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Learning from an Entrepreneur from Spain -
Apr 15,2009
Yesterday afternoon I joined a seminar at DAD asia with around
40 entrepreneurs. It has quite a few highlights I want to
share with you.
1. They facilitated through infographics as a tool to
communicate, which is very mind-opening
2. Now is a very good time for internet business to build
bigger customer base as the cost to acquire single customer is
getting lower and lower
3. It all come to speed for an internet startup to build
"barriers" for the copiers, you have to be speedy and flexible
to be ahead for 6 or 9 month
4. Be specific and measurable with every goal you set for your
business, if you have not seen it clearly and monitor it
constantly, you won't be there
And one typical mistake entrepreneurs made is no clear
definition of role and responsibilities for each partner,
which leads to partnership falling apart
By Twinsen Wu
August
Meeting summary - Sep, 4th 2008
Know yourself - understand your own strengths
and weaknesses not only can help you
avoid spending tons of time developing your natural born
weaknesses, but also help you choose
people you want to work with and the effective way you work with
them.
Skillful goal setting - set personal/business goal somewhat
above your current limitation but not
too high to discourage yourself often.
Written plan - when planning, anticipate your obstacles and
prepare solutions for them, at least
you are mentally ready for adverse when you inevitably run into
them. Still don't
forget Darwin's law, adaptive to changes as needed, don't count
on your plan too much!
Product design VS Customer needs - It's very effective when
customer using their own money to send
the message to you ( I need that product!), a case shows, even
well-designed customer
focus group can proven wrong sometime, because they don't need
to pay for their choice! Personally I
found the best combination of product/service always invented by
my Customer
instead of me!
SEG summary Aug 2008 By
Twinsen
New
Facebook Group Active - Aug, 2008
The Shanghai Entrepreneur Group has
use a Facebook Group to communicate
meeting information and summary, please join us at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4819888762 You
will find many SEG members' on facebook already. Including
me - Twinsen.
Hope to see you soon at
recent SEG meeting!
By Twinsen Wu , Aug 23,
2008
New Blog Launched
The Shanghai Entrepreneur Group has launched a new blog, Shanghai Enrepreneurs.
If you would like to contribute topics, please let Maria know
(maria@trombly.com) and she'll add you as a writer. Meanwhile, anyone
can post comments (registration is free, we don't allow anonymous
comments so as to keep out spammers).
Twinsen Wu Elected 2007 SEG President
Long-time SEG member
Twisen Wu was elected 2007 SEG President on Nov. 29, in a hotly
contested four-way race. Previously active as an SEG organizer, Wu had
a well developed plan for the future of the SEG and, in an inclusive
gesture, immediately asked the other candiates for president to serve
on the board of directors. All agreed.
It was a "snap" election --
attendees of the meeting broke up into pairs, each pair chose a
candidate, and the non-running member made a campaign speech in favor
of his candidate. After the first round of voting, the two candidates
with the most votes stood up and spoke on behalf of themselves. It was
a close race -- the top three vote-getters were only a vote or two
apart.
Letter from Twinsen Wu
It is my honor to be elected
to lead this group next year. I am a strategic thinker as well as a
result-oriented activist. Together we can make this group more
beneficial to us.
We will set up a group blog in order to enhance the promotion
of SEG and help attract new members through more visit traffic.
We are looking for new venues , so please each of you send me what ever
options you have in mind. Our ideal place would be free of charge, with
a separate room capable of holding 20 or more people, and the
opportunity to order food or drinks. But please do not limit your
recommendations.
Finally, after the charter of
our group has been published, before next January meeting, the main
focus of each board member will be finalized. The board members are
Maria, Alex, Elson, and Sunny, with Paul Qu as the Independent
Director.
Presidential Elections
It's getting close to the end the
year, and so it's time to pick the 2007 SEG President. The ideal
candidate will have the time and energy to devote to taking the group
to the next level -- and a committment to enrepreneurship. Or an
interest in entpreneurship.
The issue will be discussed, and
candidates can step forward, at the November SEG event at the Coffee
Bean & Tea Leaf at 666 Fuzhou Lu (near People's Square) at 7 p.m.
on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
September Coffee Bean meeting
About twenty people turned out for
the September Coffee Bean meeting on Fuzhou Lu. We met a few new
members, such as Toffler Niemuth, who runs a business offering Shanghai shopping tours to foreign visitors.
Many old members also came out to
catch up and talk about how their businesses were going. There were
also new business plans discussed, which will be heard in more detail
in October.
Maria Trombly led the meeting, and
asking for volunteers to help with events and to serve on an election
committee to select a new president for next year.
August Coffee Bean Meeting
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Gemme (foreground)
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It was a small meeting the last
week of summer, with several new members and a lively discussion of the
Chinese educational marketplace. Michael Butler talked about his "No
More than Four" plan for teaching English to young children.
Maria Trombly led the meeting, immediately after returning from a month back in the United States.
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 Michael Butler (foreground)
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There were also introductions of newcomers to the group, and updates on projects the long-term members are working on.
There was no update from the events
planning committee, since none of its members were able to make the
meeting. As a result, there was no news about the status of the
September event, which was thereby cancelled and replaced with a
regular Coffee Bean get-together.
July Coffee Bean Meeting
Paul Qu led this meeting, which was dedicated to a discussion of the book "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman.
June Coffee Bean meeting
New SEG board member Zhongsu Chen |
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Zhongsu Chen, a venture capitalist and former executive at the Shanghai Stock Exchange, joined the SEG board this month.
Speaking before about 15 people who
came to the June 30 SEG Coffee Bean meeting, he talked about his
experience at the Exchange, as a venture capitalist, and with running
business clubs in New York City.
"You see people become successful, and you think, 'I can do it, too,'" he said.
According to Chen, it was the
personal relationships formed as a result of working on club committees
together that helped many Chinese-Americans he knew in New York City
ten years ago to rise to the top ranks of their companies, or to start
their own firms. Many are now running multinational corporations' China
divisions, he added.
2006 Coffee Bean Meetings Scheduled
 Our next Coffee Bean meeting is the last Wednesday of this month, on Wednesday, June 28,
at 7 p.m. at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at 666 Fuzhou Lu (corner of
Fuzhou Lu and Yunnan Lu). Paul Qu will be moderating, and everyone will
have the opportunity to introduce themselves, their projects, and ask
the group for advice if they are looking for it.
RSVPs for the monthly Coffee Bean gatherings are encouraged, but not necessary, to Dani Cao: xdancao@gmail.com
We will be meeting every last Wednesday of the month, same time, same place. Here are the dates for the rest of 2006:
Wednesday, July 26 •
Wednesday, August 30 •
Wednesday, September 27
• Wednesday, October 25
• Wednesday, November 29 • and
Wednesday, December 27 (for those of us stuck alone in Shanghai over the holidays)
In addition to these regular get-togethers, we will be holding seminars
and other events on the second Wednesday of each month, place and topic
to be announced later.
2006 President Selected
Maria Trombly |
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Maria Trombly was chosen as
this year's SEG president after a completely undemocratic process at
the April Coffee Bean get-together. One of the first items on her
agenda is to create a successful plan so that the 2007 president is
chosen in a fair and open way.
Last year, Trombly served as
auditor for the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club. She's also served
as president of the New England chapter of the Society of Professional
Journalists and as chair of the SPJ's International Journalism
Committee. She was also treasurer of the New England local of the
National Writers Union.
She heads a company, incorporated
in Hong Kong, which provides business articles to dozens of leading
trade publications in the US and other countries, including
Computerworld, Managing Automation, Securities Industry News, CIO
Magazine, and Furniture Today.
Mailing List Struggles
 The
SEG current has three different email lists -- with Yahoo! Groups,
Google Groups, and a third list stored in an Excel spreadsheet.
We're trying to clear up this
confusion and the attendant communication problems by standardizing
everything on one list -- with Google Groups -- which seems to have the
best access in China. As soon as we straighten things out, we'll be
sending an announcement to everybody.
2005 Board
SEG board members Fall, 2005 |
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Last year's board members continue
to be active in the Shanghai Entrepreneur Group. Gary Shaben, far
right, is President Emeritus, and we hope that he'll be able to find
time to continue to serve on our board of directors along with Paul Qu,
2004 SEG President.
The board put together some great
events in 2005 in addition to the regular coffee hours. We hope to
continue that tradition this year and the next. Please see the archive pages for photos from past events.
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