9 COUNTRIES, 6 LANGUAGES
I was born in France and lived most of my adult life abroad. In China (mainland and Hong Kong), Japan, but also South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia). I also spent time in Germany and Silicon Valley.
SPEAKER
I spoke at over 200 conferences across more than 30 countries, with audiences up to thousands. My favorite topics are hardware, startup ecosystems, and personal development-related. I also conducted interviews (e.g. Niklas Zennström of Skype, John Chambers of Cisco) and moderated many panels. In my high school geography class I was the only one who was too shy to present in front of the class (more).
EVENT ORGANIZER
I organized dozens of events, from small meetups to full-day conferences with 200+ executives. In Beijing I founded and ran Mobile Monday, a monthly evening event for technology executives. Most recently was a series of seven masterclasses focused on tech M&As and IPOs, with over 50 world-class speakers. I always try to get the best people to learn from!
WRITER
I contributed to numerous publications: Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, IEEE Spectrum, and years ago a column in China Entrepreneurs Magazine, and JournalDuNet. I write about technology on Medium. I also have an occasional newsletter where I share my latest news and interests (more).
ENTREPRENEUR
I founded and ran Plus Eight Star, a Beijing-based and Asia-focused market research and strategy consultancy. We worked with over 100 global clients researching innovation from Asia.
INVESTOR
I did my first angel investment in 2007 and added a dozen over the years (most are still alive). In 2013 I joined HAX, the world’s most active investor in hardware, now with over 200 startups in portfolio.
PODCAST
I have young nephews and friends with children. In this series called ‘Take a Punch‘, I share ideas that would have helped my younger self. Listen here.