1. How did you end up in China?

I first came to China in the summer of 1999, traveling through Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing. I fell in love with the energy here and have been coming back ever since. Strangely, the more I learn about China, the more I uncover that I have yet to learn. I love sharing with others this understanding and appreciation of China’s diverse, dynamic, and profoundly deep culture.  Naturally, I’m excited to join Bits x Bites where I can put my China expertise to use towards a very practical and meaningful mission.

2. Why venture?

The world is full of problems. It is also full of solutions waiting to be discovered. Many of the most scalable solutions come in the form of sustainable business models. Some call these startups. The world of venture is fascinating to me as the place where vision meets execution, where capital funds ideas, where problems find solutions. Never a dull day…

3. Why corporate partnerships?

I have the rare experience of having worked in corporations and startups both. At ExxonMobil & Walmart, I learned the value of scalable processes, but also saw how it limited creativity. Stints at startups like solar lantern company D.light taught me how to rapidly develop new ideas, but also how hard it was for new enterprises to scale. What if we could combine the startups’ world-changing ideas with corporations’ worldwide scale to solve global problems? This is exactly the opportunity that Bits x Bites faces.

4. Why food?

Though perhaps not as sexy as quantum computing or blockchain, food is brutally practical. Everyone everywhere eats, generally everyday. Given this scale, food drives massive problems upstream in agriculture and environment, as well as downstream in health and nutrition. And where there are problems, there are opportunities to solve them. I feel very lucky to have a chance at Bits x Bites to support innovations that create a better food future. And where else can I taste test new tech?

5. What do you do for fun?

Since they’ve been potty-trained, I’ve really begun to enjoy spending time with my two young daughters, who are neverending springs of energy, curiosity, and melodramatic fake crying. I love traveling around China, visiting old haunts or uncovering new ones. More commonly, I just unwind at home with a hot chocolate, playing this one computer game from the 90s, or engaging on social media until way too late.