I recently interviewed Yang Liu. Yang is originally from China and currently lives in the UK, where she is the Co-Founder and CEO of JustWears, a direct-to-consumer underwear brand.
Yang is originally from Kunming, China and started her career working in startups in Shenzhen in 2011. Throughout her experiences, she has seen first hand the cultural differences between technology business leaders in China vs. the West and the evolution of China’s technology industry. She was also featured on Dragon’s Den!
Yang’s career has given her unique first hand perspective in the development of Chinese Tech. She talked about her experience meeting Zhang Yiming, the founder and CEO of Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok. She talked about her admiration for Jack Ma—I never realised how of an emphasis he put on female representation in his company. It’s fascinating to hear Yang describe the differences between what character traits are admired in China vs. the West. Listen to this episode for some stellar cultural insight!
What did we talk about?
Yang’s experience working in the earlier days of Chinese tech back in 2011
The evolution of China from ‘copycat’ to leading innovator
Differences between the consumer market in China vs. Europe
Her approach to building a brand over time
The Chinese CEOs she admires and why - Jack Ma, Zhang Yiming
The differences between Western and Eastern business culture
Yang’s Recommendations:
My Interview with Yang Liu - Just Wears, China's Evolving Tech Scene, and Admirable Character Traits