How ‘Open’ Should Chinese StartUps Be to Outside Independent Directors?
Yesterday I attended the China Entrepreneurs BizSpark MEGA Angel Investment Forum at the Microsoft Office in Beijing. The first panel discussion was about ‘Finding the right early stage investor’.
Of course much of the conversation revolved around the importance of finding a strategic partner that invests ‘smart’ money as opposed to ‘dumb’ money. Meaning, investors who can bring a wealth of business partnerships, legal and strategic value etc. are investing ‘smarter’ money. Investors who just put in money but no real time or extra benefits are said to be investing ‘dumb money’.
昨日、北京にあるマイクロソフトのオフィスで開かれた China Entrepreneurs（創業中国精英会）の「BixSpark MEGA Angel Investment Forum」に参加した。最初のパネルディスカッションでは「アーリーステージにおける適切な投資家を見つける」ことについて論議された。
当然ながら、論議の大部分は「つまらないお金」に対し「賢いお金」を投資をする戦略的パートナーを見つけることの重要性についてだった。つまり、法的価値や戦略的価値など、多くの事業提携をもたらすことのできる投資家は「賢いお金」を投資しているということだ。お金を出すだけでその投資が遅れたり特別な援助をしない投資家は「つまらないお金」を投資していると言われている。
昨日、北京のマイクロソフトオフィスで開催されたChina Entrepreneurs BizSpark MEGA Angel Investment Forum(おそらく投資に関する討論会）に出席しました。
もちろん、投資に関する討論会であったため、ほとんどの会話は、「愚かな金」ではなく「かしこいお金」を投資してくれる戦略的な投資家を見つけ出すことの重要性を説くものでした。 ところで、富を生み出してくれる投資家が「かしこいお金」を投資しているのである。反対に、お金を投資しているのにも関わらず、さらなる利益や企業にとっての効率性を生み出さない投資家は「愚かな金」と呼ばれている。
Moving on from that discussion, one thing that was interesting to hear was a comment by Paul Asel, Partner of Nokia Growth Partners China; the VC arm of Nokia. He said, compared to America, there is “significant resistance for Chinese start-ups to taking outside independent directors that can add outside value.” The role of independent directors is to add an independent perspective backed by a strong track record of experience and can help guide the company and make decisions. So if independent directors have the potential to add such great value, why is there is a difference between America and China in respect to bringing them on?
I can’t proclaim to know all the reasons why, I can only speculate. Like many of my recent articles, China’s culture of low trust seems to always creep through as a major factor. Bringing on an ‘outsider’ into any organization requires a deep level of trust. You must believe that they only have the best intentions for you and your company.
In America , it seems that people will in most cases believe what you say and appear to have a strong resume or background that is impressive. For the case of independent directors, people would love to invite successful people like Google’s Ex-CEO, now Chairman, Eric Schmidt to the board or GE’s famous long serving CEO, Jack Welch who is an authority on managing people and a company. Although you may not know them personally, their background and history, usually speak for itself.
In contrast, Chinese start-ups likely have an aversion to bringing on outside people and independent directors because they don’t truly know them. For many, it is likely to second guess their motivations for coming into the organization. Questions like, ‘What do they want?’ or ‘Will they take my idea somewhere else?’ will inevitably enter the mind. On one hand, such caution may be warranted and will potentially save the company a lot of heart ache if something wrong did happen. But from an investor perspective, whose job it is to add ‘smart money’, such resistance to bringing on very experienced and qualified directors can be frustrating.
So for Chinese start-ups that operate in a crucial time of survival of the fittest and fastest, it may be worth sacrificing a little comfort and give outside directors, the benefit of the doubt to help them. If investors are truly aligned to growing the value of the startup, it doesn’t make sense to recommend independent directors that have a detrimental effect on the company.
第二パラグラフの末尾に以下の文を追加してください。「最初のパネルディスカッションでは、『企業の初期段階における正しい投資家を見つける』ということについて議論された」
あと語尾が『だ・である』だったり『です・ます』だったりで統一できてなくてすいません。よろしくお願いします。
了解しました。ありがとうございます。次回からは語尾を統一して頂けるとありがたいです。