Page 100 - How China Is Winning the Tech Race

I meet with Gary Rieschel, an
“The commercial risk is that he is a CEO for investor and board member at
the first time.” Bokee, for breakfast at the executive
Gary Rieschel, club lounge of the Grand Hyatt in
managing director, Qiming Ventures Beijing. Rieschel clues me in on the
dynamics at play. “Xingdong is a
very charismatic founder who is
universally respected. He is talented,
creative, and driven and has a passion for blogging and a passion for the
business,” says Rieschel. “The commercial risk is that he is a CEO for the first
6
time.”
I arrive by taxi at the offices of Bokee in a run-down building dubbed
Pioneer Park that is owned by nearby Tsinghua University, China’s best
entrepreneurial training ground. Tsinghua offers low rent and tax subsidies
to start-up tenants. Bokee leases several floors of the six-story building.
There’s no elevator, so I climb three flights of stairs and find my way past
rows of empty cubicles to Fang’s tucked-away office. He’s not there, the lights
are dim, and the uncluttered office doesn’t look occupied. This is my fourth
visit to the start-up since fall 2005, and each time the Bokee chronicles are in
more turmoil.
While waiting for Fang to arrive, I chat with the business development
manager, Xin Wen, who goes by his English name, Kevin. A master’s graduate
of the University of Texas at Austin, Wen joined the team in early 2005
after his blogging site, BlogDriver, was acquired by Bokee. We’re seated on a
black leather couch, and above us is a framed Chinese character wall hanging.
Wen says the script comes from an ancient Chinese classic text, which he
translates for me as, “Strengthen self without stopping and hold world with
virtue.”
As I’m getting a feeling for Fang’s character, I hear loud, fast footsteps
heading toward the office. Fang bolts through the doorway, catching his
breath, and we exchange greetings. Tall and slender, Fang, age 37, has a
thoughtful face. His long bangs come close to his round glasses and make him
look younger than he is.
The son of farmers, Fang grew up in the small Zhejiang province city of
Yiwu, south of Shanghai, and graduated with a master’s degree in electrical

74 SILICON DRAGON