Hi, I am one of the EMBA students at Columbia University whose group recently returned from a field trip in China. We went to Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong and had a chance to have a first-hand look at many giant American and Chinese companies doing business in China. Among the students are many senior VPs from IBM, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, AOL Time-Warner, Price Waterhouse, so we were also able to learn from the shared experiences of these executives as well. In general, China is an awesome market with distinct cultural and social conditions. The growth of its economy is steady and speedy, the workforce is diligent, the population is huge, the safety of its streets is remarkable: I have nothing but bullish projection for its future.
We visited the Shanghai subsidiary of Hartcourt, Sinobull Information Group. This Sinobull operation is the smallest among all companies we visited in China. (I heard the Hong Kong operation is slightly bigger, but we did not have the time to visit). As expected, the offices are modest, comparing to other multi-nationals¡¯. However, its 83 employees are young, professional and energetic. The products presented to us are first-class, considering their limited resources. The business model is attractive and aggressive, especially the plan to launch Sinobull magazine and Financial TV channel. I am so impressed with the company and its management that I bought 5,000 shares of HRCT, when I came back here.
When I left, I asked David Chen, Sinobull Media¡¯s President, to Email me his Power Point presentation. He did, together with a research report from Donahue, Iwamoto and a Hartcourt Capital brochure. Anyone wants a copy of these documents are welcome to Email me at: fsshrink@mail.com. Since I have a day job at one of the busiest private equity firms in NY and weekend classes at Columbia, you might have to wait a while.
Well, I am happy to join the Hartcourt family. Our company¡¯s prospect in 10 years is nothing but fantastic.