At least they cut to the chase.
Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
21–30 of 35 posts
Re: Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
#22Chinese Students: 'We like how you guys were making money, and profiting immensely without benefit to others, how did you do that?' Wharton Profs: 'Yeah, we've found that does not work so well.. at least for the last few months. I guess if you do not want to provide value to others you could figure out a good way to steal.. that has worked before' Chinese students, to each other: 'Thanks for nothing..' Wharton Profs,…
Very nice. Sums the realization up well.
I guess the real people they will benefit from meeting will be the remaining Gecko Gordons (if any).
Re: Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
#23I believe that this group of Chinese students are brilliant as I used to be one of them. They all have goals, some goals are even ambitious. They want to help poor people, make a more balance world. The thing of why they want to make money by making illusion because they see money as a method to achieve their goal, that to say, the process to make money is irrelevant to what they really want to do. They just want to get rich quickly and then distribute the wealth. Of course now I know that it is a naive thought but many still believe this kind of financial freedom. They have to be given more time to figure out that by distributing money will do nothing to the world as this happened all the time. By making real thing, through value creation, in the process of making huge amount of money, the world become much better.
Re: Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
#24I thought these "very intelligent" Chinese students wanted to know how to start businesses. Then I read this line: "How can I get that job? How can I get a high-paying job in investment banking now?" How disappointing. It seems that these "very, very goal-directed" dudes are more interested in a cushy job at some shiny office than in doing new things, cool things.
One of the most striking things to me about my two three-year stays in Taiwan (in the '80s and around the turn of the last century) is how much more entrepreneurial I became just by living there. The Taiwanese have a proverb, "Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a buffalo," and they strongly value being business owners rather than employees of large organizations. In the 1980s, the development pattern…
Gosh, that attitude couldn't be more different in Beijing. Here in the PRC, business owners and entrepreneurs are viewed with some suspicion, a holdover from the revolutionary days. For example, Li Ning was a national sports hero, and he really sullied his reputation by going into business and founding a big sports clothing brand. Folks just don't believe that you could get that successful honestly. The expectations of corruption are too high.
Sure, people want money, but most believe that the only real way to get it is through some kind of graft or payoffs. Thus, the way to get wealthy is to get a high job in a large and established company or government organization, and put themselves in a position for the inevitable kickback. They may not paint it in those terms, but that's basically what those students were asking for.
Now for the caveats: There is an AMAZING amount of entrepreneurial activity at the bottom of the food chain, and there is definitely an emerging entrepreneurial class. China's also a huge and diverse country, and there's definitely pockets of Silicon Valley-like activity. However, culturally they're swimming upstream.
Frankly, I fear for the economic future of China unless they kickstart some more private business activity (particularly startups). The majority of economic activity here is in massive sluggish state owned enterprises, and that's a recipe for disaster if this economic downturn is long and nasty.
Re: Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
#25I thought these "very intelligent" Chinese students wanted to know how to start businesses. Then I read this line: "How can I get that job? How can I get a high-paying job in investment banking now?" How disappointing. It seems that these "very, very goal-directed" dudes are more interested in a cushy job at some shiny office than in doing new things, cool things.
This entrepreneurship attitude differs from country to country. In many socialist countries people like jobs in the government - it is cushy, extremely stable and offers excellent benefits. In other societies risk taking are discouraged (through various means). You should also take into account the difficulty of starting a business when you do not have access to capital. The USA is one of the few countries that almos…
China is right now an excellent place for entrepreneurs, especially young, local ones. What is a _real_ barrier for these students is expectation and prestige. They just finished at the most prestigious schools in China. The only thing their families will accept is a great salary from a well know company.
The good news is this isn't hurting entrepreneurship in China. There are far too many smart young Chinese that do not have these outsized expectations...and maybe more important have nowhere to turn but to start something themselves.
Maybe another way to summarize this article is "Wharton profs' only interactions with Chinese students is at the top .0001% of the class."
Re: Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
#26I thought these "very intelligent" Chinese students wanted to know how to start businesses. Then I read this line: "How can I get that job? How can I get a high-paying job in investment banking now?" How disappointing. It seems that these "very, very goal-directed" dudes are more interested in a cushy job at some shiny office than in doing new things, cool things.
Trust me, there's no shortage of entrepreneurialism in China. Insert something about sufficient sample size and selection bias here. Is there something hard wired in Americans' (specifically white Americans') brains that assume that anything they read about a few Chinese people automatically apply to the entire country?
China has well over a billion people. You'll find a lot of ANYTHING in China, including entrepreneurialism. However, in my experience, most Chinese don't believe that starting a business is the best way to wealth.
Of course, I'm a white American (that happens to live in China). Perhaps you have some insights that I'm lacking.
Re: Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
#27Chinese Students: 'We like how you guys were making money, and profiting immensely without benefit to others, how did you do that?' Wharton Profs: 'Yeah, we've found that does not work so well.. at least for the last few months. I guess if you do not want to provide value to others you could figure out a good way to steal.. that has worked before' Chinese students, to each other: 'Thanks for nothing..' Wharton Profs,…
I don't quite follow: how were the profs making money without benefiting others? Profs don't make that much money, or do they? Also stealing was just one of three ways for getting rich they suggested.
I can't imagine business schools are to blame, much more likely seeing people get rich in banking is to blame.
Re: Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the most striking things to me about my two three-year stays in Taiwan (in the '80s and around the turn of the last century) is how much more entrepreneurial I became just by living there. The Taiwanese have a proverb, "Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a buffalo," and they strongly value being business owners rather than employees of large organizations. In the 1980s, the development pattern…
Gosh, that attitude couldn't be more different in Beijing. Here in the PRC, business owners and entrepreneurs are viewed with some suspicion, a holdover from the revolutionary days. For example, Li Ning was a national sports hero, and he really sullied his reputation by going into business and founding a big sports clothing brand. Folks just don't believe that you could get that successful honestly. The expectations…
well said. Entrepreneurial activity is more embraced in Shanghai, as opposed to Beijing. This thread now says Taiwan, Beijing, and Shanghai all have different attitudes. So much for lumping the Chinese in one bucket ;).
Re: Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
#29I thought these "very intelligent" Chinese students wanted to know how to start businesses. Then I read this line: "How can I get that job? How can I get a high-paying job in investment banking now?" How disappointing. It seems that these "very, very goal-directed" dudes are more interested in a cushy job at some shiny office than in doing new things, cool things.
Trust me, there's no shortage of entrepreneurialism in China. Insert something about sufficient sample size and selection bias here. Is there something hard wired in Americans' (specifically white Americans') brains that assume that anything they read about a few Chinese people automatically apply to the entire country?
I don't agree with your line "specifically white Americans". I'm a white American and have lived in Shanghai 9 years. Of all the various types I see coming into Shanghai, the type that seems to have a very hard time assimilating is the "ABC". The American Born Chinese. This is a multi-faceted problem. But to be sure, there are many white Americans that "get it" and assimilate quite well.
Your point about sample size and selection bias is right on. This is the real take away from the article.
Re: Chinese Students Want To Know: How Do I Get Rich?
#30I believe that this group of Chinese students are brilliant as I used to be one of them. They all have goals, some goals are even ambitious. They want to help poor people, make a more balance world. The thing of why they want to make money by making illusion because they see money as a method to achieve their goal, that to say, the process to make money is irrelevant to what they really want to do. They just want to…
Your thoughts are very nice and I know there are many that think like you. Unfortunately, the path to riches, as these students depict, almost never leads to wealth redistribution.
I live in Shanghai. All I see the new wealthy do is park their cars illegally in the bicycle lanes.