創業無國界 北京歡迎你

記者_李文星 實習記者_喬麗娟 編輯_胡是非 攝影_白舒元 設計_孫星

創業無國界 北京歡迎你

記者_李文星 實習記者_喬麗娟 編輯_胡是非 攝影_白舒元 設計_孫星

2014年9月的夏季達沃斯論壇上，李克強總理首次提出“大眾創業，萬眾創新”的號召。并指出，要在960萬平方公里土地上掀起“大眾創業”、“草根創業”的新浪潮，形成“萬眾創新”、“人人創新”的新勢態。借著這股“東風”，許多國外的創業者亦紛紛涌入中國，隨著北京簽證政策和注冊機制的逐步開放，國外大、中、小型企業紛至沓來，欲在北京生根發芽。而北京市也早在七年前就藉著“海聚工程”“鳳凰計劃”亮明了自己的態度：北京歡迎你。

注重創新的芬蘭多為合作形式在華創業

北京市朝陽區海外學人中心主任肖振祥告訴《留學》記者說，“朝陽區是北京國際化的窗口，非常適合海外的來華創業者在此駐扎。之所以說朝陽區是國際化的窗口，是因為它具有較高的國際化程度和市場化程度。”99%的使領館、駐華機構都在此駐扎決定了朝陽區的國際化程度，70%的在華跨國公司地區總部和五百強企業在朝陽區駐扎決定了它的市場化程度。這兩點也是芬蘭大使館商務處官員狄磊川所看重的，他認為，“如果企業更看重高科技研發，臨近各大高校的海淀區會更有吸引力一些，但從商業信息廣度和國際交流程度來說，朝陽區則更具優勢，尤其對海外創業者來說，臨近使館區和CBD，他們會更加青睞于在朝陽區起 步?！?/p>

早在21世紀初，芬蘭的大型企業諾基亞就已在中國可謂家喻戶曉，也引領了中國通訊業務的發展浪潮。隨著時代的發展，諾基亞出于多種原因在中國逐漸凋零，但當年的諾基亞仍然在中國帶動了一大批與通訊相關的芬蘭企業發展，并且眾企業一直將創新擺在企業發展的首要位置。現如今，芬蘭在中國已有300多家正式注冊的公司，并且在國家層面上，也與中國政府有了一系列的合作。狄磊川告訴《留學》記者說，“去年11月，我們把芬蘭主辦的一個歐洲最大型的創新創業者大會Slush引入到了中國，當時是在北京舉辦的，今年10月底會在上海浦東新區舉辦。在將Slush引進中國的同時，我們也希望能將OTEC引進芬蘭，在OTEC舉辦過的接近十個國家分會場的基礎上，再加上一個芬蘭會場，把中國政府對海外人士提供的支持和扶助，介紹給芬蘭的創新創業 者?！?/p>

僅有五百五十萬人口的芬蘭，其創新能力卻一直都排在全球的前三位。除了像早年的諾基亞和通力電梯這樣的大型企業外，其在近年還出現了像憤怒的小鳥這樣的創新型公司。狄磊川告訴《留學》記者說，“對于芬蘭的創新型企業來說，中國是世界上最有活力、最具吸引力的市場之一，像憤怒的小鳥那樣的公司，能夠在中國實現其最大價值，騰訊剛剛宣布用八十三億美金收購了它的股權?！?/p>

當被問到芬蘭的來華創業者通常采取什么樣的形式進行創業時，狄磊川表示，“芬蘭的來華創業者通常會通過合作的形式在中國進行發展，直接落地創業的還在少數，因為不管是從語言還是環境上，都需要進行一個較長時間的過渡?！?/p>

了解中國才更能在中國創業成功

相比芬蘭的合作式創業，瑞士的創業者在落地方面則顯得更為主動。瑞士使館科技教育處副主任汪珂瑞告訴《留學》記者說，“到中國來創業的瑞士企業家，他們總是會設身處地的為中國顧客著想，對中國的市場行情非常了解。比如據我了解的在中國做的不錯的兩家企業，都非常的具有針對性?！?/p>

瑞士創業圈里的小紅人李牧，則是個資深的在中國混出了點“名堂”的瑞士創業者。他的中文能力已基本和中國人沒有什么區別，還先后做過教師、主持人等多個工作，最后成為了用“鐳豆”解決中國家庭室內空氣質量問題的SUPER MAN。談起李牧的例子時，汪珂瑞頗為感慨，“這樣一家針對空氣質量的環保企業，在中國擁有不錯的市場前景，就擁有了巨大的前景。所以海外人士要想在中國創業，一定要十分了解中國。漢語說得好也絕對是個巨大的優勢（笑）?！?/p>

“如果你能在中國創業成功，你在世界任何地方就都能創業成功”

北京時間2016年4月8日，國家主席習近平在人民大會堂同瑞士聯邦主席施奈德-阿曼舉行會談。兩國元首一致決定建立中瑞創新戰略伙伴關系，為兩國關系未來發展指明方向。這是中國和任何一個其他國家都沒有達成過的協議。汪珂瑞告訴《留學》記者說，“關于創新我們做了很多實質性的工作，首當其沖的便是創業，我們通過很多努力讓更多的瑞士企業家認識中國，來到中國。”

汪珂瑞坦言，“其實大多數的瑞士人并不太了解中國，也就很難做出來中國創業的決定。大使館的工作就是彌補這個鴻溝，讓更多的瑞士人了解中國，知道中國是一個他們值得去的地方。”為此，瑞士使館經常主辦一些企業活動，由瑞士政府方面提供資金，組織一些包括瑞士企業家來華探訪及成功在華創業的企業家講座等。幫助瑞士的企業家建立與中國市場的聯系，假如這其中產生了有意向的瑞士企業家的話，瑞士使館就會提供幫助，幫助他們更好地了解中國市 場。

這一方向與OTEC的初衷不謀而合。據OTEC的志愿者張萬霖透露，“OTEC的愿景就是搭建一個完整的平臺，其中包括三大部分：空間平臺、投資人平臺和創業政策信息平臺。由此，對海外創業者、留學生創業者以及本土創業者都產生良性的功用。”“在中國創業沒有什么國籍之別”汪珂瑞這樣告訴《留學》記者，“中國市場就是一個無限放大版的他國市場，如果你在中國可以創業成功，那么你在世界的任何地方都可以創業成 功?！?/p>

使館沙龍

請介紹一下您目前在大使館的工作內容。

汪珂瑞（Michael Waser）

瑞士人。擁有經濟學雙碩士學位，一個是在德國柏林，另一個是在中國西南大學。2002到2005年之間，他在一家跨國公司做分析師。2015年他成為北京的瑞士大使館科技教育處副主任。

汪珂瑞 （Michael Waser ）

At present，I am responsible for the technological and educational areas. The cooperation between China and Switzerland is increasingly close，my job is like a linking bridge.For the official side ，we always have cooperations. But for common Swiss people， what they know about China is only a tip of iceberg from western media. So I want to fill this gap and show a more full and real picture of China to Swiss people .

我目前在瑞士大使館主要負責科技教育板塊，中國和瑞士的科技教育合作越來越緊密，我所做的是一個橋梁工作。官方還好一些，一直以來都有合作，目前正在進行一項人腦研究的工程，是由瑞士大學和中科院聯合研究的。但就民間來說，許多瑞士人還并不了解中國，他們只能在西方的媒體報道中了解到冰山一角，我的工作就是更多的把真實的中國介紹給瑞士，彌補這個鴻溝，同時也把瑞士推向中國，讓彼此的聯系越來越緊密。

狄磊川（Justin DI）

我目前的工作在中國的芬蘭使館叫做商務處，但在芬蘭叫貿易投資進出署。這個機構主要有三個業務板塊：第一是芬蘭的外貿促進，就是介紹芬蘭的企業到國際，對我來說就是介紹到中國來，促進其和中國企業的交流。第二是吸引中國的一些企業到芬蘭去投資、合作。第三是促進芬蘭的旅游業以及和旅游相關的產業。其中，創新和創業方面是和我工作的前兩個板塊緊密結合的。

你個人認為，來華創業的本國創業者有哪些優勢？

汪珂瑞 （Michael Waser ）

Technology and management are the most powerful areas in Switzerland. But for many Swiss startups ， they not only support their own business programs but also make researches about Chinese market. Combined with Swiss technological edges， their companies put Chinese market and customers into consideration.

就瑞士本身來說，科技領域和管理領域是強項。但是許多的瑞士來華創業者并不只是做自己的生意，而是更有針對性的研究中國市場，設身處地的為中國市場和顧客著想來進行創業，同時再結合瑞士的科技優勢。

狄磊川（Justin DI）

四川成都人。在國內讀完大學本科，工作兩年之后，去英國攻讀碩士，回國之后留在北京，在北京芬蘭大使館工作，并在此一直工作到現在，已有十五年。目前任芬蘭大使館商務促進處官員。

狄磊川（Justin DI）

芬蘭的創業者最大的優勢就是其創新性，另外芬蘭的許多大企業經過多年的發展也使其擁有了相應的技術積累和經驗，而中國目前正在高速發展期，擁有廣闊的市場，將芬蘭的技術與中國的市場相結合，是芬蘭公司在中國落戶的優勢。具體來說，芬蘭的優勢領域主要有以諾基亞為代表的通訊行業，以及清潔技術領域，同時教育和文創領域也是許多芬蘭來華創業者青睞的方向。

本國政府對于創業的支持政策與中國政府相比有哪些異同？

汪珂瑞 （Michael Waser ）

Due to the increasing number of startups in China ， Chinese government has provided a lot of preferential policies such as fund and space ， which can benefit the entrepreneurs a lot. In contrast ， the Swiss government doesn’t have supportive policy that provides so much money . In fact ， it is not a difficult thing to start business in Switzerland. So government may help them to promote their business ideas on the internet ， rather than fund and space investment. Similar to Phoenix Program， Swiss universities will choose some excellent programs to support them with fund .

中國因為近年來創業企業越來越多，政府提供了很多人才發展支持政策，這些對于創業者來說都是實質性的優惠。相比來說，瑞士政府就沒有特別大的資金支持政策，不過，在瑞士創業也并非是一件很難的事情，政府多會在網站上幫助宣傳，很難有資金或空間的投入。但是瑞士的大學會提供一些資金支持的政策，他們會選擇優秀的項目進行多方面的支持，這一點和“鳳凰計劃”類似。

狄磊川（Justin DI）

芬蘭的創新體系，政府的支持力度也很大。芬蘭的國家技術創新局每年大約有六億歐元的基金投入，其中三分之一用于大學和研究機構，三分之二用于支持創業。他會針對不同的項目，對中小型的創新企業甚至初創企業提供一些直接的資金支持，鼓勵其從技術上去創新。除了國家技術創新局之外，還有芬蘭貿易投資旅游促進署，旨在幫助芬蘭的創新企業進行全球化發展。同時，芬蘭的大學也會提供一些眾創空間來幫助初創者。

本國的創業者在華創業有哪些困難和局限？

汪珂瑞 （Michael Waser ）

The past years have witnessed great changes in China ， but there are still some limits in China. The first one is language barrier ， Chinese language is still a great challenge for most Swiss people. Although a lot of Chinese people can speak English ， for a company who wants to win Chinese market ， Chinese language is necessary. The second one is about culture，more entrepreneurs tend to start their business in America， as a result of similar values and culture. Chinese culture is so different from Swiss one that it may take a long time for Swiss startups to adapt in China. The third one is intellectual property and legal protection， which making many Swiss entrepreneurs lack of security sense . The last headache issue is visa. The simplification of visa application procedure will make entrepreneurs more willing to choose China for their business.

其實相比幾年前，中國的許多方面已經有了極大的改觀，但對于海外創業者來說，局限仍然是有的。第一大問題是語言的障礙，漢語對于許多瑞士人來說，仍然是個巨大的挑戰，雖然現在許多中國人都已懂英文，但是對于一個要在中國推廣的企業來說，漢語是必備的。第二是文化方面，許多瑞士創業者更青睞去美國創業，因為二者的文化和價值觀更相近，中國文化與瑞士就存在差異，需要瑞士創業者花很長時間去適應。第三是產權保護問題，這讓許多瑞士創業者缺乏安全感。最后是簽證問題，簡化簽證手續會令瑞士創業者更積極地投入中國市場。

狄磊川（Justin DI）

語言和簽證政策是兩個基本問題。除此之外，外國初創者怎么了解中國的市場環境？怎樣更好的駕馭中國文化？怎樣在中國開展業務？怎樣去尋找更多的投資人？怎樣去和中國的潛在客戶打交道等等問題，也是芬蘭在華的初創者所面臨的障礙。對于初創者來說，他們肯定會有創新的理念和技術，但他們往往不懂如何讓這些理念和技術在市場上成功的應用。這在芬蘭本國尚且如此，更何況他們到了與芬蘭國情差異較大的中國。

Little more than a decade ago， China was not on the global map of innovation hotspots. The focus was on Silicon Valley and Israel. But today， that’s all changed. China， once known primarily as the factory of the world， has moved into the spotlight as a startup nation.

Entrepreneurial talent，venture capital， government policies， startup ecosystems，improved infrastructure， tech hotspots， free trade zones，economic growth and urban consumer markets have led to this change. From large multinationals Lenovo and Huawei to Internet players Baidu， Alibaba， Tencent and Xiaomi， Chinese innovation is no longer in the shadows. China’s vast and fast-growing digital economy is finetuned for the latest gadgets from smartphones to Internetconnected wearable devices and bypasses the personal computer era and email.

China has risen to claim the most Internet users and smartphone subscribers in the world. Moreover， four China websites - Alibaba，Baidu， Tencent and Sohu - rank among the top 10 largest internationally. It seems the only direction is up. Considering that mobile Internet usage is not universal yet in China， the only direction is up.

Throughout China’s switched on markets， mobile communications is where the action is for texts， chats，shopping， banking and payments. Take Tencent’s WeChat in China. This mobile messaging app zoomed to more 300 million users within just two years after its 2011 launch， and today counts 700 million users.

From transportation to financial services to education，many business sectors such as taxi-hailing services are being disrupted by mobile apps. For instance， China’s leading taxihailing app， Didi， counts more than 250 million users in 2015.

China’s leaps in innovation have been led by private enterprise startups that didn’t exist just 15 years ago. Today，these startups have become tech tians and are competing aggressively. Baidu dominates online search in China while Tencent towers in chat and social messaging. E-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com envelope everything from online shopping to logistics to payments.

Tech innovation clustershave sprung up throughout China and are spinning out products that can be commercialized. Like in Silicon Valley， these clusters have formed from collective resources for startups: nearby universities， incubators and accelerators， software parks，talent and financing.

Beijing is a focal point of startup activity in China. The most prominent areas are the Chaoyang district in the central business district and the Haidian tech district， nearby Tsinghua University.

China’s startup boom has its roots in the late 1990s dotcom boom when the“returnee” entrepreneurs - socalled sea turtles - journeyed home from overseas to launch Internet startups that copied successful Western business models. With Ivy League graduate degrees， professional experience and Silicon Valley savvy， they established search，e-commerce and social media businesses， raised capital from Sand Hill Road， grabbed market share and built publicly traded tech winners. Baidu emerged as China’s Google，Weibo as China’s Twitter，Renren as China’s Facebook，Dangdang as China’s Amazon，Ctrip as China’s Expedia while Alibaba morphed into an eBay，Yahoo and Amazon combined. Chinese leaders Jack Ma of Alibaba and Robin Li of Baidu became icons in China while Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun was compared to China’s Steve Jobs.

Today， in the major innovation hub of Beijing， the tech ecosystem is buzzing with unprecedented activity， a wealth of talent， as well as considerable innovation. Chinese developers are already beginning to leapfrog their foreign counterparts in consumer mobile Internet products， and are catching up fast in many other tech sectors. Chinese entrepreneurs have already been innovating with new business models for several years.

While the copycats defined the first generation of Chinese startups， China’s new entrepreneurs have gained confidence. While not yet developing disruptive breakthroughs， they have become adept at microinnovations for the local market and skilled at money-making business models.

In a leading indicator of change， innovations developed in China such as the freemium model of video games and allin-one gaming， social sharing and messaging services are now being copied by western markets.

Homegrown Chinese brands are gaining an edge over overseas competitors that have failed to tweak offerings for local tastes. Chinese smart phone maker Xiaomi， formed in 2010，is a good example as it climbed to become one of China’s and the world’s top-selling smartphone. Xiaomi’s success has been due to building affordable Android devices， designed by Chinese，for Chinese. Look for other up and comers such as LeEco to take a leadership place too not only in China but India and the U.S. too.

Ideas are developing at a fast pace within this startup ecosystem， fed by cloud computing for online collaboration， speedier Internet connections and tech gettogethers for networking and information exchange. Clusters such as in Chaoyang drive this innovation spurt.

Another major stimulus has been growth of venture capital and angel investment in China. A few years ago， most of that capital came from Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley from such firms as Draper Fisher Jurvetson， Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins. But today，Chinese venture and angel funds have sprung up. ZhenFund is a good example as the largest angel investor in China with$500 million in assets under management.

China’s serial entrepreneurs are another catalyst of startup fever. Founders of startups from the first generation have cashed out either through public listings， acquisitions or strategic investment. With their newfound millions， they’ve become startup heroes. Everyone wants to become the next Jack Ma. They’ve also helped to spark a new group of startups often working alongside and advising young founders in their 20s and 30s.

Little surprise that China is climbing the ladder for new patents. China has ascended from 8th in the world for new patent applications in 2006 to 6th place in 2008， and to third place， according to most recent figures. ZTE and Huawei score among the world’s top patent filers.

The next horizon for China’s startups is international expansion. Chinese tech titans are strategically investing in U.S. tech startups to gain market share and knowhow， with Alibaba at the forefront buying into Quixey， Tango， Peel， Lyft，Kabam and other innovators in the Valley.

Expect China innovation to continue to unfold and vie with Silicon Valley for tech innovation leadership. The trend of Silicon Dragon is not even into its third decade but already is having a profound influence on the shape of innovations for tomorrow.

Staying central in this evolution， Silicon Dragon has recently developed a strategic partnership with COTC’s Overseas Talent Entrepreneurship Conference. Leading up to a key international contest in Beijing in late July， Silicon Dragon launched a pitching contest June 23 at its annual New York City event， held at Nasdaq headquarters in Times Square. Gloria Gao， deputy director of COTC， gave introductory remarks about the competition and its impact on startups in Beijing’s Chaoyang district.

At the Silicon Dragon event in New York， 19 startup teams pitched on the Nasdaq stage before two of the city’s best venture capitalists: Brian Cohen of New York Angels and New York Venture Partners and Jim Robinson of RRE Ventures. An audience of nearly 250 investors， advisers，founders and mentors as well as media listened attentively while each founder took their turn and pitched. While the startups covered a broad range of technologies - wearables，solar energy， biotech， mobile apps， B2B analytics and fast food， to name a few - each one shared in common a desire to expand to China， and specifically to Beijing to scale and realize the full potential of their startups.

The judges were tough - as they should be！ After some 90 minutes of pitching at the event held at Nasdaq headquarters in Times Square， the tension was high. The VC judges scored the founders on five factors: team，market opportunity， business model， competitive advantage and overall impression.

Everyone wanted to know who would be awarded the winning pitch， who would get to go to Beijing to compete internationally in the Overseas Talent Entrepreneur Center to receive funding， free space and startup advice. None of them had ever raised more than seed financing or money from friends and family.

Two winners emerged from the group of 19: Miranda Wang of synthetic biology recycling innovator Biocellection， and Juliane Jones of Panda Corner，an interactive language learning platform that relies on song for teaching.

Silicon Dragon wishes these two New York contenders the best as they compete against contestants internationally for funding， free office space，advisory services and more.

Silicon Dragon Partners with OTEC for Pitching Contest in Times Square to Start Up in Beijing

特約撰稿人_Rebecca A. Fannin 編輯_胡是非 供圖_Rebecca A. Fannin 設計_孫星