Two turning points: Law and MBA

In 1994, James applied for the J.D. study at Columbia. While most Chinese students would struggle to complete their basic studies, he had planned his move to a new field. There were not too many people who would switch careers from one field to a completely different field, let alone from natural science to law like James. In his law school application, James discussed the importance of IPR based on his own experience. Encouraged by his tutor, he realized that people with an inter-disciplinary background would be in demand in the future, so he also applied for an MBA degree at Columbia University.

In 1995, James left Merck and began to study for his law and MBA degrees at Columbia University. Many students chose to take part-time jobs to lessen the economic pressure of university tuition. However, few students at top universities such as Columbia did so because of the heavy pressure to study and universities’ prohibition. James had to live on a student loan from the bank, over USD 250,000 if he wanted to study in Columbia University. Today, looking back, he feels that decision was a risky one to make, but he was so young at that time that he did not realize the risks.

Law and MBA were no doubt great challenges to James. He had been studying natural science in both China and America and had never studied liberal arts subjects before, so switching to law and business was really difficult. To make up for his lack of humanistic knowledge, he studied for more than 10 hours everyday. It was common for him to go to sleep after midnight and get up before daybreak. Even so, he didn’t hesitate to leave Merck’s easy life. He obtained the most valuable treasure from this experience: how to learn as much as he can in the shortest period of time. He said if he was given a pile of materials 1 meter high that had nothing to do with his profession, he could almost become an quasi-expert in that field within 3 days. Because he was learning how to learn during that period, it taught him to never fear new things in the future.

James said: “In America, universities such as Columbia are not only teaching people what law is, but also teaching people what law should be.” His studies at Columbia University, especially philosophy and economics, had a big influence on his values. His study increased his knowledge of western philosophy, from Hellenistic art to the Renaissance, from Plato to Aristotle, and from Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws to Rousseau’s view of equality. He gradually understood the theories behind American Law.

After two companies, everything was zeroed

But in his studies, at Columbia University, he discovered he had an interest in venture capital. Venture capital professionals generally had an inter-disciplinary education background, because venture capital was an integrated practice of finance, investment, law, and management. In 1998, he applied to several venture capital firms to work as a student intern. At that time, American venture capital firms rarely employed student interns, let alone foreign students without a financial background. He sent over 1,000 letters to several venture capital firms in one year and kept adjusting his strategy based on different situations. Finally, a venture capital firm was attracted to him based on his persistence and employed him as a student intern. In that company, he had several chances to attend board meetings and speak with various CEOs, which led him to become more and more broad-minded. Gradually, he realized that experience was the most important asset in the venture capital business and that it would be better if he started his new career by running a company supported by a venture capital firm. At the same time, successful venture capitalists encouraged him to run a company by himself.

In 1998, when his friend wanted to start a business in America based on biological technology he accepted his friend’s invitation and became a partner of his friend’s new company. He began to raise venture capital in the Silicon Valley. However, it was not easy to attract venture capital. Many people submitted their plans to venture capital firms to start a new enterprise, but few people could get the chance to make a presentation before the venture capitalists themselves. Based on his student intern experience at a venture capital firm, law and business education background, finally, one firm decided to invest USD 17 million in the new company founded by James and his friend, to be paid in two payments. Furthermore, their new company attracted some individual investors, including GlaxoSmithKline’s Chairman and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd’s Global Production President’s investment. James treasured this opportunity very much and became a bi-coastal jet setter who studied in New York from Monday to Wednesday and then flew to California immediately thereafter. Sometimes he even had to finish his assignments on the plane. When the venture capital was ready, James spearheaded the new company’s legal and business development activities and realized his own interests more clearly. However, the new company didn’t work very well. The venture capital firm gradually lost confidence in the management of James’ company. The lack of communication resulted in the venture capital firm stopping the follow-up capital payment.

When he thought over this experience, James felt that his new company had failed as a result of several problems: HR management, cultural differences, and various details. HR management was meant to involve not only communication between the managers, but also communication between managers and the staff. However, as an inexperienced entrepreneur, James did not realize the importance of communication. The American VC company also did not have enough experience in China and did not pay enough attention to the differences between Chinese and American culture. Although James is Chinese, he had left China so long ago that he had started to think like an American. Even if he wanted to effectively act as a bridge between Chinese and American culture, he did not have enough strength. Moreover, the failure to pay attention to various details resulted in several missed opportunities. He said: “For every successful company, there are many behind-the-scenes stories. They don’t always enjoy smooth sailing and always experience more difficulties that are not apparent to others. Therefore, their successes are more valuable.”