Venture Leaders China: Captain's Blog by Piavita CEO Dorina Theiss

?? for the winning pitch! #SUChamps audience votes @dorina_thiess to captain the #VLeadersChina team, which mingles with startup supporters at the apèro. pic.twitter.com/djkuFtCBz9

— Venturelab (@venturelab_ch) May 23, 2019

The next weeks were driven by travel preparations and getting Chinese materials: business descriptions and business cards. It's a new experience to distribute content about yourself without knowing what it says. I was getting more and more excited for the trip.

 

Let’s do this!

 

Monday, June 24th: on my way to the airport. I am following-up some initial contacts and sharing new of the trip, trying to arrange individual meetings in-between the overall program. Swissnex China's helped a lot, and announcing oneself as part of a Swiss startup delegation definitely opens doors. At the airport, meeting the other founders: everyone is excited. I try to care for 'my' team, sneaking them ice-creams from the business lounge.

 

Little did I know that the seven hours I slept on the plane, would be the longest for the next 12 days! Landing at 4 p.m. in Hong Kong after a smooth flight, we collected our luggage, left the airport (puh, hot and humid here!) and climbed into the bus straight to our first pitch evening at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

 

I am pumped, feel prepared and excited, and can finally focus fully on this trip. The first quick dinner-on-the-go with some team mates, then up onto the first stage. I get a better understanding about the other startups' businesses and the first fruitful discussions between us evolve.

 

Pitching to an Asian audience for the first time feels still a bit unfamiliar. But the crowd, wow! We give speed-dating a new meaning: in 30 minutes I collect around ten business cards of potential investors and business partners (Hong Kong is one of THE hotspots for horse racing worldwide) and off we go back to the bus and cross the boarder to mainland China

We arrive late at a wonderful hotel in Shengzhen, stop to toast our arrival with a quick midnight drink at the bar and fall into bed afterwards. The journey has only just started.

 

The tight program starts!

We're used to long working days and short nights, so everyone is there at 7 for breakfast and we're ready for more new insights, with two company visits on the agenda. Both visits (to Colibri Technologies, an automation company with Swiss roots, and to DJI, the world's leading drone startup) offered amazing insights into their global impact. After a traditional Chinese lunch with experimentation possibilities, we continued to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It's a really impressive scene, with our pitches being broadcast live.
 

Later, back at the hotel, a few of us felt adventurous enough to look for a nice, original Chinese restaurant - well, we failed! We were literally lost in translation without our local lifeline, Simin, who covered everything and guided us safely through the jungle of Chinese signs.

We got this!

 

A short night and an early morning (I decided for 30 mins more sleep instead of breakfast): off to Shanghai, wohoo! The delayed flight cost us our free afternoon, so no sightseeing, but straight to SOHO! Cool building, fancy interior, the real startup environment - and again a full house for our pitch night. We are on a roll, the pitches get better and better, and you can feel how we become more confident. And our beloved magician Maurizio ("It’s physics, not magic!") from Touchless Automation wins the night's pitch trophy: well deserved!

 

By now we really know each other's startups - are are able to refer to each other during networking, and to celebrate first successes with customer deals together as a team. An amazing night at a wonderful restaurant, with view over Shanghai follows and after just a few days, the group is more and more connected and I appreciate every moment. We try bribing Jordi for a few hours more sleep - but no chance as the morning train to Changzhou is already booked.

 

Pitch. Network. Sleep (?). Repeat.

 

Ok, that morning is blurry, is it even possible for the nights to get even shorter? Luckily, we have a full hour's train ride to catch up with some emails (yes, business back home doesn’t stop either) and enjoy a rather relaxed program with a company visit, lunch, and transfer to the Swiss Innovation Day event. By now, we know each other's pitches by heart.

 

Next morning (and yes, it was early), we are off to coaching sessions. Walking through the city sounds like a great idea, as we all long to see a bit of the architecture, but arrive rather soaked (so, so humid, but amazing to look around a bit) at the Rouse consultancy building for training on business, IP, and fundraising in China. The Venture Leaders prove their multi-tasking skill, listening and learning while also answering emails to our head-quarters.

 

That afternoon, we had the chance to fill our own schedule and although we are all exhausted, nobody wanted to miss the chance to create some individual connections. I sneacked in a roadtrip to one of the most famous and prestigious equine centers in China. My first insight: this truly celebrates horses. A truly insightful and very impressive afternoon of fruitful discussions with the veterinarians on site. Emails on the way back and a head full of inspirations, business ideas, and so much to tell the team back home.

 

To finish the day, a late dinner back in Shanghai with the Venture Leaders. It feels more like a good meeting with friends after an exhausting business day. What an experience.

 

Can it even get better...?

 

And another highlight of the trip follows. Early start (I guess I don’t have to emphasize this anymore) next morning and we are off to Dalian, as we're invited to join the World Economic Forum! One interesting session after the other, television and radio interviews, high-calibre speakers and workshops, and world-class meeting and networking opportunities.

 

One of the biggest happenings for me: the cultural soirée which is one of the weirdest and most wonderful presentation of China's top-class acts and food. And not to forget the amazing networking opportunities at the evening events. It's hard to take - you just can't do it all. I think now we could even go on without ever sleeping, the 'Venture Robots' take every meeting they can.

 

And then: our very own Swiss Incubator @WEF Event on the tennis court of the Conrad Hotel. What a scene, what a setting. It was such an honour to present our startup in this prestigious circle. And it is incredible to see how good everyone's pitches have become. We all know them by heart now and can silently mouth-along with everyone on stage. And Piavita is even the winner of the night, I am flying through the evening and am overwhelmed by everything we are allowed to experience.

 

The next day, we transfer to Beijing (yes, short night) and have a few more hours for our own meetings. Swissnex did an amazing job helping everyone of us individually to meet potential business partner. So that afternoon, I was able to visit a horse ranch and meet some of the leading players in China's equine associations.

 

The big endgame

 

If we thought we had an intense program before, we didn't know yet what the last day in Beijing would be like. A full program of pitching at universities and at Plug and Play, then our presentation highlight at the Swiss Embassy in Beijing. It is very warm, we are all exhausted, but we are just rocking it and I am truly emotional when the evening came to an end. We spend an amazing last night (no sleep) in the bars of Beijing and go straight to the airport the next morning.

 

The Venture Leaders China trip was one of the most unique experiences of my business life so far. I don’t think there is a better, or more intense, way for a startup to experiencing China in 12 days. This trip brought me as many connections and insights as I could only have dreamt of - and in addition some very valuable connections with other Swiss startups and new friends.

 

I especially thank everyone who contributed to the success of this program. A special thanks go out to all the organisers - Jordi, Felix, Frans, Simin, Chenchen, Jonas, Niko, and the teams at Venturelab and swissnex China, to all partners and sponsors, and to the nine other fantastic Venture Leaders China 2019.

Venture Leaders China 2019 winners