Overview

From 2014 to 2016 I led regional development in Greater China for UP Global (Startup Weekend, Startup Next), which became part of Techstars in 2015. The job was to grow the programs, build the partner and mentor network, and make the region a sustainable business, all while helping founders take their next step.

My promise at a Chengdu meetup in late 2014 set the goal: in 2015, bring at least one company from China to the United States through our programs. One of the first Startup Next Shanghai teams, PartnerGo, did exactly that.

What I Did

• Grew Startup Weekend in China from 14 events in 2014 to 53 in 2015 (22 Startup Weekends plus workshops and trainings) across 10 cities, reaching over 6,000 entrepreneurs, with a focus on the main hubs: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Hangzhou
• Launched Startup Next, the 6-week pre-accelerator, in Shanghai (spring 2015) and Hong Kong (fall 2015), and recruited and trained the team for the first Startup Next in Taipei
• Signed the first national sponsors in the region (including Qingcloud, Servcorp, EFC, and Haier M-Lab) and helped secure the first fund investment from China into the Techstars fund
• Built vertical programs with partners, like Asia’s first Startup Weekend Space with the China Space Foundation
• Ran partner events with JD.com, Haier, Zhejiang University, and the US Consulate in Shanghai, and spoke at Alibaba HQ in Hangzhou on global innovation
• Localized the operation for China: WeChat marketing, local ticketing and payments, and a Chinese web presence

What I Learned

• Events aren’t an ecosystem. Plenty of groups copied the Startup Weekend format in 2015. What mattered was clear goals and a next step for founders after the weekend.
• Mentorship has to be cultivated. China had little culture of startup mentorship or volunteering, so building the mentor network was its own project.
• Partnerships are the business. Without sponsors, there was no brand and no way to bring the international network to local founders.