view the past east asia tour 2016 agenda

 GEEKS ON A PLANE EAST ASIA #GOAP #500STRONG April 5­16, 2016 Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Taipei & Tokyo www.geeksonaplane.com ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW TABLE OF CONTENTS DETAILED AGENDA April 5 (Tuesday) — HANGZHOU DAY 1 April 6 (Wed) — HANGZOU DAY 2 April 7 (Thurs) — HANGZHOU > HONG KONG DAY 1 April 8 (Friday) — HONG KONG > SHENZHEN DAY 1 April 9 (Saturday) — SHENZHEN DAY 2 April 10 (Sunday) — SHENZHEN DAY 3 April 11 (Monday) — SHENZHEN > TAIPEI DAY 1 April 12 (Tuesday) — TAIPEI DAY 2 April 13 (Wednesday) — TAIPEI DAY 3 April 14 (Thursday) — TAIPEI > TOKYO DAY 1 April 15 (Friday) — TOKYO DAY 2 April 16 (Saturday) — TOKYO DAY 3 April 17 (Sunday) — TOKYO DAY 4 IMPORTANT INFO FLIGHT DETAILS CONTACTS, COMMUNICATIONS, & WI­FI COMMON PHRASE​
S CURRENCY CONVERTER TIPPING PASSPORT VISAS WEATHER RECOMMENDED PACKING LIST STAYING HEALTHY LAST ITEM MEET THE GEEKS MEET 500 STAFF 2 GET READY TO GET YOUR GEEK ON April 5 (Tuesday) — HANGZHOU DAY 1 Arrive in Hangzhou (does not apply to all geeks) TAXI INFO​
: All geeks responsible for their own transport to the JW Marriot ­ English­speaking cab drivers will be able to give you a ride to the hotel in Hangzhou for $20 USD 2:00­2:30PM Meet in Lobby of JW Marriott hotel to go to Alibaba HOTEL ADDRESS:​
​
JW Marriott Hangzhou Hotel: 中国 浙江 杭州 拱墅区湖墅南路 28 号, 邮编 310006 JW MARRIOTT PHONE #​
: +86 571 8578 8888 2:30­3:30 PM Bus from JW Marriott to Alibaba 3:30­6:30 PM EXCLUSIVE (!!!) ALIBABA VISIT & WETLANDS WALK >> For security reasons, you MUST be on the bus with us in order to visit Alibaba. If you're not on the bus with the group, Alibaba will not allow you to join the tour. Alibaba.com​
is the leading platform for global wholesale trade, serving millions of buyers and suppliers around the world. We are getting an EXCLUSIVE tour by Peter Stern from the US Investments Department at Alibaba. AGENDA 3:30pm­4:00pm Walking into campus/Going through security 4:00­4:45pm Presentation: Video of Alibaba’s development and IPO story history & 3 current business + Q&A 4:45­5:05pm Interactive Demonstration of real time data wall­­command center to track Alibaba global business 5:05­5:45pm​
Interactive Demonstration of real time data wall­­command center to track Alibaba global business 5:45­6:30pm A campus ‘walk’ across the Taobao bridge and through Wetlands area. Alibaba gift shop & coffee break in the lobby of Building 3 6:30­7:00 Bus from Alibaba to Dinner at Xixi Hotel 7:00­9:00 PM HANGZHOU ECOSYSTEM OVERVIEW + GOAP “WOOHOO!” WELCOME DINNER, HOSTED BY HANGZHOU GOVT Kick­off with Ecosystem overview, dinner with table topics available ADDRESS:​
Xixi Hotel­­No.803 Wen'er West Road, West Lake District, Hangzhou 西湖区文二西路803号 9:00 ­ 9:40 PM Bus back to the JW Marriott April 6 (Wed) — HANGZHOU DAY 2 7:00­ 8:00 AM Breakfast at JW Marriott Hangzhou hotel 8:00­ 9:30 AM Bus from JW Marriott to Future Sci­Tech City ADDRESS: ​
未来科技城梦想小镇会议室 9:30­10:30 AM ISN’T IT DREAMY? HANGZHOU’S FUTURE SCI­TECH CITY & ACCELERATOR TOUR [​
Cue Guns N’ Roses​
] “Take me down to Hangzhou’s Sci­Tech City where the grass is green and the geeks are geeky…” Hangzhou Future Sci­Tech City​
(also known as, “Dream Town”) is the innovation and venture platform for oversea high­level talents, established specially by Hangzhou and Zhejiang government in order to profoundly implement the national talents strategy, improve scientific and technological innovation ability, and accelerate the economic transformation. We will visit two accelerators in the Future Sci­Tech City campus, given by Kuan Yan, a representative of Dream Town. Bay West Accelerator​
is the biggest accelerator in Dream Town. It’s founded by serial entrepreneurs Fangyi and Jennifer, Forbes 30 under 30 elite Ruan Hao, Fudi Science Park and Liyuan Venture Capital and Fengrui Investment. They organize international startup competition, Silicon Valley, Cambridge exchange tours many times. Bay West provide everything a team needs from product, management, market, sales to fundraising and legal. 4 Beehive Accelerator​
is funded by Ricebank, jointly established by two founders of Alibaba Group which management team consists of Ali top management and top constructive investors who will devote themselves to helping new generation of entrepreneurs become the leaders in China even in the world. Projects in Beehive are focused on smart hardware, mobile internet technology and O2O services. (Operational note: This tour will end at the next event's venue.) 10:30 AM­12:00 PM FUTURE SCI­TECH CITY MENTOR MASH 13 co’s (curated by Sci­Tech City) will be matched with Geeks for a series of 20­minute "speed mentoring" sessions. We’ll close with mentor sharing (15­20 mins). The co’s we’ll be mentoring are… Kiwi:​
A freelancer platform­based on LBS and label searching talent bank in mobile age SunWo Medical Management:​
All of the world’s best medical resources, for the protection of your health Hangzhou Liufan Technology Co.Ltd.:​
A startup company that’s dedicated in changing the traditional health industry with the Internet WeRide: ​
A consumer­consumer riding resources sharing platform, which is to provide better, safer riding experience for all­level riders. NativeTalk:​
An app that pairs students learning English with native English speakers Healthy&Delicious Network Technology Co.Ltd:​
Produces an app called "MostYouth“ to help university students achieve personal development and a career plan Paintmore:​
A painting party service platform creating a totally new social experience for our customers Hangzhou Jingyun Netcom Science & Technology Co., Ltd.:​
Provides high­tech Internet services to minor enterprises all over the country Hangzhou Samdi Technology co., LTD.:​
3D design, 3D printing services, post processing, reverse engineering, production type mold production and small batch production Hangzhou Express Educational Technology Co., Ltd.​
:​
Provides primary students through adults English online and offline training YOUSHI Technology:​
A smart hardware research and design company ­­ the 5 main product, EPRAM, can transform the normal pushchair into an intelligent robot Zhejiang Lanmai E­commerce Co., LTD.:​
We collect all kinds of native specialties and sell them to comparatively developed cities in China through the Toomao APP NetstarSoft LLC:​
Developed a suit of virtual try­on software services (VTRY) with computer vision & virtual technology that allows business clients to enable their web product listing to be virtually triable online and allows consumers to enjoy the shopping experience like they do in a real store 12:00­1:00 PM LUNCH BREAK & FUTURE SCI­TECH CITY SOCIAL 1:00­2:00 PM Bus from Future Sci­Tech City to West Lake Tour 2:00­3:00 PM PRIVATE WEST LAKE BOAT TOUR Serene West Lake is a freshwater lake boasting​
numerous ​
temples​
, pagodas​
,​
gardens​
, and artificial islands within the lake. West Lake has influenced poets​
and ​
painters​
throughout ​
Chinese history​
for its natural beauty and historic relics, and it has also been among the most important sources of inspiration for Chinese garden​
designers. 4:00­5:30 PM BY GEORGE, I THINK WE’VE FOUND A UNICORN! MOGUJIE VISIT Mogujie​
is one of China’s biggest fashion­focused e­commerce services with an app called Mogu — a social commerce fashion app targeting young audiences in the Western market. Mogujie is valued at about $1.7 billion. ADDRESS: 西湖区古墩路99号浙商财富中心A座(1F北门大厅) AGENDA 4:00­4:15pm Tour of Mogujie office 4:15­4:20pm Opening by 500 (Rui Ma, Partner, 500 Startups) 4:20­­4:40pm Founder of 淘世界－intro Mogujie & 淘世界 4:40­­5:00pm MOGU Overseas Branding Director talk 5:00­5:30pm Q&A Session Topic: Crossborder E­commerce (market size, buyer demographics, products to sell, business models, etc.） 5:30­7:00 PM Bus from Mogujie to Dinner — Hosted by West Lake Ventures ADDRESS: 高新区（滨江）国家海外高层次人才创新创业基地 滨江区六合路368号海创基地 7:00­9:00 PM GRAB THEM BIZ CARDS: INVESTOR DINNER, HOSTED BY WEST LAKE VENTURES 9:00­9:30 PM Bus back to the JW Marriott 6 9:30 PM­Onward NIGHT ON THE TOWN: CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE (4 OPTIONS) 1. JZ Club 黄楼 / Jazz Lounge​
— At the Hangzhou branch of the renowned Shanghai jazz performance and education establishment, expect class, sophistication and some of the best jazz in the country. Foreign and Chinese vocalists and musicians grace the JZ Club’s sensuous, red­velvet­draped stage, fronted by tables filled with wine drinkers and cigar aficionados.Prices are better than average and so is the talent. Address：​
杭州柳营路6号（南山路266号旁） tel：0571­87028298­­No.6 Liuying Lu, near Nanshan Lu (open time=6:30 pm­2:30 am) 2. KTV Chun K / Karaoke —​
No Chinese nightlife listing would be complete without a place to indulge in the national nocturnal pastime: karaoke at KTV. The Taiwan­based KTV brand has branches in most major cities across China, but Hangzhou's lakeside branch can't be beat for sheer size, opulence, up­to­date, international song selection (nine languages), and full buffet bar. Reserve tables early on weekends. Address：​
纯K(西湖店) 0571­28805588 湖滨路50号西湖国贸中心(庆春路口) 11­15min drive from hotel 3. Aurora Cocktail Lounge 黄龙饭店​
/ Drink Drank...Drunk? (10 min drive from hotel) 西湖区 曙光路120号黄龙饭店 18158103232 4. ​
RELAX, Will Ya? ​
Get a massage: ● Dragonfly Spa悠庭保健会所(西溪路店) ● 悠庭保健会所(西溪路店)­­西溪路141号(黄龙雅苑正门口)0571­85023288－－
11 min drive from hotel （open till 12AM, please make reservation before hand） ● 千指梦SPA ● 学院路28号德力西大厦2号楼4­6楼(近天目山路口)0571­89738899­­12 min drive (open 24/7) 7 April 7 (Thurs) — HANGZHOU TO HONG KONG, DAY 1 11:05 AM ­ 1:30 PM Hangzhou (Hangzhou Arpt) ­ Hong Kong (Hong Kong Intl): Cathay Pacific ­ OPERATED BY HONG KONG DRAGON AIRLINE Flight #5627 1:30 PM ­ 2:30 PM Customs, collect bags 2:30 PM ­ 3:30 PM Bus from airport to InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong Hotel 3:30 PM ­ 4:30 PM Check in at InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong Hotel ADDRESS:​
70 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon 4:30 PM ­ 5:15 PM Get ready for dinner 5:15 PM ­ 6:00 PM Bus to investor dinner sponsored by CyberPort 6:00­10:00 PM HK ECOSYSTEM OVERVIEW + PREMONEY HONG KONG VIP DINNER & INVESTOR PROGRAM, PRODUCED BY 500 STARTUPS & CYBERPORT, IN PARTNERSHIP w/ KPMG HK Join us for our first­ever ​
PreMoney VIP Dinner & Investor Program​
in Hong Kong. Designed for investors by investors, the event will bring together 120+ VCs, angels, portfolio managers, corporate strategics & LPs to have real conversations and debates about disruption in venture capital, and how it’s affecting the markets in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong and China more broadly. AGENDA 6:00­6:30pm ­ Ecosystem Overview ● Casey Lau, ​
Co­Founder, StartupsHK 6:30­7:00pm ­ Networking Reception 7:00­7:15pm ­ Dinner Seating 7:15­7:25pm ­ Welcoming Remarks ● Herman Lam, CEO, Cyberport 7:25­7:30pm ­ TBA 7:30­8:00pm ­Investment Landscape & Trends: Global Update ● Rui Ma, Partner, 500 Startups 8:00­8:30pm ­ Fireside Chat ● Moderator: ​
Edith Yeung​
, Partner, 500 Startups ● Joe Wu​
, Founding Partner, mFund 8:30­9:00pm­ Investment Landscape & Trends: HK­China­Silicon Valley ● Moderator: ​
Sebastian Leotta​
, Director, Private Equity, KPMG ● Duncan Chiu​
, Managing Director, Radiant VC 8 ● Fritz Demopoulos​
, Founder/Managing Director, Queen's Road Capital ● Ran Makavy​
, Angel Investor & VP of Growth, Lyft 9:00­9:30pm ­ Keynote Talk ● Dave McClure, Founding Partner, 500 Startups 9:30­10:00pm ­ Dessert & Networking ADDRESS:​
100 Cyberport Road, Cyberport, Hong Kong 10:00­10:45 PM NIGHT ON THE TOWN, CAREFULLY CURATED BY 500 PARTNER EDITH YEUNG (THE HK O.G. > BORN & RAISED!) ● Stop #1: Hotel LKF​
by Rhombus, 33 Wyndham Street, ● Stop #2: InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong Hotel April 8 (Friday) — HONG KONG TO SHENZHEN, DAY 1 8:00 AM­9:30AM Breakfast at the InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong Hotel ADDRESS:​
70 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon 8:00­9:30AM (Option 1) Bus from InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong Hotel to Victoria Peak 9:00­10:00 AM (Option​
2) Taxi from InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong Hotel to Prenetics 9:30­10:30 AM (Option 1) ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BUS, GENTLY UP VICTORIA PEAK... Victoria Peak is the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island, with an elevation of 1,811 ft (552 m). This is a major tourist attraction: At the top you will find a beautiful view, restaurants, & shops. 10:00­11:00 AM (Option 2) DNA TESTS AT PRENETICS Prenetics is a rapidly growing DNA Biotechnology company specializing in Pharmacogenomics. Their proprietary technology enables physicians to help patients identify the right drug, right dosage and to list out potential adverse drug effects (ADE’s), based on one’s genetic profile. Their vision is to improve quality of life, prevent ADE’s and to save on healthcare costs by providing the tools essential for personalized medication management. Geeks will tour the Prenetics laboratory, led by Co­Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Lawrence Tzang, Ph.D. Everyone will also be administered a DNA test which will let you let you know what medications you should be taking. It's a 2 min swab test and you will receive the results 48 hours later via email (or their 9 app!). ADDRESS:​
Unit 1003, Manning House 38­48, Queen's Road Central Hong Kong 10:30­11:30 AM (Option 1) Bus from Victoria Peak to Brinc.io 10:00 AM­11:30 AM Bus from InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong Hotel, to Prenetics to pick up geeks, then to Brinc.io 11:30 AM­1:00 PM IOT IN ‘DA HOUSE! PITCH EVENT & LUNCH, HOSTED BY BRINC.IO Brinc.io​
is the world’s first end­to­end integrated platform designed to support global IoT entrepreneurs by accelerating IoT startups from concept to sustainable commercialization. Offering a new blend of acceleration, product development and sales, Brinc supports today’s global IoT entrepreneurs at all stages. Brinc.io is led by a dedicated team of in­house experts that combine the best from accelerators, consultancies, service providers and distributors, Brinc enables IoT founders to focus on building their company and next generation of smart devices. AGENDA 11:30am ­ Arrive @ Brinc Offices 11:30­11:35 ­ Bay McLaughlin, Co­Founder and COO, Accelerator 11:35­11:40 ­ Soundbrenner Pitch followed by Q&A Finally a metronome that you will actually love using. Wearable, smart and powered by vibrations. Speaker: Florian Simmendinger, CEO & Co­Founder www.soundbrenner.com 11:40­11:45 ­ Aumeo Pitch followed by Q&A Aumeo's audio technology tailors your music to your ears. Experience your favorite music on an all new level. Speaker: Paul Lee, Co­Founder & CEO www.aumeoaudio.com 11:45­11:50 Kello Pitch followed by Q&A Kello is the first alarm clock you'll want to hear. Its smart algorithm wakes you up comfortably using your own playlists. Speaker: Antoine Markarian, Co­Founder & CEO www.getkello.com 11:50­12:00pm ­ Heartisans Pitch followed by Q&A The most advanced cardiology wearable, to give you the peace of mind you deserve monitoring your heart health 24/7 Speaker: Sang Yeon Hwang, Co­Founder www.heartisans.com 12:00­1:00pm ­ Lunch ­ Networking 10 ADDRESS:​
7F Floor, Block A, 35 Aberdeen St, Central, Hong Kong The roads around PMQ are really small and the building has no parking for a bus that big. I would recommend the Bus drop you off on Hollywood Road and everyone walk up Aberdeen Street ­ I can meet you there and walk you guys over ­ (2 Minute Walk). The bus can come back at 1 and pick you up from the same spot. 1:00 ­ 4:00 PM Bus to Shenzhen ­ ​
NOTE: FOR SECURITY REASONS, THERE WILL BE NO WIFI ON THIS BUS. D’OH! 4:00 ­ 7:00 PM SHENZHEN ECOSYSTEM OVERVIEW + RUNNING AN ACCELERATOR IN SILICON VALLEY VS. CHINA, HOSTED BY TENCENT Tencent Holdings Limited​
is China's Internet giant and also WeChat’s developer. Tencent runs an accelerator program and has a billion­dollar investment in China’s biggest online provider of on­demand services. AGENDA 4:00 PM­4:30 PM Tencent Headquarter Tour 4:30 PM ­ 4:35 PM Opening by Shirley from Tencent 4:35 PM ­ 4:55 PM Ecosystem Overview by Yan Yan, Startup Salad, co­founder 4:55 PM ­ 5:15PM Tencent Open Platform intro by Helena Hu, Director of Tencent Open Platform 5:15 ­ 5:30 PM Intro by Khailee Ng, Managing Partner, 500 Startups 5:30 ­ 6:00 PM 11 "What's the difference between running an accelerator in China vs Silicon Valley?" ­­ Panel discussion w/ focus on operations, model, content, features, types of teams. Panelists include: ● Dave McClure, 500 Startups, Managing Partner ● Helena Hu, Director of Tencent Open Platform ● Tintin Liu, Tencent Senior Product Specialist ● Moderator: Shirley 6:00 ­ 7:30 PM Dinner hosted by Tencent (13F) ADDRESS:​
Tencent Building, Kejizhongyi Avenue, Hi­techPark,Nanshan District,Shenzhen－－深圳市南山区高新科技园中区一路腾讯大厦 7:30 ­ 8:00 PM Drive from Tencent to The Westin Shenzhen Nanshan ADDRESS:​
​
9028 2 Shennan Road, Shenzhen 518053 CN, Nanshan District 86 755­26988888 8:00 ­ 9:00 PM Check in to The Westin Shenzhen Nanshan 9:00 PM ON NIGHT ON THE TOWN: CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE 1. ​
Huaqiao Cheng — ​
Area w/ restaurants on a lake (15 mins from the hotel by car) 2. ​
Coco Park​
— (20 mins from the hotel by car) April 9 (Saturday) — SHENZHEN DAY 2 6:45 ­ 7:45 AM Breakfast at Hotel 7:45 ­ 9:15 AM Drive to Zowee Technology ADDRESS:​
Zowee Factory, Tongfuyu Industrial Zone Songgang, Baoan District Shenzhen Guangdong 518105 China 9:15 ­ 10:25 PM ZOMG! WATCH ROBOTS MAKE YOUR FAV iPHONE PRODUCTS AT ZOWEE Founded in 2004, Zowee Technology is a publicly traded OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) / ODM (Original Design Manufacturing) manufacturer that ​
researches, develops and manufactures networking and communication products, consumer digital products and handset products​
,​
including MID/tablets, iPod/iPhone docking stations, airplay docking and Wi­Fi/3G routers/adaptors.​
​
We will visit their 1­MILLION­SQUARE­FOOT factory space with 3,000 employees. AGENDA 9:15 ­ 9:25am ­ Company overview by Zowee co­founder Chadwick Xu 9:25 ­ 10:25am ­ Geek out & tour the factory 12 POC:​
Chad ​
[email protected]​
(we are also connected via WeChat) WIFI: ​
It will be written on the white board when you arrive 10:25 ­ 10:45 AM Bus to lunch 10:45 ­ 12:00 PM LUNCH, HOSTED BY ZOWEE 12:00 ­ 1:30 PM Bus to Big Salad’s Startup Salad event ADDRESS:​
​
Nanshan Culture & Sports Center, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China, 2106 Nanshan Boulevard Drop off the passengers outside the stadium. There is a public parking lot within Nanshan Art and Sports Center 1:30 ­ 6:00 PM IT’S GONNA BE A GEEK­FEST! NETWORK WITH 1,500+ LOCAL GEEKS AT BIG SALAD’S STARTUP SALAD CONFERENCE Big Salad​
​
provides an international stage for well­prepared and disruptive entrepreneurs. Big Salad is not a traditional conference ­­ think lots of cool music! Big Salad is produced by Startup Salad, a global startup community lead by local community leaders. The audience will include startups, investors and press, including HAX, Plug and Play, ZhenFund, K2VC, Tencent Qingteng Startup Camp and Ziniu Startup Camp AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS: 2:15 ­ 2:30 PM 2:30 ­ 6:00 PM Pitch Competition (Pitch Judge: Rui Ma, Partner, 500 Startups) 1:00­1:20 PM Welcome Ceremony 1:30­1:40 PM Big Salad Opening 1:40­2:10 PM Forum about Mother of Success 2:10­2:30 PM Fireside Chat by Dave McClure, Founding Partner, 500 Startups and ​
Grace Gu from ZhenFund (leading angel investment fund in China) 2:30­2:35 PM Introduction of Road Show 2:35­3:25 PM Five Startup Project Road Show 3:25­3:30 PM Ucloud Interaction 3:30­3:40 PM Bo Zhang, CEO of MEILA APP “Ten Rules For Women To 13 Survive In IT Community” 3:40­4:20 PM Four Startup Pitches 4:20­5:25 PM UPYUN Interaction 5:25­5:55 PM Four Startup Pitches 5:55­6:00 PM Teambition Interaction 6:00­6:10 PM Zhi Yong Wang from Tencent, “Three Stories About How Cloud Changes Our Lives” 6:10­6:15 PM Coding Interaction 6:15­6:45 PM YC Partner Adora Cheung, YC Roy Law, Matt Li, Euwyn Poon, ZI Ru Wang, “What Is Important For A Startup Company?” 6:45­6:50 PM IEKA interaction 6:50­7:00 PM Awards for Startup Pitches 7:00­7:10 PM Take pictures WIFI:​
​
THERE MAY NOT BE RELIABLE WIFI B/C IT’S A 1,500­PERSON EVENT!!! POC: Nicole ­ Mob.:13570998510, Wechat:369648727(妙儿 6:15 ­ 6:45 PM Bus to VIP dinner ADDRESS:​
TGN Shenzhen Workhub (Shekou), 5/F, 1067 Shenzhen City Science and Technology Building, Nanhai Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen 7:00 ­ 9:00 PM 9:00 ­ 9:30 PM INVITE­ONLY SEAFOOD DINNER, HOSTED BY STARTUP SALAD & .CO .CO is​
the hot new ending for web addresses being used all over the world. Network over dinner and share technology ideas with more than 150 international investors and founders. Additionally, Dave McClure, Founding Partner, 500 Startups, will present 5­10 mins on the emerging market in China. WIFI: Drive from dinner to 1st stop) After party and 2nd stop) hotel 9:30 ­ 11 PM OPTIONAL: ROCK N' ROLL NIGHT, PRODUCED BY BIG SALAD X SPRING TIDE The theme is “G​
reen Day," which means technology, environmental protection and music spirit. Listen to live bands ­­ jazz, rock and ballads. 14 ADDRESS: ​
Nanshan Culture & Sports Center, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China, 2106 Nanshan Boulevard WIFI: 11 ­ 11:30 PM Bus back to the hotel (NOTE: The show goes until midnight, so if you want to stay for the entire time, you’ll need to catch a cab home). April 10 (Sunday) — SHENZHEN DAY 3 8:00 ­ 9:00 AM Breakfast at hotel 9:00 ­ 10:00 AM Drive to Hardware Pitch Event 10:00 ­11:30 AM PITCH ME, YO! HARDWARE PITCH EVENT (WITH BUBBLE TEA) AT JD.COM JD.com​
(a Chinese e­commerce giant) that also has a smart­hardware accelerator (JD+) and a major competitor to Alibaba­run Tmall. ​
More recently, the ​
JDCloud project was added to provide makers with WiFi or sensor solutions, cloud services, user data analytics service, among others. AGENDA 10:00 AM Opening by George Leeming, Host and BD Manager of JD Smart Int’l 10:05 AM GOAP Intro by Rui Ma, 500 Startups Partner 10:12 AM JD PowerUp Preview, Ken Lin, Director of JD Smart International 10:22 AM Pitch + Q&A by Christian Yan, Founder of Nanoleaf, the world's most energy efficient LED bulbs 10:27 AM Pitch + Q&A by Dejun Zeng, Founder of Maoking 10:32 AM Pitch + Q&A by Jasen Wang, Founder of Makerblock, desktop 3D printing for professional, educational, and home use 10:37 AM Pitch + Q&A by Pierre, Founder of Aeris 10:42 AM 15 Pitch + Q&A byNicha, Founder of Auroma Brewing, a coffee machine that boasts app control and Wi­Fi connectivity 10:47 AM Pitch + Q&A by Zhang Tiantian, Founder of Vigo 10:52 AM Pitch + Q&A by Revols, premium, quick custom­fit wireless earphones 10:57 AM Pitch + Q&A by Raj, Founder of 7Senses 11:00 AM Networking ATTENDEES: Francis Kao, Investment Manager at DCM Bruce Yang, Investment Director at JD.com Corporate Development Gen Kin, Investment Manager at China Science and Merchants Capital WIFI: N​
ame: ​
JD+ Milk_tea Password: ​
nsng.jd.com POC: Ken Lin​
​
(+86) 186­1667­3390, ​
[email protected] ADDRESS:​
Central Nanshan District 科园路1003号软件产业基地4栋C座一 11:30 AM­12 PM 12:00 PM­6:15 PM Bus to hotel FREE TIME FUN: CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE (4 OPTIONS) 1. TECH FUN: GET YOUR DRONE ON AT DJI DJI​
is the largest drone manufacturer in China! ​
As the market leader in easy­to­fly drones and aerial photography systems, ​
DJI ​
quadcopters, like the Phantom are the standard in consumer drone technology. We will visit their architecturally spectacular ​
flagship store​
. AGENDA: 11:30­12:15 PM Drive to DJI 12:15­1:30 PM Lunch on your own at the ​
high­end mall​
where DJI’s flagship store is located 1:30­1:45 PM DJI overview talk by Basile David and Ting Ting He, Marketing Manager at DJI 16 1:45­2:15 PM Tour the showroom 2:15­2:45 PM Outdoor drone demo + group selfie via drone (aerial shot of the Geeks) 2:45­3:30 PM Drive back to the hotel for free t​
i​
me 2. TOURISTIC FUN: DAFEN OIL PAINTING TOUR Dafen Village is reputed as China's first artist village and China's best culture industry base. Here you will find 100­percent hand­painted reproductions of old masterpieces and original works by thousands of talented artists. AGENDA: 11:30­12:45 PM Drive to Dafen Village 12:45­3:15 PM Tour the Dafen Village (either on your own or with a guide) + lunch on your own RECOMMENDED RESTAURANT: ​
Yuan Lang Restaurant (Bu Sha) 3:15 ­ 4:30 PM Drive back to hotel for free tim​
e 3. PAMPER YO’ SELF FUN: MASSAGE ANYONE? The spa at our hotel offers massages starting at $90. Reservations at: 075586348860 4. WORK FUN: THIS IS ALL YOU. Catch up on email in your room or the hotel lobby. Or somewhere fun. 6:15 ­ 7:00 PM Drive from hotel to Shenzhenware event 7:00 ­ 8:30 PM HARDWARE PAR­TAY, HOSTED BY SHENZHENWARE, EMIELAB, AND SEEED STUDIO (PIZZA AND BEER SERVED) Shenzhenware​
is the biggest hardware/maker vertical community, network and media in Shenzhen. They have more than 12,000 active members and 2,000 enterprise members on their online platform. SEEED Studio​
­ Seeed is a hardware innovation platform for makers to grow inspirations into differentiating products. EmieLab​
­ A hardware accelerator founded by EMIE, a design­oriented electronics company, focused on developing unique and beautiful electronics such as portable 17 chargers, smart wearables and more. AGENDA 7:00 ­ 7:05 PM Opening talk ­ Dave McClure, 500 Startups 7:05 ­ 7:20 PM Chance For New Hardware To Be Reborn ­ Shining Hsiong, Founder of Shenzhenware 7:20 ­ 7:35 PM Manufacturing Revolution ­ Shuyang Zhou, Head of Marketing at Seeed Studio 7:35 ­ 7:50 PM Topic TBD Christophe Branchu, Co­founder at Emie Lab 7:50 ­ 8:05 PM Topic TBD, 8:05 ­ 8:30 PM Appetizers, Beer & Networking ATTENDEES:​
There will be 100­150 hardware founders and press at the event. ADDRESS:​
EMIE Lab 3c, no.5 building, Anhua industrial zone,Tairan 8th Road, Futian, Shenzhen (深圳车公庙泰然八路安华工业区5栋3楼) 8:30 ­ 9 PM Drive to hotel and either go to bed (we have an early flight in the AM) or walk to SouthBeauty for a late dinner hosted by 500 Startups April 11 (Monday) — SHENZHEN TO TAIPEI, DAY 1 18 6:25 ­ 7:25 AM Breakfast at the hotel 7:25 ­ 8:25 AM Drive from hotel to airport 10:25 AM­12:15 PM Shenzhen (Shenzhen Arpt) ­ Taipei (Taiwan Taoyuan Intl Arpt): China Southern ­ Flight #3087 12:15 PM ­ 1:15 PM Customs & bags 1:15 PM ­ 2:15 PM Drive to W hotel ADDRESS:​
​
10 Zhongxiao East Road Sec, Taipei 110 TW, Xinyi District 886 2­77038888 2:15 PM ­ 4:15 PM Check­in, unpack & freshen up 4:15 ­ 4:45 PM WALK TO TALLEST & HIGHEST­USE GREEN BUILDING IN THE WORLD Taipei 101​
, known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper in Xinyi District, Taipei. The building was officially classified as the world's tallest in 2004, and remained such until the completion of Burj Khalifa. In 2011, the building was awarded the LEED platinum certification, the highest award according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, and became the tallest and largest green building in the world. 4:45 ­ 5:00 PM Ascend to Leopard Mobile on the 83rd floor 5:00 ­ 7:15 PM TAIPEI ECOSYSTEM OVERVIEW + ENJOY THE TAIPEI SUNSET FROM THE 83RD FLOOR (BALLER STATUS!), COURTESY OF LEOPARD MOBILE Enjoy the beautiful Taipei sunset at 5:45 PM from the 83rd floor while sipping a cocktail during a reception with executives from Leopard Mobile, the Taiwanese arm of ​
Cheetah Mobile Inc​
., a Beijing­based mobile software maker. Leopard Mobile produces intelligent hardware and home electronics. David Wu, Chairman of Leopard Mobile, will introduce Leopard Mobile, and Anita Huang, ​
Taiwan Startup Stadium​
Captain, will provide an ecosystem overview. WIFI:​
Name: CM_Guest PW:​
Hello1234 7:15 PM ­ 9:15 PM 9:15 PM ­ 9:45 PM THAT’S AMORE! ITALIAN DINNER WITH LEOPARD MOBILE EXECS When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s … Diamond Tony’s Authentic Italian Cuisine, one of the top restaurants in Taipei! Our friends at Leopard Mobile are switching up the traditional cuisine, in hopes that Italian will be a refreshing change of pace for us. Pass the mozzarella, please! Walk back to the W Hotel. 9:45 PM NIGHT ON THE TOWN: CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE (2 OPTIONS) 19 1. HIKE TO THE TOP OF ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN W/ LEOPARD MOBILE Want more views? Well, grab them sneakers! Listed by Trip Advisor as the #1 thing to do in Taipei, this short hike (40 mins at a slow pace) will provide sweeping views of twinkling night lights, as well as the Taipei 101 building. Be prepared to score some exercise—and many, many photos. 2. EXPLORE THE TAIPEI NIGHTLIFE: Barcode ­ (https://www.facebook.com/Barcode.Taipei/?fref=ts) Yen Bar ­ (http://www.wtaipei.com/en/yenbar) Woobar ­ (http://www.woobartaipei.com/en/) Stream ­ (https://www.facebook.com/StreamRestaurantLounge/) Quube ­ (http://www.thepurplepassport.com/picks/taipei/Nightlife/quube/) Marsalis Home ­ (http://www.homehotel.com.tw/xinyi.php Brown Sugar ­ (http://www.taipeitrends.com.tw/brown­sugar/) Clubs near the W Hotel: Myst ­ (https://www.facebook.com/myst.taipei) Lava ­ (https://www.facebook.com/lavafans/) Room18 ­ (https://www.facebook.com/Room18.Taipei/?fref=ts) Elektro ­ (https://www.facebook.com/ElektroTaipei/?fref=ts) Chess ­ (https://www.facebook.com/chesstaipei/?fref=ts) InHouse ­ (http://www.inhouse19.com/news/#88) April 12 (Tuesday) — TAIPEI DAY 2 8:00 ­ 9:00 AM Breakfast at W Hotel ADDRESS:​
No. 10, Section 5, Zhongxiao E Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110 9:00 ­ 10:00 AM 10:00 AM ­ 11:45 PM Drive to GOGORO HONK! HONK! TEST DRIVE ELECTRIC SCOOTERS AT GOGORO Smart electric scooter company. ​
Gogoro​
is entirely designed and manufactured in­house in their Taoyuan HQ. Geeks will have the opportunity to see Gogoro’s high­tech production line and have a test drive. AGENDA 10:00 ­ 10:10 Geeks get off bus to Gogoro main meeting room 10:10 ­ 10:30 Gogoro intro by Dmitri, Head of Manufacturing, Gogoro 10:30 ­ 11:00 Group A gets tour of scooter production line from power train module line, main line, and then to the final inspection line. ​
NOTE:​
Gogoro ​
DOES NOT 20 ALLOW PICTURES in their production space, so please observe this rule. Group B will test drive five Gogoro electric scooters. 11:00 ­ 11:30 Group A will switch and tour the factory, while Group B test drives the scooters. 11:30 ­ 11:45 Load the bus to head to AppWorks 11:45am ­12:45pm Bus to Appworks 12:45 ­ 2:30 PM FOUNDER PAIN POINT ROUNDTABLES, HOSTED BY APPWORKS AppWorks​
is one of the largest startup accelerator in Asia. AppWorks launched its Taipei­based accelerator program in 2010 to help Taiwanese and Southeast Asian Internet startups optimize their products and business strategies. Every six months, AppWorks Accelerator recruits 30 promising startups working in mobile Internet, Internet of Things, and other rapidly growing areas. With over 250 startups in its alumni network to date, the AppWorks ecosystem is the largest of its kind in Asia. AGENDA 12:45 ­ 1:00 Unload bus to AppWorks 1:00 ­ 1:15 AppWorks tour 1:15 ­ 1:25 Lunch + Appworks intro by Jamie Lin (Founding partner) & GOAP intro 1:25 ­ 2:00 Roundtables: Group # 1 ​
­ ​
Uitox​
w/Vincent & Jess (6732) Geeks:​
Harry Van Der Veen, Igor Ryabenkly, Muhammad Arrabi, Rina Onur, Shawn Convery, Vitaly Polekhin Group # 2 ­ 91APP ​
w/Happy & Brandon (7623) Geeks: ​
Alok Deshpand, Ian McNish, Mato Peric, Ran Makavy, Sky Dufaux
Group # 3 ­ ​
​
iChef ​
w/Ben & Gaga (2367)
Geeks: ​
Alan Debonneville, Chok Ooi, Julie McDermott, Olivier Amar, Tushar Ahluwalia Group # 4 ­ Ugym ​
w/Mark & Kay (3276) Geeks:​
Anna Degtereva, BeiBei Que, Doug Speight, Max Hodak, Ryota Matsuzaki, Vitaly Golomb Group # 5 ­ SkyRec ​
w/Kate & Scylla (6327) Geeks:​
Craig Kuang, Dorrian Porter, George Staikos, Leonard Speiser, Russell Ladson
21 1:25 ­ 1:28 Founders will pitch their company to their geek group 1:28 ­ 2:00 Founders have prepared pain points, worries and stressers to share with Geeks in hopes of receiving feedback and help. 2:00 ­ 2:30 Mixer 2:30 ­ 2:50 PM Walk to W Hotel from Appworks 2:50 ­ 3:30 PM Change and freshen up at W for dinner 3:30 ­ 4:00 PM Option #1:​
Bus to Syntrend from W Hotel to experience HTC Vive virtual reality ​
OR enjoy Syntrend mall, which includes serious US & Japanese action figures / models (superheroes & gundams). PLUS, the mall has a lot of audio experiences & electronic stores — Basically, it’s the Akihabara of Taipei! 3:30 ­ 4:50 Option #2:​
Skip HTC Vive & head straight to private meetup 4:50 ­ 6:00 PM EXPERIENCE HTC VIVE VIRTUAL REALITY DURING PRIVATE MEETUP w/ SYNTREND & TSS ACCELERATOR TEAMS When we’re not having the HTC VIVE virtual reality experience, we’ll mentor 40 founders from both TSS and Syntrend's accelerators. Buffet­style dinner will be served. AGENDA 4:50 ­ 5:00 Go to Syntrend Star Rocket Office Space on 11th floor & grab dinner + drinks (note: elevator is slow) 5:00 ­ 5:10 On 11th floor ­ Opening by Anita Huang, Captain of Taiwan Startup Stadium (TSS) 5:10 ­ 5:15 Cjin Cheng, Venture Partner of 500 Startups Taiwan 5:15 ­ 5:30 Jeff Kuo, CEO of Syntrend Startup Foundation 5:30 ­ 6:00 Continue to eat dinner + mingle with TSS & Syntrend founders 6:00 ­ 6:15 PM Move to the 12th floor for next session 6:00 ­ 8:30 PM 500 GOAP TAIPEI NIGHT: OPEN MEETUP & BEER PARTY w/ TAIWANESE STARTUPS, HOSTED BY TSS, SYNTREND & KPMG 22 AGENDA 6:00 ­ 6:30 Registration 6:30 ­ 6:35 Opening by Anita Huang, Captain of Taiwan Startup Stadium 6:35 ­ 6:40 Opening by Dave McClure, Founding Partner of 500 Startups 6:40 ­ 6:45 Greetings from Heidi Huang, Partner of KPMG 6:45 ­ 6:55 Arnaud Bonzom, 500 Startups Director of Corporate Innovation 6:55 ­ 7:25 Panel Discussion: Startups vs. Corporations Dave McClure ­ Moderator / Anita Huang (TSS) / Assistant Vice President of HTC (Raymond Pao)/500 Staff (Arnaud Bonzom) /500 Geek (Ran Makavy) 7:25 ­ 8:00 One Beer, One Minute (to Pitch!) 8:00 ­ 8:30 Beer & Networking 8:30 PM ­ 9:00 PM Bus to Shilin Market 9:00 PM ­ 10:30 PM EAT, SHOP & MEANDER THROUGH THE FAMOUS SHILIN NIGHT MARKET The Shilin night market is a Taiwanese cultural tradition. Shop, eat, browse and soak up the atmosphere as you share the market with Taipei locals. There are hundreds of stalls selling all types foods from Taiwanese traditional snacks to modern wonders. In addition to the Shilin Market food hall, the neighboring streets are packed with funky little shops, roadside stalls, and vendors of fashion, trinkets and souvenirs. 10:30 ­ 11:00 PM Bus back to hotel 11:00 ­ Onward NIGHT ON THE TOWN Bars near the W Hotel: Barcode ­ (https://www.facebook.com/Barcode.Taipei/?fref=ts) Yen Bar ­ (http://www.wtaipei.com/en/yenbar) Woobar ­ (http://www.woobartaipei.com/en/) Stream ­ (https://www.facebook.com/StreamRestaurantLounge/) 23 Quube ­ (http://www.thepurplepassport.com/picks/taipei/Nightlife/quube/) Marsalis Home ­ (http://www.homehotel.com.tw/xinyi.php) Brown Sugar ­ (http://www.taipeitrends.com.tw/brown­sugar/) Clubs near the W Hotel: Myst ­ (https://www.facebook.com/myst.taipei) Lava ­ (https://www.facebook.com/lavafans/) Room18 ­ (https://www.facebook.com/Room18.Taipei/?fref=ts) Elektro ­ (https://www.facebook.com/ElektroTaipei/?fref=ts) Chess ­ (https://www.facebook.com/chesstaipei/?fref=ts) InHouse ­ (​
http://www.inhouse19.com/news/#88​
) April 13 (Wednesday) — TAIPEI DAY 3 8:00 AM ­ 9:00 AM Breakfast at Hotel ADDRESS:​
​
No. 10, Section 5, Zhongxiao E Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110 9:00 AM ­ 10:30 AM [OPTIONAL] OBSERVE PRESS CONFERENCE w/ FOREIGN MEDIA/JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION @ W HOTEL IN STUDIO 1 ROOM Press Conference. Panel topic ­ What are the hot investment themes around the world & how Asia stacks up in terms of opportunities + Q/A with Debra Mao (Bloomberg) & approx. 20 famous media (ex: BBC, Associated Press, Japanese journalists, etc). The Premier of Taiwan may also participate. 10:30 AM ­11:00 AM Bus from W Hotel to Taipei Museum 11:00 AM ­ 1:00 PM TOUR THE NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM The National Palace Museum is focused on ancient Chinese art and artifacts. It’s one of the national museums of the Republic of China and has a permanent collection of more than 696,000 pieces of ancient Chinese imperial artifacts and artworks, making it one of the largest in the world. The collection encompasses over 10,000 years of Chinese history from the Neolithic age to the late Qing Dynasty. Most of the collection are high quality pieces collected by China's ancient emperors. Tour with guide and headsets​
. ADDRESS:​
​
No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111 1:00 PM ­ 2:50 PM LUNCH AT THE FAMOUS SILKS PALACE, HOSTED BY LIVEANSWER A unique six­course Imperial Feast featuring a treasure dish resembling an item from National Palace Museum's signature collection. This was introduced to give guests a better understanding of the close relationship between Chinese art and cooking. ADDRESS:​
​
No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Road, Shilin District 2:50 ­ 3:20 PM Bus to ​
Old Town Ta​
ipei ​
­ ​
​
Lin Liu­Hsin Puppet Theater Museum Add: ​
No. 79­1, Xining N Rd, Datong District, Taipei City Add in Chinese: 台北市大同區西寧北路 79­1 號 24 3:20 ­ 4:30 PM TOUR OF OLD TOWN TAIPEI + TRADITIONAL TEA HOUSE, HOSTED BY BNEXT & ASIA AMERICA MULTI­TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION (AAMA) [Group A]​
­ ​
Tour Guide: Miss Chen, Hui­Yun Xia Hai Temple ​
(Including Matchmaker Love God in the Temple) ​
­> Old Watson's Drug Store ­> Yong Le (fabric) Market ­> ​
Southern Hokkien Street House architecture and Chinese Medicine store ­> The old Lin's House (Tea House and southern China street house intro) ­> URS 127 ­> URS 155 [Group B]​
­ ​
Tour Guide: Mr. Ho, Liang­Cheng Old Watson's Drug Store ­> Yong Le (fabric) Market ­> ​
Xia Hai Temple​
(Including Matchmaker Love God in the Temple) ­> Southern Hokkien Street House architecture and Chinese Medicine store ­> ​
URS 127​
­> The old Lin's House (Tea House and southern China street house intro) ­> URS 155 4:30 ­ 5:30 PM DRINK LOCAL PLUM JUICE! + FREE TIME TO SHOP IN LOCAL STORES 5:30 ­ 6:00 PM Drive back to W Hotel 6:00 ­ 7:00 PM NIGHT ON THE TOWN April 14 (THURSDAY) — TAIPEI TO TOKYO, DAY 1 5:45 ­ 7:45 AM Head to airport & check­in to flight 8:45 AM ­12:45 PM Taipei (Taipei Songshan Arpt) ­ Tokyo (Haneda Arpt): Japan Airlines ­ Flight #96 12:45 ­ 1:45 PM Baggage claim, customs 1:45 ­ 2:45 PM Drive to Hilton Hotel in Shinjuku district 25 ADDRESS: 6­2 Nishi­Shinjuku 6­chome, Shinjuku­Ku 160­0023 JP ヒルトンホテル新宿 東京都新宿区西新宿６−６−２ PHONE:​
8
​1­3­33445111 2:45 ­ 3:45 PM Check In 3:45 ­ 5:15 PM Get ready for dinner 5:15 ­ 6:15 PM Drive to boat ride 6:30 PM ­ 9:00 PM PASS THE MIC >> TOKYO ECOSYSTEM OVERVIEW + REGIONAL RUNDOWN + KARAOKE AFTER­PARTY (ON A MOTHERF*CKING YAKATABUNE BOAT!), HOSTED BY MISTLETOE ​
A yakatabune is a Japanese old­fashioned houseboat. Enjoy a view of Rainbow Bridge and other Tokyo landmarks dining on a tempura and Japanese cuisine. Founded by Taizo Son, a Japanese serial entrepreneur and investor, Mistletoe is a hub for startups and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Tokyo. It provides learning opportunities for entrepreneurs, facilitates startup communities, invests in and supports startup companies and venture capital firms. Attendees: Mistletoe, KPMG (a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Advisory and Tax services), 500 LPs and press AGENDA 6:30 PM ­ 6:50 PM: Ecosystem Overview By James Riney, Head of Japan, 500 Startups Where the Ecosystem is Going By ​
Atsushi Taira, Director & Chief Growth Officer​
, Mistletoe 6:50 ­ 7:10 PM: Fireside Chat ­ Regional Rundown (cont.): Markets, Trends & Projections for Southeast Asia & Japan Peng T. Ong, Co­founder, Match.com Dave McClure, Founder Partner, 500 Startups James Riney, Head of Japan, 500 Startups 7:10 PM ­ 9:00 PM: Dinner, karaoke and networking on the boat ADDRESS: 1­1­10, Asakusa­bashi, Taito­ku, Tokyo 111­0053, JAPAN https://goo.gl/x5N0qt 屋形船　三浦屋 東京都台東区浅草橋１−１−１０ POC:​
​
08040040621, ​
[email protected] (Toshi) 26 WIFI:​
​
NO WIFI ON THE BOAT!!! 9:00 ­ 9:45 PM Take a bus to the next stop OR to the hotel. 9:45 PM ON TIME TO GET A TEENY BIT TIPSY...NIGHT OUT AT GOLDEN GAI (THE SMALLEST BARS IN WORLD) The Golden Gai district in Shinjuku is a huge network of alleyways lined with teeny­tiny bars, some that have room for only four customers, some that don't take to foreigners too kindly, but others that will provide the best night of your life. There are themed bars, fancy bars, dingy bars and plain, middle­of­the­road bars. All are worth exploring. Also, in Shinjuku is Kabukichō, an entertainment and red­light district. DRESS CODE:​
If you're in shorts and flip­flops, you won’t be able to get into all of the bars ahem … Dave! April 15 (FRIDAY) — TOKYO DAY 2 7:00 ­ 8:00 AM Breakfast at hotel ­­ our first stop is a seafood market, so you can have breakfast there on your own 8:00 ­ 8:45 AM Drive to Tsukiji Market 築地市場 東京都中央区築地５−２−１ 8:45 ­ 10:00 AM SUSHI EATING BREAKFAST AT TOKYO'S ICONIC TSUKIJI'S FISH MARKET Explore Tokyo's sprawling wholesale fish market. Feel free to explore on your own or go with one of our knowledgeable guides. ​
The market handles more than 400 different types of seafood from cheap ​
seaweed​
to the most expensive ​
caviar​
, and from tiny ​
sardines​
to 300 kg ​
tuna​
and controversial whale species. ​
You will no doubt have the freshest seafood breakfast of your life. 10:00 ­ 10:30 AM Drive to NTT DATA ADDRESS: ​
Ark Mori building, ​
5 Chome­2­1 Tsukiji, Chuo, Tokyo 104­0045 東京都港区赤坂1−12−32　アーク森ビル PARKING NOTES FOR DRIVER: ​
After attendees get off, bus can park at Roppongi Hills Parking, It’ll take about 5 min. from our venue. Kathryn ­ Bring $6,000 Yen for parking to be reimbursed http://www.roppongihills.com/facilities/access/parking/bus.html 11:00 ­ 1:00 PM TOUR TAKEAWAYS: 12 DAYS, 5 STOPS, 3 COUNTRIES, COUNTLESS CONVOS ­­ 0 LUGGAGE LOST! NETWORKING LUNCH, HOSTED BY NTT DATA,​
a global IT Innovator delivering technology­enabled services and solutions to clients around the world​
. We will lunch with ​
100 startup founders from Japan 27 NTT Data’s research lab. Translation headsets will be provided. 11­11:30 PM ­ Grab Lunch 11:30 PM ­ Dave intros the geeks 11:30­12:15 PM ­ Open dialogue ­­ Geeks share their geeky inspirations/opinions/business ideas​
/ surprises/ meaningfulness/ complications/ anything they agreed/disagreed with/business insights​
gained from this trip 12:15 PM ­ 12:45 ­ Networking (Private meetings will happen separately from 11:30­1 w/ the following iOT geeks ­ Leonard, Vitaly G. and Kamran) ADDRESS: ​
Ark Hills 1 Chome­12­32 Akasaka, 港区 Tokyo 107­6001, Japan (Give print off of directions to driver. No parking) WIFI: SSID:​
Lounge PW:​
Innovation POC: ​
Kaz ​
+81­50­3635­5139​
​
when calling from overseas, and 050­3635­5139 within Japan 12:45 ­ 1:30 PM Bus to DMM.make 1:30 ­ 2:30 PM PLAY w/ PROFESSIONAL MACHINES & TOOLS USED TO MAKE HARDWARE PROTOTYPES AT IOT­THEMED SHARED OFFICE ​
DMM.make Company overview by ​
Chowdhery Sameer and Masayuki Sasaki ​
followed by a tour (we will split into groups to do this — half will get the company overview first, followed by the tour, and then we’ll switch). ADDRESS:​
​
DMM.make AKIBA Akihabara building 3 Kandaneribei­cho,Chiyoa­ku,Tokyo 101­0022, JAPAN 東京都千代田区神田練塀町３　富士ソフト秋葉原ビル Enter the building and please use one of four elevators A­D and reach 4F. We will wait for you at the DMM reception on 4F in front of the elevator. There is no parking. Bus will have to drive around. WIFI:​
Network: DMM.make AKIBA PW:​
20141111 28 POC:​
070­3521­8257 (Call to Kamimura, or Sasaki) 2:30 ­ 3:00 PM Walk to Akihabara 3:00 ­ 4:00 PM GET LOST EXPLORING TOKYO'S COLORFUL AKIHABARA DISTRICT Akihabara, nicknamed Electric Town, is a shopping district for video games, anime, manga, and computer goods. Icons from popular anime and manga are displayed prominently on the shops in the area, and numerous maid cafés are found throughout the district. 4:00 ­ 4:45 PM Drive to hotel 4:45 ­ 5:15 PM Get ready for dinner / night out 5:15 ­ 6:00 PM Drive to EGG JAPAN event 6:00 ­ 8:00 PM SO YOU WANT TO START A BUSINESS IN JAPAN? PANEL DISCUSSION + DINNER EVENT, HOSTED BY EGG JAPAN EGG JAPAN is a platform for business growth and is located in Marunouchi, Tokyo, one of the world's premier business districts. AGENDA FOR “JAPAN BEYOND BORDERS” We will take a photo when we arrive in front of famous photo spot, ​
"Tokyo Station" MC: Dave McClure, Founding Partner, 500 Startups 6:00­6:30 PM: Dinner + Networking 6:30­6:35 PM: EGG JAPAN introduction video 6:35­6:55 PM: ​
Entering Japan, A Black Box Japan Country Managers discuss their challenges launching in Japan Panelists Katsunori Furuichi, President & Representative Director, Box Japan Kengo Horiuchi, Director of Marketing, Treasure Data, Inc. Doug Chuchro, Representative Director, Fastly K.K. Moderator: James Riney, Head of 500 Startups Japan 6:55 ­ 7:15 PM: ​
Born In Japan, Raised To Go Global Japanese startup founders discuss their experiences trying to build a global company from Japan Panelists: Matthew Romaine, Co­Founder & CEO of Gengo Ryota Matsuzaki, Founder and Chief of Kibidango, Inc. Moderator: Tim Romero, Tokyo­based innovator, author, and entrepreneur 29 7:15 ­ 7:35 PM: Challenges and opportunities in cross border M&A Paul Ford, Partner, KPMG FAS Co. Ltd. 7:30 ­ 8:35 PM: Networking ADDRESS: 10F Shin­Marunouchi bldg. 1­5­1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda­ku, Tokyo 10th Floor Map emailed to driver 〒100­6510 東京都千代田区丸の内1­5­1 新丸ビル10F POC:​
​
Yukie ­ 03­5208­2121, reception@tokyo21c­club.com 8:30 ­ 9:00 PM Transport to night on the town (take the train from EGG JAPAN to Shibuya ­­ we will provide tickets) —OR— take the bus back to the hotel for some R&R 9 PM ONWARD PHOTO OP OF THE LARGEST INTERSECTION IN THE WORLD + NIGHT ON THE TOWN Photo Op at largest intersection in the world in Shibuya, followed by drinks on your own at 1967 in Roppongi + clubbing at Club Ivy in Roppongi DRESS CODE:​
If you're in shorts and flip­flops, you will not be able to get into all of the bars/clubs ahem … Dave! April 16 (SATURDAY) — TOKYO DAY 3 9:15 ­ 10:15 AM Breakfast at the hotel + pack. There will be no time to pack in the evening before we head to the airport. 10:15 ­ 11:00 AM Drive to Asakusa Asakusa, Taito, Tokyo 111­0032, Japan 東京都台東区浅草２－３－１ 11:00 AM ­ 12:30 PM ASAKUSA DISTRICT & BUDDHIST TEMPLE + LUNCH ON YOUR OWN Asakusa (浅草?) is a district in Tokyo, famous for the Sensō­ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon and several other temples. There is a nice view of the Tokyo Sky Tree. Tour on your own or with one of our knowledgable guides. 12:30 ­ 1:30 PM Bus to NIKKEI 1:30 ­ 3:15 PM "THE HARD THINGS ABOUT HARDWARE" DISCUSSION, HOSTED BY 30 NIKKEI Hosted by ​
NIKKEI​
(pronounced Nee­Kay), the most influential Japanese business journal. AGENDA 1:45 ­ 2:15p “How To Start a Startup, The Essence of Innovation… and More!” w/ deck? Keynote by 500 Startups Founder, Dave McClure w/ translator 2:15 ­ 2:45p "The Hard Things About Hardware" ● Moderated by James Riney, Head of 500 Startups Japan ● Ken Tamagawa­san, Founder & CEO, SORACOM, INC (IoT) ● Max Hodak, Founder and CEO, Transcriptic w/ translator ● Shunsuke Aoki, Founder & COE, Yukai Engineering, "Family Robot" 2:45 ­ 3:15 Networking over tea + snacks ATTENDEES:​
100­150 attendees (large companies, startups, VCs, press) ADDRESS: ​
Tokyo 1­3­7 Otemachi, Chiyoda­ku, Tokyo 100­8066 Kathryn ­ bring 6,000 yen for parking 東京都千代田区大手町１−３−７日経ビル WIFI:​
Network: nikkei, No pswd POC: [email protected], 090­9364­8978 [email protected], cell ­ ​
090­2146­0461 Yanaka 090­2818­9348 3:15 ­ 3:45 PM Drive to Harajuku and Ginza 3:45 ­ 5:15 PM CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE (LED BY LOCAL FOUNDERS) ● HARAJUKU ­ Funky fashion and shopping district ● GINZA ­ Upscale shopping area POC: ​
Oscar, [email protected] 080 8437 3877 5:15 ­ 6:00 PM Drive to sushi making ADDRESS: ​
Sasaki building, building A – 4th Floor, 2­5­7 Koishikawa, Bunkyo­ku, Tokyo 31 東京都文京区小石川　2－5－7　佐佐木ビルＡ棟　４階 There are 2 Sasaki buildings, building A and B. The place you need to go is building A. Once you arrive at Building A, you just go up to the 4th Floor. 6:00 ­ 7:30 PM SUSHI MAKING AND SAKE BOMB SEND­OFF ;( 7:30 ­ 8:15 PM Drive to the the hotel 8:15 ­ 9:00 PM Grab your luggage (and quick shower … if you’re really quick!) 9:00 ­ 10:00 PM Drive to the airport April 17 (SUNDAY) — TOKYO DAY 4 12:05 AM ­5:25 PM Tokyo (Haneda Arpt) ­ SF (SFO): Japan Airlines ­ Flight #2 IMPORTANT INFO 32 IMPORTANT INFO FLIGHT DETAILS Important Notes: ● You are responsible for booking and managing your own flights. ● Remember: If you miss your flight, there is NO guarantee that you’ll be able to simply re­book. You may have to purchase another ticket, and NOT be refunded for the cost of the flight you missed. ● If you do miss a flight, you will need to deal directly with the airlines. ● Pro­Tip: If you had special seat requests, please re­confirm them upon check­in. Airlines don’t always pay attention when an aisle seat is requested, for example. ● Pro­Tip: Emergency aisle seats are given out 3.5 hours from departure, so arrive to the airport then if you want an emergency seat. ● Our bus will leave ON­TIME to each event, especially to airports…no exceptions. The shuttle will leave whether you are there or not, as we cannot hold back the rest of the group and risk missing flights/meetings. So plan on getting wake­up calls and setting multiple alarms if need be! NOTE >>​
​
Transportation from the airport upon arrival will not be provided to the group due to varying arrival flight times. English­speaking cab drivers will be able to give you a ride to the hotel in Hangzhou for $20 USD. We are staying at the ​
JW Marriott Hangzhou Hotel: 28 Hushu South Road, Gongshu District, 杭州市浙江省 China, 310006 NOTE >>​
​
Transportation to the airport to head home will be provided. Bus leaves from the last activity in Tokyo to go straight to airport at 9:00PM on April 16. If your flight leaves at another time, you will need to find transportation on your own. CONTACTS, COMMUNICATIONS, & WI­FI Important Notes: Since international roaming is quite expensive, ​
the easiest way to contact the 500 Startups crew during GOAP is WhatsApp.​
We will be using WhatsApp to provide everyone with schedule updates and general announcements, as well as to enable you to communicate with each other. We have all your mobile numbers, and will be adding you to the GOAP WhatsApp. IF WIFI IS NOT WORKING, WHICH COULD BE THE CASE IN HANGZHOU AND SHENZHEN, THEN WE WILL PROVIDE UPDATES ON THE BUS. 33 Kathryn Tompkins Cristina Manno 500 Startups 500 Startups Shenzhen & Tokyo organizer Hangzhou & Hong Kong organizer Mobile: +1 303­882­3521 (​
SMS only) Mobile: +1 540­710­3601 ​
(SMS only) [email protected] [email protected] T Sripunvoraskul Bailey Maloney 500 Startups 500 Startups Photographer Taipei organizer Mobile: +1 510­712­0354 ​
(SMS Only) Mobile: +1 985­807­5692 ​
(SMS Only) [email protected] [email protected] Heidy Stolte Tara Graham Travel consultant 500 Startups Mobile: ​
925.463.0560 ext 4223 Director, BD & Events heidy@travel­managers.com Mobile: +1 510­847­2711 Skype Handle: [email protected] ● Email​
: Note that we may have limited access to email at times, so common denominator here is that you may get a faster response via WhatsApp. ● Wi­Fi:​
​
As it naturally goes, wireless is often spotty while traveling...so adjust your expectations accordingly! That said, we do our best to try and secure wifi at all our hotels, events and find out options for the in­between time. We recommend bringing a portable wi­fi device if you have one, but be sure that your mobile plan either provides international coverage to the countries we are traveling, or that it can be unlocked by your network provider so that you can use a SimCard to connect to the local network as we travel. Your network provider should be able to answer any questions you have regarding your coverage. ● VPN​
: China has restrictions on certain websites which we are accustomed to in the states (Gmail, Facebook, etc). For better access, we highly recommend setting up a VPN ​
BEFORE​
leaving for China. If you don’t already have VPN capabilities, here are some recommended ones https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/31943/5­best­vpns­mac­november­2015­update/​
. ● Phones​
: Unless you have an international data plan, we don’t recommend making or receiving calls while abroad as international rates & roaming can be a KILLER ­ we 34 have seen many geeks come home to $2,000+ bills, so be advised! As stated above, we simply use WhatsApp. Some helpful hints from our experience: ○ Call your carrier​
before you leave the U.S. and ask them to enable international text messaging. They have several plans (we use the one with 500 SMS messages, which has always been sufficient) and these are prorated...i.e. as long as you disable the feature when you return (you need to call customer service to do this), you will only be charged for the time period of your use. ○ Also ask the carrier to disable your voicemail...believe it or not, if someone calls you while you are abroad and they leave a voicemail, you are charged for that at international rates + roaming. Note that simply turning off your voicemail via your device is not always sufficient ­ to be sure, call customer service and have them do this. We often have to explain the reasoning to the rep, so they do it correctly. ○ When you are about to leave the U.S., turn off ‘cellular data’ and ‘data roaming’ ○ You should call your phone provider regardless before you leave because they all have different rules/tips etc. ○ Connecting your device to WiFi: Note that if you connect to wifi via your phone, be sure to turn cellular data & data roaming OFF, then connect to the wireless network, then turn cellular data ON once you’re connected. Otherwise, you WILL incur data roaming charges (on iPhone: settings > general > cellular) COMMON PHRASES ● In Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Taipei the predominant language is Mandarin. To learn common phrases, listen​
​
HERE​
. ● In Hong Kong, the predominant language is Cantonese. To learn common phrases, listen ​
HERE​
. ● In Tokyo, the prominent language is Japanese. To learn common phrases, listen ​
HERE​
. AIR QUALITY IN CHINA ● Air pollution is a severe problem in China. Please bring a face mask, if you are concerned. CURRENCY CONVERTER ● Hangzhou & Shenzhen: 35 1 US Dollar = 6.49 Chinese Yuan ● Hong Kong: 1 US Dollar = 7.76 Hong Kong Dollar ● Taipei: 1 US Dollar = 32.28 New Taiwan Dollar ● Tokyo: 1 US Dollar equals = 113.59 Japanese Yen CASH, ATMs & CREDIT CARDS ● Notify your credit card company about your travel ● Paying in the local currency is generally better. If you don’t, not only will you get charged a mediocre rate to convert to your home currency, you’re charged a percentage for the privilege. While 3­3.5% may not seem like a lot, it adds up. ● ATMs will accept most major credit cards. ATMs are readily available. ● Major credit cards are widely accepted. The tourism authorities suggest that if shops insist on adding a credit card surcharge (which they should not do), you should contact the relevant credit company. Most hotels and car­hire companies will insist on a credit card and may demand full payment upfront without one. TIPPING 500 will handle tipping for anything we do as a group ­­ guides/some meals etc., but when you’re not with the group… ● Hangzhou & Shenzhen ○ No need to tip, but 4­5 star restaurants and bars might charge a 15% service charge ○ Dollars Accepted?​
Rarely accepted, it’s better to have the country currency ● Hong Kong ○ Restaurants​
: Service is almost always included in the bill; they will add 10­15% service charge. ○ Hotels​
: Tip ​
$2­3 per piece of luggage carried for you by the concierge. ○ Taxis​
: ​
Taxi drivers will usually round up to the nearest dollar amount as a tip to himself. For example: if the meter read $16.40, then you would pay $ 17.00 and the taxi driver will most likely NOT give you back the small change. ○ Dollars Accepted?​
Rarely accepted, it’s better to have the country currency 36 ● Taipei ○ Restaurants​
: Service is almost always included in the bill; they will add 10­15% service charge. ○ Hotels​
: No tips necessary ○ Taxis​
: ​
Not necessary to tip cab drivers ­­ in fact it will confuse them. But if the balance is not too much (say, 5 NT$) and you leave it (i.e. tell them to keep the change ­ "bu yong dzao" ) It is appreciated. ○ Dollars Accepted?​
Rarely accepted, it’s better to have the country currency ● Tokyo ○ It is not customary to tip in Tokyo PASSPORT ● Make 2 photocopies of your passport​
­ one to take with you (keep in separate place from your passport) AND one to leave with a spouse, relative or friend. We also recommend saving a scanned copy of your passport in your email. In the case your passport is lost or stolen while traveling, having the photocopies will expedite getting a replacement passport. Keep your passport in your hotel safe…do NOT carry it around with you, as the risk of losing it is simply not worth it. ● Some of the places we are visiting might have tight security and will require that you show a photo ID to be let into the building. ● It is the law to carry your passport at all times while visiting our stops in Asia. Although the chances are low, there are random inspections and no passport = trip to the local police office. VISAS ● Depending on your nationality, a multi­entry China visa is required. This should have been taken care of prior to your departure. WEATHER Below are the average temperatures we can expect for this time of year: ● Hangzhou​
: ○ High: 68 degrees fahrenheit ○ Low: 51 degrees fahrenheit ○ 50% rain ● Hong Kong​
: ○ High: 72 degrees fahrenheit 37 ○ Low: 65 degrees fahrenheit ○ 10% rain ● Shenzhen​
: ○ High: 73 degrees fahrenheit ○ Low: 67 degrees fahrenheit ○ 50% rain ● Taipei​
: ○ High: 75 degrees fahrenheit ○ Low: 64 degrees fahrenheit ● Tokyo: ○ High: 65 degrees fahrenheit ○ Low: 50 degrees fahrenheit RECOMMENDED PACKING LIST *NOTE: Unless you are flying Business Class, all flights have a luggage allowance of 1 checked suitcase and 1 carry­on. The weight restriction of your checked bag is 44 lbs and the weight restriction of your carry­on is 17 lbs on all flights. So our advice: Pack as lightly as possible, especially if you plan to purchase anything. ● 4­5 casual outfits for city tours/exploring ● 3 business­casual outfits for meetings/events ● 3 nicer outfits for cocktail receptions / parties ● Comfortable walking shoes (there is an optional hike in Taipei) ● Closed toed shoes ● Light jacket ● Light rain coat/umbrella ● Toothbrush/Toiletries/Deodorant ● Earplugs (in case your roommate snores!) ● Travel alarm clock ● Camera and charger ● MANY Business cards ● Voltage converter​
and multi­plug adapter (Outlet type: M, E ­­ a global adapter should work as well) ● Laptop + power cord ● Ethernet Adaptor (for those with Mac Airs or other laptops that don’t have an ethernet plug) 38 ● Basic meds: aspirin, tylenol, pepto bismol, etc. ● Antibiotic (like Cipro) ­ highly recommended if you get food poisoning ● Money belt ● Money! Credit cards are ok but bring some cash also ● Passport & copies of passport (in a separate bag) (+ Visas/Green card, if applicable) STAYING HEALTHY ● When purchasing water bottles, make sure the top cap and the plastic is completely sealed and new looking. A frequent scam is for folks to refill these bottles with tap water and sell them as new ones. ● If you really want some street food, we don’t blame you, but here is a good tip: Ask the local organizers where to go! ● Bring a prescription antibiotic with you, such as Cipro (see packing list above) ­ we strongly suggest this, as food poisoning + travel DO NOT mix well! SAFETY & SECURITY ● As anywhere, leaving your bag or personal items unattended or out of your direct line of sight is not recommended. Like all major cities in the world, be aware of pickpockets and scam artists. Be alert in crowded areas and try to avoid being alone. Geeks unite! ● Crossing the streets can be an extreme sport. Watch out for taxi drivers, rickshaw drivers, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and cows. Be alert and aware of your surroundings. ● I know this is obvious, but DON’T DO DRUGS. If you are caught, the penalty is severe. GENERAL CULTURAL NORMS Meeting + Business Etiquette ● Greetings are formal and the oldest person is always greeted first. ● Handshakes are the most common form of greeting with foreigner in China and Taiwan. ● Many people will look towards the ground when greeting someone. ● Address the person by an honorific title and their surname. If they want to move to a first­name basis, they will advise you which name to use. ● The Chinese have a terrific sense of humour. They can laugh at themselves most readily if they have a comfortable relationship with the other person. Be ready to laugh at yourself given the proper circumstances. ● Business relationships are built formally. Be very patient. It takes a considerable amount of time and is bound up with enormous bureaucracy. 39 ● Foreigners as representatives of their company rather than as individuals. ● Rank is extremely important in business relationships and you must keep rank differences in mind when communicating. ● Gender bias is nonexistent in business. ● Never lose sight of the fact that communication is official, especially in dealing with someone of higher rank. Treating business professionals too informally, especially in front of their peers, may well ruin a potential deal. ● Typically, face­to­face meetings rather than written or telephonic communication is prefered. ● Meals and social events are not the place for business discussions. There is a demarcation between business and socializing in Asia, so try to be careful not to intertwine the two. ● Appointments are necessary and, if possible, should be made between one­to­two months in advance, preferably in writing. ● If you do not have a contact within the company, use an intermediary to arrange a formal introduction. Once the introduction has been made, you should provide the company with information about your company and what you want to accomplish at the meeting. ● You should arrive at meetings on time or slightly early. Punctuality as a virtue. Arriving late is an insult and could negatively affect your relationship. ● Pay great attention to the agenda as each participant has his or her own agenda that they will attempt to introduce. ● Meetings require patience. Mobile phones ring frequently and conversations tend to be boisterous. ● Guests are generally escorted to their seats, which are in descending order of rank. Senior people generally sit opposite senior people from the other side. ● Business cards are exchanged after the initial introduction. If it’s translated, even better. ● Your business card should include your title. If your company is the oldest or largest in your country, that fact should be on your card as well. ● Hold the card in both hands when offering it. ● Examine a business card before putting it on the table next to you or in a business card case. ● Never write on someone's card unless so directed. ● Do not blow your nose in a public place in Tokyo (including meeting rooms). ● Do not grab your host's hand when first meeting and give it a hearty shake ­ many Japanese seldom shake hands and can be so uncomfortable doing so as to avoid meeting again! ● Never pat a Japanese man on the back or shoulder. 40 ● Never make derogatory remarks about anyone, including your competitors and own employees. ● Always smile, be pleasant, be willing to learn, ask a lot of questions about your customer's company (and none about his/her private life). ● When in doubt, follow the cues of your host. LAST ITEM ENJOY!​
Have a good time, keep an open mind, make business connections, make friends, try new things, embrace the cultures, learn about tech in East Asia, and have fun! This is ‘Geeks on a Plane’, after all! MEET THE GEEKS
Alan Debonneville Co­Founder & CEO, Arcanys Twitter: ​
@boalt LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/alandebonneville Attending: Full GOAP Trip With an extensive background in start­ups and innovation, I’m co­founder and CEO of Arcanys, headquartered in the Philippines. Arcanys is now evolving from a classic software outsourcing company into an incubator to launch new ventures and business ideas. Not only we have a couple of proprietary software solutions in development (including one licensed by General Electric), but we also help other start­ups execute their software strategy fast and cost effectively. Some company founders even enjoy working physically in our offices with their dedicated developers. In some cases, Arcanys receives equity in exchange for development services. I’ve had one major success previously that raised more than 60 million USD from Goldman Sachs and other VC firms when the e­commerce company I founded reached more than 1 million customers in a single year (see IGE below for more details). Deeply passionate about innovations and new ventures related to software, e­commerce, gaming, education, and the non­profit field since 2012, I’m always looking to partner up and help entrepreneurs to turn their business ideas into reality. Alok Deshpande Co­founder and Head of Product, Loopt LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alok­deshpande­85b6255 41 Alok co­founded Loopt and is its Chief Software Architect. Alok spearheads mobile product development at Loopt and has led the Loopt's efforts to bring cutting edge user experiences to the wide range of phone platforms. Prior to Loopt, Alok studied computer science at Stanford University. He worked in several design and development capacities with various startups and student organizations. Anna Degtereva Founder & CEO, Happy Farm Twitter: ​
@AnnaDegtereva LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annadegtereva Attending: Full GOAP Trip + Singapore Anna Degtereva is a successful entrepreneur. She has been the CEO of Happy Farm since 2012. Happy Farm is the first American­Ukrainian Business Incubator and is located in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. Anna is in the Top 5 of the most powerful people of UANET (According AIN.UA). She is a co­organizer of the largest conference in Eastern Europe Europe Venture Summit “Startup Adventure”(1500+ participants and 80 international speakers), as well as an organizer of international startup conference in San Francisco, “U.T. GEM ”(500+ participants and 50 speakers), and Techconnect.tech in Astana (2000+ participants and 50 speakers). BeiBei Que Chief Marketing, LegalZoom LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bebe­chueh­6968a216? Attending: Full GOAP Trip Casey Lau Co­Founder, StartupHK Twitter: ​
@casey_lau LinkedIn: ​
https://hk.linkedin.com/in/caseylau Attending: Hong Kong Casey Lau is one of Hong Kong’s tech start­up pioneers, having launched one of the first HK­based web design studios; Rogue Media, co­foundedActionAce.com; one of Asia’s first e­commerce sites, co­founded Velocity9; a new media development agency and Popcorn Media Network; a digital publishing company. He along with Gene Soo, John Buford and Daniel Cheng formed ​
StartupsHK​
in 2009 to ignite the tech startup scene in Hong Kong through a series of conferences and networking events – and helped grow the Hong Kong ecosystem from the original 4 founders, who met weekly at coffee shops in Hong Kong, to over 5,000 members today. 42 He is currently the Community Development Manager for SoftLayer’s ​
Catalyst Startup Program​
in Asia­Pacific, providing virtual incubator services for startups across the region working with startups in supercharging their efforts from China, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. Casey speaks regularly around Asia on Hong Kong’s startup scene at conferences like Startup Asia, Geeks on a Beach, Open Web Asia andEchelon, as well as teaching a class for new entrepreneurs at ​
General Assembly​
. He was acted as the Master of Ceremonies at ​
Slush Asia – the first major Slush event in Tokyo, Japan. Chok Ooi CEO, AgilityIO LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chokooi Attending: Full GOAP Trip Chok is the CEO of AgilityIO (www.agilityio.com), a software innovation company, and an angel investor. From his early days building his own PC and launching Malaysia's first official secondary school website at age 16, Chok now has more than 10 years of Wall Street and Silicon Valley experience managing and leading Agile teams. With a background in Electrical Engineering, Chok has gone beyond the technical aspects of his work to foster cooperation between business and technology. In 2011, he founded Agility with a team of like­minded individuals and has grown the company tremendously over the span of three years. Prior to this, he built trading systems for top investment banks including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America. Chok also worked for Silicon Valley startup Loopt and was previously CTO of AZAP Mobile and Head of Web and Mobile Solutions at Selerity. Chok enjoys discovering the latest tech and startup trends and meeting people in the field at various conferences around the globe. In recent years, he has traveled extensively and met entrepreneurs across the U.S. and also in Asia and the Middle East. Chok has shared his experience at the Echelon Malaysia Conference 2014, with students at Wharton School of Business and also several educational institutions in Malaysia. He was a speaker at the Malaysia Forum 2014 in New York and was profiled on Astro Awani's program, "Life in the Valley, the Digital Gold Rush." Craig Kuang Angel Investor LinkedIn: ​
https://ae.linkedin.com/in/brianjluck 43 Bachelor Degree at NYU in Finance Economics; worked at StartEngine, HSBC, active angel investor in early stage startups. Crystal Peterson Director, Registry Services & Global Channel Management LinkedIn:​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/clpeterson Attending: Hangzhou­Shenzhen Crystal Peterson is Neustar’s Director of Registry Services & Global Channel Management where she is responsible for overseeing the growth of some of Neustar’s most prominent domain name products, including the .biz, .CO and .US Top­Level Domains. Most recently, Crystal has been instrumental in the highly successful launch of .nyc domain names, playing a pivotal role in positioning .nyc as the world’s largest geographic­based new Top­Level Domain. Traveling more than 100,000 miles each year, Crystal forges some of the company’s most strategic registry partnerships while cultivating relationships with registrars and resellers in all corners of the globe. Amongst her many roles prior to her position at Neustar, Crystal handled the Global Sales and Channel Marketing for the .CO domain which launched just over five years ago with great success and reaching over 1 million domains under management in less than one year with the exciting announcement of .CO’s more than 2 million domains in January 2016. She has also been the Marketing & Communications Manager for Public Interest Registry, which manages the .ORG Top­Level Domain. But just as with most successful professionals, there is more than meets the eye with Crystal. Along with a wealth of experience in marketing and administration, Crystal has performed with multiple professional dance organizations across the United States and has served the community by assisting individuals with developmental disabilities. A cornerstone of the Neustar Registry Team, Crystal Peterson continues to push the company to new heights, one domain name at a time. Dorrian Porter Founder, Twitter: ​
@dgp LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorrianporter Dorrian is the founder and CEO of Vestaboard based in Menlo Park, California. Vestaboard was started in 2015 and is building new types of connected displays for the smart home and office. Dorrian began his career in the Silicon Valley as an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati working on venture financings, M&A and IPOs. From 2000 to 2005, he co­founded and ran HigherMarkets (now SciQuest), a SaaS commerce platform for universities and colleges. After HigherMarkets he was founder and CEO at Mozes (now HelloWorld) which pioneered mobile marketing & apps for the 4 major music labels, Live Nation Entertainment and major consumer brands. Dmitry Alimov Founder & Managing Partner, Frontier Ventures 44 Twitter: ​
@TheFrontierMan LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalimov Attending: Hangzhou­Shenzhen Internet investor and entrepreneur. Investing in tech companies since 1999, invested at early stage in over 25 companies including industry leaders such as Profi.ru, ivi.ru, Chope.com, Expert360.com, and Biglion.ru. Founded Frontier Ventures and co­founded ivi.ru. Doug Speight CEO and Founder, Cathedral Leasing Twitter: ​
@dougspeight LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug­speight­91b1932 Attending: Full GOAP Trip Dustin Craun is the CEO and Founder of Ummah Wide, a digital media and film production startup telling stories that transcend the borders of global communities. He is a social innovator, writer, digital strategist, community organizer, and educator. His writings on race, philosophy, and Islamic studies have been published in academic journals and popular publications. As a consultant he has worked with different non­profits, universities, social enterprise's and startups based in the United States and throughout the world. Over these years I have gained a wide range of skill sets including: content strategy from ideation to social media and website publishing, project development and management, content and copy writing and editing, organizational development and branding, curriculum development, training large and small groups in vision, organization strategy, diversity training, strategic communications, marketing, story based media strategy, website design, large scale event planning, non­profit development strategy, grant writing and board of directors experience. Dusan Stojanovic Founder/Director, True Global Ventures Attending: Hangzhou­Hong Kong A “citizen of the world” with a Swedish passport, Dušan was awarded the prize Business Angel of the Year in Europe in 2013 by EBAN (European Business Angel Network) after having three positive exits within a week. Previously unheard of in the global angel history. He was also nominated as one of four Business Angels of the Year in Europe 2009 by EBAN. Announced as among FINTECH ASIA 100 Leaders In Asian Fintech in 2016 after moving in 2014 to Asia. He has worked for more than 20 years within Business Development primarily within Fintech including payments and Media. Half of the time at GE Capital and Monabanq.com and the rest with own ventures/investments. Strong international network in primarily Silicon Valley, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Stockholm, Berlin, London and Paris. Has learnt 6 languages and as many cultures and working habits. George Staikos 45 Founder & CEO, Topology Twitter: @grstaikos LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgestaikos Attending: Full GOAP Trip + Singapore George is a software developer and tech entrepreneur from Toronto, Canada. He has developed software since a very young age, and contributed to open source software as early as 1994. At the University of Toronto he studied Astronomy and Astrophysics, Computer Science, and Mathematics. While he was supposedly studying those things, he was a core contributor to the KDE project, and in particular continued work on the KHTML web engine as it was adopted by Apple to form WebKit. Professionally, he has worked at IBM on Net.Commerce, and after graduation founded a successful software consultancy followed by the mobile web browser company Torch Mobile. Torch was sold to BlackBerry in 2009. After 5 years at BlackBerry running, among other things, the BlackBerry browser team, he left to start a new tech startup named Topology. George has a particular interest in computer security, operating system design and development, compilers, and networking. He also enjoys travel, food and wine, and staying fit with skiing, tennis, and running. Harry Van Der Veen Founder & CEO, Nuiteq Twitter: ​
@multitouch LinkedIn:​
https://se.linkedin.com/in/harryvanderveen Attending: Full GOAP Trip Harry van der Veen, is the co­founder and award­winning CEO of NUITEQ®, an innovative Swedish edtech software developer that creates collaborative user interfaces for touch screens in classrooms. He was one of the first people in the world, that had engineered a prototype of a multi­user multitouch display, during his studies in Holland, back in 2006 before the launch of the Apple iPhone. The Luleå Technical University in Sweden invited Harry, to work on a multitouch technology centered graduation project, together with several local students. During the graduation project, after significant global commercial interest for the project, he co­founded the company NUITEQ®. After having completed his graduation project in Sweden successfully, Harry was awarded a Bachelor degree in Multimedia as part of the education program Communication, Multimedia & Design. His passion for Human Computer Interaction and his bold vision that collaborative touchscreen technology would revolutionise the way people interact with content, made him emigrate from Holland to Sweden. Today NUITEQ® has raised multiple rounds of venture capital and has offices in Sweden, India and Silicon Valley. The company has customers in over 70 countries and its customers and partners include Lenovo, 3M, NEC, Ericsson, Accenture and General Electric. In his free time, Harry enjoys the outdoors, traveling, food, reading, watching tv shows, movies and documentaries. Ian McNish Angel Investor, StartX Twitter: ​
@imcnish LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian 46 Attending: Full GOAP Trip I’m a 500 Startups mentor and angel investor who enjoys solving complex problems I’m a 500 Startups mentor and angel investor who enjoys solving complex problems and getting my hands dirty. I’ve spent the past 17 years working in all aspects of IT and technical operations. My expertise lies in developing solid technical infrastructures that are built to last. I like moving quickly, but as a technologist who’s been around the block, I also know how critical it is to take a step back and take scaling into consideration as a company grows.and getting my hands dirty. I’ve spent the past 17 years working in all aspects of IT and technical operations. My expertise lies in developing solid technical infrastructures that are built to last. I like moving quickly, but as a technologist who’s been around the block, I also know how critical it is to take a step back and take scaling into consideration as a company grows. Igor Ryabenkly Managing Partner, ​
Altair Capital Management LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iryabenkiy Attending: Full GOAP Trip + Singapore Igor Ryabenkiy has more than twenty years of experience doing business and successful investments in the sphere of innovations, information technology, consulting, real estate and finance. A great variety of successful investment projects were created, developed and completed under his leadership. The geography of his business includes USA, Israel, Russia and China. His contacts in the business worlds of many countries and his personal qualities have enabled him to achieve significant success in his investment activity. Julie McDermott Angel Investor, McDermott LLC LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcdermottjulie Attending: Hangzhou­Taipei Julie McDermott is a former Wall Street bond trader with $200mm in career trading profits. She is currently an angel investor and LP in several VC funds spanning geographies and verticals. Julie received her MBA from Columbia Business School, lives in NYC and speaks Spanish, Portuguese and English. She is also on the Advisory Board of the Aspen Institute Global Alliances Program. Leonard Speiser Founder, Clover Twitter:​
@leonardspeiser LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardspeiser Attending: Full GOAP Trip 47 Leonard invests in hardware, deep learning and development languages. He previously founded Clover, a point of sale hardware and software platform for brick and mortar stores. Clover has shipped over 140K hardware devices, processes over $15B in credit cards and did over $250M in revenue last year. Leonard has started four other companies and worked at Intuit, eBay and Yahoo. He received his BS from MIT. Mato Peric Exec Chairman, MPGI Holdings LinkedIn: ​
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/matoperic Attending: Full GOAP Trip Mato is passionate about building and investing in tech companies. His experience ranges from building multiple startups from scratch, to running multi­national Ecommerce firms with up to 1,500 employees. With MPGI, he invests in consumer internet companies globally, including India, Europe, Southeast Asia and Sub­Saharan Africa. Max Hodak Founder & Cofounder, Transcriptic Twitter: ​
@Max_Hodak LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxhodak Attending: Shenzhen­Tokyo Max is the founder and CEO of Transcriptic, the robotic cloud laboratory for the life sciences. Before Transcriptic, Max studied Biomedical Engineering at Duke where he worked on brain­machine interfacing in rhesus monkeys. Muhammad Arrabi CEO, EcommerceSea Twitter: ​
@mrarrabi Linkedin: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/arrabi Attending: Full GOAP Trip Muhammad is proud member & CEO of EcommerceSea, the Saudi startup team bent on bringing world­class ecommerce experience to Saudi, Arabia, and the Arab World. Prior to that, Muhammad was part of the investment team at National Net Ventures (N2V), with investments in multiple startups throughout the Middle East. Muhammad spent over 13 years in the US, studying and working at startups in the Silicon Valley. He worked 6 years at Microsoft as Program Manager and Evangelist. Muhammad has a Masters in Computer Science from Colorado State University. Olivier Amar CEO/Co­Founder, MyPermissions Linkedin: ​
http://geeksonaplane.com/eanewgeeks/olivier­amar/ Attending: Full GOAP Trip 48 Over the last 5 years, I’ve gone from VP marketing of a startup that specialized in Archaeological stock photography where I was the driving force behind the design, marketing, business model and overall direction of the company. It’s the place I got my first taste of internet marketing and realized that although offline marketing will always have a very important place, the internet will be the driving force behind online conversions and ROI. Having been thoroughly bitten by the SEO /SEM / Internet Marketing bug at S&P, I followed the agency that had helped us create our online Internet strategy and went to work at Compucall Web Marketing for almost 2 years. There I had the incredible opportunity of learning the world of online marketing as it applies to multiple online verticals. I worked with Companies such as EL AL airlines, AIG insurance, Microsoft (Redmond) and many others and our strategy was an integral part of the online marketing efforts and usually a big part of their internet revenue and ROI. Working with Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Pay Per Click, Analytics, Viral Campaigns, Website Optimization and led me to understand that no one solution was the end all and that most of the time a comprehensive holistic approach must be taken to succeed. Moving past Compucall I took on two initiatives at once. The heading of SEO for both Harrah’s Hotels and Casinos and the World Series of Poker and it’s community of Sites through Whiteweb and setting up my own personal initiative called PointUp Media. Both have had their level of successes. 2011 was my year in the Forex. I took over as Chief Marketing Officer for UFXbank and UFXmarkets. In my time with the company I revenues rose by over 300%. I took a small marketing department of only 7 people and grew it to 21, adding in­house analytics, SEM and a structured media department. Today I lead MyPermissions to try and bring order and control to applications access to user information in the cloud Parker Barnett Business Dev Manager, .CO Attending: Hangzhou­Shenzhen Parker Barnett, Biz Dev Manager at .CO. Make no mistake, Parker isn’t a newbie to .CO – he interned with them while he finished pursuing his Bachelors degree from the University of Miami! Prior to officially joining the team full­time, Parker lived the #startuplife at the Startup Institute Boston where he took part in the Technical Marketing Track learning the basics of growth hacking, all things SEO, css and more. When Parker isn’t working or putting his newly acquired growth hacking skills to the test you can find him watching Game of Thrones or reading the latest must­read for startups. Peng T. Ong Managing Director, Monk Hill Ventures Linkedin: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pengtong Attending:Tokyo 49 Peng T. Ong is one of the most successful technology entrepreneurs from Singapore. He was the founder and CEO of Interwoven, which had a successful IPO on NASDAQ. Prior to Interwoven, he was co­founder of Match.com (acquired by IAC). After Interwoven, Peng founded Encentuate (acquired by IBM), the leader in enterprise identity management. The three businesses he started now generate annual revenues that total more than $1 billion. Most recently, Peng was a Partner at GSR Ventures, a leading VCs in China and also served as Chairman of both early­stage VC funds Jungle Ventures and Infocomm Investments in Singapore. Peng has also served on many boards, including SingTel (SI:STEL) and YY.com (NASDAQ:YY). Peng earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas and a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Illinois. Peng is also a passionate music lover and digital hifi fanatic with his house being one giant studio. Ran Makavy VP of Growth, LYFT Twitter: ​
@Makavy Linkedin: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmakavy Attending: Full GOAP Trip Ran was the founder and CEO of Snaptu, a Sequoia­based company, which he sold to Facebook in 2011. Snaptu, which is now known as “Facebook for Every Phone” and “Facebook Lite” has reached 200 million active users and over a billion downloads. After integrating Snaptu into Facebook he continued to make significant contribution to the company’s growth by building and launching ​
Internet.org​
, Facebook’s ambitious plan to connect the whole world to the internet. Through his tenure at Facebook, Ran has demonstrated his unique ability to leverage data, deep market analysis, and product innovation to create high growth initiatives even in the most challenging business environments. Ran has more than 20 years of experience in the tech industry, specializing in mobile, growth, and data. He was an early employee at Odigo, which was acquired by Comverse, and ran product management at Followap, which was acquired by NeuStar. Ran holds a computer science degree and an MBA. He is currently VP of Growth at Lyft Rina Onur Co­Founder, PEAK Games & Flat4Day/Hemenkiralik Twitter: ​
@RinaOnur Linkedin: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rinaonur Attending: Shenzhen­Tokyo Rina Onur Sirinoglu is the Co­Founder of Peak Games, the leading online and mobile gaming company of Turkey & MENA regions, and HemenKiralik.com, the largest short­term property rental platform in Turkey. Rina co­founded Peak in October 2010 and raised $30m in VC funding for the company to develop and publish games that fit the unique interests and cultures of emerging markets. Peak Games is the 3rd largest online gaming company on Facebook globally with over 35 million monthly and 12 million daily active users. Rina is also a Co­Founder at Hemenkiralik.com, the leading local marketplace for short­term rental space in Turkey targeted at domestic and neighboring markets with over 25,000 properties. Rina helped HemenKiralik raise over 3.5m USD in funding. Prior to venturing into the Turkish startup 50 ecosystem, Rina has worked as an investment banker for Morgan Stanley and as an investment professional at Turkven Private Equity. Rina holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and is a founding member of the World Economic Forum: Global Shapers Istanbul Hub. Russell Ladson Co­Founder/CEO, Drop Software Inc Twitter: ​
@Russellladson Linkedin: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russellladson Russell Ladson is the co­founder and CEO of Drop Software Inc. (“Drop”), an early stage artificial intelligence startup. Before his decision to focus full time on Drop, he spent his early years after college as an investment banking analyst at two leading Wall Street firms ­ Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Rice Financial Products Company. As an analyst in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Public Finance group, he provided analytical and quantitative support on almost $2 billion in senior managed transactions for infrastructure and municipal clients throughout the United States. After being recruited by the CEO of Rice Financial Products Company, he joined the firm’s growing investment banking practice – supporting both relationship bankers and senior management in deal execution and strategic business development. After a close call with mortality in a near fatal accident, he finally understood the sanctity of life and doing what one loves. His obsession with design thinking, technology, and innovation led to his decision to forego a promotion to a third year and co­found Drop. He had a vision to lead a company where artists, engineers, and product designers eagerly come to work to create a world that none of us have seen. With his strong affinity for designing beautiful technology products that will improve our lives, he and his team are currently building a “brain” that is able to teach itself. When he is not leading his team or jumping at the opportunity to travel, he is more than likely in the boxing ring, practicing vinyasa yoga, or scouting the city for new grub spots. He has been featured in the New York Times and HBCU Digest. He graduated from Morehouse College with a B.A. in Economics. Ryota Matsuzaki Founder & Chief, Kibidango, Inc Twitter: ​
@Matsuzaki Linkedin: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matsuzaki Attending: Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Taipei Ryota Matsuzaki is founder and Chief Momotaro at Kibidango, Inc. Kibidango is a leading Japanese crowdfunding service with an 51 e­commerce focus to close the gap between creators willing to bring new ideas into life and consumers who are willing to help fund such ideas to receive rewards that they cannot get otherwise. Prior to starting Kibidango, he was the 93rd employee at Rakuten where he spent 11 years as an executive leading its corporate development activities. Through his role, he was able to identify innovative businesses and successfully rolling them into the group through investments and acquisitions, expanding the group’s ecosystem at a global scale. His last position at Rakuten was Head of Internet Marketing Business and Head of Strategic Planning, after spending three years in Boston where he led its US expansion effort as Senior Vice President of Rakuten USA. Headquartered in Tokyo, Rakuten is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive Internet companies in the Internet industry, providing leading services in e­commerce, travel, and financial services. Ryota played central role in many of its major acquisitions, including the acquisition of LinkShare and Buy.com, among others with more than $2 billion in total investments in which he has directly led or worked on. Prior to Rakuten, he worked as an investment banker at the Industrial Bank of Japan. He received his MBA from Cornell University and BA in economics from Keio University. He currently lives in Tokyo with his wife Haruna and son Shota. He’s an avid music lover who used to play violin in an amateur orchestra, game player and loves backing projects on Kickstarter more than anything. Shawn Convery CEO, Convery Business Investments LLC Linkedin: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnconvery Attending: Full GOAP Trip Shawn Convery is an American, who has built success technology companies operating around the world. He is currently based in Miami where he’s working on a new venture. He’s also a startup investor. Sky Dufaux Founder & CEO, Wooji Twitter:​
@SkyDufaux Linkedin: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/skydufaux Attending: Full GOAP Trip + Singapore Entrepreneur and executive with 15 years experience in mobile gaming and real estate development. Shipped 13 web & mobile games at Newscorp as a game publisher. Built over 100 units worth $50M as a real estate developer. Game thinking and design DNA. Relentlessly optimistic. Working on sensitivity and the power of active listening. Sky’s GOAP mission: Make friends, help founders, and meet investors Sky’s interests: Messaging, Emoji, Personalization, Mobile, Growth Tushar Ahluwalia CEO, StalkBuyLove.com Linkedin: ​
https://in.linkedin.com/in/tushar­ahluwalia­98b1349 52 Attending: Full GOAP Trip Vitaly Golomb Founding Partner, CCC Startups Twitter: ​
@vitalyg LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/vitalyg Attending: Hong Kong­Tokyo Vitaly M. Golomb is a Silicon Valley­based entrepreneur, investor, author, and speaker. He has spent his career in technology startups, international venture capital, and the graphic communications industry. He is the Chief Product Officer of SenStay, Founding Partner of CCC Startups, Executive Producer of the Startup AddVenture conference series, and Author of Accelerated Startup – The New Business School. He was previously the CEO of Keen Systems (Acquired by Aleyant) a ecommerce platform for the printing industry and the CEO of Sputnik Integrated, an international, award­winning design and marketing firm. Vitaly is passionate about improving society by nurturing entrepreneurship around the world. He is contributing writer for TechCrunch (http://techcrunch.com/contributor/vitaly­m­golom/) and other publications and has been a consistently top­ranked mentor at a number of startup accelerator programs in US and Europe. He has spoken at TEDx and travels to over 20 countries every year as a keynote speaker on entrepreneurship, innovation, and design. He consults and teaches workshops to the next generation of entrepreneurs, as well as enterprises and governments fostering innovation. His new book, Accelerated Startup – The New Business School (www.golomb.net/book), is the Pocket MBA for the 21st century. Traditional business schools are not prepared to provide the evolving skills and mentorship required to build tomorrow’s billion dollar companies. Many are choosing to apply to accelerators instead of MBAs and learn by doing at a rapid pace. The book provides all of the latest tools and techniques used by the world’s top accelerator programs to manufacture successful startups. Since 2013, Vitaly has served as the executive producer of the Startup AddVenture conference and tour that brings some of the world’s top startup experts to tomorrow’s high­potential startup hubs. Building on the success of Startup AddVenture, Vitaly co­founded CCC Startups, a global network supporting exceptional entrepreneurs in Europe, Middle East, and beyond. CCC is focused on high quality events and investments that help up­and­coming startup ecosystems grow by connecting local talent with global markets. Vitaly Polekhin Managing Partner, Venture Angels Twitter: ​
@VitalyPolekhin LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitalypolekhin Attending: Full GOAP Trip 53 – Managing partner of VENTURE ANGELS seed and early stage investment fund. – Head of SKOLKOVO Business School Investor club. – Angel Investor of the Year 2015 by Russia Venture Awards. – Vice Chairman of National Business Angels Association NBAA. – Limited Partner and Supervisory Board member in 3 VC funds. MEET 500 STAFF
Aerin Lim Director of Investor Relations, 500 Startups LinkedIn:​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aerin­lim­a47a4a2 Attending: HK, Taipei, Tokyo Aerin works with 500’s partners and investors to keep them happy. She spent her Padawan years at Ooyala, Morgan Stanley and Citi. Having lived in five different countries, she is always curious about the world, people and life. Alex Lee Community Manager of Greater China, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@tzongyehl Attending: Full GOAP Trip GOAP Shenzhen organizer Fascinated by tech and all kinds of innovative stuff, Alex is now a community manager for 500 Greater China team. He is also a former transfer pricing consultant and a vintage camera collector. Arnaud Bonzom Director of Corporate Innovation, Southeast Asia, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@ArnaudBonzom LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/arnaudbonzom Attending: Full GOAP Trip + Singapore Arnaud has joined 500 Startups as Director of Corporate Innovation and he is currently working on a stealth project. 54 Prior to 500 Startups, Arnaud was part of INSEAD where he was responsible for facilitating interactions between students/alumni and the Entrepreneurship ecosystem (Entrepreneur / Start­up / Incubator / Accelerator / Family Business / Venture Capitalist / Corporate Venture Capital) as well as responsible for the Social Impact and Tech ecosystem across the Asia­Pacific region. Arnaud also acts as an angel investor with a focus on Internet, Enterprise Software, Mobile, Consumer & B2B. He has invested in Healint (High­relevance data for health treatments evaluation), Krak (the skateboarding experience one trick at a time) and Garuda Robotics (drone fleet management systems for businesses). He is also working on his spare time to develop some tools for the startup ecosystem: Asia Funding / M&A Newsletter, Startintx Index: APAC Venture Capital – Top Trends of Q1 2015 & Singapore startup ecosystem and entrepreneur toolbox. Bailey Maloney Partnerships, BD & Events, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@MaloneyBailey LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/baileymaloney Attending: Full GOAP Trip GOAP Taipei organizer Mobile: +1 985­807­5692 (SMS Only) Primary responsibilities include overseeing the day­to­day management of 500's Annual Partnership Program. Collaborating with all partners annually in negotiating the terms of their contracts to ensure they are in the best interest of both parties and oversees the on­going relationships. Bailey works closely with 500 accelerator teams to arrange partner sessions to encourage partners to share relevant content to help early­stage startups grow. In addition, she contributes to event planning including annual conferences, Demos Days, GOAP and other 500 business development projects. Prior to 500, Bailey was a part of the New Orleans startup scene and a former television broadcast journalist. Charlotte Xu Han Public Relations for Greater China Team, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@leafyjune LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte065 Attending:Hangzhou­Taipei GOAP Hangzhou and Shenzhen organizer Charlotte manages public relations, marketing and regional partnerships for 500 Greater China team, based out of Beijing. She handles local partnerships for GOAP in Hangzhou and Shenzhen. She’s also Co­Founder of Lean In China, a growing women empowerment network and 55 community inspired by Sheryl Sandberg's book​
Lean In​
, that support women‘s personal and professional development over 10 cities and 45 colleges. Cjin Cheng Venture Partner, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@cjin LinkedIn: ​
https://tw.linkedin.com/in/cjinc Attending: Taipei GOAP Taipei organizer Cjin is a serial entrepreneur in J2ME apps, social games, and mobile messaging app (@Cubie). From a tropical country but love skiing. Cristina Manno Operations, BD & Events, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@Cristina_Manno LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/cristina­manno­a0ba7049 Attending: Full GOAP Trip GOAP Hangzhou & Hong Kong organizer Mobile: +1 540­710­3601 (SMS only) Cristina helps coordinate events for 500 Startups including Annual Conferences, Demo Days, Retreats, and Geeks On a Plane. Prior to 500, Cristina was the office manager at Peek, which helps tourists find the best things to do around the world. She's originally from the East Coast where she planned events for the government in DC. Dave McClure Founding Partner, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@davemcclure LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/davemcclure Attending: Full GOAP Trip + Singapore (April 13­14 in Kobe) Dave McClure is a Venture Capitalist & Founding Partner at 500 Startups, a global venture capital seed fund and startup accelerator based in Silicon Valley with ~$250M in assets under management. 500 Startups has invested in over 1,500 companies across more than 50 countries around the world, including: Credit Karma, GrabTaxi (now Grab), Twilio, Udemy, Ipsy, TalkDesk, Intercom, MakerBot (acq'd by SSYS for $400M), Wildfire (acq'd by GOOG for $350M), and Viki (acq'd by Rakuten for $200M). Dave is a self­proclaimed geek, investor, former coder & entrepreneur, occasional blogger and internet marketing nerd. He’s a tech veteran with over 25 years in Silicon Valley and previously managed early­stage investments for Founders Fund (2008­2009) and also led the Facebook fbFund incubator (2009). After leaving PayPal in 2004, he was an investor/advisor in a number of startups including Bix.com (acq'd by YHOO), Mint.com (acq'd by INTU), Jambool (acq'd by 56 GOOG), TeachStreet (acq'd by AMZN), SlideShare (acq'd by LNKD), and Mashery (acq'd by INTC). Before PayPal, he founded Aslan Computing, which was acquired by Servinet in 1998. Dave was named on the ​
Forbes 2016 Midas List​
as one of the top tech investors globally. Dave received a B.S. in Engineering from John Hopkins University. You can find Dave playing ultimate frisbee when he’s knees aren’t hurting. Edith Yeung Partner, Mobile Collective, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@edithyeung LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/edithyeung Attending: Full GOAP Trip GOAP Hong Kong organizer Edith Yeung​
is a Partner at ​
500 Mobile Collective Fund​
, focusing on investing in mobile apps and consumer internet startups. Prior, Edith was the VP of marketing & business development for Dolphin Browser. Dolphin Browser is a Sequoia­backed mobile browser with over ​
150 million​
installs worldwide. She also founded ​
RightVentures​
– seed stage investment firm focusing on mobile and consumer internet companies. Some of her investments include Fleksy, Mighty Text, Pack, Bounce.io etc. She is also an advisor to Strikingly. You can also find some of her work on ​
CNBC​
, ​
CBS​
, ​
NPR​
, ​
Techcrunch​
, Next Web​
, ​
Mashable​
, ​
Read Write Web​
, ​
Fora​
, etc. She frequently speaks on mobile, women and international entrepreneurship. And she loves dogs. Erbil Karaman Advisor, 500 Startups LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/eerdogan Attending: Taipei­Tokyo Founder, Investor, Intrapreneur Love to go after problems that are seemingly impossible, build things that define the future and make a positive contribution to people’s lives… Serial entrepreneur with multiple exits. Startup investor and advisor, two unicorns in portfolio so far. Bridge from Turkey to Silicon Valley. Brought more than 25 entrepreneurs to SV and helped them pursue their dreams. Product Leader and Intrepreneur at Facebook. Founded and led many key strategic initiatives for the company. Hired and mentored rising leaders of the company. James Riney 57 Partner, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@james_riney LinkedIn: ​
https://jp.linkedin.com/in/jamesriney Attending: Hong Kong, Tokyo GOAP Tokyo organizer James co­founded the “Medium.com of Japan” before covering venture investments for DeNA, based in Tokyo. He now heads the 500 Startups Japan fund. When he’s not chasing unicorns, he’s out hunting the best yakitori and ramen in the land of the rising sun. Kamran Elahian Global Innovation Advisor, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@KamranElahian LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/kamranelahian Attending: Full GOAP Trip Global Hi­Tech Entrepreneurship ­ 25 years •Co­founded 10 companies •CAE Systems: acquired by Tektronix for $75M •Cirrus Logic: IPO at $150M; peak at $3.5B •NeoMagic: IPO at $300M; peak at $700M •Centillium: IPO at $700M; peak at $4B Venture Capital ­ 17 years Global Catalyst Partners: Chairman and Co­founder •Global hi­tech VC Fund ($350M), investments in U.S., Japan, China, India, Israel & Singapore •Beceem: acquired by Broadcom for $330M •Founding Board Member, SoundHound Global Philanthropy ­ 20 years •Global Catalyst Foundation: Chairman and Co­founder – Leverage IT for Youth Education & Empowerment of Women •Relief International­Schools Online: Chairman Emeritus – Provided computers and access to the Internet for 6400 schools in 36 countries, assistance to refugees, 2000 employees, $45M annual budget •UNGAID: Former Co­chair ­ United Nations Global Alliance for use of ICT in Development Innovation Catalyst •Advisor to various governments: fossil based economy > innovation economy •Chairman of BIT­AMENA Center, UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business •Global Innovation Economy Advisor, 500 Startups •Founding Mentor, Unreasonable Institute Kathryn Tompkins Operations Manager, BD & Events, 500 Startups LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn­richert­tompkins Attending: Full GOAP Trip 58 GOAP Shenzhen & Tokyo organizer Mobile: +1 303­882­3521 (SMS only) Kathryn Tompkins is a part of the Operations, Business Development & Events team at 500. She has been a part of the team for two years, mainly focusing on conferences, GOAP, Demo Days and team retreats. She helps to manage vendors, venues, negotiate contracts, event registration and build out departmental calendars & back­end systems. Previously Kathryn was a story producer for HGTV’s hit show “My First Place”. Kelsey Cullen Director of PR, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@KelseyECullen LinkedIn:​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseycullen Attending: Full GOAP Trip + Singapore Kelsey is 500’s Director of Public Relations and is a seasoned publicist with experience working with the valley’s top venture capital firms and startups. She is the creator of tech lifestyle blog, TechCashmere and keeps her finger on the pulse of all things tech and venture. When she’s not immersed in tech and blogging, you can find her hiking or running the Lyon Street stairs. Khailee Ng Managing Partner, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@​
k​
hailee LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/khailee Attending: Hangzhou­Shenzhen Khailee Ng is Managing Partner at 500 Startups. His focus areas include global expansion, managing the Southeast Asian fund, and building bridges between emerging markets and Silicon Valley. Born and raised in Malaysia, he started creating web products at age 15. By the age of 30, he built a news company SAYS.com (now listed in the Malaysian stock exchange as REV Asia) and e­commerce company GroupsMore (acquired by Groupon). He hopes to create tomorrow’s game­changing companies by providing people from anywhere in the world with equal access to global resources and opportunities. Norman Chang Investment Associate, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@nscchang LinkedIn: ​
https://www.linkedin.com/in/norman­chang­8068a510 Attending: Hong Kong, Taipei GOAP Taipei organizer Norman is an investment associate for 500 Greater China Team. Norman is a wonder boy who has done hardware, human resource, 59 tennis coaching in US, Canada, and China. Or we can rephrase that he is a geek, sport fanatic, and people person. Rui Ma Partner, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@ruima LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/ruima Attending: Full GOAP Trip GOAP Organizer Engineering education followed 12 years of experience in finance and investing. China born, Silicon Valley bred, and Beijing based. Now combining my strengths (bi­lingual and bi­cultural U.S. and China) and passions (technology, entrepreneurship, innovation) to find and make investments in early stage tech startups in China. I am based in Beijing (50%) with frequent travel to Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Taiwan (25%), and spend a significant portion of my time in Silicon Valley as well (25%) T Sripunvoraskul Marketing & Design. BD & Events, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@Tsripunv LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/tsripunv Attending: Full GOAP Trip GOAP Photographer T is the Marketing & Design for the BD & Events team. Makes cool design stuff for marketing and operations for 500’s events. Previously a UX designer at Outlook, Tradecraft, and various startups. An occasional y’all from this true southerner from Tennessee means a love for darn good sweet tea and fluffy biscuits. Typically found along scenic routes and the good vibes of San Francisco. Tara Graham Director, BD & Events, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@LilMissWordy LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/lilmisswordy Attending: Full GOAP Trip GOAP Organizer Mobile: +1 510­847­2711 60 Tara leads the Business Development & Events team by managing partnerships and developing the themes, agendas and overall content strategy for 500 Startups conferences and events, including GOAP. Before joining 500, Tara taught online research and media production classes to undergraduate students in the International and Area Studies Academic Program at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB). Tara also worked as the Director and Executive Producer of Digital Media Projects at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, where she co­founded and led The #GlobalPOV Project, a mixed­media approach to education about poverty & inequality. Additionally, she was the Director of Media at the UCB Center for Middle Eastern Studies, where she had the opportunity to sit down and interview a Head of State in December of 2010, days before the eruption of the so­called “Arab Spring.” Whom did she interview (and dare to call a dictator to his face)? Ask to find out. Yiying Lu Creative Director, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@YiyingLu LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/yiyinglu Attending: Full GOAP Trip In the last 9 years, Yiying has worked directly with major global advertising agencies, such as JTW, McCann Erickson, BBDO, TBWA, Saatchi & Saatchi and so on, as a creative consultant; whilst teaching Typography and Magazine design, at University of Technology Sydney Australia. She has also been running her design studio since 2007, with global clients such as Disney, Twitter, Conan O'Brien, PepsiCo, Microsoft, Expedia, Scholastic, South by SouthWest, Sony Digital, Shorty Awards, etc. Yiying has recently moved to San Francisco & joined 500 Startups family as a creative director. Yohei Sawayama Venture Partner, 500 Startups Twitter: ​
@YoheiSawayama LinkedIn:​
https://jp.linkedin.com/in/yohei­sawayama­817a90b Attending: Hong Kong, Tokyo GOAP Tokyo organizer Just a nuclear engineer turned hacker turned banker turned researcher turned venture capitalist. Yohei sources deals and wins hackathons over at 500 Japan. Zafer Younis Venture Partner, 500 Startups 61 Twitter: ​
@zaferyounis LinkedIn: ​
www.linkedin.com/in/zaferyounis Attending: Tokyo Zafer Younis is a marketing specialist who is paving new ways for companies to connect with their consumers in the digital space. He is the co­founder of The Online Project where his team develops and executes social media strategies for Fortune 500 companies and high profile organizations operating in the Middle East and North Africa. At the age of 23, Zafer co­founded his first company: Modern Media, LTD, a Jordanian media house that owns and operates two popular radio stations, including the award winning radio station Play 99.6, which received recognition from the US­based National Association for Broadcasters in 2007. In 2014 Modern Media was acquired by D&C Electronics, one of the regions leading media conglomerates. Zafer is actively involved in several charity and non­profit organizations. In 2009, he joined the board of New Think Theater, a TED­like forum for the Middle East; he advises the board of the Jordan River Foundation, a sustainable charity organization headed by Queen Rania that provides economic opportunities for women and children; he served on the Board of Directors for the Jordan Festival in 2010. He is an advisor to many startups as he serves on the Mentorship Network of Oasis500, the Middle East’s premier seed investment program. 62 SHARE MEMORIES WITH US #GOAP #500STRONG Twitter: ​
@500Startups Facebook: ​
www.facebook.com/500Startups Instagram: ​
www.instagram.com/500Startups 63