Ep. 6: China Tech Podcaster Rui Ma talks TikTok ban, Sino-US decoupling, female expat life in China

Chinatown 2.0

Rui Ma is an investment banker (Morgan Stanley) turned VC (500 Startups) turned podcast host (Tech Buzz China). Her show covers current tech trends in China, with a focus on power players such as ByteDance and Alibaba. Her diaspora journey included a childhood in the China countryside, college and grad school education in the US, a career of finance/tech in Shanghai/Beijing, and podcast operations from Silicon Valley.

We discussed Bytedance ban, Niall Ferguson's "TikTok = China's digital imperium ambitions" quote, Chinese female diaspora experience, China's sexist society, the notorious 996, her podcast-turned-business and more!

Tech Buzz China podcast: https://pandaily.com/podcast/
Rui’s newsletter: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/techbuzzchina/
Rui's twitter: https://twitter.com/ruima

Rui shared with us:

* Childhood in China's countryside, California education, work in China, return to Silicon Valley

* The businesslines and ambitions of ByteDance

* ByteDance acquisition of Musical.ly

* ByteDance reaction to TikTok ban

* Chinese netizens reaction to TikTok ban

* ByteDance's negative reputation in China (similar to local gaming industry)

* Niall Ferguson's demonization of TikTok as China's weaponization against the West

* China bashing recently arose from a corner of Silicon Valley Twitter

* Pandemic-induced lockdown has strengthened echo chambers on social media

* US' negative attitude on immigration deters inflow of intellectual capital

* US still top destination of tech and research talents

* Notorious 9-9-6 work schedule in China

* Tradeoffs associated with living in China as expat

* Female expat's unpleasant experience in China's sexist society

* Chinese tech podcast forces the host to do more bigger-picture research than as an venture investor

* Bringing interested podcast listeners (pubic equity investors) to visit Chinese tech giants