Shows
Digitally ChinaBRB (and what's to Come on Season 2)We need your help to create Season 2 of Digitally China!Just got a few short questions for you here: https://radiichina.com/digitally-china-2019-wrap/As many of our loyal listeners might have felt, Digitally China has been taking a short break. But don’t worry, we’ll be coming back with Season 2 in no time.Throughout the 26 episodes of Season 1 we’ve really appreciated all the support and feedback from our fantastic listeners who have tuned in to the bi-weekly series. Thanks to this feedback, S...2019-12-3010 min
Digitally ChinaFrom 8 to 800 million internet users - An Inside View with Brian WongThis episode of Digitally China is about Brian Wong, his experiences from being part of the early days of Alibaba but at the same time also a story about how it was to first-hand be part of how China grew from almost nothing to the largest internet market in the world. The location is a hotel in San Francisco, the year is 1999. The internet hype is in its peak. United States at this moment have over 100 million internet users, 10 times more than the much larger country in the East, China. While his friends are leaving sc...2019-09-2643 min
Digitally ChinaFrom 8 to 800 million internet users - An Inside View with Brian WongThis episode of Digitally China is about Brian Wong, his experiences from being part of the early days of Alibaba but at the same time also a story about how it was to first-hand be part of how China grew from almost nothing to the largest internet market in the world. The location is a hotel in San Francisco, the year is 1999. The internet hype is in its peak. United States at this moment have over 100 million internet users, 10 times more than the much larger country in the East, China. While his friends...2019-09-2643 min
Digitally ChinaThe War of a Thousand GrouponsIn the latest Digitally China we’re looking back on history. Meituan-Dianping is China’s clear market leader within group buying, offline discovery and online-offline services today. But it wasn’t that clear a few years back. In fact, the opposite was true, with the American giant Groupon entering China backed by a powerful partner in Tencent. In a hyper-competitive environment, there were suddenly thousands of group-buying services all fighting for the position that Meituan has today.For a sense of what that time was like, we interviewed Tim He, wh...2019-09-1645 min
Digitally ChinaBuying fake followers in China’s “like” economyThe business of selling clicks and fake accounts is the scourge of social media today, where anyone from wannabe influencers to political saboteurs can purchase likes, followers, and even comments.In China, the issue is so severe that nearly a third of the country’s internet traffic last year was rated “abnormal”, according to third-party advertising data monitor Miaozhen Systems.And though Chinese social media platforms from WeChat to Weibo to RED have repeatedly cracked down on fake and bot accounts, the shady business behind the “like” economy is alive and...2019-08-2923 minDigitally ChinaSo You Want to Work in Chinese TechIn China’s fast-growing tech industry, it’s easy to focus on exciting new products and businesses while overlooking one of the most important elements of any company: the talent.Inthis episode, we look at how the recruiting process at Chinese tech firms does -- and doesn’t -- differ from that of multinational firms, and how China's new wave of tech professionals view their career options.EpisodeOutline:Incentives/disincentives for working at multinational firms vs. Chinese internet companiesThe importance of 996 or working overtimeProbation and the co...2019-08-1640 minDigitally ChinaWhy Foreign Brands Entering China Should Learn from this Indian StartupWith the recent news of Amazon exiting China with their e-commerce business combined with the departure of Uber a few years ago, many observers' have questioned if a foreign tech company can be successful in China.But then we heard about OYO, an Indian startup having recent success in China hosting thousands of rooms in what is in theory a very hard market to penetrate.In this episode we are discussing OYO with reporter Huizhong Wu, trying to understand why they can be successful in China while so many western brands fail.2019-08-1627 minDigitally ChinaDavid and Goliath: Bytedance takes on WeChatIn a country where WeChat rules supreme, Bytedance is attempting the impossible. Last month,the Beijing-based startup launched its own social networking app called Duoshan.It wouldn’t be the first time Bytedance has made larger, more established tech companies nervous. It runs TikTok, a video-sharing app that has quickly grown popular worldwide -- a rare feat for a Chinese tech firm -- inspiring Facebook to launch its own competing app called Lasso.The startup has also already started butting heads with Tencent. Last year, the heads of both companies became embroiled in a...2019-08-1628 minDigitally ChinaTencent Music vs. Spotify - friend or foe?A few weeks ago, in December 2018, Tencent Music did their highly anticipated IPO on the New York Stock Exchange valuing the company to $21.3 billion. Often being described as the "Spotify of China", we're looking into what Tencent Music actually is and what they might represent for the future of music, globally.With a user base of more than 800 monthly active users and revenue of around $2 billion the detail that has impressed the most is their profit margin of 20%. Or actually even the fact that they, as a music streaming company, even are able to turn a...2019-08-1629 minDigitally ChinaThe unsexy part of new retailWhen it comes to buzzwords in the tech industry, "new retail" ranks high on the list. For the past few years, Alibaba has popularized the catchphrase to describe smarter, more high-tech ways of serving customers in brick-and-mortar shops -- by linking online and offline data -- from facial recognition-powered payments to smart mirrors that lets customers "try on" cosmetics before buying them.But beyond the shiny add-ons that consumers see, the real impact of new retail - especially for physical stores -- is more invisible: the supply chain and inventory.In this episode...2019-08-1626 minDigitally ChinaTikTok and the rise of new socialA "new social" is on the rise led by TikTok. But despite soaring user numbers, will they survive the competition from giants like Facebook and Tencent? In this episode, we look into TikToks journey from startup to half a billion users.Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.Production: Jacob Loven.Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes and thus shall be...2019-08-1633 minDigitally ChinaThe Pilot - Luckin CoffeeIn this pilot episode we are checking out the business model of Luckin Coffee. Is the "digitalisation of coffee" just a hype or actually something that has value? With guest expert Greg Savarese.Thoughts on the episode? Do not hesitate to give us your feedback podcast@digitallychina.comHosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.Production: Jacob Loven.Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are...2019-08-1622 min
Digitally ChinaInterview: Diversity and entrepreneurship with Jill TangIn the latest episode of Digitally China, Tom is joined by Jill Tang, co-founder of Ladies Who Tech, an influential Chinese organization focusing on entrepreneurship and gender diversity in China. As someone who works in the unique cross-section of tech, diversity, multinational companies, and market-entry in China, Jill shares her observations and thoughts on how multinational companies can be more gender inclusive in China, and how China's younger and more international workforce is changing work culture in the country.Topics covered in this episode:- Ladies Who...2019-08-1528 min
Digitally ChinaRED: The ups and downs of social commerceCompanies around the world are latching onto social commerce, but in China, where mobile payments are ubiquitous and consumers are extra wary of fake goods, the integration between social media and online shopping has been especially fast. That doesn’t mean it’s a silver bullet for brands though -- or even the multi-billion dollar internet celebrity industry, where influencers are tasked with advertising products without appearing too commercial.In this episode of Digitally China, we’ll discuss Xiaohongshu or RED, which is often compared to Instag...2019-08-0130 min
Digitally ChinaSo You Want to Work in Chinese TechIn China’s fast-growing tech industry, it’s easy to focus on exciting new products and businesses while overlooking one of the most important elements of any company: the talent.Inthis episode, we look at how the recruiting process at Chinese tech firms does -- and doesn’t -- differ from that of multinational firms, and how China's new wave of tech professionals view their career options.EpisodeOutline:Incentives/disincentives for working at multinational firms vs. Chinese internet companiesThe importance of 996 or working overtimeProbation and the concept of “hire fas...2019-07-1839 min
Digitally ChinaMaking Sense of Chinese Tech’s IPO CrazeCorporate offerings such as secondary listings and IPO’s from Chinese tech companies are accelerating. This year alone we have seen 161 such events, which is already 72% of entire last year. Why do Chinese tech companies turn to public markets to raise capital? Why are the Hong Kong stock exchange increasingly popular? And how does the domestic Chinese stock market fit in all this for tech companies? In the latest episode of Digitally China we are interviewing the co-host of China Tech Investor podcast James Hull to get an understanding of...2019-07-0429 min
Digitally China[Fixed Full version] Inside Huawei’s ‘wolf’ culture(The previous publication was not the full version due to a technical bug. This is an upload of the full episode - sorry for that!)Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is one of China’s largest success stories in tech.No other domestic tech firm has been able to grow its business overseas around the world and beat the competition the way the Shenzhen-based company has, despite keeping a relatively low profile.But over the past six months, Huawei has found itself increasingly in the li...2019-06-2239 min
Digitally ChinaInside Huawei’s ‘wolf’ cultureChinese telecoms giant Huawei is one of China’s largest success stories in tech.No other domestic tech firm has been able to grow its business overseas around the world and beat the competition the way the Shenzhen-based company has, despite keeping a relatively low profile.But over the past six months, Huawei has found itself increasingly in the limelight and under public scrutiny. After the arrest of one of its top executives in December and an escalating trade war, the Chinese telecoms company has become a symbol for bo...2019-06-2039 min
Digitally ChinaCan TikTok Beat Spotify and Apple Music?Together with Jonas Leijonhufvud and Sven Carlsson, the authors of a new book telling the inside story about Spotify and the fight for global dominance in music streaming we are discussing if ByteDance actually have a shot at beating the giants.ByteDance, the company behind the huge International success TikTok, or Douyin as its called in China is really on the offense. Fueled by the position as the 3rd most downloaded app in the world 2018 and a valuation of 75 billion dollars, ByteDance have recently both announced plans to enter messaging to directly compete with...2019-06-0633 min
Digitally ChinaHope and despair in the world’s largest gaming marketGaming is one of the most profitable industries in China’s tech sector. It’s the cash cow powering the rise of Tencent, the multi-billion dollar firm behind WeChat. It's also an industry with some of the most notorious examples of copying, but also the most stringent rules -- which Chinese game developers and gamers tirelessly find creative workarounds for.China is the largest gaming market in the world by revenue, raking in almost $40 billion last year, despite a 9-month licensing freeze that prevented game developers from monetizing new games. But as the Chinese gove...2019-05-2329 min
Digitally ChinaThe Rise of Chinese BrandsIn this special episode of Digitally China Tom is joined by Emmy Teo, co-founder of the New Retail startup FUSE and advisor to up & coming consumer brands in fashion and furniture.Chinese companies have for a long time had access to the best supply chain in the world, enabling scalable production of a wide range of products. But only in the recent years we have seen that unique skillset being combined with what western companies usually see as their differentiator: the ability to create attractive brands, especially in the lifestyle sector. In this...2019-05-0950 min
Digitally ChinaWhy Foreign Brands Entering China Should Learn from this Indian StartupWith the recent news of Amazon exiting China with their e-commerce business combined with the departure of Uber a few years ago, many observers' have questioned if a foreign tech company can be successful in China.But then we heard about OYO, an Indian startup having recent success in China hosting thousands of rooms in what is in theory a very hard market to penetrate.In this episode we are discussing OYO with reporter Huizhong Wu, trying to understand why they can be successful in China while so many...2019-04-2527 min
Digitally ChinaThe Inside Story of China's Viral 996 ProtestsRecently a leaked e-mail from JD.com have been widely spread, being probably the most concrete example of the 996 culture from certain tech companies in China. Among many things, the leaked e-mail indicates that people working less overtime should be fired. In this episode of Digitally China we are trying to figure out how widely spread 996 is, how it impacts people and what effect the recent backlash in this hotly debated topic will have. To understand the culture of working overtime in tech and how it is different from...2019-04-1137 min
Digitally ChinaChina's tech slowdownOver the past five years, China’s internet industry has seen dizzying growth, with each year hitting record-levels of funding. In the second quarter of 2018, Chinese startups raised more venture capital than startups in North America for the first time. But at the end of last year, the industry started winding down -- fast. Rumors started about mass layoffs at different tech firms, from ecommerce giant JD to Quora-like Zhihu. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs braced themselves for a “capital winter.”So is China’s startup scene finally facing the music after ye...2019-03-2830 min
Digitally China"Live" Special: Can Chinese Innovation Disrupt Amazon?This latest episode of Digitally China has a special format, partly recorded live from DCongress, one of the largest e-commerce conferences in Europe where co-host Tom Xiong and producer Jacob Lovén moderated panels with Chinese e-commerce experts. In this episode we’ll listen to excerpts from Shenyi Wu (former CFO of Pinduoduo and RED) and Julie Chen (former Sequoia Capital China) that have founded the new western-focused e-commerce platform Flamingo.shop. Together with them we discuss how the Chinese e-commerce market have become the global leader, what the secret sauce behind social e-commerce is...2019-03-1423 min
Digitally ChinaDavid and Goliath: Bytedance takes on WeChatIn a country where WeChat rules supreme, Bytedance is attempting the impossible. Last month,the Beijing-based startup launched its own social networking app called Duoshan.It wouldn’t be the first time Bytedance has made larger, more established tech companies nervous. It runs TikTok, a video-sharing app that has quickly grown popular worldwide -- a rare feat for a Chinese tech firm -- inspiring Facebook to launch its own competing app called Lasso.The startup has also already started butting heads with Tencent. Last year, the heads of both co...2019-02-2828 min
Digitally ChinaWill Next Enron Come From China Tech?With DJI's recent 150 million USD embezzlement scandal we are investigating what happens when Chinese tech companies grow too fast. What compromises are made to enable a fast growth that also increases the risk of embezzlement and internal fraud?Together with our external guest Alex with in-depth experience from both Accenture and large Chinese e-commerce companies we are discovering:- How embezzlement and internal fraud are being done in Chinese tech companies?- Is there any difference between China and the US?- How will this...2019-02-1632 min
Digitally ChinaIs China a Better Place for Tech Talent than Silicon Valley?Haigui or “sea turtles” are a special part of China’s far-flung diaspora. A term that describes Chinese nationals who study or work overseas before returning to the motherland, sea turtles have become huge contributors to China’s fast-growing tech industry, from top tech executives to VCs.But how do overseas Chinese view the pros and cons of staying or returning to China? And what motivates haigui, especially those in high-tech industries, to come back?In this episode, we talk to a few sea turtles and US-based Chinese AI engineer...2019-01-3133 min
Digitally ChinaLuckin Coffee - Real or Scam? (republished)In this pilot episode we are checking out the business model of Luckin Coffee originally published October 23 2018. Is the "digitalisation of coffee" just a hype or actually something that has value? With guest expert Greg Savarese.Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.Production: Jacob Loven.Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China produced with RADII (radiichina.com).Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included...2019-01-2722 min
Digitally ChinaAre we already enslaved to AI? With Nicholas YoungOne of the most hyped up words of 2018, AI or Artificial Intelligence has lately been portrayed as something that can enslave the human kind by everything from tech founders (Elon Musk) to tv shows (Black Mirror). This week’s episode we have a special guest, Nicholas Young, to talk about this topic. Understanding what AI actually is, what it is used for currently, how the future will look like and discussing if we actually already are enslaved to AI. Nicholas Young is an entrepreneur running the fintech startup Karakul ba...2019-01-1733 min
Digitally ChinaTencent Music vs. Spotify - friend or foe?A few weeks ago, in December 2018, Tencent Music did their highly anticipated IPO on the New York Stock Exchange valuing the company to $21.3 billion. Often being described as the "Spotify of China", we're looking into what Tencent Music actually is and what they might represent for the future of music, globally.With a user base of more than 800 monthly active users and revenue of around $2 billion the detail that has impressed the most is their profit margin of 20%. Or actually even the fact that they, as a music streaming company, even are able to...2019-01-0329 min
Digitally ChinaThe unsexy part of new retailWhen it comes to buzzwords in the tech industry, "new retail" ranks high on the list. For the past few years, Alibaba has popularized the catchphrase to describe smarter, more high-tech ways of serving customers in brick-and-mortar shops -- by linking online and offline data -- from facial recognition-powered payments to smart mirrors that lets customers "try on" cosmetics before buying them.But beyond the shiny add-ons that consumers see, the real impact of new retail - especially for physical stores -- is more invisible: the supply chain and inventory.2018-12-2026 min
Digitally ChinaTikTok and the rise of new socialA "new social" is on the rise led by TikTok. But despite soaring user numbers, will they survive the competition from giants like Facebook and Tencent? In this episode, we look into TikToks journey from startup to half a billion users.Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.Production: Jacob Loven.Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes...2018-12-0433 min
Digitally ChinaWeishang - The WeChat HustleWhen you think of ecommerce in China, Alibaba is probably the first name that comes to mind. And no wonder - the internet giant has built a multibillion dollar empire off a sophisticated ecommerce, logistics, and payments trifecta. But WeChat, China's most ubiquitous and popular messaging app, often goes unnoticed. Thanks to built-in payments, the app's social newsfeed, and one-on-one chat, these 'micro' shopkeepers are able to operate lucrative businesses from their phone -- and connect with customers in a more intimate way than Taobao, Alibaba's online bazaar.
See...2018-11-2033 min
Digitally ChinaProject Dragonfly & Google's re-entryEva and Tom have been looking into the development around "Project Dragonfly". Why has Google's interest in China increased lately and what's their potential on the world's largest Internet market? Will they actually be able to enter China after 8 years of "absence"?Thoughts on the episode? Do not hesitate to give us your feedback by emailing us at podcast@digitallychina.com.Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.Production: Jacob Loven.Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene...2018-11-0632 min
Digitally ChinaThe Pilot - Luckin CoffeeIn this pilot episode we are checking out the business model of Luckin Coffee. Is the "digitalisation of coffee" just a hype or actually something that has value? With guest expert Greg Savarese.Thoughts on the episode? Do not hesitate to give us your feedback podcast@digitallychina.comHosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.Production: Jacob Loven.Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor...2018-10-2322 min