Susie in Shanghai

Today I conducted my first interview, and it was great! I could not have asked for a better person to kick off my work here, because he was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and spoke perfect English (which is a lifesaver for me).  As I previously mentioned, he preferred to remain anonymous for the interview because of company policies; however, I can tell you he is in charge of business development and collaboration in China for an international life science and high technology company. We had a great discussion for about an hour, and I will try to capture the highlights in this post. Bonus: there is some really great advice for recent graduates at the end of the interview!

Q: Tell me a little bit about your background and the path that led you to your current position.

A: I spent my undergraduate and graduate years studying here in China, close to where I grew up.  After that, many of my peers were travelling abroad for school, so I decided to do the same.  I was offered acceptance at Columbia University and I decided to attend because I liked the idea of living in a big city like NYC.  I studied human nutrition there for five and a half years and then spent the next few years doing post-doc work at the University of Pennsylvania.  There I had the opportunity to conduct research with one of the top ten cardiologists in the country.

While working there I had a life changing experience—I realized that if I continued to do research my entire life, my impact would be limited. For example, there was a senior scientist in my lab who had published ten patents, but never saw a product come to fruition.  He was very disappointed in the fact he had spent so much time and effort on the research and in return had limited results.  I had been sitting in on business classes with a friend at Wharton Business School at UPenn and realized not only that I loved it, but that I could make a greater impact combining applying my science background in the business world.  I decided to attend the Health Care Management Department of The Wharton School of Business because it was the best in the country.

During school I specialized in business development in my internships and then went to McKinsey after graduation.  I knew that since I had been in school for so long, McKinsey offered a faster track to more exposure to business (R&D, marketing, International business development, pharma, and medical devices).  Although it was interesting, consulting entails a hard lifestyle. I already had two kids, which made the job difficultt.  Once my third child was born, I knew it would be impossible to continue working there.

A head hunter contacted me from my current company and offered a highly enticing position in the China offices.  Although I am from China, I had only limited work experience here, and thought it would be a great opportunity because it is the major growth center of the world and would also be a great personal experience.

Q: Wow, that’s quite a journey! Can you tell me a little bit about what you do specifically in your current position?

A: My job is to set up an R&D center here in China, and also looking for new technologies and collaborations with researchers here. I also look  at local companies which may be merger and acquisition targets.

Q: So what have you seen as the novel science and technologies emerging here right now?

A: In many ways although there is new science here, it is lagging behind the west.  The issue is that the infrastructure is not here yet, and in many cases there is a lot of lacking organization.  Because of that, many top universities don’t have as high a level of functionality as facilities in the west.  I usually have to go through the PI [principal investigator] versus the company itself, or talk to the inventors of a novel science when researching new technologies.

One issue is that although China is probably number one in the world for number of patents, they are not usually of the best quality.  In many cases there are numerous financial incentives that come with filing a patent. And a lot of times when the researcher applies for a grant there are terms that require a certain number of patents to be produced. In many cases these are even copies of already existing patents, which can be an issue.

Q: So are there any technologies in which China has an advantage over the west?

A: China is very advanced in stem cell research. Billions of dollars have been put into the research here and many top scientists from abroad come to China as a result.

Q: Why is China so advanced in stem cell research?

A: There is a lot of grey area here with regulations regarding stem cells versus in other countries.  Stem cell research in the US is still in Phase I stage, whereas in China we have seen clinical application of stem cell research. A lot of the regulations are still in the making here as well. I think that China knew it was lagging behind other countries in terms of scientific research, so instead of spreading the bet, they hedged their bets in one specialty, making them a world leader in that area.

Q: Are there any other technologies in which China is leading the way?

A: The technologies here with transgenic animals are quite advanced too.

Q: So how far along do you see China as far as innovative creativity?

A: In China you see a lot of companies, like Baidu for example, which are simply copies of the US model (note: Baidu is the Chinese equivalent to Google).  The Chinese are learning the current technologies, and once they have those down, I see them starting new technologies and making innovations of their own.  Many tenured professors from overseas have started to move back to China, bringing along knowledge and expertise. They have generated a lot of top quality articles as a result.

Q: What do you typically see when you go look at companies? What are some of the challenges they are facing, or problems you encounter?

A: The main challenge I see is probably their organization being sub par. But my challenge in acquiring companies is that they have a really high valuation. This makes acquisition in China very difficult.  Because the companies are so fast growing, the owners believe their companies have an extremely high value. Additionally, they receive so much government funding that there is really no rush or financial motivation to sell.  Each of these small mom and pop companies believes they will be the next major corporation of China, but in reality the whole industry just needs consolidation.

Q: What have you found when you are hiring new grads? How hard is it to retain people here in China?

A: The turnover rate in China is extremely high because there is so much economic growth and therefore lots of opportunities. Also, there is cutthroat competition between emlpoyers; if you jump ship, this is often a faster means of  promotion and getting a higher salary. My company does relatively well with retention because the pay is very competitive. Some people instead opt to work for an institute or the government and in that case the retention rate is high because those people want stability and an environment that has less pressure.

Q: Are most of your hires from China or abroad?

A: When I am looking for a PI that meets the qualifications necessary, we really have to look overseas usually.  But when we are hiring a junior scientists or technician, we hire here.  It is cost-effective and the graduates are very eager to learn.  As long as the PI is highly trained and can serve as a mentor, there’s no problem.

Q: In retrospect, are you happy with your decision to move to China?

A: Well there are two sides to that question, just as there where to sides to my decision to move to the US for school.  In the present, yes I am happy to be in China; in the long-term, it really just depends.

Q: So where do you see yourself in ten years?

A: In ten years I guess I see myself beyond the boundaries of one country—I would like to live maybe part-time in China, part-time in the US.

Q: Since you have such an impressive and extensive background, do you ever consider starting your own company?

A: It is still too early to say. I’ve only been in China for less than a year. But if the right opportunity arose, I would definitely consider it.

Q: As a recent graduate, can you offer me any advice in terms of business and which direction to head? Would you have done anything differently?

A: The combination of life science and business is a really great niche–here and in the US.  The competition to work for McKinsey was so fierce, but I was able to obtain the position because of my unique science background. The same goes for those who go into banking, law, or any other competitive profession.  It is relatively rare that many others will have your same experience.

In China, a lot of founders of companies have technical background, but don’t have the business background as well.  As a result, they assume that because they have a novel technology, they will have a successful business. This is naïve and they are usually largely dependent on government funding and incentives. But when the founders have a business background as well, they are usually more successful.  People really like to talk to others with the same background as them.  It is easier for a scientist to discuss technologies with someone in business who knows science.

Q: Do you think it would be beneficial for someone like me to come to China after graduation to work in the life sciences?

A: Not necessarily.  You just have to be really selective.  If you are offered a position with a highly reputable company here, i.e. GE, it would be a really great opportunity. However it if was a small biotech startup, it really won’t add anything to your resume. And additionally, you just wouldn’t learn as much. You have to consider what kind of growth and experience you will get out of it. I’d suggest trying to get a position that is based in the U.S. but offers international exposure. This could really pave the way for your future. Maybe try consulting for a couple of years at low risk, working on projects in both China and the U.S.

Q: That is great advice! It is extremely helpful to me, and I’m sure will benefit many of the people reading my blog. Thank you so much for meeting with me.