[China's Top Web 2.0 companies, the categories & potential Western rivals. Photo by Shel]
Georg Godula, founder & managing director of Web2Asia, an incubator for Western Interactive Media companies in Asia, served as our very over-qualified tour guide on our China 2.0 tour. His group co-produced this first-ever event with The China Business Network and my sense is that Georg had the contacts that gave us access to so many high quality entrepreneurs.
When he was not striking poses that reminded me of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, in often frustrating attempts to gather an unruly bus load of bloggers, and keep us on a schedule we resisted, he proved to be extremely knowledgeable on Web 2.0 companies in China.
The above photo was taken from his PowerPoint presentation at Tudou, an internet video company. We met with senior executives from a majority of the companies in the slide and I was impressed with many of them. Yes, some may have copied ideas that originated in the West, but the key to their success has been to localize their sites to accommodate the needs and interests of the burgeoning China market. Understanding the customer rivals any other ingredient required of a successful early phase company, and these companies are incredibly tuned in to what the China market wants. I would not bet against any of them against a Western challenge.
[Georg Godula at Forbidden City, wondering where his bus load of bloggers went. Photo by Shel]
