Productive Lazy Sundays

Happy belated CNY everyone - it's been a long (long) time since we have uploaded and we do apologize for the delay. A lot has been happening and we took some time off to focus on other things. However, we are now back with a new episode on the divergence of economies. These past 2 years have been nothing short of crazy. As the world slowly learns to live with COVID, it seems that there are other new realities that we need to live with as well. Inflation is one of them. In the US and in the western world in general, inflation is the latest trend (after the uproar of cryptos and NFT). Everyone is talking about it, everyone has a million and one opinion about it which is great. But in the meantime, China is not facing the same situation and has problems of its own. Take a dive with us as we try to understand how this divergence came to be and what does it mean for the future.

What is the Metaverse? Metaverse is the internet but in 3D, sort of. Mark Zuckerberg calls it a ‘virtual environment' where you can enter, connect or teleport instead of just staring at your screen and changing tabs or apps. In short, the Metaverse is a platform of endless virtual communities that are interconnected. After the renaming of Facebook to Meta, countless companies both in the West and in China have stepped out and jumped onto the Metaverse hype train. In this episode, we wanted to dive into what is the Metaverse and which players in China are best placed to benefit from it. You can find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube.

One of the most famous hotpot chains started in 1994, the chain rose to fame in the recent decade. After tremendous results during the beginning of Covid, ambitions were halted by deceiving results in recent months. In this episode, we wanted to discuss who is HaiDiLao, what helped become the biggest hotpot chain in the world, as well as what is Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

China Evergrande has been making the headlines globally as concerns over its financial position grow, with tremors being felt across financial markets all over the world. The company is the most indebted property developer in the world and has a debt of over $300bn that includes about $20bn in outstanding dollar bond debt. Many local banks and investors have significant exposure to Evergrande. In this episode, we wanted to go through a quick overview about what the situation is all about, the key points but also what's beyond the financial aspect of it. Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Twitter, Instagram and Youtube!

Ever since the aborted IPO of Ant Financial, the Tech sector has seen scrutiny from investors which was reflected in the Hong Kong stock market. The general consensus was that the Tech Sector should be subject to anti-monopolistic regulations. That was then translated into a series of guidelines and reforms. In today's episode, we wanted to cover certain areas that we found interesting such as the Fintech Sector, Data Security, Educational Platforms and Tech monopoly. You can find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instragram, Twitter and Youtube.

In recent years, the car marketplace is becoming increasingly popular. You can purchase a used car from a reputable marketplace and the car will be delivered to your address. In the US, you have Carvana, and Vroom which were listed in 2020 valued at a $5bn market cap - with less than 3% of the US used marketplace. In Southeast Asia, you have two big names Carro and Carsome Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube!

It is sometimes hard to imagine the regional differences in terms of apps due to the overwhelming dominance of Silicon Valley in the Western World. Whether you are in Europe or the US you probably have a core set of apps that is similar. From Facebook to Amazon, these apps are synonyms to the needs they fulfill. However, in China, many of these apps cannot be used and thus creates a very different tech landscape. You have probably heard of Alibaba, the Chinese Amazon (-ish) or WeChat etc. In today's episode, we wanted to go through some of the most popular apps so that you can have an idea of how the tech landscape looks like. Find us on @ProductiveLazySundays on Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram

Dajiang Innovation Technology, (DJI) is a global leader in developing small UAVs that specialize in taking aerial videography for hobbyists and businesses worldwide, and to date, they are the largest provider of consumer drones. The company was founded in 2006 by Frank Wang, released its first drone in the Chinese markets in 2008, and expanded internationally in 2009. We wanted to have a quick discussion about what makes DJI so special, and how they came to be the leading player in a fast-growing industry. You can find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube!

In May 2021, JD logistics was spun off from JD.com as a stand-alone entity and IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The logistics aspect of JD.com was always its biggest difference to Alibaba. Highly criticized at first due to the high cost that accompanied the maintenance and purchase of warehouses, JD showed that their logistics expertise can have much more potential than just servicing their e-commerce platform. This is an older record that we did right the filing. Find us on @ProductiveLazySunday on Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram!

In May 2019 - The Trump administration has told Google that Huawei could no longer be a client. Although a proprietary OS from the ground was in the works since 2012 for the latter, the plans had to accelerate due to this decision. This year Huawei has finally unveiled their own Operating System (OS): Harmony OS. We wanted to quickly discuss what that entailed, what are the challenges, and where to next! Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube!

CATL and BYD are in preliminary talks to win a contract to supply electric vehicle batteries to Apple, which aims to start production of passenger vehicles in 2024. Prerequisite that the two companies build manufacturing facilities in the U.S., where some automakers are calling on the government to support producing batteries locally. In this episode, we wanted to understand more about who CATL is and their future ambitions. Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube!

SHEIN was founded in 2008 in Nanjing, Jiangsu is aiming squarely at the "Gen Z" social-media generation, using influencers on Instagram and TikTok, and discount codes, to attract younger shoppers in an increasingly crowded fashion market. It offers low-cost styles, uploading hundreds of new designs to its app every week. The price for a dress is around half that of Zara. Truck-hailing platform Full Truck Logistics, known as Manbang in China, filed for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday without disclosing details about the size of the offering. CNBC reported earlier this month that the startup could raise around US$1.5 billion, citing a source with knowledge of the matter. Horizon is currently working with advisers on a share sale that could happen by the end of the year. The company, which counts Intel Capital, Hillhouse Capital, and Jack Ma's Yunfeng Capital as its investors, is also said to be in preliminary discussions with advisors regarding a venue and the timing for the potential IPO.

Zhang Yiming, CEO of ByteDance, has announced that he will be stepping down from the role of CEO at the end of the year to focus on the company's long-term. This is the second high-profile CEO to leave its hugely popular venture as Colin Huang, founder of PDD, announced earlier this year that it will take a step back from the company. Tencent-backed Chinese jobs portal Boss Zhipin files for a $100m US listing. With 25m MAU, 85.8m certified job seekers, and 13m certified companies ZhiPin is by far the lead player in the market. Finally, TuSimple's Self-Driving Truck Tech Cuts 10 Hours From Full-Day Route. They tested the autonomous trucks on a watermelon transportation route more than 900 miles long from Nogales, Arizona, to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and found that the rigs cut 10 hours off a trip that takes 24 hours with regular trucks and human drivers. Although the company did not break down the test journey in detail, the time saved is likely to consist of hours normally spent by human drivers on mandatory rest and sleep. Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube!

Futu was founded in 2007 by Leaf Li, an ex-Tencent alumn. The company is in the business of digitized brokers and wealth management in China. They founded a subsidiary called Moomoo in order to target overseas markets such as Singapore and the US. Moomoo was then launched in the US and Singapore in 2021. After the wave of criticism that rained upon Robinhood (the trading platform) during the GME saga, retail investors sought alternative trading platforms. The rise of the likes of WeBull and Moomoo is in big part due to this. But what caused Robinhood to turn its back on its most loyal customers? Why are digitized brokers and trading platforms on the rise? Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instagram, Twitter, and now Youtube!

Welcome back for another episode of Productive Lazy Sundays - a podcast discussing businesses in Asia. In today's episode, we wanted to share a couple of news that we thought to be interesting. TikTok which was said to be a significant threat to Facebook is now challenging the latter with its newest in-app purchase feature. Meituan, one of the biggest Food Delivery companies in China has 10 Million drivers working for it. However, it has come out to say that these workers and the company itself are not in a direct employment relationship. BYD one of the biggest OEM in China is now spinning off its semis division in a world where Chip Shortage becomes the new normal. Find us on Instagram and Twitter @ProductiveLazySundays

Another news recaps where we explore the craze of the week. Paypal is setting its eyes on China and the Rest of the world cross-border payments market. The digital RMB, what is it and what will it impact is a burning topic that could be covered in much more depth to be honest. Waterdrop is an interesting Insurtech with an uncertain future! Find us on Twitter and Instagram @ProductiveLazySundays

I mean with a title like that do you need a description? Come say hi on Instagram and Twitter @ProductiveLazySundays

Yes, we do sincerely believe TSMC is if not the most, one of the most important companies for the decade to come. TSMC is not the biggest player it is practically the only manufacturer in the high-end segment of semiconductors, sharing only but a small percentage of the market share to Samsung's foundry. Brought into the spotlight due to the chip shortage, TSMC is finding itself under the spotlight. Take a listen to understand why. Find us on Instagram @ProductiveLazySundays

We wanted to try something new - so instead of going into a deep dive, we wanted to make it a bit less presentation mode and more round table discussion. So we decided to recap a bit the week in a few headlines that we thought were interesting and why we thought they were meaningful. As we said, please let us know if you have any comments on our 24/7 Instagram page - or if you just want to say hi!

Behind the outrageous salary of streamers lies a tough industry. The no barriers to entry is also the reason for the immense competition that exists in live streaming. When everyone can become an influencer on a live streaming platform with just a phone and an internet connection how do they distinguish themselves from the competition?

Usually, when people talk about streaming they think about gaming. I don't blame them, it is the bread and butter of major platforms such as Twitch. However, there is so much more to streaming than just gaming. In China, at least, there is a huge economy revolving around the platform that is live-streaming. Anything from e-commerce to educational stream, it is a booming industry. In this episode, we want to share our experience with the medium and the industry as a whole. PS : The mentioned platform to which I couldn't remember the name of in the podcast is Periscope.

It is that time of the decade again ... What is next for China and where are the new areas of focus?

When you think of the richest man of a country you usually think founder (or founding family) of big conglomerates or advanced tech companies. You know like Elon Musk or Jack Ma. This was true as well in China for a number of years, last year Zhong ShanShan replaced Jack Ma as the richest man in China. We wanted to explore the company he founded - Nong Fu Shan Quan - and how it came to be the success that it is today.

Who is Faraday Future? You might have heard of them a few years back and then they disappeared ... but they are back...? This EV company packs a punch of turbulent history and we wanted to explore a little bit more especially in the days were EV seems to be at the forefront of everyone's mind.

Zhang Nan in an interview given to Geekpark （极客公园） (wechat ID : geekpark) stated that we shouldn't limit our imagination to what Tiktok is and what it can be. In this interview, she stated the importance of connecting with people through the platform - is that a sign of the future ambitions of ByteDance? We wanted to take this interview as an opportunity to discuss the potential future of TikTok ... but somehow ended up talking a lot about food...?

Did you get an invite? Are you hanging out with Elon Musk? Are you part of the hype? Clubhouse seems to be the (emphasis) hot topic - but the tech or the idea doesn't seem to be revolutionary. Today we wanted to talk about DiZhua, an app that similarly to Clubhouse uses voice chat rooms as the backbone of a social platform. However, DiZhua launched a bit earlier than Clubhouse and also took different routes in many aspects. The Product Manager of DiZhua himself gave an interview to GeekPark (WeChat ID: geekpark) on the topic and we wanted to leverage that to brainstorm a bit on what could be the future of social platforms.

With a rumored IPO, Didi is back in the headlines. On the menu as always is profitability, business model, and all of that. However, we wanted to take a step back and discuss a specific turning point for Didi: How it won the war against Uber?

At this point, most people have heard of TikTok - But unless you live in Asia - KuaiShou or Kwai (International Name) might be more foreign to you. However, they have had a remarkable IPO this year and we wanted to dig into the company and do a quick comparison to the more familiar TikTok.

Happy Niu Year!! It's the year of the Ox (Niu in Chinese thus the Pun), and we all hope that the bullish stock market continues (Yes I will continue with the puns). For part 2 - we are concluding on NIO by taking Tesla as a benchmark once again and digging a bit on FSD, Customer Loyalty, and general brand positioning.

Yes the title is clickbait, but in the aftermath of an explosive increase in stock price, one cannot help but observe the similarities in the hype. Strong brand loyalty, charismatic leadership, and with an output of 40K+ cars, is NIO going to be the King of EV in China?

The notorious Reddit is at the forefront of the News this week. More specifically, the subreddit WallStreetBets is. But for a lot of people who are already unfamiliar with Reddit, might be even more confused about all the technicals terms that have been thrown around. Short Squeeze? Gamma Squeeze? Lemon Squeeze for fresh lemon juice, add a pinch of salt, and ... Although the topic is a bit out of our usual scope, we thought it was too big not to squeeze. Thus, we wanted to give a quick recap and explanation of what's going on for everyone and not just for hardcore finance people. (But we might have failed).

Grab - The first Decacorn of South East Asia. The grand ambition started by both Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling in Harvard Business School is now used by more than 180 Million users across South East Asia. The App originally started as a ride-hailing service in Malaysia quickly expanded into the Super App that it is today. Listen and discover with us how the App was founded, how it rivaled Uber and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead!

Alibaba and its multitudes of e-commerce platform would always be associated with the Amazon of the East. However, their business models differ greatly. Then who could claim this title? JD.com?

The first episode of Productive Lazy Sundays - the podcast that you want to put on for you weekly insight into Asian Focused topics. As a kick starter we've decided to visit what Alibaba is, how Ant Financial was first conceived and how the whole fiasco of the cancelled IPO happened and why ... or at least we tried to. A casual conversation around heavy topics, personal views and occasional facts for your entertainment.