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One more reason to love Taobao.com

I love Taobao: they even sell Dutch Chocomel for Senseo

If you live in China there is a big chance that you buy a lot of things in Taobao.com. In my family we buy at least 3 times a week items on the site because it’s so convenient and service is generally very good. Taobao started off as the Ebay of China, but it has evolved as something much more advanced and is now the biggest online market place in the country.

Everybody can set up a shop there and almost everything you can imagine is for sale on the site. Also goods that you can’t buy in regular shops in China. For example, I ordered my first pair of Vibram Fivefingers there before the running shoe brand started selling in China. And when new Apple gadgets come out that are not for sale in China yet I normally order them on Taobao.

One of the very few things that I miss in China is a Dutch chocolate milk brand called Chocomel. It’s hard to find outside Holland, and it’s certainly not for sale in China. But guess what, on Taobao you can now buy the hot chocolate version! You will need a Senseo coffee machine for this and instead of coffee pads you can put the chocomel pads in. You get the original Dutch packaging  and it’s delivered right away. We tried it out this weekend and the taste is quite good. One more reason to love Taobao!

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Upcoming speaking engagements: DEMO Asia 2012, Silicon Valley Bank Showcase and IMAGINE2012

Next week I'll be speaking at DEMO Asia 2012 in Singapore

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be speaking at a couple of events in Singapore, California and in good old Holland. The first one is next week at DEMO Asia 2012 in Singapore, where I was invited to speak on Thursday morning about “Investing in Asia”. In the afternoon I will be one of the judges to comment on the social media companies presenting on stage.

I was in Singapore 3 weeks ago and was surprised to see how the start-up is developing there. A few years ago I had the feeling not much was happening in Singapore in this regard, but things are changing fast. The government fully supports tech entrepreneurs (incl. foreign entrepreneurs interested in moving their business to Singapore) and is creating an infrastructure to support and grow new business ideas. I look forward to getting to know more Singaporean start-ups and VCs during the conference.

A few weeks later unitedstyles will be at the other side of the table when we will be on stage at the Silicon Valley Bank Seed Showcase at the Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park. We are very happy that we were selected to present in front of 100 investors at this conference, and I look forward to being back in Silicon Valley (the 2nd time in a month…). Xander will travel with me again and we plan to talk to several potential media and fashion partners while in the Bay area. If you’re interested to meet to discuss business opportunities with us, feel free to get in touch. Same for VCs or super angels, if you’d like to meet up just mail me at marcvanderchijs (at) gmail (dot) com

Right after that I will be traveling to The Netherlands for some meetings (mainly related to unitedstyles) and to speak at the IMAGINE2012 conference. My talk there will be about creative and sustainable entrepreneurship, a topic that fits very well to unitedstyles: creative because we let people design their own fashion, and sustainable because of the way we produce (very efficient piece-by-piece digital inkjet printing without much waste). The line up of speakers is quite cool, I noticed that among others not only Neelie Kroes (vice-president of European Commission) will also speak here, but also interesting people like the founder of OpenLeaks and even the chief of a Brazilian tribe!

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Since when do US airlines fly over North Korea?

Didn't realize US airlines are allowed to fly over North-Korea

I regularly fly the China-USA route over the Pacific. Most of the time the planes I’m on fly from Shanghai to Tokyo and then start the ocean crossing from there. But depending on wind and weather planes sometimes take a different route, for example when flying from New York you sometimes fly straight North over Canada to the North Pole, and from there to Siberia. Nice views in summer if you have a window seat!

Didn't realize US airlines are allowed to fly over North-Korea

Today I was on a plane from San Francisco to Shanghai and I wasn’t really paying attention to the route we were flying. I noticed at the start that we took a Northern route over Alaska, but did not look on the in-flight screen until an hour before landing. And then I noticed that we had just flown over North Korea! I had no idea that planes are allowed to fly over the DPRK – let alone US planes (I was on a United Airlines flight). Is this route something new? Or did I just never notice it before?

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Stanford Dish Loop

Stanford Dish Loop

When I travel I always look for great places to run and I have favorite runs all over the world. In New York I always try to run the Central Park loop, in San Francisco I run along Embarcadero early in the morning and in Palo Alto I try to run the Dish Loop, above Stanford University. The Dish Loop is not only one of the most scenic runs close to Palo Alto, but also one of the most challenging: there is hardly a flat part during the whole run.

Stanford Dish Loop

On Saturday morning I was in the Bay Area so I did the loop once again. I normally drive my car to the corner of Serra Boulevard and Stanford Avenue, where there is good parking and easy access to the trail. There are other entrances as well, but for me this is the easiest.

The dish loop is about 5.5 km (plus an additional 500 meters from the entrance to the loop) and the whole loop is paved. It’s a very popular place not only for runners but also for hikers, so you won’t be the only one there. But my experience is that if you go before 7 AM (the loop opens at 6:30 AM) it’s still very quiet. Not only that, it also gives you the chance to see the sun rise above the Bay, an incredible sight. The down side is that it can still be pretty cold, especially during this time of the year when it can get close to freezing in the hills during night time, so you may want to bring a hat and gloves.

Stanford Dish Loop

The views from the loop are great, you can see Silicon Valley below you with Stanford University in the front and the Bay in the back. On the West side you see the mountain range between the Pacific coast, often with clouds right behind them. At the Northern end of the loop you pass by a golf course, and of course there are the 2 dishes that gave the loop its name.

Stanford Dish Loop

Right from the entrance you start to ascend, and it’s so steep that the first kilometer takes me on average about 8 minutes (it’s only uphill)! But once you reached the top you will mainly go downhill (with a few small inclines) for a while so you recover a bit.

Stanford Dish Loop

If you are in the Palo Alto area and looking for a place to run or hike check out the Dish Loop. The road is closed to traffic, so it’s also safe for kids – just watch out for the mountain lions (at least that’s what the signs say). And don’t forget to bring your camera!

Stanford Dish Loop

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Unitedstyles in Fast Company most innovative companies list!

Fast Company world's top 50 most innovative companies

A quick post before boarding a plane from Shanghai to San Francisco, because I just heard that unitedstyles was named one of the most innovative companies in the world by Fast Company.

Fast Company China top 10 most innovative companies

And not just in one, but in two categories: unitedstyles is the 3rd most innovative company in China and the #10 most innovative company in fashion. Fast Company is a pretty impressive publication in the fields of tech, business and design, so I am very happy with this kind of recognition!

Fast Company Fashion top 10 most innovative companies

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Valentine’s Day mood board with unitedstyles

Valentine's Day Love

Today is Valentine’s Day once again – loved by some, hated by others. But whatever you think of the day, because of it you can find a lot of new nice designs on fashion sites. One of unitedstyles employees designed a great mood board on Polyvore for Valentine’s Day that I want to share here as well. Thanks for making this Shen!

Like the mood board? Then also check out other unitedstyles mood boards on Polyvore.

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Air pollution in Shanghai

Smog in China

If you live in Shanghai you know that this is not one of the healthiest cities in the world to live in. Not only does work go on 24/7 here (well, at least when you run your own business), but also the air quality is quite bad. It’s actually so bad that it’s very likely that unitedstyles will be the last company that I set up in China, and that I will eventually move somewhere else. I am sure I will be in China regularly for my investments and other business related issues, but at least I want my family out of here.

Nobody really knows how bad the pollution is, because the government data seems to be “adjusted” and data for PM2.5 (the smallest, most dangerous, particles) are not released. For sure downtown it’s much worse than out in the suburbs where I live and where unitedstyles has its office. But also there it can’t be too good. I hardly ever run outside where I live, for example, because I feel the air does more harm than sports does good. And if I do, like during the Shanghai marathon, I normally feel it in my throat for several days after the run.

Today Shanghaiist has an overview of how dangerous it is to live in Shanghai. Although they play down the risks a bit (by for example saying that the city may be gradually killing you, but that Beijing is worse), the article confirms that living here is far from healthy. It’s a pity there is not more data available, but I am sure that is something that will change soon: the government will install PM2.5 measuring devices this year, and because they may not be trustworthy, likely private organizations may also start measuring this.

So, should I move to Hong Kong then? No, probably not. It seems pollution there is not much better, mainly because of all the smog coming from Guangdong province. The School of Public Health publishes an index showing the effects of the air pollution there (thanks for the link Marcel Ekkel), and they do it in a pretty radical way. Not only do they show the actual and past air pollution index, but also the economic loss because of this and the number of premature deaths and hospital visits. Not a pretty picture either. I hope the government will start working on a solution soon. I am lucky to have the option to leave, but many people can’t do so.

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Tudou announces enhanced video sharing platform for Weibo

Tudou logo 土豆LOGO中文白底I don’t mention Tudou a lot on my blog since I am not involved in the company anymore, but the latest Tudou news is quite significant, so I decided to share it here.

Tudou announced on Friday that it is launching an improved platform for Sina Weibo users to seamlessly share and upload Tudou videos. In case you don’t live in China: Sina Weibo is the Chinese Twitter and has over 250 million users, and mother company Sina owns a significant share in Tudou.

In addition, Sina Weibo users who are not registered with Tudou, but who wish to share their videos with Tudou’s users, will automatically become a registered Tudou user. Their user account names at Tudou will be identical to their Sina Weibo account names. Sharing functionalities enable users to sync comments and discussions on both platforms.

In the press release that was sent out about the deal Gary comments on this:
“We are building a more powerful video user ecosystem. The Internet’s core strength lies in creating and sharing information. Sina Weibo creates strong interaction between its users, and Tudou generates deep emotional connections between Internet users and content. Creating and sharing content is at the core of the Internet, and Tudou’s cooperation with social networking sites such as Sina Weibo is a powerful combination which will deepen consumers’ online video and sharing experience.”

An excellent deal for both Tudou and Sina IMHO. Tudou’s stock shot up after the news and ended up over 16% higher than Thursday’s close.

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Where is everybody in Shanghai?

5 PM in Shanghai - Many people still didn't come back from Chinese New Year?

This afternoon I was talking to a colleague who told me that he felt that it was stil unusually quiet in Shanghai after Chinese New Year. I told him I had the same feeling, because there were hardly any traffic jams on the highways today. Chinese New Year’s Eve was last week Sunday, so 12 days ago, and most people should be back to work by now, but I wonder if maybe more people decided not to return to the big city.

I have no proof for this (well, except that Scott’s nanny decided to stay in her hometown), but it feels it is more quiet than other years. And high inflation plus more opportunities in inland China may lead people to decide to stay closer to their hometowns. I assume it will be much more busy again next week (the picture above was taken at 5 PM today from my office, normally a time with traffic jams), but I would not mind too much if people stay away a bit longer.