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"That's how you get a deal done in China." 🇨🇳

May 14, 2025 / 02:08

This episode discusses business strategies in China, global competition, and high-stakes negotiations. Key topics include partnerships, market share, and investment tactics.

The guest shares experiences about entering the Chinese market without a local partner, emphasizing the need for a bottom-up approach. They highlight how the Chinese government began investing heavily in global competitors, complicating the landscape for foreign companies.

Specific examples include a tense negotiation with Didi, where the guest mentions burning $75 million a week to secure a deal. They describe the pressure of maintaining market share while navigating these challenges.

The conversation touches on interactions with major companies like Apple, illustrating the complexities of international business in a competitive environment.

Overall, the episode provides insights into the aggressive tactics required to succeed in the Chinese market and the broader implications of global competition.

TLDR

The episode reveals high-stakes business strategies in China and intense negotiations with Didi amid global competition.

Episode

2:08
00:00:00
The thing about doing business in China is it forces you to rethink everything. If you go into China thinking you got
00:00:08
it, you're going to get your ass handed to you. You have to start first principles bottoms up. A lot of times
00:00:15
when you go and enter China, they're basically somebody's going you got to get a partner. They're like 50/50 blah
00:00:20
blah blah. And I'm like why? Nobody could tell me why. So then we just went on our own and started building
00:00:25
something on the ground. We never saw bias. We were treated fairly on the ground. But at some point, what I'd say
00:00:35
is the China war went global. And what I mean by that is the Chinese government,
00:00:40
it was like the sovereign wealth of China, CIC, there's like a few things like that. They started investing
00:00:45
hundreds of millions and billions of dollars in all of our competitors globally to drain us of money so that it
00:00:52
was harder to compete in China. They made Apple and I'd love to have a discussion with Tim at some point. We
00:00:59
had some interesting words for each other at this point. But they made Apple invest a billion dollars in DDI and
00:01:05
Apple doesn't invest anything in anybody. No, that's not their like what was he protecting there? There's
00:01:10
something going on. So the Chinese war went global. And so that's when we had to go from going for the gold to making
00:01:19
sure we got the silver. And that's when we started negotiating with DD to basically say we had 20% of the merged
00:01:26
entity. But in order to do that in China, that's when we actually had to push our spend super hard because they
00:01:32
had to be scared. So I think at the peak, right as we were negotiating the term sheet, we were burning $75 million
00:01:40
a week. It's a big number. Yeah, that was that. Yeah. But we knew we had the deal. But
00:01:47
we only have the deal if they're scared, right? This is a poker. So, our market share was skyrocketing as we did this.
00:01:54
They're pissed and tripping. And then Emil who's negotiating the deal is like just chain smoking. Yeah.
00:02:06
But that's how you get a deal done in

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 80
    Most intense
  • 70
    Most dramatic
  • 70
    Best concept / idea
  • 65
    Best overall

Episode Highlights

  • The China Challenge
    Entering China requires a complete mindset shift to avoid failure.
    “If you go into China thinking you got it, you're going to get your ass handed to you.”
    @ 00m 05s
    May 14, 2025
  • Global Competition
    The Chinese government began investing heavily in competitors worldwide, escalating the stakes.
    “The Chinese war went global.”
    @ 00m 35s
    May 14, 2025
  • High Stakes Negotiation
    During negotiations, the company was burning $75 million a week to secure a deal.
    “We were burning $75 million a week.”
    @ 01m 34s
    May 14, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • The Chinese war went global.
    "That's how you get a deal done in China." 🇨🇳
  • We were burning $75 million a week.
    "That's how you get a deal done in China." 🇨🇳

Key Moments

  • Rethinking Business00:02
  • Going Solo00:23
  • China's Global Strategy00:35
  • High Burn Rate01:34

Tension Over Time

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