Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

By Tiffany Lee

I can’t believe that we just finished the AdVENTURE Challenge: China trip a few days ago and now every Terp is preparing to start their summer internships. All of us are a little tired after the long trip, but we know it was worth spending almost 20 hours on an airplane.

We learned a lot from the business plan competition at Peking University and had a great connection with students from different top business schools across the globe. We enjoyed listening to other teams’ business ideas and felt excited to show our business ideas to others. I was especially proud that my team got the “Best Presentation Award”.  

During the trip, we also visited four different companies in China, many of which were overwhelming. Doing business in China is a dream for many people and during this trip we got a glimpse of that. Yes, we worked hard on our projects and learned a lot from the competition. But, at the same time, we had lots of FUN. We got to view the Hong Kong skyline at night; had Dim Sum for breakfast; we connected with Smith alums in China; visited the Great Wall and tried to destroy it; learned to use chopsticks; and we even did Karaoke.

In addition, the Dean of Smith School of Business, Alex Triantis, also joined us as member of the delegation. It felt great having him there. The Dingman Center was able to arrange the competition and city tours very effectively. We really appreciate Dingman Center’s efforts and support, especially since it allowed us to focus on the competition and not the travel details.

I know most of us have already started to miss China, and so do I. I truly believe that this experience and all of things we learned could easily apply to our internships and future full time positions. Thanks for the great trip to start our summer. Be prepared to see Terps rocking it all over the world!

By Bethy Hagan

After ten days in China, our adventure is coming to a close. In just a few hours we will fly back to the United States, equipped with stories and lessons learned from this incredible experience. The last two days in Beijing, in particular, have been eye opening and very rewarding.

On Friday, we went to Peking University to pitch the business ideas that we have been developing since mid-March. The opportunity to partner with Peking University was an honor in and of itself, as many consider it to be the best university in China. Thirteen teams gathered from around the world for a series of rounds in front of highly qualified judges, who scored each team based on the following criteria:

1. Feasibility of the idea in the Chinese market;
2. Radical impact on the market;
3. Customer demand and discovery process;
4. Profit potential;
5. Presentation;
6. Use of cross national resources; and
7. Use of lean startup methodology.

Teams were given four minutes to pitch the business idea and describe the process through which they developed it. Following the four minutes, judges were given two minutes to question the teams for further information. Each team presented three times to three different sets of judges, and then five teams were chosen for a final round.

The pitches were truly inspiring. Each of the thirteen teams developed ambitious and disruptive business ideas that could change the landscape of the Chinese market. It was incredible to see the presentations of the five finalists. The teams chosen to compete in the final round were:

1. Wireless ISP: a team made up of Smith students and Chinese students who were studying at Peking University, that planned to enter the telecommunications industry to provide more reliable internet to rural Chinese areas.
2. Kids Minding: a Chinese team with a prototype for a toy car whose speed is determined by the level of concentration of the driver. The toy would teach children how to increase their concentration abilities.
3. Smart Mediband: a team of Smith students and a student from the Technion in Israel, who proposed to provide the Chinese with a product to monitor the health of their aging family members remotely.
4. Skills Fair: a team from Peking University, who planned to create a platform to allow for better hiring of skilled workforce for large corporations.
5. Say What?!: a team of Smith students who devised a mobile application that large credit card and luxury hotels could purchase in order to provide their clients with language and cultural assistance while traveling abroad.

After much deliberation, the judges revealed the results of the closest and most difficult vote in years. The Smith School took home first place (Wireless ISP), second place (Say What?!), fourth place (Smart Mediband), best presentation (Fresh Express), and best use of cross-national resources (China Buddy). We left Peking University full of pride and excitement. Not only had we succeeded in the competition, but we had also come away with relationships with students from all over the world, and a much better understanding of what it means to launch a new venture in a completely different market.

The Winning Team, Wireless ISP

The following day was our last in China and we planned to make the most of it. Our tour guide, Jessica, took us to the Great Wall to climb and explore and to the Pearl Market to get in any last minute shopping. The area of the Great Wall that we visited is called Mutiyanu and is Jessica’s favorite portion of the entire Wall. After a group picture and about an hour of climbing the many slanted steps, we returned to the base on toboggans on a large slide! It was quite a rush after the long hike up the wall.

The Great Wall of China

On Saturday evening we all felt very sad to be leaving this amazing country.  After an authentic Hot Pot dinner and many toasts, we spent the rest of the evening singing karaoke and enjoying each other’s company. There were some talented voices in our group!

Hot Pot Dinner

Smith’s rendition of “New York, New York”

Now our adventure is over and it is time to say goodbye to Beijing. This trip has changed our perspective and opened our eyes to the opportunities within the Chinese market. I can confidently say that we will all remember this experience for the rest of our lives.

By Katie Tedrow

Just a few days ago, our Smith B-School delegation landed in Beijing. We enjoyed a day of visiting some of the city’s most historic sties, including Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace. On Thursday, we took a different kind of tour. Though not historic, the stops on this leg of our journey were to see some of the most groundbreaking organizations impacting business and entrepreneurship in Beijing, China, as well as globally.

Our first stop was at the Zhongguancun Science Park, also known as the “Z-Park”. The Z-Park is a first class science innovation center that is home to over 20,000 high tech companies in Beijing. As Deputy Director General, Zhou Gouin, shared with us during our meeting, the Z-Park has been instrumental in supporting the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Beijing. The impact of the Z-Park to the local ecosystem is apparent by its sprawling 100 square mile, state of the art campus. Because of its global influence, it also has the ability to attract and retain some of China’s top talent.

We received a private tour and I’m still in awe of the technology we saw:

After our tour of the Z-Park, we had lunch in one of the campus’ cafeterias, followed by a visit to Lenovo, one of the top technology companies in the world, which was founded here in Beijing. We had a chance to play with some of Lenovo’s latest gadgets and learned the history of this leading brand. Quick fact: Lenovo was not the company’s original name. The company was originally known as “Legend” – Le and novo from the Latin root for innovation.

Our last stop was a biotech incubator where we met with the leaders of the organization and saw some of the scientists and entrepreneurs in action. In addition to space, the Biotech Center provides resources, such as connections to sources of capital and mentors. Our day culminated with a reception with our new Dean, Alex Triantis, at the Marriott Beijing. Attendees enjoyed networking with current Smith Executive MBAs, alumni and staff from UMD’s graduate programs based in Beijing.

By Gwen Gurley

The AdVENTURE Challenge: China crew has spent several days in Hong Kong now. Many of us arrived several days early to experience as much as possible of this fascinating city, and the entire group (28 people!) has been together for the last three days. We’ve walked, metro-ed, bussed, toured, ridden in trams, on boats and ferries, soared through the sky in cable cars and just generally pounded the pavement. Some of us went to see the Big Buddha on Lantau Island, while another group of us went for fancy drinks at the Peninsula Hotel (Hong Kong’s oldest hotel), and several of us went out to clubs in Lan Kwai Fong.

The city is huge and delightful, much like New York City only with a million more neon lights, skyscrapers and pepole. Hong Kong has 7.2 million people living in it and it is still growing. The intense amount of commerce and development happening here is incredible to see. It is especially striking when you see the stark contrast of the old villages with the new development happening. On one side of the road you will see incredibly tall apartment buildings and on the other you will see village homes that were built by the people living in them. You can feel the city changing and growing.

Apart from enjoying the city itself and getting to know more about this fascinating part of the world, we took a tour of a Chinese factory yesterday in Shenzhen. Our group was able to visit the garment producing factory of KBL Group International Ltd. In order to get from Hong Kong to China you have to travel across the Chinese border. Once across the border and through customs we traveled to the area of Shenzhen where many of the manufacturing companies locate their factories. This factory employs over 3,000 workers and also houses and feeds them as well. We were able to see all the stages of the production cycle that go in to manufacturing knitwear garments and visit the dormitories of the workers. To top off the day we ate our lunch in the factory canteen and then got to try our hand at operating a garment panel linking machine. It wasn’t easy! The process is amazing to see from start to finish.

Trying my hand at linking garment panels. Not an easy job!

Early tomorrow morning we leave for Beijing where will have the final hours to prepare for our competition on Friday. Many of the teams have already made changes to their business models based on the information that we’ve discovered since being here. We will have the opportunity to meet with lots of professionals in Beijing in the next few days and I expect that there will be many more changes for the teams’ plans between now and Friday as well. Now it’s off to bed and then an early start to Beijing!

Gwen Gurley is a 1st year MBA student focused on Marketing Strategy and Business Development. She is a former teacher and small business owner who decided to follow her passion for business and entrepreneurship to the Robert H. Smith School of Business. She is currently working with local DC startup Betterific as their head blogger and content marketer. Upon returning from China she will begin a summer marketing internship with Distil Networks in Arlington.

By Tiffany Lee

After the long flight, the entire group was finally in Hong Kong feeling excited to start the AdVENTURE Challenge: China. Today we were all early birds and met each other at 8 a.m. for the first company visit in China (actually, many of us woke up at 4 a.m. due to the jet leg). The company we visited today was Turbo Knitwear Fashion Co., Ltd, which is located in Dongguan, China.

Turbo Knitwear Fashion Co., Ltd is a company who manufactures clothes for American brands. The factory owner, manager and UMD alumnus, Steven Begleiter, and his colleague Simon showed us around the factory and the production process. It was AMAZING.

Here are some new findings I would like to share with you:

• Many junior workers in the factory are only 16-25 years old. Also they have an average salary of 2000-8000 RMB depending on work experience. 
• Some of the tasks in factory are easier and others are more complicated. The more complicated jobs require workers to have 3-5 years of training.
• There is a “light” located on the top of many of the machines. If there is a problem with the machine or the manufacturing process, the light is turned from green to red. This enables both workers and manager to solve the problem immediately.
• The materials of clothes 80% are sourced from China; 5% from India; 10% from Europe.
• They offer workers dorms to live in and they have some food options. 80% of employee choose to live in the dorm.

At the end of trip, Steven and Simon also kindly prepared gifts for all of us – a sweater with the University of Maryland logo.

I am loving the trip so far and I cannot wait to visit another company in Beijing.

See you all soon!

Tiffany Lee is a first-year MBA student originally from Taipei, Taiwan. Tiffany is concentrating her MBA experience on marketing, and decided to go on the AdVENTURE Challenge: China to learn more about the Chinese market. She is most excited about using the subway in Beijing during peak traffic hours, although she may not find any classmates quite as courageous to join her. 

By Kallen Trachsel

I boarded a plane bound for Hong Kong “yesterday” afternoon.  Now, two days later, I am here, ready to explore Hong Kong and Macau.

I was lucky enough to meet an extremely outgoing local, Patrick, on the flight and I bounced my team’s business pitch off of him. Team’s idea: “Let’s bring customer-customized salads to China”. Patrick admitted he had mulled over the idea himself while completing his Bachelor’s degree at Penn State. He immediately made it clear that there is a complete absence of “Sweet Green”-like salad shops in Hong Kong, much less Beijing. His one misgiving about our idea was our current proposed location of launch, Beijing. While Beijing is the “DC equivalent in China in some ways”, he suggested that a city like Shanghai would be much more receptive to the idea of fast food salads due to the international nature of and the high number of expats in the city. I’m sure this bit of advice will make it into our final business pitch at Peking University! Also, Patrick elaborated on the “meal culture” of individuals in China. Chinese opt for in-and-out lunch options, while saving lengthy, formal sit-down dining strictly for dinner time with their families. It sounds like a quick and easy salad chain could be well received in certain cities in China.

With the 16-hour flight under our belts, a few of my classmates and I ventured to our hotel on the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway. It was a “smooth sailing” outdoor metro that connects the airport to three main stops in and around Hong Kong (If only DC had one of these out to Dulles!). Immediately upon arriving at our hotel on the Kowloon Peninsula, we treated ourselves to authentic ramen noodles with shrimp dumplings (can’t beat that) and immediately fell fast asleep.
It is 6 a.m. here now and I am raring to go; traditional lunch in Macau, visits to UNESCO World Heritage Sites (like the Ruins of St. Paul and the A-Ma Temple), a drive along Guia Circuit (Loocation of the Macau Grand Prix), and more!

Only a few more days until the rest of our U.S., China, and Israeli team join us in Hong Kong and the AdVenture Challenge: China is officially underway. Let the countdown begin!

I started out my day bright and early – with a high speed ferry to Macau. The ferry was about an hour long, full of locals going to the casinos. All of the locals were teaming with excitement, hopping out of their seats and pushing each other to get a view from the window. Meanwhile, a local woman got seasick next to me and started throwing up. What a way to start a day.  Needless to say, it got better quickly. After we went through customs on the Macau end, we visited many stops listed below. Shockingly, the small island of Macau has 43 big casinos and outpaced Las Vegas last year in revenues.

• Kun Iam Goddess of Mercy: A Buddhist foreign made bronze statue. It faced the wrong way – bad Feng Shui because it has back to water. Locals will not worship there. They also hate that such an expensive sculpture was foreign made.
• Penha House: house of the former Portuguese governor.
• Dr. Ho mansion: Owner of the largest number of casinos in Macau. His first wife of Ho now lives there.
• Macau Tower: Tenth highest needle tower in the world and the highest jump in the world.
  
• Walked the 68 steps up to the original Catholic church (all but the face burned down) on the island. Why 68 steps? Because Chinese believed the number six means “continue” and eight means prosperity. The 68 steps mean “continue to prosperity”.
  
• Next-door to the Catholic church ruins was the temple to the fire god. It is rumored to be the cause of the destruction of the neighboring church, which burned down.
• Finally, we visited the Macau ladies market where I almost got duped into buying an overpriced necklace.

Kallen Trachsel is a first year MBA marketing student at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business.  She is thrilled to learn about the projected growth of new cities in China, the effect of the Chinese wealth gap on overarching GDP growth, and how a country with seven main languages overcomes this communication gap in business.  With regards to her new business pitch, Kallen is excited to explore the importance of food in Chinese culture.  She specifically hopes to answer whether there is a place for Western nutritious food trends in the Chinese holistic medicine approach.