How Travelling the World and Skimping Out at School Gave me my Real Degree
People constantly ask me how I manage to travel around the world despite running Textbook Ventures and dealing with full-time load at uni. Truth is, something has to give and inevitably, that’s the full-time uni. Despite that, I can confidently say that the time I spent traveling and working overseas gave me my real degree. This year, I spent a combined total of over four months overseas, starting in Europe, followed by San Francisco, Shanghai, India, Hong Kong and now Singapore.
I’ve gotten in the habit of reflecting more frequently through writing thanks to my good friend and mentor tak_lo — and it’s a practice I’d encourage all of you to get in the habit of doing!
Global from Day 1
Australia has a large land mass, yet a bloody small market size. This becomes even more apparent when you spend time in Asia, where the scale is unreal. Series E cheques of US$700 million are actually a thing — an amount that is over 1.5x the amount raised by the entire Australian VC industry in 2016. And that’s a single investment.
Our geographical isolation and glorification of the Silicon Valley is seriously problematic. Don’t get me wrong, Silicon Valley is doing great things but Asia doesn’t get nearly enough attention as it should. Expert 360’s $13 mn Series B is hailed as a benchmark for Australian success, and we should be incredibly proud of them. But looking to one of our closest neighbours, Singapore, Carousell did a USD$35 mn Series B last year followed by a $70+ mn Series C this year. It’s important we stop placing the US on a pedestal and look to South East Asia as potential areas of growth for both expansion and sources of funding.
Niki Scevak from Blackbird said to me very early on in our relationship that part of the Blackbird thesis is that they only invest in startups that are “Global from Day 1.” I may have taken those words far too literally, and applied that mantra to how I learn and operate. This year alone, I went to San Francisco to pitch my social enterprise as part of the International Regional Finals for the Hult Prize in March, spent a month in Shanghai in July to learn about the ecosystem there, followed by a month in Hong Kong with the Zeroth.AI Team in September. I’m currently in Singapore, working with Golden Gate Ventures over the summer. It’s been a wonderful experience and has truly put things into perspective for me — that is, it’s crucial to think global, particularly as an Aussie.
Takeaway: It’s a big world out there and if you’re serious about operating in this space (whether as a founder or investor), I implore you to spend as much time overseas in order to add unique value to the Australian ecosystem. Everybody wins — you learn and the people around you learn too.
It will force you to learn fast
Injecting yourself into a foreign country forces you to adapt quickly to the local environment. It’s not a matter of choice. If you want to dive deep into the ecosystem and interact with the local players, you better understand how they operate. The way of work, business etiquette, ethics, metrics — a lot of it can be quite different to how we do things in Australia. There’s no good or bad, or correct way of doing things — it’s just different. And very interesting to observe.
Let’s face it, as a country, Aussies are very laid back relative to other cultures around the world. Don’t get me wrong — I absolutely love the culture here, having been born and raised in Sydney, but it’s not the best environment for learning. When I was in Shanghai for example, they’ve coined the term 9–9–6. It means 9am-9pm, 6 days a week. This is probably applicable to most of China. I agree their work-life balance might be somewhat out of whack, but it does mean a lot more gets done in China. There is a reason behind the phrase “What takes the rest of the world a year to build can be done in three months in Shenzhen.”
They devote more time, so naturally, shit gets done faster.
Another significant thing, for example, is guan xi, one of the most publicised yet poorly understood concepts from the Western perspective. The concept of guan xi is incredibly important in China as it is about building up a network of people through which influence is brokered. Networks carry far more weight in China then they do anywhere else in the world. If you happen to be connected to a high-ranking official or have a good family background; expect doors to be opened for you. Investors will ask less about the team, but more about whom you know or what sort of family background you have. It’s incredibly different to how things might be done in Australia, but when you have ideas that can be copied in an instant with 20+ copycats (the Chinese bet on scale) — execution becomes more crucial than ever, and knowing the right people to make that happen is key.
Takeaway: Adversity brings out the best in people — it’s akin to risk/reward ratios in finance, where the greater the risk you take the higher the reward will be. Intentionally putting yourself in challenging situations is not for everyone and might not go so well if your fit with the local environment isn’t there. But if it does, you’ll certainly reap the benefits in the form of accelerated learning and a solid understanding of different cultures.
Working remote will be the norm
The world is becoming increasingly interconnected in this day and age, with more cross-border operations than ever. When you’re trying to run a global-from-day-1 business, you’re inevitably working with teams from across the world. I never realised how much could be done remotely until I went to Hong Kong and worked with the team at Zeroth for a month.
Zeroth is an accelerator based out of Hong Kong that invests specifically in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, taking teams across 10+ different countries across the world. More on my experience and working remotely at Zeroth here. Similarly, at Golden Gate, we have a remote Indonesian office where two of the team works. I’ve yet to have met them (considering I’ve only been there for two days),
For global teams, it’s imperative the concept of working remotely and virtually is well understood. You do lose the physical intimacy, which is very important to a team, but if you recognise the limitations, there are many solutions to address it.
Takeaway: You don’t necessarily need to be physically present to do things anymore. People are too fixated on meeting in-person, where the alternative of having a call can be just as effective, but is far more efficient timing-wise. Location is no longer an issue anymore, and you can save your body from an excess of coffees and teas.
Final Words
I’m voracious lover of learning so this form of “lifestyle” appeals to me. This style of learning isn’t for everyone though — it just happens to be what works for me!
I’m very curious to hear how everyone else learns so please drop me a line over LinkedIn, Twitter or at david@textbook.ventures if you want to chat further or to just share your experiences!
