Chinese money keep flowing in Silicon Valley thanks to "whisperers." (Photo : Getty Images)
The relationship between companies in China and the United States dictates whether or not the world will become richer or poorer and certain 'whisperers' are in control of what happens next.
In the U.S., Silicon Valley is considered as the land of successful businesses even after China took over its place as the place with the world's most cutting edge mobile technology.
An article published in The Washington Post took notice of the significant contributions of a couple of people in bringing together two cultures in order to make business ventures succeed and cash flow smoothly from one place to the other.
The Whisperers
The WP article specified a couple of Chinese-born people who were responsible for bringing Chinese money flowing to Silicon Valley.
One of them was Carmen Chang, a veteran lawyer and investor in Silicon Valley. According to the report, Chang was one of the people consulted first when Uber CEO Travis Kalanick expressed his wish to enter the Chinese market.
She is also one of the few trusted people that Kalanick turned to when he decided to sell Uber to its domestic competitor, Didi Chixung.
According to WP, Chang was able to help several American companies "navigate that murky territory" that is China together with others who understand the cultural differences better.
"She is the whisperer between China and Silicon Valley. There's very few that really understand both sides," web security startup Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince told WP, describing Chang who helped him close a deal with China's search giant, Baidu.
Aside from Chang, Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm partner Connie Chan also made certain moves that allowed Chinese money to enter Silicon Valley.
As a whisperer, she served more as a cultural translator between Chinese investors and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs than investment brokers.
The Secret to Their Success
According to Chang, her success can mostly be attributed to her ability to maintain good will between people and avoid questioning others' integrity or honesty.
"I've told U.S. companies, Chinese people have long memories and are the ultimate repeat players, so don't play any games. And I've tried to tell the Chinese investors coming the Valley today that they are making their reputation as they go along, so they should be very thoughtful and careful about what they do," she told WP.
Meanwhile, Chan makes a point to clarify everything to the involved parties particularly because of the cultural difference where in the U.S. "it's harder for them to have a full perspective of the competitive landscape or a full understanding of how to vet that entrepreneur's background" while Chinese people consider business as a sort of relationship between individuals.
