size of the market you can access. US is the biggest single market on the planet. 3. Accessibility of markets: While EU is the second largest single market [0] US companies have entered european markets just fine. On the other hand, to oper…

> US is the biggest single market on the planet. By which measure? China has nearly five times as many inhabitants, the biggest economic growth over the past three decades of any country, and out-produces the US by over nine thousand. If it's not yet the biggest market on the planet yet, it soon will be.

By monetary measure.

Re: YC China and Qi Lu

#210
post #184
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. It's not about empowering everyone on the planet, it's about creating companies which become billion dollar unicorns 2. The probability of Unicornism is directly related to the size of the market you can access. US is the biggest single market on the planet. 3. Accessibility of markets: While EU is the second largest single market [0] US companies have entered european markets just fine. On the other hand, to oper…

China is a lot bigger market than the US. EU is slightly bigger. US is third. Maybe with extended markets (e.g. Central America and Canada for US, Eastern Europe for EU, Belt and Road area for China, US is number two). You need to consider several factors, like number of people, as well. A big problem for the US is that it is a litle off, while most other social/cultural areas are closely connected. For instance, Chi…

Nominal GDP is used to measure country market sizes, sorry.
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