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An update on YC China

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: An update on YC China

#371

Post by dang »

president wrote: post #351
dang wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please stop using HN for nationalistic flamewar. It's not what this site is for. We've already had to ask you this, and ban accounts that won't stop, so please stop. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Understood the first time but am I being singled out here? I see lots of comments spewing unsubstantiated nationalistic hate and I don't see them getting flagged/banned. Those comments are getting left up and leaving the argument totally unbalanced. At least when I comment I make an attempt to link to (legit mainstream) sources and explain in a rational way.

I know it inevitably feels like bias to get moderated like that, but we are careful not to single users out because of their views, and indeed there's a child comment to yours which expressed an opposite view in an unacceptable way, and we moderated it.

If you see a glaring case where the rules weren't enforced, the likeliest explanation is that we didn't see it. We don't come close to seeing everything that gets posted here. You are welcome to alert us to such cases, by flagging them (see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html for how to flag comments), or by emailing hn@ycombinator.com about egregious ones.

Re: An update on YC China

#372

Post by archibaldJ »

zkid18 wrote: post #369

I visited Eric Migicovsky’s presentation in Hong Kong a year ago dedicated to YC China. He is a founder of Pebble, YC partner, and helped Qi Lu a lot in establishing YC China. Although China VC investments have almost surpassed US, there were only three projects from Great China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan) in YC. They wanted to find out how they can bring more local talents to SV. Unfortunately, it see…

Thanks for the intel! This is super great to know. It definitely helped to put things into more perspective. So kudos for that! I saw an interview with Qi the other day (back when it was still YC China) and Qi mentioned about funding ambitious start-ups that play the long game and are in early stage but have little or no connections in China which mean these start-ups would otherwise be ignored by Chinese investors. Do you think Qi's MiraclePlus will continue to do that in the spirit of YC?

I saw an article coverage of YC China's last demoday (17 Nov) and noticed that most start-ups graduated this year have had their angel rounds before entering YC China, which could be due to the reason as you've described - YC China failing to establish a good network among early-stage VC funds in China, thus looking out more for post-angel companies. Or it could also be because there were just too few aspiring early-stage start-ups in China. Perhaps funding early-stage start-ups in China imposes a much higher risk than say in the Valley.

Anyway do you think it would be possible for someone who has okay track record but no direct connections with angels and VCs in China to get their early-stage start-up angel-funded? Will it change a thing if it is an early stage with MVP that has thousands of active users? What about an early stage in artsy-style (i.e. as a small self-publishing media company related to the tech/product being developed) with a self-media WeChat/Weibo account that has tens of thousands of visitors every week?

I'm one of those people that ended up moving back to China and looking to start a blue ocean project here. The early-stage investment landscape in China really is not looking good right now, just wondering how that will change over the next few years (especially in China where things are so fast-paced!) So would also love your opinions on that! Thanks!

Re: An update on YC China

#373

Post by linyu0219 »

zjoq9ka23rau wrote: post #154

I'm a Chinese living in mainland China. My old account was suspended because I told the truth about China Communist Party(CCP) below HK event thread (Qi and his team censored it?). I believe you Americans see the essence of CCP from the NBA/South Park/HK event. CCP controls everything in China and they are evil. Doing business in China is helping the dying CCP. So I'm glad to see that YC pull back 'YC China'. We old…

Your stupid name implies that you are a troll. Pls speak mandarin in front of protesters to support them, but I'm afraid they won't give you the chance to finish a sentence

Re: An update on YC China

#374

Post by tiredyam »

bakuninsbart wrote: post #317
icelancer wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that this kind of equality is going to be a thing in China is putting the cart about 200 miles ahead of the horse.

China, as most other communist countries, implemented gender workplace equality much earlier than the West. Furthermore, China has probably the most aggressive affirmative action programs in the world. Yes, China is bad on human rights in some aspects, but these blatant misrepresentations need to stop. They only serve the massive propaganda campaign the US started in recent years.

it’s not just about gender equality. The west is significantly ahead in supporting LGBTQ both culturally and structurally. sure we have a long way to go but hell “trans positive” is now a selling point even Amazon fulfillment is touting and marriage is legal in many western countries. The same can’t be said about China or Chinese companies

Oh and don’t get me started about race

Re: An update on YC China

#375

Post by tiredyam »

undefined3840 wrote: post #66
jessewmc wrote: post #11

Strange optics not to mention the elephant in the room. I could see them hitting some roadblocks and wanting to try again to get into China, but that would be a reasonable thing to come out and say. It also would be reasonable to come out and say they've changed their minds due to political climate or some other risks. Instead its... the new guy is busy?

It’s understandable it’s a touchy subject. Why piss off China if you don’t have to? Only something to lose and nothing to gain. Also this story of a Chinese Stanford professor/investor’s “suicide” last year is quite the story. There’s a potential safety issue here too. https://www.forbes.com/sites/arthurherman/2018/12/13/a-death...

something to gain: the respect of the community you actually intent to serve

Re: An update on YC China

#376

Post by icelancer »

AlexanderNull wrote: post #349
Jamwinner wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are strong, and unlikely assertions. Do you have any sources for your claims?

They're right from the gender standpoint, according to the UN which ranks China as having better gender equality than the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_Inequality_Index

>> ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation

Eh, one out of four ain't bad, I guess.

Re: An update on YC China

#377

Post by MaxBarraclough »

spectramax wrote: post #264
ClemFandango wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Business won't be the one to push the change on this attitude. It has to be people, or at best government. Most companies are morally agnostic, they only follow the money, you can judge them for it either way, but it's the truth.

May be we should then question the model that Businesses should be morally agnostic.

Many states have 'benefit corporations'.

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

Re: An update on YC China

#378

Post by DiogenesKynikos »

seppin wrote: post #366
DiogenesKynikos wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think there are ownership restrictions in this economic sector, and the Chinese government hasn't seized Alibaba, Tencent or Huawei. It sounds like you're talking more out of preconceived biases than actual knowledge of how business works in China.

> and the Chinese government hasn't seized Alibaba, Tencent or Huawei. Funny, your examples include a company famous for the CCP removing their CEO (Ali) and the company being an arm of military intelligence (Huawei). I don't feel the need to continue.

> a company famous for the CCP removing their CEO (Ali)

[citation needed]

> the company being an arm of military intelligence (Huawei)

[citation needed]

Re: An update on YC China

#379

Post by DiogenesKynikos »

throwaway2048 wrote: post #367
DiogenesKynikos wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> An analogy might be an American company appointing high ranking government people (who are still active in government) It's not at all uncommon for high-ranking government and military officials in the US to sit on corporate boards right after they leave government. There's a well known revolving door. American companies are also subject to very significant pressure from the government. See, for example, how the US…

However the key difference is the amount of coercion, you aren't going to be shut out of the country, or business if you refuse to appoint government people in the USA, or do the government other favors. The US government and private interests do indeed co-opt each other a lot, but its nowhere near the (implicit) threat of being run out of business (or worse) that it is in china.

There's the threat of significant regulation. I think there's a reason why Zuckerberg feel the need to go in front of Congress, rather than telling them to go bark up a tree. It's also quite amazing how quickly all the payment processors shut off WikiLeaks, based on pressure from US senators.

Companies can, however, be banned from the US for overtly political reasons. See Huawei and ZTE.

I agree that Chinese CEOs walk on thinner ice personally, and that they can be thrown in prison or worse much more easily. That's a general problem in China. However, the easy way in which Americans claim Chinese companies are run by the government is not true. It's also true that large US companies are thoroughly embedded in the government and vice versa (the massive defense sector, parts of the tech sector).

Re: An update on YC China

#380

Post by zkid18 »

archibaldJ wrote: post #372
zkid18 wrote: post #369

I visited Eric Migicovsky’s presentation in Hong Kong a year ago dedicated to YC China. He is a founder of Pebble, YC partner, and helped Qi Lu a lot in establishing YC China. Although China VC investments have almost surpassed US, there were only three projects from Great China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan) in YC. They wanted to find out how they can bring more local talents to SV. Unfortunately, it see…

Thanks for the intel! This is super great to know. It definitely helped to put things into more perspective. So kudos for that! I saw an interview with Qi the other day (back when it was still YC China) and Qi mentioned about funding ambitious start-ups that play the long game and are in early stage but have little or no connections in China which mean these start-ups would otherwise be ignored by Chinese investors.…

> I'm one of those people that ended up moving back to China and looking to start a blue ocean project here.

I assume you're fluent in Chinese, that helps a lot. As for angel-funding without connection, it could be a bit tuff. Also sometimes it helps to go through your current Chinese network and to ask whether someone is envolve or know people who involved in PE and VC. Btw, which city are you based?

> What about an early stage in artsy-style Try to reach https://www.parklu.com/ or similar KOL companies. They should be more familiar with the state of the business. But there've been a lot of media-incubators recently.

>I saw an article coverage of YC China's last demoday (17 Nov) Do you have a link?

P.S. You can reach me in twitter for more questions https://twitter.com/kidrulit

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