Category: economy

Finding the smart money

Can events like Sydney’s AngelEd and London’s City Meets Tech help those cities become global startup centres?

Around the world startup communities are working to connect with local investors, in Sydney and London two groups are showing how it is done.

“We’re looking at turning idle money into start money,” is the aim of Sydney AngelEd says one of its founders, Ian Gardner.

Fitting startup companies’ capital needs into the established criteria of investment managers is an ongoing problem that AngelEd’s founders want to resolve. “We see startups becoming an asset class,” says Gardiner.

AngelEd, to be held on November 7, aims to educate high wealth investors and asset managers on understand the risk, benefits and hype around angel investment, particularly in tech companies.

The global search for funds

Startups around the world are struggling to engage with investors – in London, the local tech community has set up City Meets Tech to introduce British investors to high growth companies.

London should have an advantage in this field given its leading role in the global finance industry, however the challenge for the tech community is to find financiers who are prepared to accept higher levels of risk than mainstream investments.

“The City is generally risk adverse and doesn’t understand tech and tech start-ups,” says the City Meets Tech website, “though really it’s about understanding the business and managing risk though unfortunately innovation requires at least some risk.”

Australia’s trillion dollar superannuation system should similarly give Sydney an opportunity that to become a global centre however it suffers from a similar, if not worse, conservative investment culture to London’s.

Turning Sydney into a global finance centre has been an objective successive state and Federal governments for twenty years but the sleepy, comfortable and risk averse culture of Australian fund managers offers little to attract foreign investors or companies.

Much of Australia’s is problem is the insular nature of local fund managers with all but a tiny part of the nation’s retirement savings being put into the top local stocks, listed property funds or domestic infrastructure projects that are notable for their lousy returns and extortionate management fees.

Breaking that mentality is going to be the key to both AngelEd and the Sydney’s success as a financial centre.’

Competing with the world

While London and Sydney are struggling with the challenges of encouraging investors into the high growth sectors, cities like Singapore and New York are developing investor communities that are attracting entrepreneurs to their cities.

Many governments dream of being the next Silicon Valley and while it isn’t likely anyone can recreate the circumstances that led to Northern California becoming the computer industry’s world centre , a vibrant and accessible capital market will be necessary for any place hoping to be a global cnetre.

For Sydney and London, the success of initiatives like AngelEd and City Meets Tech may be critical for both centres’ future in the global digital economy.

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What if you built a broadband network and nobody used it?

Broadband internet can only drive economic growth if society and business can embrace change

The assertion that internet connectivity drives economic growth is largely taken for granted although getting the maximum benefit from a broadband network investment may require more than stringing fibre cables or building wireless base stations.

A key document that supports the link between economic growth and broadband penetration is the International Telecommunication Union’s 2012 Impact of Broadband on the Economy report.

While the reports authors aren’t wholly convinced of the direct links between economic growth and broadband penetration, they do see a clear correlation between the two factors.

ITU Impact of broadband on the economy report 2012
ITU Impact of broadband on the economy report 2012

One of the areas that disturbed the ITU report editors were the business, government and cultural attitudes towards innovation.

The economic impact of broadband is higher when promotion of the technology is combined with stimulus of innovative businesses that are tied to new applications. In other words, the impact of broadband is neither automatic nor homogeneous across the economic system.

For South Korea, internet innovation is a problem as the New York Times reports. Restrictions on mapping technologies, curfews on school age children and the requirement for all South Koreans to use their real names on the net are all cited as factors in stifling local innovation.

In reading the New York Times article, it’s hard not to suspect the South Korean government is engaging in some digital protectionism, which is ironic seeing the benefits the country has reaped from globalised manufacturing over the last thirty years.

The problem for South Korea is that rolling out high speed broadband networks are of little use if local laws, culture or business practices impede adoption of the services. It’s as if the US or Germany built their high speed roads but insisted that cars have a flag waver walking in front of them.

Indeed it may well be that South Korea’s broadband networks are as useful to economic growth as Pyongyang’s broad boulevards just over the border.

Similar problems face other countries with Google’s high speed broadband network in the US so far not attracting the expected business take up and innovation, although it is early days yet and there are some encouraging signs among the Kansas City startup community.

In Australia, the troubled National Broadband Network has struggled to articulate the business uses for the service beyond 1990s mantras about remote workplaces and telehealth – much of the reason for that has been the failure of Australian businesses to think about how broadband can change their industries.

Like Japan’s bridges to nowhere, big infrastructure projects look good but the poorly planned ones – particularly those no-one knows how to use – are a spectacular waste of money.

Hopefully the fibre networks being rolled out won’t be a waste of money, but unless industries start using the web properly then much of the investment will be wasted.

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Finding a role for Hong Kong in the China story

Hong Kong’s role in the China story as Shanghai rises is discussed by Brian Wong of Seacliff Partners.

The Chinese government’s declaration of a Shanghai Free Trade Zone recently made headlines with speculation the region might be exempt from the nation’s internet blocks.

For Hong Kong, the Chinese government’s move is another blow to the territory’s already declining position as the main gateway to the People’s Republic.

As part of the Decoding The New Economy series of interviews, I spoke to Brian Wong of Hong Kong’s Seacliffe Partners about the challenges facing the territory and the role the former British colony will play over the next few decades.

“Hong Kong, I think, is the perfect bridge between East and West, ” says Brian. “But I think Hong Kong has been in search since the change over in 1997 as to where it really wants to focus itself.

The territory is squeezed between Singapore that has established itself Asia’s leading financial hub and now is positioning itself as a creative centre and Shanghai which has become the new ‘Gateway to China’ with its domestic financial centre and deep water port.

Despite the challenges facing the Territory, Brian sees opportunities in the city’s cultural and business environments.

“One of the great things about Hong Kong still is its international community and its accessibility for creative types,” Brian says. “I think Hong Kong is starting to recognise this advantage.”

“You have a large base of Chinese based manufacturers looking to beyond just low cost OEM manufacturing, what they need is creative design and innovation. If Hong Kong can be one of the big suppliers of that then they have a really good opportunity.”

One area Brian sees Hong Kong has an advantage is in its developing a hardware hackers culture that fits in with the massive manufacturing hubs surrounding the territory along the southern Chinese coast.

“I went to a talk where there was a fellow from Mountain View, California who does a lot of product invention,” Brian tells. “He’s set up a lab in Hong Kong to do product innovation because although he recognises China has a low cost manufacturing base, he doesn’t want to live in Shenzhen.”

The challenge for Hong Kong is to encourage a more entrepreneurial mindset, Brian believes. He also sees Hong Kong having an opportunity in being a conduit for the Chinese diaspora looking at investing into the PRC.

Probably the biggest advantage Brian sees Hong Kong having are in its mature legal and capital markets that Shanghai and other Chinese centres lack – “these are world class,” he asserts.

Ultimately though it may be that Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei or Singapore aren’t threats to Hong Kong at all as each city becomes the centre of certain aspects of a diverse Chinese and East Asian economy.

“I think much like in the United States there is not just one financial centre – you’ve got Chicago, New York and you’ve got different roles for different cities, LA for media and San Francisco as the gateway into the United States.”

“There’s room for more than just one. The question is what does Hong Kong want to be and how does it want to be most valuable to the China story.”

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Globalisation with Chinese Characteristics

What are the challenges facing Chinese businesses as they expand globally?

“eBay is a shark in ocean, Alibaba is a crocodile in the Yangtze” film maker Porter Erisman quotes the founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, in comparing the two online trading sites.

In promoting his film Crocodile in the Yangtze, Porter spoke to Decoding the New Economy about the rise of the global Chinese internet giant.

A key part in Alibaba’s success is taking on eBay on it’s own turf, “if you’re David fighting Goliath you can’t play by the big guy’s rules,” Porter says.

This is exactly what the Chinese company did when eBay entered their market and today Alibaba and it’s subsidiary Taobao have sales exceeding eBay’s and Amazon’s.

“Back in about 2003 Jack Ma came to me and told me about a secret project to overtake eBay,” Porter says. “When we looked at them they looked like a Goliath, they’d never really been beaten in a market they’d entered first and they had a huge war chest with a $150 million committed to the China market.”

It turned out that eBay weren’t as powerful as they appeared, something other entrepreneurs have discovered when giants like Google have entered their markets.

The Chinese Leapfrog

Like many rapidly developing countries, China is leapfrogging various stages of development that Western economies went through with the retail industry and e-commerce being two examples.

“Some people say cellphones will leapfrog landlines, actually the same is due with entire systems,” says Porter. “In China coming from so many years of a command economy there wasn’t a very developed retail culture or even a consumer culture.”

“Taobao came along at a time when all of that was still in the early phases of development and the company basically leapfrogged that whole phase of building out shopfronts and building logistics.”

“E-commerce in China is revolutionary while in the US, or Australia, it is evolutionary.” Porter says.

Porter quotes Jack Ma as saying “e-commerce in the US would be a dessert, in China it is the main course.”

China’s Global Challenge

As companies like Lenovo computers, Hauwei telecommunications or Haier whitegoods have discovered, Chinese businesses face challenges when expanding overseas. Porter sees this as a matter of time and scale.

“Like Japan in the 1970s and 80s there’s a whole wave of companies that have started going global. China’s such a big market that there’s a lot of companies that get big and develop scale before going international.”

“I’d say the biggest challenge in the beginning is cultural,” states Porter. “China’s at a disadvantage because information and the media are so controlled that’s sometimes a rude awaking when a company goes global like a Hauwei and then faces a bunch of political issues it doesn’t understand.”

“One of the reasons I made the film,” Porter says. “I wanted entrepreneurs in China to see it and understand these are the issues Alibaba faced when they went global and hopefully you can learn from some of those successes and mistakes.”

Going to China

Porter’s advice to westerners going into China is to shut up, listen and learn, “don’t assume that just because things are done a certain way in the US or Australia that it’s superior.” The country’s culture and ways of doing business are different to those of North America, Europe or Australia.

“If you look at the way traffic moves in Shanghai it looks crazy. If you drove like that in Sydney it would be a disaster but there’s just different ways of through traffic, getting point A to B.”

“It’s better not to judge, but just step back.”

Regardless of our judgements, China’s move up the value chain means we will see more PRC founded companies going global.

Over the next decade we’re going to see the globalised economy start to take on some recognisably Chinese characteristics.

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Are industrial hubs a thing of the past?

Do services like Alibaba and oDesk mean industrial hubs are things of the past?

Since the beginning of civilisation, industry hubs have formed the basis of cities and regions, but is the internet removing the need for like minded businesses to group together?

Tomorrow I’m at a breakfast featuring Porter Erisman whose film Crocodile in the Yangtze tells of the rise of China’s Alibaba and the adventures of its founder, Jack Ma.

Jack Ma’s Alibaba is the eBay of manufacturing, connecting factories and buyers around the world. A visitor to the site can buy anything from childrens’ clothing to tractor gaskets, all cheaper by the container load.

The rise of Alibaba tracks the development of sites like oDesk which bring skilled workers together. It’s becoming easier for businesses of all sizes to tap global workforces and supply chains.

In the past, industrial hubs and cities have developed due to the proximity of workers, suppliers and materials. Today, it may well that with all the resources being a mouse click and a credit card away from an entrepreneur it’s no longer necessary for these hubs to develop.

Whether industrial hubs do develop in the future will depends on individual sector’s needs for natural resources, face to face contact and short supply chains, but it’s worthwhile thinking whether location remains important for modern economic development.

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A difference in expectations

While the focus is on the work ethic, expectations and careers of GenY workers, could it be the group set up for the most disappointment are the baby boomers as they reach their retirement years?

Could it be the age group set up for the most disappointment in today’s economy are the baby boomers rather than GenYs?

The Wait But Why? blog has a provocative post on why Generation Y Yuppies are unhappy. It hasn’t gone down well with some prominent Gen Y writers.

Part of the reason the article offended Gen Ys like Adam Weinstein is its focus on the younger generation having an entitlement mentality and feeling ‘special’.

Were I a GenY I’d be pretty irritated at those views, particularly – as Weinstein points out – when younger folk are saddled with much greater debts and far less work security than baby boomers. Interestingly, Weinstein’s rebuttal makes almost the same points the Wait But Why blog from the opposite perspective.

A mismatch of expectations

Despite some of the provocative statements, the Wait But Why post makes a very good point about the expectations of different generations and the mismatch between what different age groups expect and the reality they encounter.

The economic boomers – the group born from 1935 to 1955 – had the good fortune to spend most of their working lives during the post World War II period that saw the Western world experience the greatest economic boom mankind has seen.

During their working lives, all but the lowest paid economic boomers became healthier, better fed and had more access to creature comforts than even royalty had a generation earlier. The average Westerner today is rich beyond the belief of our great grandparents a hundred years ago.

As the Wait But Why blog contends, the result is the boomers are the happiest, most fulfilled generation we’ve ever seen.

In contrast, GenYs are facing a far less fulfilling future in a lower growth economy that is far tougher and a society more focused on ‘user pays’, ‘cost recovery’ and outsourcing labour to the lowest cost provider than the greater good of the community.

Can boomers continue to be lucky?

While this is true of both Boomers and GenY, it’s worth questioning whether the Boomers’ happiness of exceeded expectations will continue.

Today governments are cash strapped, almost pension scheme is underfunded and the demographic time bomb of an aging population has started to be felt across the developed world.

Worse for the baby boomers is their retirement plans require their assets – primarily their homes, investment properties and small businesses – need to be sold at prices beyond what GenX and GenY buyers can afford.

A reversion to the mean in asset prices for economic boomers means a lot of them will be going back to work.

Recently I spoke to one economic boomer who had lost heavily after the global financial crisis. “No worries,” he said. “If need be I’ll get one of my old jobs back, I can still use a set square and drawing board.”

Sadly, he didn’t understand that being good at using a set square and drawing board in a modern engineering office are as useful as making horseshoes or operating an electric telegraph. Those skills, while noble, are no longer necessary.

While GenY will get on with adapting to the realities of their economic situation – they have little choice but to do so – the big challenge will be for their parents to deal with the modern economy.

A new ‘Greatest Generation’?

Perversely it’s likely the GenYs will turn out more like their grandparents who had to deal with a great depression and a massive World War.

While hopefully the GenYs won’t have to deal with either of those, they are faced with a much different economy than the one which nurtured their parents.

So the real ‘happiness deficit’ could turn out among the baby boomers in retirement at the very time in their lives they are least able to deal with it.

Hopefully the GenY workers will be compassionate on their asset rich but cash poor parents and grandparents.

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Offshoring, the internet and the future of business

Outsourcing sites like oDesk, elance and Freelancer are changing recruitment and labour markets in ways that big and small businesses need to understand.

One of the big changes in business over the past thirty years has been outsourcing offshore – offshoring – as labour markets around the world have opened, communications have become cheaper and trade barriers fallen.

As the global war for talent accelerates, offshoring may be one of the ways many businesses deal with labour shortages in their home markets.

For most of the last thirty years, offshoring was only really available to larger businesses who had the resources to manage overseas suppliers and service providers.

With the internet becoming accessible services like eLance, Freelancer.com and oDesk started appearing that established virtual labour exchanges where smaller businesses could connect with individual contractors.

As part of the Decoding The New Economy video series, I had the opportunity to speak to Matt Cooper, Vice President of Business Development & International at oDesk about how the global workforce is evolving.

oDesk itself came about in 2005 when its founders Stratis Karamanlakis and Odysseas Tsatalos wanted to engage developers in their native Greece while working in North America.

That project turned out to be a business in itself and now the company now has over three million freelancers registered with the service.

Addressing the global skills shortage

Cooper sees oDesk’s big opportunities in areas such as developers, e-commerce and customer service.

“If you look globally there are very acute shortages in certain geographic areas and certain skills,” says Cooper.

Looking ahead, the company sees new skills coming onto the market with larger companies adopting oDesk and similar services.

“We’ll see new skills come onto the marketplace with increasing liquidity and depth with this longer scale of skills,” says Cooper. “We’re also seeing increased demand from enterprise companies. Of the 600,000 clients using oDesk have been traditionally small companies, entrepreneurs and startups. Now we’re seeing increasing demand from the enterprise companies.”

Managing remote workers

Regardless of the size of the company, managing a global workforce of freelancers presents challenges for management and Cooper has some advice for those businesses looking at engaging workers through his service.

“Managing an online, distributed workforce is different to managing locally,” says Cooper. “You have to be much more specific, you have to document your expectation and you have to make the investment in getting your team up to speed.”

One common problem Cooper sees with engaging workers through services is like oDesk is employers thinking they can throw their problems over the fence, “you can’t just throw your project over the wall and hope it comes back.”

Cooper also suggests businesses “try before they buy” with engaging potential freelancers to do smaller trial tasks to see if they do have the skills needed.

“If you need one person, hire three and keep one.” Cooper says, “create a very small and very discrete project that closely replicates the long term role that you want and see how they perform.”

The threat to existing businesses

Services like oDesk present a number of opportunities and challenges to industry, in some ways they threaten existing service businesses which have relied on providing skilled knowledge work to local markets.

Now cheaper workers are to anyone with a computer and a credit card, there’s a fundamental shift happening in the small business sector.

How the small business sector, and larger corporations, use services like oDesk and Freelancer.com while reacting to the threats these sites present to their businesses will determine how many of them will survive over the rest of this decade.

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