Rui Ma(@ruima):One of the most important skills in the 2020s is learning how to do biz dev and useful research over the internet, everyone! We've gotten some requests at @TechBuzzChina for single-person trips for startup founders looking for really untargeted "learning," and let me just tell you that that's not usually helpful. At the very least, you should be doing a bunch of calls with potential partners before making the trip. The trip should not be the first thing you do. It's fine if you want to be wowed by Chinese infrastructure or the general <insert industry here> ecosystem, but for most founders, this is irrelevant, and I think it's a very poor use of time. Unless you're doing it for your Instagram or something, I don't really understand the point. Anyway, you can hire us to do targeted BD for you: we're on several projects doing that exact thing right now. We're pretty good at doing this as long as it's in frontier tech and within our network. And I'm sure there are tons of other firms that can help you do it for other industries. It's 2026, everyone. Initial business research and relationship building should start online. Yes, even Chinese people are so used to having conversations online; they don't necessarily need you to travel to meet them and make it a whole big thing. If you're trying to suss out basic compatibility and opportunities, do the first pass remotely. If you're just looking for inspiration, general learning, or wanting to spend time where you truly have no idea what you're trying to do with China tech, then yes, come on one of our group trips. By the way, at least half the value is in the group that we curate together and the relationships you make with other folks on the bus.

2026.10.29 19:12

One of the most important skills in the 2020s is learning how to do biz dev and useful research over the internet, everyone! We've gotten some requests at @TechBuzzChina for single-person trips for startup founders looking for really untargeted "learning," and let me just tell you that that's not usually helpful. At the very least, you should be doing a bunch of calls with potential partners before making the trip. The trip should not be the first thing you do. It's fine if you want to be wowed by Chinese infrastructure or the general ecosystem, but for most founders, this is irrelevant, and I think it's a very poor use of time. Unless you're doing it for your Instagram or something, I don't really understand the point. Anyway, you can hire us to do targeted BD for you: we're on several projects doing that exact thing right now. We're pretty good at doing this as long as it's in frontier tech and within our network. And I'm sure there are tons of other firms that can help you do it for other industries. It's 2026, everyone. Initial business research and relationship building should start online. Yes, even Chinese people are so used to having conversations online; they don't necessarily need you to travel to meet them and make it a whole big thing. If you're trying to suss out basic compatibility and opportunities, do the first pass remotely. If you're just looking for inspiration, general learning, or wanting to spend time where you truly have no idea what you're trying to do with China tech, then yes, come on one of our group trips. By the way, at least half the value is in the group that we curate together and the relationships you make with other folks on the bus.