Meet 5 of China's biggest 'geeks'

The online gaming geek: Frank Yu

Official title: Chief product officer (advisor), Bokan Tech
Social media claim to fame: Advisor to TEDxBeijing.

How he got involved with Geeks on a Plane
"At last year's Geeks on a Plane, I was asked to give a 10 minute talk on China's online game industry. Well, I have all these little stories about the evolution of the Chinese game industry and it turned into a 50 minute talk. I am pretty passionate about this field and I just kept going and going until I finished with what I thought was a 10-minute talk. I was relieved that it was well received because no one tried to drag me off the podium. I will speak again at this year’s Ignite event. I’ll try to keep it to five minutes."

What China's start-up community needs
"Less government regulations, relaxed labor laws and a 10 year tax holiday. China has many artificial barriers to competition based on laws and licenses, this tends to kill start-ups and is used by the large connected legacy companies to maintain their dominance of the channels and the customer base. Since many of us are from large companies, its like Kronos eating his young to prevent them from becoming the top dog."

Words of wisdom about starting-up a business
"There is a popular phrase in China that I really like: to be an entrepreneur here, you need to multitask projects and business. Everyone does it in China. You always need a side business or alternate project in the pipeline that helps your main business or just gets you cash."

Words of wisdom about the online gaming industry
"You need to find a new niche since the older game companies now dominate the traditional game and distribution channels. You need to find a new product or service that does not try to go head to head with the older companies but find a market that for some reason they cannot enter due to experience or just lack of agility. Since the industry shifts every three years, there is that potential."

The "geek" project that gets him excited
"Calvin Chin's [see interview below] P2P financing for students [Qifang]. Calvin is a great guy and a friend. We are both former NYC banking guys and I believe in the P2P finance model (that was my masters thesis from Harvard). Calvin went to Yale but he's still a great guy.

"Geekiest" thing he has done lately
"I ask girls what their favorite video game is and I try to impress them with my savage knowledge of the genre."

The Internet (analyst) geek: Kaiser Kuo

Official title: Consultant, International Business, Youku.com
Social media claim to fame: Former professional rock guitarist in China as well as former digital strategist for Ogilvy China.

Mission at Geeks On a Plane
"I don't really have an agenda, except the one I always have -- to try and give people from the States a more nuanced understanding of what's going on in China. Too often, people see things in starkly binary terms: China is either imitative or innovative; Google was either righteous and heroic for flipping Beijing the bird, or stupid and shortsighted for having decamped from such a promising market; China is either a tyrannical empire, or a new developmental model to be emulated. In every conversation I have, I try to paint on some shades of gray."

What China's start-up community needs
"There needs to be a bigger community of local investors who are willing to fund ventures at that dangerous stage between seed funding and a first venture round. Many startups seem to need funding that's a bit too much for smaller angels, but way too little for a VC to spend time on. We're talking less money than some Sandhill Road VC might spend on first class airfare to and from China and five-star hotels in the course of a year. At least until recently, there've been too many other sure-fire investments -- residential real estate, brick-and-mortar companies and what have you -- to make putting US$200,000 into a very risky tech start-up, a sensible move for most wealthy individuals in China."

Words of wisdom
"My very practical advice, learned the hard way, would be: 'Don't try to make a living as a writer, heavy metal guitarist or podcaster.'"

On being a "geek"
"No, I'm not really a geek, and not because I regard geek as necessarily pejorative. I played Dungeons & Dragons in junior high and got good grades in school, but I was never particularly proficient with technology and always preferred music, literature, history and politics to technology. I'm a guy who's interested in technology and technologists more intellectually than from an operational or business perspective. I'm interested in technology's impact on society -- particularly, of late, on the relationship between state- and non-state actors, and on interstate relations."

The "geek" project that gets him excited
"I'm fascinated by KaiFu Lee and what he's doing with his new investment fund-cum-incubator, Innovation Works. I feel like he's particularly, if not indeed uniquely, equipped to do what he's doing, attracting great tech talent and matching it with the right market needs and the right funding."

The video geek: Gary Wang

Official title: Founder and CEO, Tudou.com
Social media claim to fame: Can you say Tudou?

How he got involved with Geeks on a Plane
"I knew the Geeks on a Plane organizer for a few years while they first organized the events. I think it's a great idea getting tech savvy overseas visitors to understand more about China's Internet scene by physically bring them here to 'see for yourselves.' In last Geeks on a Plane we hosted a session at Tudou Warehouse so people got to see what scrappy China Internet start-ups were like."

Mission at Geeks on a Plane
"To feel less geeky, as there will be many more geeks than myself."

What China's start-up community needs
"More innovations. True innovations."

Words of wisdom
"Be an elephant (firm) in what you belief. Be a leopard (fast) in how you act."

On being a ‘geek’
"If having a CS degree and launching Tudou.com count, then yes."

The "geek" project that gets him excited
"There actually hasn't been anything that really excites me for the past 12-24 months."

"Geekiest" thing he has done lately
"Started building the 'made-for-Internet' programing on Tudou.com."

The microfinance geek: Calvin Chin

Official title: CEO, Qifang.cn
Social media claim to fame: Runs Barcamp Shanghai and won World Economic Forum prize in 2008 for Technology Pioneer.

How he got involved with Geeks On a Plane
"I knew some of the organizers or participants from previously events in Shanghai. And in true geek fashion I was first either a Facebook friend or a Twitter follower of others. Was totally geeked to attend and help organize some of the Geeks on a Plane activities last year."

Mission at Geeks On a Plane
"I really want to spread the word that there is technology and business model innovation happening in China and most important personally, there's also a lot of social innovation happening. China is going to be a hotbed for social enterprises and it'll be great for some of the Geeks on a Plane-ers to see it.

Secondarily, I saw some of the geek dance moves at the parties last year and need to pick up some more tips."

What China's start-up community needs
"We need more people to realize that there is nothing more fulfilling than startup life -- doing your own thing, trying to change the world. And you can even build career security, if not job stability. As we create more and more start-ups, then it doesn't matter if any one company fails, you can always jump to another one. That, and more early stage capital with entrepreneurial experience."

Words of wisdom
"Do less, do it better."

"Geekiest" thing he has done lately

"My last "date night" with my wife was setting up her blog and showing her how to use Google Analytics."

The video and gaming geek: Marc van der Chijs

Official title: CEO, Spil Games Asia
Social media claim to fame: Co-founder (and current board member) of Tudou.com and angel investor in Chinese start-ups.

Mission at Geeks On a Plane
"Have a lot of fun, get to know some other VCs and entrepreneurs and maybe get a new idea or two for a future start-up or investment."

What China's start-up community needs
"Don't think anything is needed, the community is vibrant and there are new private initiatives all the time."

Words of wisdom
"Believe in your dream and never give up. Most people who did not make it gave up too quickly. Believe in yourself!"

The "geek" project that gets him excited
"I am a big believer in companies that try to disrupt traditional industries and business models. One industry I am looking at right now is fashion. I am planning to invest in a start-up called UnitedStyles.com that is doing customized fashion (design your own clothes in 3D, they make them for you for prices similar to retail). If they manage to scale up it has the potential to disrupt the whole industry."

"Geekiest" things he has done lately
"Well, I am not a real geek but I was proud that I managed to stream Spotify from my Android phone to my car stereo over a UK-based VPN. Also I recently did a presentation in Keynote from my iPad instead of from my laptop. The audience was impressed."