Show Notes
In Episode 42 of TechBuzz China, co-hosts Ying-Ying Lu and Rui Ma turn their attention to the developer-led movement 996.icu, one of the few viral China tech topics in the past few months that has made it to Western media in real time and gotten a good bit of coverage. The movement is so named because there is a popular saying that to work “996,” or at least 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week — as many tech sector employees do in China — is to end up in the ICU. Listeners will also hear from Arman Zand, a lecturer at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. This episode is dedicated to the latest cohort of students from his international business course on China — who, by the way, are all TechBuzz listeners, debated the concept of 996 incessantly while on a recent immersion trip, and met with Pandaily CEO Kevin Zhou over dinner in Beijing. Thanks, all, for your support! Rui and Ying-Ying explain that what has widely been hailed in the West as one of China’s secret weapons to unseating Silicon Valley as the tech hub of the world is actually a contentious topic within China. They begin with the history of the phenomenon: While some companies always had departments that were overworked, the first truly controversial and semi-official adoption of 996 was in September 2016, when it was rumored that the $10 billion online classifieds company 58.com decided to institute the 996 schedule across its then 20,000 employee base. However, it was not until January of this year that an ecommerce software as a service (SaaS) company named Youzan officially announced that it was moving to a 996 schedule. That was the first time the practice, which had only been tacitly acknowledged, became actual, enforced policy. Listen to find out: What has happened since? Within the Chinese blogosphere, what are the stated pros and cons to adhering to a 996 schedule? What is the role of the government and of China’s legal code? Have Chinese people always just worked a lot — and what about in other sectors outside of tech? How did the 996.icu movement start, and how did it go viral? What are the sentiments from both sides of the table within the developer community in China? What do Rui, Ying-Ying, and guest commentator Arman think — is this all just part of the startup hustle, or is it worthy of regulatory scrutiny and change? Will things change? How does this one quality relate to China’s innovation — in other words, why is 996 so relevant, and is it a competitive advantage for China? As always, you can find these stories and more at pandaily.com. Do let us know what you think of the show by leaving us an iTunes review, liking our Facebook page, and tweeting at us at @techbuzzchina! Thank you also to our listeners over at our partner, dealstreetasia.com. We are grateful for our wonderful producers, Shaw Wan and Kaiser Kuo, and for our interns, Wang Menglu and Mindy Xu. Our sponsor this week is the University of San Francisco. USF’s new master’s degree in Applied Economics is a STEM-designated program that combines economics training with the practical skills in data analytics needed to understand today’s new digital economy. To learn more, visit usfca.edu/techbuzz.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
More from Tech Buzz China by Pandaily
Episode 84 of Tech Buzz China features co-host Rui Ma in conversation with Gary Liu, CEO of the South China Morning Post on the hottest five trends shaping the China internet industry in 2021: tightening regulations, bumpy roads for IPOs, overseas expansion plans, shifting demographics, and growing private domain traffic. SCMP is a leading news media company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century with global impact. If you would like to read the full 2021 China Internet Report, download it at https://sc.mp/cir-2021, and it's free! Also, Tech Buzz China is growing! We have a Livecast series of interviews with entrepreneurs and investors in China tech — TBC Livecast. It's mostly recorded live in front of our new paid community Tech Buzz China Insider. For TBC Insiders, we have an active Discord server, a forum, and regular members-only events. If you're really into China tech, join us starting with the quiz. And finally, if you’re an accredited investor, consider applying to our investment syndicate, more information is available at techbuzzchina.com/invest. In addition, you can follow us at techbuzzchina.com, subscribe to our YouTube channel, tweet at us at @techbuzzchina, and write to us at [email protected]. As always, our transcripts are available on our website, as well as at pandaily.com. Thank you to our teams at SupChina and Pandaily, and especially to Bryce Ye, and Kaiser Kuo. If you enjoy our work, please leave us an iTunes review! They do matter and we appreciate it so much!
The Acquired podcast puts out some of the very best business and technology content out there, and is one of our co-hosts’ favorite listens. Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal are inspirations, and so we’re always flattered to be referenced as the “Acquired of China tech”! We had a lot of fun recording this episode together. Here at Tech Buzz, we typically write out our scripts ahead of time, and this was a rare chance to go unscripted. Let us know how we did! As Tech Buzz continues to broaden our content formats, you can follow us at techbuzzchina.com, subscribe to our YouTube channel, join us in the Inside Asia group on Clubhouse, tweet at us at @techbuzzchina, and write to us at [email protected] & [email protected]. As always, our transcripts are available on our website, as well as at pandaily.com and supchina.com. Thank you to our teams at SupChina and Pandaily, and especially Bryce Ye, Kaiser Kuo, and Jason MacRonald. If you enjoy our work, please leave us an iTunes review! They do matter and we appreciate it so much! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
One of Tech Buzz China’s partners is leading alternative data firm BigOne Lab, who is one of the best sources on detailed operational data for large Chinese tech companies. In Tech Buzz's quarterly update, BigOne's head of research, Robert Wu, joined Rui for a live webinar going over everything interesting among the big China ecommerce players, which are now Alibaba, JD, Meituan, Pinduoduo, Douyin, and Kuaishou. We begin with the latest in community group buying, the group-buying next-day pickup business model that is sweeping over China. We go over market shares, warehousing efficiencies, and best-selling items and explain what that means in terms of strategy across the big players. We also talk about how much progress the Douyin and Kuaishou platforms have made in ecommerce, but point out their weaknesses vis-a-vis Alibaba, who is still the towering giant in the space. We touch upon what GMV breakdowns look like across the platforms, and finally end up with some interesting observations you might not have expected regarding creator engagement in Douyin and Bilibili. If you are new to these companies, we highly suggest checking out episodes 28, 55, 57, and 80 on ByteDance, Kuaishou, Bilibili, and community group buying, respectively. Although we edited the audio to make it easy to follow along, such events in the future are best experienced live, as much of the data is presented visually! To sign up for future events like this, please go to www.techbuzzchina.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Episode 81 of Tech Buzz China continues our series of audio experiments, and features co-host Rui Ma in conversation with Wharton professor Karl Ulrich on his latest book, Winning in China. The book was co-authored with Wharton Global Fellow Lele Sang, and presents 8 carefully researched case studies of successes and failures, from Amazon to Sequoia Capital. The episode is a recording of a conversation that was broadcast live on the Clubhouse app on February 1. As Tech Buzz continues to broaden our content formats, you can follow us at techbuzzchina.com, subscribe to our YouTube channel, join us in the Inside Asia group on Clubhouse, tweet at us at @techbuzzchina, and write to us at [email protected] & [email protected]. As always, our transcripts are available on our website, as well as at pandaily.com and supchina.com. If you are a Tech Buzz listener and would like a free copy of Karl and Lele’s book, please email us at [email protected]. Thank you to our teams at SupChina and Pandaily, and especially Bryce Ye, Kaiser Kuo, and Jason MacRonald. If you enjoy our work, please leave us an iTunes review! They do matter and we appreciate it so much! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In episode 80 of Tech Buzz China, Rui and Ying talk about community group buying 社区团购 shèqū tuángòu, or CGB, which is the hottest thing in China tech right now. In addition to startups raising crazy funds — one just raised $700 million — the internet giants have all gone in with guns blazing, and investors are bullish. Listen and follow along with us as we explore what exactly CGB is, and what makes it so special — and controversial. Listeners will also hear from one of our favorite China tech writers, Lillian Li of the Chinese Characteristics newsletter, who just wrote two issues on this topic. Yup, Rui is still researching and writing on ByteDance for her ebook. You can get updates on it and our other work by subscribing to her newsletter, at techbuzzchina.com. Be sure to also check out the Tech Buzz China YouTube channel, which has some video-only content. Our transcripts are available on our website, as well as at pandaily.com and supchina.com. If you enjoy our work, please do let us know by leaving us an iTunes review (drop us a note saying you did, and we’ll send you an Extra Buzz newsletter subscription), and by tweeting at us at @techbuzzchina. We also read your emails, at [email protected] and [email protected]. Thank you to our teams at SupChina and Pandaily, and especially Caiwei Chen, Kaiser Kuo, and Jason MacRonald. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.