OPC member Rebecca Fannin spoke at an OPC luncheon on November 29 to discuss her book, Startup Asia: Top Strategies for Cashing in on Asia’s Innovation Boom [Wiley, October 2011]. Fannin travels extensively between the American East Coast, Silicon Valley and the hot spots of East Asia. This is her second book, following Silicon Dragon: How China Is Winning The Tech Race [McGraw Hill, 2008.] Fannin said Start Up Asia is a continuation of her first book.
Hosting the session was OPC Foundation President William J. Holstein, who also has deep experience with innovation on both sides of the Pacific. About 22 people gathered around the table, many of whom also have a deep understanding of the region and the emerging markets, although a few, including Fannin, noted that where there is great reward in startups, there is also a great amount of risk.
Fannin noted a slew of facts to lead off the luncheon. Since 2006, there are more than six thousand startups funded at the early stage — the money being spread largely between China and India. China is second in venture capital funding in the world, with India in the number three position and with a leg up over the region because of the predominance of English. China, Fannin said, is a leader in patent applications, and that research and development money is on the rise. Largely spiked by the U.S. stagnation, American venture capitalists have started to look eastward, especially as China is slowly — Fannin acknowledged — stretching from a purely manufacuring country and copying ideas from the west — to actually becoming innovative. Twitter China, Fannin said, is way ahead of its U.S. model having instituted video and photo sharing.
When asked if Asia was indeed experiencing a modern-day gold rush, Fannin said, “I think not yet, but not too long.” The luncheon was sponsored by Lenovo, the Chinese multi-national tech company.