A bad economy can help startups - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

China's economy might have some problems, when you look carefully, that might offer you great possibilities, says VC William Bao Bean of the Softbank China & India Holdings and a director at language-learning startup iTalki at PC World.

Based in Shanghai, iTalki has users living in 200 countries who take language lessons and do language exchanges with other users in more than 100 languages. Recently, the company started to generate revenue by allowing users to sell language lessons online, collecting a commission from each transaction.
"The good thing about this market is that it is a really bad economy and people are looking for ways to work. We've had 1,100 teachers sign up on our platform in the first month," Bean said.

Operating from China, gives the company a great cost-advantage, adds William Bao Bean.

"We have a very low cost base to begin with and then we've managed to further lower it. We think we're one-tenth to one-twentieth their running costs," he said.

Commercial William Bao Bean is also a well-known speaker at conferences. When you need him at your meeting, get in touch with the China Speakers Bureau.

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