Efficiency is often confused with effectiveness. It can be a trap. “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” Peter Drucker You can be efficient in doing the wrong things. You can be efficient in doing things you shouldn’t even do. You can efficiently waste your time. Too often, I make the…
Tag: Kai-Fu Lee
AI in China
Here are some examples of how Chinese companies are applying machine learning: Chinese company Yongqianbao is using artificial intelligence to screen data to determine creditworthiness when issuing loans. No credit agents necessary! Watch this CNBC clip about them ByteDance (a private company, last valued at $78B) uses machine learning to source and push content to users. Their main…
Give up your storefronts?
An increasing number of hairdressers and manicurists are giving up their studios in China. They get booked via app and do home visits instead. This is called Online-to-Offline (O2O), and it’s booming in China. (Link / Link). Tired of bathing your dog? Hire a dog bather that comes to your home. Too busy to pick…
China vs. Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is mission-driven, pure, about making a dent in the universe. Abundance mindset. Copying is shameful. China is market-driven, hyper-competitive, survival of the fittest. Scarcity mindset. Culture of copying. In Beijing entrepreneurs often joke that Facebook is the most Chinese company in Silicon Valley, for its willingness to copy and its fierce competitiveness. While…