August 30th: So, What do you do in Shanghai?

I’m beginning to really like this whole “grown-up” thing. At first I was just trying it on for size, but work suits me well. It feels really damn good to impress my boss, Mr. Kamen. It doesn’t happen easily, but when he approves my work, it only makes me want to push harder.

“What do you do in Shanghai?” is the first question that comes up in conversation here when I am out meeting new people. At first, I didn’t know how to explain my job, but after many explanations I have the report down. “I work for a company called Kito Group, a traditional manufacturing and consulting company based in Connecticut. With the downturn of the economy, my boss has looked toward other venues to make money, which is where I come into the picture. He is trying to tap into the legal consulting service market, offering legal services for Chinese companies who have intellectual property to protect in the US. Kito has partnered up with the largest and most respected law firm in the US which deals with IPR (their clients include Microsoft, Bose, Apple, Proctor and Gamble...). Even though their enormously successful in the US, they have yet to penetrate the Chinese market, and essentially the law firm is going through Kito as an arm to find Chinese companies with precious IPR. If we find the law firm (I’m not allowed to say which one) a client, we get a cut of the legal fees.
While the rest of the Kito’s workforce (two people in the US and three people in Shanghai office) is busy with the manufacturing/consulting business, the market research has fallen on my shoulders.

So, where the heck do I find
a Chinese company
who markets their products in the US
whose products have patents, trademarks, and/or copyrights
who can afford the law-firm’s $500-1000/hour legal fees

This is not an easy task. The way to find Chinese entrepreneurs is to think like one.

China is determined to change its reputation of imitation to INNOVATION. The Chinese government has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in China’s research and development sector, establishing hundreds of state-funded research institutions. After endless hours researching on the internet, I have learned that both domestic and foreign enterprises invest of lot of their own money into these RIs for the latest and greatest intellectual capital. For example, last month the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer pledged $500,000 per year for the next three years to the Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences. Anyway, I have compiled an exhaustive list and detailed descriptions of these RIs.

Besides research institutions, I am researching China’s largest venture capitalist firms. In October Shanghai is sending me as a representative to a three-day long VC summit in Shanghai where all of the top VC firms in the world are convening. I am really looking forward to that! I am also in contact with various Chambers of Commerce, as well as different business organizations such as Shanghai Entrepreneurs and China Entrepreneurs.
Tomorrow morning (Monday), I am meeting with Shanghai Intellectual Property Association. I’m a little nervous about meeting the head of the department and I don’t know what to expect from Chinese bureaucracy. But I’m a grown-up now, so think I can handle it.