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S2 Episode 10: Chen Ying of Shihuituan: Why Community Group Buy Works in China

In this episode, we have Chen Ying, the founder and CEO of Shihuituan, the leading community commerce company in China. The literal meaning of Shihuituan means plenty of things. It’s also a pun for value for money. With its network of 80,000 community influencers, the company currently serves 20 million households in 60 cities in […]

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S2 Bonus Episode: Jixun Foo of GGV: Why We Invested in Telio

For this bonus episode, we have Jixun Foo, managing partner of GGV Capital. Jixun recently led GGV’s investment in Telio’s Series A. Jixun shared with us why he chose to invest in the B2B eCommerce model vs B2C, his advice for founders who are solving the fragmentation of supply chain in different markets, the metrics […]

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S2 Episode 9: SyPhong and My Linh of Telio: Becoming a Unicorn of Impact by Serving Mom and Pop Shops in Vietnam

This episode is co-hosted by my colleague Dimitra Taslim. Dimi is on the investment team at GGV Capital.  Today on the show, we have SyPhong Bui and My Linh from Telio. Founded in 2018, Telio is already Vietnam’s largest b2b eCommerce platform. It connects small traditional retailers with brands and wholesalers on a centralized platform using technology […]

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S2 Episode 7: Jenny, Jixun, and Hans on Southeast Asia: Big Opportunities, Aggressive Giants, Advice for founders, and more

This episode is co-hosted by my colleague Dimitra Taslim. Dimi is on the investment team at GGV Capital.  In today’s episode for Southeast Asia, we have GGV’s managing partners Jenny Lee and Jixun Foo. They shared one thing that excites them as investors about the region, what we learned from being an early investor of Grab, […]

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S2 Episode 6: William and Patrick of Tokopedia: from Selling T-Shirts to Driving 1.5% of Indonesia’s GDP

This episode is co-hosted by my colleague Dimitra Taslim. Dimi is on the investment team at GGV Capital.  In this episode, we have William Tanuwijaya and Patrick Cao from Tokopedia. Tokopedia is an Indonesian technology company with the largest online marketplace business and its mission is to democratize commerce through technology. The name ‘Tokopedia’ is a […]

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S2 Episode 5: Ming Maa of Grab: How We Grow a Super App in a Highly Diverse and Competitive Region

On this episode, we have Ming Maa, President of Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading super app, providing the everyday services that matter most to consumers. The conversation covered a wide range of topics; how Grab thinks about expansion (markets vs verticals), the tension between product development and scaling, what are the right kinds of high frequency […]

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S2 Episode 4: Live in Bangalore: Fireside Chat with VG from Udaan, Manu from Xiaomi and Hans from GGV

This episode is a recording of the fireside chat we hosted in Bangalore on September 19th. In the chat moderated by Madhu Yalamarthi, a member of GGV’s investment team, we talked about what does evolving for the next billion means for each of the panelists, the evolution of India’s startup ecosystems and what keeps the panelists going. […]

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S2 Episode 3: Manu of Xiaomi: The Making of India’s Favorite Smartphone Brand

On this episode, we have Manu Kumar Jain, the global vice president at Xiaomi and the managing director of Xiaomi India. Xiaomi is currently the world’s fourth-largest smartphone brand. Besides smartphones, the company also makes other smart devices connected to its IoT platform. It is the youngest company on the Fortune Global 500 List for […]

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S2 Episode 2: Kunal and Rohit of Snapdeal: from Surviving to Thriving in India’s eCommerce Battleground

On this episode, we have Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, co-founders of Snapdeal. Snapdeal is India’s leading online marketplace. The company started out as a flash deal website in 2010, soon evolved into a leader of India’s e-Commerce sectors. In early 2017, it was on the verge of being merged to its biggest rival Flipkart, […]

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S2 Episode1: Vaibhav Gupta of Udaan: on Building India’s fastest Unicorn in B2B

For the first episode of the Evolving for the Next Billion podcast, we have Vaibhav Gupta, co-founder of Udaan, India’s top B2B eCommerce. The company connects manufacturers, wholesalers with retailers online, often referred to as India’s fastest unicorn, having achieved over $1 billion valuations in a short period of 26months. Udaanis a GGV portfolio. Prior […]

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Episode 42: AMA: Hans and Zara on the Origin of This Podcast and Other Questions from Listeners

GGV Fellows is accepting applicants for its 2020 cohort. The program, which is a week-long intensive learning experience in Beijing, provides a fast track for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to become part of China’s startup ecosystem. On top of hearing from some of the biggest names in China’s tech industry, fellows will be equipped with […]

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Episode 41: Josh Luber of StockX: on Buying Sneakers the Same Way We Buy Stocks

On this episode we have Josh Luber, the co-founder of StockX. StockX is the world’s first online stock market for high-demand consumer goods, namely sneakers, handbags, streetwear, and watches. On the platform, buyers place bids, sellers place asks and when a bid and ask meet, the transaction happens automatically. The Detroit-based startup was launched in […]

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Episode 40: Renee Wang of CastBox: on Building America’s Top-Rated Podcast Listening App

In this episode, we interviewed Renee Wang (王小雨), the founder and CEO of CastBox, a global podcast platform often referred to as the “Netflix for podcasting”. It uses natural language processing and machine learning to power unique features like personalized recommendations and in-audio search. According to a report from Sensor tower in April 2019, Castbox […]

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Episode 39: Brian Gu of XPENG Motors: Why China’s EV Market Excites Me

We interviewed Brian Gu (顾宏地), the vice chairman and president of XPENG Motors, also known as Xiaopeng Motors, a Chinese electric vehicle company and a GGV portfolio company. The company designs and manufactures what it calls “Internet cars” which has AI technology integrated into the vehicles. Prior to joining XPENG Motors in March 2018, Brian […]

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Episode 37: Hao Wu on Making “People’s Republic of Desire”

We interviewed Hao Wu, a Chinese American film director, producer and writer to discuss his recent work “People’s Republic of Desire”, a documentary about the live streaming industry in China. Originally trained as a molecular biologist, Hao worked in tech before becoming a full-time filmmaker. He held various management positions at technology companies including Excite@Home, […]

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Episode 36: Tao Peng, President of Airbnb China, on Redefining Travel

GGV Capital’s Hans Tung and Zara Zhang interview Tao Peng (彭韬), the president of Airbnb China. Prior to joining Airbnb in Sept 2018, Tao has founded a number of companies in the travel space including Breadtrip, a social app for recording and sharing trips, and more recently, CityHome, a management platform for short-terms rentals across […]

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Episode 34: GGV Fellows

GGV Capital’s Hans Tung and Zara Zhang interview two “GGV Fellows,” David Sun (a data scientist on Apple’s Siri team) and Bo Ning Han (a recent Harvard grad working on a startup in Beijing), on their life stories and their takeaways from the GGV Fellows program. What is the GGV Fellows program? Read this blog […]

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Episode 33: Chinese Overseas Returnees (Hai Guis): Opportunities and Challenges

GGV Capital’s Hans Tung and Zara Zhang discuss the opportunities and challenges faced by Chinese overseas returnees (“sea turtles”, or 海归) who are interested in working in China’s tech industry. These are people who were born and raised in China, completed their high education outside of China or have worked overseas, and then have returned […]

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Episode 32: Wang Yu of Tantan on Scaling China’s Top Dating App

We interviewed Wang Yu (王宇), the co-founder and CEO of Tantan (探探), China’s leading dating app. Tantan is social app that help young people in China connect with one another. It has a slide-left slide-right interface. Only when two users both slide right on each other can they start a conversation. The company was founded […]

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Episode 31: Simon Zhang of GrowingIO: Learning to Grow, Chinese Style

GGV Capital’s Hans Tung and Zara Zhang interview Simon Zhang, (张溪梦), the founder and CEO of GrowingIO, a data analytics startup in China that helps product managers and marketers analyze mobile apps and websites without adding manual tracking codes. GrowingIO now counts over 6000 companies as its customers, including the likes of Didi, Momo, Tujia, […]

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Episode 30: Doris Ke on Marketing Across the US and China

GGV Capital’s Hans Tung and Zara Zhang interview Doris Ke, a marketer and writer who has had an interesting career across the US and China. Doris grew up in China and went to the US for college, where she attended Bard College in New York. She started her career at Unilever where she worked on […]

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Episode 29: Orion Zhao of Moka on Being a Sea Turtle Entrepreneur and SaaS in China

This is a cross-over episode between 996 and Founder Real Talk, which is a biweekly podcast hosted by GGV managing partner Glenn Solomon. Glenn and Zara interview Orion Zhao (赵欧伦), the co-founder and CEO of Moka, a fast-growing HR SaaS startup in China. Moka helps companies increase the efficiency of their hiring process by providing […]

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Episode 28: Chuhai: Why Chinese Entrepreneurs are Targeting Emerging Markets Across the World

GGV Capital’s Hans Tung and Zara Zhang discuss the trend known as “Chuhai” (出海), or Chinese founders targeting emerging markets outside of China, such as Southeast Asia, India, Latin America, and more. As the mobile Internet market in China reaches saturation, an increasing number of Chinese entrepreneurs are now eyeing other developing markets where mobile […]

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Episode 27: George Yan: From Microsoft China to Clobotics

GGV Capital’s Hans Tung and Zara Zhang interview George Yan (严治庆), the founder and CEO of Clobotics, (扩博智能). Founded in 2016, Clobotics is a computer vision startup that seeks to make traditional industries more intelligent. It is headquartered in Shanghai and Seattle with offices in Beijing, Dalian, and Singapore. It currently serves two industries: traditional […]

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Episode 24: Ashley Peng of Xiaobu: When Chinese Millennials Become Parents

Ashley Peng is the founder and CEO of Xiaobu (小步), a mobile platform for parents in China with kids aged 0-6 years old. Ashley discussed how she was inspired to start Xiaobu by her own journey as the mother of a young child, why millennial parents in China need a lot of help, and how she went about designing a product that’s highly engaging to users.

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Episode 17: Unpacking Xiaomi’s IPO


Why can Xiaomi be thought of as an “Internet company” instead of a hardware company? Why should people stop comparing Xiaomi to Apple? Was Xiaomi’s IPO valuation justified? What does the “Xiaomi ecosystem” mean?

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【Recap】996 San Francisco Meetup

Audio recording of the 996 Community Meetup in San Francisco, where Hans Tung and Zara Zhang held a short panel and Q&A on tech in China. Join the community via WeChat/Slack at 996.ggvc.com/community.

Issue 42 | July 23, 2018

– Didi raises $500M, expands into Japan
– An Original: Making Sense of Pinduoduo
– Didi raises $500M from Booking Holdings; Expands into Japan with SoftBank
– Zuoyebang Raises $350M
– Ofo Downsizes International Operations
– Google Launches WeChat Mini-Game
– Justin Kan of Twitch and Atrium: From Builder to Entrepreneur

Issue 41 | July 9, 2018

– Xiaomi goes public in Hong Kong
– We interviewed Eric Yuan, founder of Zoom
– Meituan-Dianping and Pinduoduo file for IPO
– ByteDance launches knowledge app
– Meet us in Hong Kong and San Francisco

Issue 40 | June 25, 2018

– Google Invests $550M in JD.com
– VIPKID Raises $500M at $3B+ Valuation
– The Trade War’s Impact on Tech
– 8 Lessons from the Rise of Tik Tok
– Making Sense of the “Tou-Teng War”
– WeChat Changes its Subscription Interface

Issue 39 | June 11, 2018

– Ant Financial Raises $14B in World’s Largest-Ever Fundraising
– Xiaohongshu Raises $300M Round Led By Alibaba
– JollyChic Raises Series C, Becomes Unicorn
– Foxconn and Apple’s Growth
– Jenny Lee of GGV Capital on Being a VC in China

Issue 38 | May 28, 2018

– Advice from Fu Sheng on Being a Startup Founder
– Tencent Under Fire for Investing in Media Startup Accused of Plagiarism
– Tencent Blocks ByteDance’s Douyin; Doubles Down in Short Video
– Yasheng Huang of MIT on the Future of US-China Trade Relations

 Issue 37 | May 21, 2018

– Join our Slack Channel and WeChat Group
– Hot Pot chain Haidilao files for Hong Kong IPO
– Qi Lu leaves Baidu
– WeChat passes $1B monthly active users
– Toutiao changes its slogan

 Issue 36 | May 14, 2018

– Huya Goes Public
– DJI Raising $1 Billion
– Restaurant Booking App Raises $63M from Alibaba and Ctrip
– We interviewed the co-founders of DataVisor

Issue 35 | May 7, 2018

– Manbang Group Raises $1.9B from SoftBank and Others
– Tencent Leads $820M Investment in Robot Maker Ubtech
– Alibaba Reports Earnings

Issue 34 | April 30, 2018

– Ctrip Invests in Boom Supersonic
– Milk Tea Chain Raises $63M
– Yogurt Startup Receives Funding from Coca-Cola
– Baidu’s Profit
– We interviewed the founder of AppAnnie

Issue 33 | April 23, 2018

– Why Meituan-Dianping’s Expansions Make Sense
– ZTE’s Ban in US Sounds Wake-Up Call in China
– Tencent Launches Docs

Issue 32 | April 16, 2018

– Pressured by Beijing, Toutiao Shuts Down One of Its Apps
– Pinduoduo raises $1B
– SenseTime raises $600M
– Silicon Valley Has a Challenger
– 996 Podcast: Nathan Blecharczyk on Lessons from Airbnb’s China Expansion

Issue 31 | April 9, 2018

– Meituan Acquires Mobike
– Alibaba Acquires Ele.me
– AutoNavi and Ctrip Enter Ride-sharing
– Brad Bao of LimeBike on Tackling America’s Last-Mile Problem

Issue 30 | March 26, 2018

– Join Our Discussion on US-China Relations in Boston
– Two Wars: Tencent vs. Bytedance and Didi vs. Meituan-Dianping
– A Big Deal: Naspers Sells Tencent Shares
– China has 164 unicorns

Issue 29 | March 19, 2018

– A Big Deal: Qu Toutiao Raises $200M, Plans US IPO
– A Idol: Li Ka-Shing Retires
– A Buzzword: “Classical Investor”
– 996 Podcast: Miranda Qu of Xiaohongshu on Powering E-Commerce with Community

Issue 28 | March 12, 2018

– 996 Podcast: Yi Wang of Liulishuo on Teaching English with AI
– A Big Deal: Two Game Streaming Platforms Raise $1B from Tencent
– A Big Deal: China Wooing Tech Companies for Home Listing
– A Quote: How Bytedance (Toutiao)’s Zhang Yiming Retains Talents

Issue 27 | March 5, 2018

– Join us for a Live Session of the 996 Podcast
– Tencent owns 7.5% of Spotify
– Didi Reportedly Expanding into Food Delivery
– China Has Almost as Many Unicorns as the US

Issue 26 | February 26, 2018

– “3 a.m. Sleepless Blockchain WeChat Group”
– Momo Acquires Tantan, “China’s Tinder”
– Tencent Employees Line Up for Red Packets
– China is Racing Ahead in AI

Issue 25 | February 19, 2018

– 996 Podcast: Lin Bin on How Xiaomi Engineered its “Surprise Comeback”
– Chinese Tech Giants Give Out Hundreds of Millions in Free Money During Lunar New Year
– China Produced 8 Times as Many STEM Graduates as the US in 2016
– China Launches Blockchain-Based Apartment Rental Platform

Issue 24 | February 12, 2018

– Elon Musk idolized in China
– World’s largest human migration – Chun Yun – underway
– Didi ventures into Japan
– How Xiaomi engineered its comeback

Issue 23 | February 5, 2018

– 996 Podcast: Tao Zhang of Dianping on Merging with Meituan and “The Groupon War”
– A Chart: Amazon vs. Alibaba
– Toutiao and Baidu Go to War
– Ofo Reportedly Cash Strapped

Issue 22 | January 29, 2018

– Why Chinese startups should consider Alibaba & Tencent their allies, not enemies
– Didi introduces its own bike-sharing service
– Tencent will Invest in Carrefour China
– Alibaba reportedly in talks to partner with Kroger

Issue 21 | January 22, 2018

– “Father of WeChat” reveals product roadmap
– Google signs patent deal with Tencent
– Muji opens first hotel in Shenzhen
– Announcing the 996 Podcast

Issue 20 | January 15, 2018

– 1/3 of CES exhibitors were from China
– Huawei-AT&T deal killed by political pressure
– Didi enters ride-sharing war

Issue 19 | January 8, 2018

– Join us at two China-related events
– Tech giants address public outcry over data privacy concerns
– US blocks MoneyGram sale to Ant Financial on national security concerns
– JD.Com To Form Joint Venture With Meili
– Beijing to Build $2.1B Technology Park for AI

Issue 18 | January 1, 2018

– WeChat launches “mini-games”
– Meet our Chinese portfolio founders
– HelloBike raises another $150 Million
– Meituan Launches Taxi Hailing Service in 7 Cities

Issue 17 | December 26, 2017

– Didi now worth as much as Uber
– Tencent and JD.com invest $863 million in Vipshop
– Huawei plans to sell phones in the US next year
– Join us at CES

Issue 16 | December 18, 2017

– What the ByteDance-Musical.ly deal means
– Google’s AI center in Beijing
– Andrew Ng’s new project
– Tencent buys stake in Yonghui Superstores
– What is Xiong An New Area?

Issue 15 | December 11, 2017

– Xiaomi reportedly eyes 2018 IPO
– Tencent and Spotify buy stakes in each other
– Hellobike raises $350 million from Ant Financial and others
– Memorable quotes from Fortune Global Forum
– Huawei plans to launch 5G phones by 2019

Issue 14 | December 4, 2017

– Why Poshmark reminds us of Chinese companies
– Xiaomi partners with Baidu on AI and IoT
– Tesla sets up R&D center in Beijing
– Alibaba sells $7B of highly sought-after Bonds; lays out expansion strategy
– More Chinese people paying for videos

Issue 13 | November 27, 2017

– China’s largest Uber-for-trucks companies merge
– Beijing pushing for 5G adoption
– Toutiao will spend $300M to help influencers make money
– Cheetah Mobile releases strong Q3 results

Issue 12 | November 20, 2017

– How Tencent could help Snapchat
– HJow Tencent makes money
– Bike-sharing company Bluegogo collapses
– Alibaba acquires major stake in China’s largest hypermarket operator
– Baidu unveils series of smart home devices
– A Chart: Chinese smartphone users read news in bed more than anywhere else

Issue 11 | November 13, 2017

– World’s largest shopping spree (Singles Day) reaches historic high
– “Content King” Toutiao and Musical.ly announce agreement to merge
– Tencent now owns 12% of Snap
– Sogou goes public in New York

Issue 10 | November 6, 2017

– How Amazon and Whole Foods can learn from China
– E-commerce giants go all out for Singles Day
– Facebook is testing a WeChat-like “Red Envelope” feature
– Smart vending machine raises $9 million
– More women in Chinese tech named “most powerful in the world.”

Issue 9 | October 30, 2017

– Field notes from China’s retail revolution
– These 7 men now run China
– Producer of China’s national alcohol is now worth $110 billion
– Hellobike merged with Youon Bike
– JD opened its C2C marketplace
– NetEase launches adult product e-commerce site

Issue 8 | October 23, 2017

– Hans interviews Zhang Yiming, founder of Toutiao
– Meituan-Dianping raises $4 billion, will beef up autonomous delivery
– “Tencent of Southeast Asia” goes public
– Microlender Qudian goes public, targets underserved young shoppers

Issue 7 | October 16, 2017

– Tujia raises $300 million
– Sogou files for IPO
– JD unveils unmanned warehouse
– Alibaba’s Damo Institute

Issue 6 | October 9, 2017

– Mobike and Ofo reportedly talking merger
– Half of China travels during “Golden Week”
– Yonghui opens “Super Species” market
– Xiaomi wants to be the Muji of the tech industry

Issue 5 | October 2, 2017

– Bike-sharing startups suffer run on deposits
– Chinese children shop online at 7 years old
– WeChat switches up landing page
– Jack Ma on education
– LeEco becomes “New LeEco”

Issue 4 | September 25, 2017

– Baidu releases open-source autonomous driving framework Apollo 1.5
– Hangzhou ranked #1 among all Chinese cities in terms of net talent inflow
– iPhone 8 met with a cold shoulder in China
– What is Shí Wàn Jiā (a hundred thousand plus)?

Issue 3 | September 18, 2017

– Chinese government plans to ban sales of fossil fuel cars entirely
– 87% of China’s smartphone market is now captured by domestic brands
– Sina Weibo took the cigarette out of an emoji labeled “cool”
– Lessons from Weibo’s comeback
– What is Wú Rén Huò Jià (unmanned snack shelves)?
– Why might more high-speed trains lead to more unicorns in China

Issue 2 | September 11, 2017

– China’s central bank issues “death sentence” for ICOs
– What is “New Retail”?
– How Jack Ma dresses up for Alibaba’s annual employee parties
– How Tencent listens to its users
– What is Shuā Liǎn (face scanning)?

Introducing 996.

– Alibaba’s and Tencent’s market capitalization each exceeds $400 billion
– Baidu sold its food delivery business to Ele.me for $800 million
– 42.2% of Tencent’s revenue comes from online games
– What is Gòng Xiǎng (sharing)?