The Dingman Center Discovers China

Asher Epstein, managing director of the Smith Schools Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, recently led a delegation of students and entrepreneurs on week-long trip to Beijing, China from September 19 - 23, 2005. The purpose of the trip was to give delegation members first-hand insight into Chinas business climate, learn from and meet with local Chinese entrepreneurs, and to participate in the final round of the Smith School China Business Plan competition.

In addition to Epstein, the delegation included: John LaPides, Dingman Center entrepreneur-in-residence; Dan Goodman, Dingman Center technology commercialization fellow; S. Tien Wong, CEO of Opus8; Hongxia Wang, University of Maryland electrical engineering PhD candidate; Angela Toda, Smith School PR manager; and second-year MBA students Sadia Asghar, Derek Vlcko and Valerio Zanini.

The trip began with a meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where the Dingman delegation received a general introduction to China and the current business and investment climate. Over the next few days the delegation participated in similar briefings including: meeting with representatives of a trade consulting firm specializing in China, a law firm to discuss the legal environment, individual China-based entrepreneurs, and heads of investment funds. The delegation also visited the JiuXianQiao HiTech Park, a high-tech incubator.

The three second-year MBA students returned from China excited, thrilled and awe-struck.

The energy is incredible. So much is going on. It is such a new country that there are so many markets that need to be built. Even the basic ones, such as the market for used cars, needs to be developed, said Zanini.

Epstein was not surprised that the China trip evoked strong reactions from the students.

That is exactly what I hoped to achieve that the China trip would give students first-hand, global exposure to how business is conducted in a foreign country, he said. That kind of experience can be maturing, as students see that many of the things that they take for granted in America, are not available to the Chinese entrepreneur.

After meeting and talking with several local entrepreneurs, the delegation was able to appreciate their similarities with American entrepreneurs.

In some ways, I see the Chinese as more American than some American managers. Many are building their businesses by the seat of their pants, in the face of many obstacles and many unknowns, but with great potential, said LaPides

There are a lot more similarities between American and Chinese entrepreneurs than you may think. However, one of the difficulties that the Chinese entrepreneurs face is that they operate in an environment of regulatory uncertainty, said Epstein.

Regardless of which country you are conducting business in, successful entrepreneurs must be visionary, optimistic, and hardworking. The entrepreneurs we met in China were no exception, said Vlcko.

The delegations grand finale event was participating in the Smith Schools China Business Plan Competition on September 23. The competition was sponsored by the Smith School and offered Chinese entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their business ideas before a panel of international venture capitalist judges and compete for a total of $45,000 in cash prizes. Goodman, LaPides and Wong were each judges.

I truly enjoyed participating as a judge. The competition demonstrated to the public that the Smith School is a significant player at a national level in the Chinese entrepreneurial scene, said Goodman.

Of course any such trip is an incredible bonding experience and each of the participants agreed that it was an experience that they will remember for a long time.

Derek, Valerio and I have been privileged to take part in a historic event to take place for the Smith School in China. Hopefully the business plan competition will be an annual event and we can look back and say we were a part of the first one. Also it was just a pleasure getting to know my classmates and my colleagues in a different environment, where we needed to cooperate. We had a blast getting to know one another, said Asghar.

Our trip to Beijing taught me that our thinking is biased by our past experiences and expectations of the way things should be. When looking at business environments overseas its necessary to set aside your knowledge of the business environment in the United States, start over with a blank canvas, and begin painting a whole new picture, said Vlcko.

And for those entrepreneurs and business people who have not yet made the trek and discovered China? Goodman has the following advice, Think hard about how your company's competitive advantages can be leveraged in the Chinese market and how to protect your market share here at home. Find a partner in China who can help you with Chinese market entry and outsourced manufacturing. And start teaching your kids Chinese!

▓ Smith Media Group, Sachin Agarwal, MBA Candidate 2007