Hsu Heng Wen

1908 (Jiansu Province, China) - July 27, 2010 (Taiwan)

I miss you Wai Gong.

Week 7 - Websites, branding, incorporation

It seems that a lot of people around here in China are in some stage of starting a business.  A business could be anything from an idea to an ongoing, revenue-generating company.  It's therefore easy to continue "working on an idea" for a long long time.  Of course easier if you have another source of income :)  I didn't want to be like that and wanted to stay on a project timeline.  Part of that was because of my own anal nature but also because I always kind of blew off people who used a business idea as an excuse to be a bum.  Also, my business partner would only be around for 2 months and I needed to make sure that he was putting in as much as he could, which would only happen if I was driving and working harder.

So, we have had a rough project plan with some milestones, but mainly just continuing to move the ball.  Then about 2 weeks ago, I saw a notice for the annual Shanghai Expatriate (Expat) Fair.  Here's the description:

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The Expat Show Shanghai is the biggest gathering of the foreign community with over 12,000 visitors set to attend. The show was created to serve as a platform for over 200 exhibitors to promote their services and products to make the lives of expatriates living in Shanghai easier, not only that but the show is host to many activities such as 'Live Performances', 'Mom and Babies Fair' and a 'Private Kindergarten' to allow for an enjoyable day for all the family. Already in its 4th edition, the 'The Expat Show Shanghai' is further expanding with the inclusion of the 'Cuisine Festival' which will bring over 60 exhibitors from the culinary world, it will bring prestigious restaurants, chocolate and wine tasting as well as the chance to cook with some of the best chefs in France. This year's edition is not to be missed, so make sure you attend!

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The mark was on the wall.  It seemed a little bit daunting.  We have no partners.  We lack clarity on our offerings.  We haven't tested on customers.  We have a company name but no branding, logo, or website.  We are not incorporated.  Hey, let's do it anyways.

So, now that's the pressure.  Working pretty hard now.  We have one intern, who is a finance PhD student at Jiaotong University and my business partner working part-time.  He has a very similar job to what I used to have -- Director of Strategy and Business Development for a global firm.  He's really good at networking and is an idea guy, but tends to shy away from actual hands on operations -- working with vendors, doing customer interviews, hunting down supplies, creating marketing content.  My dad is in town for a month and also is helping.  With a background in botany and as a former science teacher, he's a natural to help with questions around mold, water quality, etc, so I've given him a list of 4 things to focus on.  He tends to get distracted easily, so hopefully, he can stay on target.

So, am knocking down the different requirements needed before launch one at a time.  Yesterday was website and logo.  I went to meet with a French-Chinese design company here in Shanghai yesterday.  They were quite thorough and professional in walking me through the website creation process.  My contact suggested a few page designs and will provide a full quote to me later today.  Interestingly, he suggested that I move my hosting from GoDaddy.com in the US to a Hong Kong based server to improve search engine optimization.  The thought is that most expats in China use google and google currently redirects through HK and HK-based websites get a higher score than those based in other companies.  

Last night, I also took my brother's (and another friend's) advice to "crowd source".  Instead of trying to design our own logo (impossible since I'm not creative) or go to a design company, you essentially post a reward and a community of designers submits ideas.  For $200 ($270 with fees), you can get  20-50 ideas.  It's a great way to get a wide variety of ideas.  So I went to 99designs.com and posted a description of the company, our target market, and some of my preliminary ideas and the reverse auction will go for a week.  That, in turn, will drive the website.  You can also do this for website, but I think since our website is pretty simple, I may just go with a single local company that I can iterate with.  Interestingly, when I brought up crowd-sourcing to the design firm I met with, I expected them to scoff at it or talk about how bad the quality would be.  The guy did not.  He sort of thought about it, said that he could not go as low as the design price at the bottom tier ($495), but that they wouldn't be that far off.  Music to my ears!

Ok, onto trying to get a vendor slot at the fair now...

My three week US tour

So, I've been in the US for the past week or so, going from city to city seeing friends and family, meeting with potential business partners, and still spending a few hours each day plugging away at the business prep. I am hoping that by mid-September, when school has just started, we will be ready for a "soft opening", meaning that we will have preliminary marketing materials ready, website up, business named, and partners in place and tested. We'll start with friends and family in Shanghai at cost.

This trip, I will be in the following places:

NH - Sarah's folks and brother and sis-in-law and their ultra cute kid Ozzy. Man, NH is beautiful!

Boston - Spent a scorching July 4th with Sarah B and her family up in their place on the water on the North shore. Two kids are doing great and I am amazed how much the little one, Eliza, can talk. Then couple days with my uncle and aunt in Lincoln. Last few days will be staying with my buddy John and his wife in downtown. Was hoping to go diving (even brought some of my gear), but my dive buddy Bill suddenly got busy with work and I'll probably stay dry (sad no lobster diving this time around). Instead, the old dive gang (Bill, John, and Don) will go shooting at the range and then grab dinner. Got to see college buddy Joe before he moves down to NJ. I'm also here for my friend Paul's wedding (after 8 years of engagement!) and did karaoke last night with him and some friends.

Work wise, Sarah and I went to check out the house, moved stuff out of the attic and basement to go up to NH, and cleaned up around the property. After 7 months on the market, we are ready to drop the price if that's what's needed to sell. Selling it for less than we bought it 8 years ago is a bitter pill to swallow, but it's just too painful a process managing from overseas and the longer it sits vacant, the more likely the house will continue to have things happen to it. Bright spot is that our neighbor, the 22yr old punk and part-time pot dealer, has bought a house in Roxbury and will be moving out. FINALLY.

I also visited a well-established environmental company started by a Harvard professor. I was referred to the Harvard professor through a recent grad I met in Shanghai. The company is doing pretty much what we're looking to do, though they are light years ahead. After meeting with two of their folks for about 2 hrs, we agreed that there was a potential partnership or some way of working together. I came back with some ideas and the next step is for us to provide them a concrete business plan, resumes and some references. It's new ground for me and a little bit scary, but also exciting.

New York: Will be taking the Chinatown bus to spend a few days with Isaac and Jaime. Might try and see one or two other old friends.

San Francisco: Last stop on the US tour. Will spend 5 days with brother Loren and finally get to hang out with his darling daughter, possibly the cutest 2 year old in the world. I'll also stay with cousin Lyz, although I'll see her in less than a month in Indonesia. And, will hang out with college roommate Anton. He's one of our regular college pack that does an annual roadtrip. But this year looks like the trip may be in jeopardy, so it will be good that I've been able to see all of them on this trip.

Grandpa's ups and down's

I haven't updated on Wai Gong recently. After leaving Yangzhou (he was there for 6 weeks), he was in good shape -- potentially a slight lung infection, but he was alert and fever had broken. We were primarily moving him to Taiwan for better hospice care and physical therapy.

He was escorted there by two uncles. From that point on, I had to rely on email updates and the occasional phone call to Taiwan. Things started going downhill about 3 weeks ago. The stories about the elderly having a major surgery or stay in the hospital and never leaving seemed to be coming true. The lung infection developed into a type of pneumonia, and the difficulty in breathing led to pain and sort of a half-asleep, half-waking state. He also developed edema, a stomach ulcer, and even a fracture was identified in his neck. Doctors decided to move him to the ICU.

The whole family (mother's generation) managed to get out to Taiwan to be with him in case it was time for him to go. Displaying his typical spirit however, he refused to go so easily, and has sort of bounced back. The latest is another uptick for the better:

"This is a milestone day for yeye; doctor removed the breathing tube this afternoon without any problem. He had a couple days of "practice" before this. When I saw yeye at 2, and again at 7, he was breathing normally with oxygen mask and the O2 sat was 98%. Doctor said he is doing fine and if everything goes well he will move yeye out of ICU to regular floor on Monday.

He had the dialysis yesterday late in the day. This morning doctor told us that 5 kg of fluid was removed from his body, and the chest x-ray showed much improvement. Based on that the doctor made his decision for removing the tube. Except for his left hand, he does not show much sign of edema. His left hand (paralyzed from the stroke?) still is pretty swolllen and the skin is shiny. I will ask the doctor in the morning if there is anything can be done since dialysis apparently did not work on the left hand.

Yeye is still very weak, but he would open his eyes (barely) when we tell him who we are. He can not talk yet. At one point tonight, he gestured with his hand and we thought he wanted to write. We put a pen in his hand but he was too weak to even hold the pen. Nurse wants us to continue to work with him moving his joints, which is what Isaac and I did every time we visited him.

Tomorrow I will leave yeye and head back to US. I am hesitating telling him that in fear that he might react badly. Since there will be at least one family member at his bed side for the next couple weeks, I may decide not to tell him that I am leaving. If he asks (hope), whoever is with him can just tell him that chung ping had to go back home to take care of Billie."

A lot of people pulling for him, but we've also come to the conclusion that we just want the pain and suffering to be minimized and don't want to push our desire for him to go on onto him if it involves more trauma. In the past, he's indicated many times his desire to go. It's in divine hands now.

Powerpoint Ranger no longer

I was doing some financial projections on the company (seductively easy to do when you haven't even chosen a company name yet!) and wanted to do a projected value of the company in 3 years.  I had to refer back to notes from business school on how to do this and popped open an old powerpoint.  I then realized that it has been over 3 weeks since I've opened Powerpoint.  I don't think I've gone that long since college!

And I ain't complain'.

Wanted: Advisor or subject matter expert

Hey guys,

My top priority right now is to find a subject matter expert who I can ask questions and who has experience being in my shoes. Ideally, it is someone who runs his own company doing indoor air quality testing and remediation, but could also be someone who is in the business as a customer (ie. a building management company, facilities management, a developer, etc).

Ideally it's also someone who has few ties to China and wouldn't consider taking this idea and running with it themselves. I'm willing to pay a consulting fee for the right person who could serve as an advisor.

If you guys know of anyone who might fit the bill, please let me know... or if you have suggestions on how to find someone.

Thanks!

Goodbye corporate life

This marks the second week of being self-employed. I guess I should say "self-unemployed" to be more accurate. Although I am still officially on the payroll until the end of the month, my last day at work was a little more than a week ago.

That I walked away from my comfy job as Director of Strategy and Business Development (Asia) for a Fortune 100 global information company without another job lined up might be a little surprising to some of you who know me. Since graduating from college, I've always been part of a big organization, a cog in the wheel, making my way up the ladder. It's probably in my nature to like groups where it's clear where you stand and where you have a place and can see how advance. Heck, it surprises myself, but this isn't something I came to lightly.

I hadn't felt passion for my job for awhile. Despite the nice title, being in senior management, and being able to travel around the globe on the company dime, I just didn't feel that I was making a tremendous impact. At the risk of sounding corny, I've never had a clearly defined career track -- I've only felt that as long as I was learning something new each day, and could justify my paycheck at the end of the day, I was on the right path.

I wasn't feeling this, and the deployment last year made me feel it even more acutely. Last year at this time, I was helping in a tangible way to improving the rebuilding of Iraq and getting our guys out of a war. People were coming up to me, commenting on the value of the information I was getting out or the training sessions, and despite some of the conditions, I was having fun and looking forward to more days than not.

I hoped that coming back to work, I'd be more refreshed and ready to go. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case -- within a few days, it felt like I had never left. When you start thinking that you wish you were back in a war zone, it usually means that something is wrong. Part of this was just the nature of the function I did -- strategy guys are usually happiest when they accept the fact that they are advice providers, not doers. If they can deal with the fact that they can't control what gets implemented, they're ok. I didn't like that and tended to try to get my hands dirty. Being in a regional role is also tough -- you're squeezed in the middle between the global business unit that makes the product strategy and the country owners who choose what they want to execute. So, frequently, I felt like I was either relabeling strategy and just repackaging stuff, or if I came out with a particular direction, I would sometimes find that the countries were actually doing something totally different. Covering so many different country markets in my job also meant that I tended to be spread pretty thin. It was all pretty unsatisfying.

I had intended on giving notice in June, but a talent review forced my hand, since I didn't want to make my boss look stupid by not giving him a heads up. It went very quickly. Once I confidentially told one person in the company (the global HR head), I had taken a step that couldn't be taken back and it was a big relief. From then, I had to have the conversation with my boss, which was pretty painful, but in the end I just told him that my heart wasn't in it and it was better for him to find someone who could better meet his expectations.

The last 3 weeks was essentially transitioning and tying up loose ends. I was looking forward to taking a couple months off to travel, work on personal projects, and figure out what I wanted to do, but it was weird. As soon as i decided to leave my company, a lot of other opportunities started popping up from all directions -- headhunters, friends, relatives. It was a relief -- I didn't even really remember how to job search. But, I decided that I wanted to go all the way to the other end of the spectrum and try something entrepreneurial. I always had a lot of respect for people who went their own way, and having missed the whole internet boom in the late 90s, I thought that if I went to some corporate post during the China wild rush, I'd never forgive myself, especially while I didn't have a big family to rely on me and Sarah could be my sugar mommy.

So what instead? I sat down and brainstormed one day on a plane. I made a list of growing market trends (Chinese domestic tourism, real estate values, the education market), what I had to offer (consulting skills, services know-how, insight into the expat market), and what I was interested in (travel, operational roles, socially-redeeming activities). A few ideas popped up, but nothing breathtaking.

Then, on the way back from a golf trip in the Philippines with a good buddy (also a b-school classmate, though a few years earlier), he brought up an idea he had come up with but had never put into play. The idea was basically around being an indoor environmental (air, water) testing and remediation (correcting the problem) company serving the expat market. He had come upon this idea when he himself was trying to get his apartment tested and found no good companies that could help him navigate the different environmental hazards, recommend what tests he needed to get, and help tell him how to fix the problem.

I enjoy discussing business ideas (screening good and bad ideas was a big part of my job before), so we went at it at 20k feet (literally) and by the time we landed, I was pretty excited. There was an good market opportunity, it was not capital intensive (therefore not very risky), and I had someone who I could work with for a couple months before he went back to the states.

So, over the past month or so, we have been doing all the groundwork of building a business, from coming up with an offering document, doing market research, scanning for partners, understanding business incorporation options, preparing marketing, talking to potential customers, and pricing. Some of this was what I might have done before, but only on a project plan for someone else to do, and now that this is for myself, it's really a lot of fun. There will be a lot more to do, but succeed or fail, I will learn a lot from this venture, so I'm quite excited and have few regrets about making the leap.

I'll continue to make updates to this -- it might serve as a record to myself later on of the lessons I'm learning! Please weigh in with comments or suggestions, especially from anyone with experience in doing their own business or who might know something about the indoor environmental testing business.

Things I learned about the Chinese Medical System

So, over the past month, I've had the chance to make some first-hand observations about medicine in China. Some of it is good, some bad, some just comical...

1. Incredibly cheap - 30 days of inpatient care in a semi-private room, total hip replacement surgery, all drugs, and stroke care cost only about $7000 US.
2. That said, You sometimes get what you pay for
3. Concept of PT and rehab doesn't really exist here
4. Most hospice care comes from the patient's family, not nurses. Feed patients yourself, have to call when IV bottles are complete
5. Don't understand what doctors have to do. Dr. Dong was always around, then also went home for long lunches.
6. Learned how to move patients around on a bed, clean them, put a bedpan in, use a pee bottle and catheter, give an enema, and use a tube to reduce gas buildup

Catching up on lost time - PT 1, Grand Dad's woes

I'm long overdue for an update, as a few significant events have happened in the past several months.

First, my grandfather on my mom's side (Wai Gong) came for a visit to China and had some major medical incidents while here. He had done this trip many times, as recently as just a year ago. My mother was also here. They all wanted to see the World Expo and to go visit our distant relatives in Yangzhou, about 4 hours' bus ride from Shanghai.

It was great to see Wai Gong -- he had been a big part of my childhood, raising me for a year in Taiwan when I was 7. For a 102 yr old guy, he was still getting around on a cane, and had a razor-sharp mind. It was also great for him to see Sarah -- she hadn't seen him (or the rest of my family) in probably 5 years or so.

Then in Yangzhou, WG slipped in the bathroom and broke his hip. Not only was it broken, it was seriously crushed (as I saw from the xrays). Most people know that a broken hip is a serious injury for elderly people, due to the complications from surgery, possible infection during bedrest, and likelihood of further reduced mobility even if everything goes right. Adding in his age and worse, the fact that this was happening in a third tier Chinese city, and our worst nightmares seemed to be unfolding.

Fortunately, one of our relatives (the husband of my mom's uncle's daughter), a young, serious guy by the name of Dong Xiancheng, is an orthopedic doctor at Yangzhou's best hospital, a large new hospital built in the past several years. The Chinese guanxi system kicked in to our benefit as he was able to fast track WG to get surgery that night, with two department heads doing the surgery and anesthesia.

The surgery was a huge success. They did an entire hip replacement and WG was not only conscious afterwards, but quite alert and even cracked a joke or two. The next few days were tough as the pain set in, but WG was handling it. I did learn that the Chinese medical system operates quite differently than the hospitals in the US, but it was nothing we couldn't overcome and will many family members there to help out, we managed ok.

Mom and I left 4 or 5 days after the accident. WG was stabilized and we had set up care and funding for the Yangzhou family to start rehabilitating him. I had to get back to work, but arranged to come back in about a week. While I was in Shanghai, I was in daily contact with the YZ family and handling correspondence for all the worried family back in the US.

WG was making real progress -- he had managed to start walking again, and I was able to speak with him on the phone (surprising given that he's pretty deaf now). Then, the helper noticed that WG was simply spacing out, and she called the doctor. WG was unresponsive and they diagnosed a stroke. I arrived the day after this and everyone had long faces -- WG had lost movement in his left side and was in a haze.

During the next week, we stayed with him night and day and he passed in and out of lucidity. Nighttime was particularly bad, as he would wake up yelling for me, just to ask a question, or say he had to pee, etc. He even lost control of basic bodily functions and I became pretty good at being a hospital orderly :)

It was very depressing to see him like this. It was hardest not knowing whether there was more that we should be doing for him. Although my initial mission going back to YZ was to ensure he was getting physical therapy (without which he could be crippled for the rest of his life), it soon became clear that this was not the priority. WG had a high fever and the doctors could not figure out what the cause was. We also didn't trust the conflicting opinions and advice like, "Just have him eat porridge" (which has very little nutritional value). Eventually, we decided to evacuate him to Taiwan when he was stabilized for better care and the challenge was trying to get the airline to accept an invalid and also on how to minimize the risk of something happening to him while in transit.

Uncle Steve and Larry worked that angle, while I worked the China side. On the day I was to leave (had a long planned business trip I couldn't avoid), Steve was to arrive. I got the best surprise. Overnight, WG's fever broke and he was much more alert. He not only was asking a lot of questions, but he could actually move his left leg (not his hand though). It was so amazing and unexpected that I felt like crying. He was very mentally sharp -- remembered where I was going for my business trip, remarked that he felt much more alert, asked for specific foods (complained about the boring porridge), and waved to a little boy in the elevator when he was going to get his CT scan. The CT scan confirmed the stroke, but the doctors were quite happy and were hopeful for a recovery.

At this point, I left WG in the uncles' hands. They got him to Taiwan, where WG was diagnosed with a minor infection (perhaps pneumonia) in his lungs, edema in his feet. He now had better nursing, though it is not certain that the medical advice or diagnosis was necessarily better. He was taking his PT seriously and was able to increase the strength in his left leg significantly (though not much improvement in his left hand still).

He complained of neck ache and still had slight fevers, and then the doctors prescribed colchichine, some drug, which seemed to relieve all of these symptoms. So, other than his left hand, WG has made all in all, a remarkable recovery. With all these ups and downs, it has been a lot of trials and tribulations for the family, but everyone has found a way to pitch in, whether from Mom managing a running tab of expenses, to Uncles Steve and Larry putting their very busy work lives on hold to come to take him to Taiwan and take care of him there, to Uncle Ark and Aunt Agnes scheduled to watch him for the next several weeks. One other person, who I had never met before, Yu Shi Hua ("Yu Jiu Ma") has been amazing. She is 78, but is incredibly energetic and caring. She was helping me arrange the whole family visit to Shanghai, but stepped up big in the crisis and has consistently shown up in a low-key way to help out. I'm really glad I met her and hope to become closer to their family. The family in Yangzhou, Uncle Zhong Bo, his wife, and Uncle Zhong Ning, have been tireless in their efforts, and of course Dr. Dong...to this day, i don't know what kind of medical system allows him to spend so much time at the bedside of a family member. I often wondered what happened to his own patients!

So, WG will remain in Taiwan for the next several months recuperating and doing physical therapy. I can only hope that he continues to surprise us in the way he has been.