Chinese Risk Takers
My laptop blew out its screen recently and it looked like I was going to have to buy a new one. Since I wanted more portability, I looked at the netbooks. Since I had reported here about the one computer per child movement, I knew about Asus computers and their EeePC. I was focusing on the one with the new Intel chip, the 450N, because it seems that it had the longest battery life. All good. What was also good was that I was able to fix my old laptop and move on without buying another box. All this forced me to understand what the Taiwanese and other Asian businesses are discovering: Silicon Valley is a good place to do research and buy early stage companies. Why let the Silicon Valley VCs have all the fun? They can do it themselves.
And do it they are. There's risk here, you say. Why would they want to take on this risk? And how can they compete with the VCs on the ground? Not possible. Possible! If you've dealt with Angels and VCs lately, you realize that they aren't investing like they used to, and, when they do invest, they are taking less risk. They feel more like bankers than VCs. What's an Asian tech company to do, especially when it wants access to new ideas and designs? Invest. And invest they are. That Asus computer I mentioned above used to be an unknown. They'd learned how to make the designs. All they had to do was make a complete box. They did it for others, now they are doing it for themselves. It all makes sense. Silicon Valley better get going. Now is the time.
Reference
Vance, Ashlee. Asian Computer Makers Move Into Riskier Ventures. New York Times. 15 March 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/technology/personaltech/06valley.html?ref=global-home