This video is the 6th part of a blog series throughout 2018, with the pioneers of #TeamCharlotte to capture the opportunities and experiences in Shenzhen China in 2017. Check out the previous video blogs: Who is #TeamCharlotte and How Did They Find Out About Shenzhen, China?; Part 2 – Communication and VPN’s in China; Part 3 – Unique Industries and Relationships in China; Part 4 – Public Security and Chinese and American Risk Management; and Part 5 – The Silicon Valley of China and it’s Comparison to Charlotte from a Millennials Perspective.
The video series are very informal, and a lot of joking is probably going to happen so be prepared to laugh!
Vanessa Vaughn: I’ll tell you something else that I really appreciated about Charlotte is, everybody found out about this opportunity from a different program or incubator. Shoutout to the entrepreneur circles in the Charlotte community because they really got the word out and helped people like us to be able to have this opportunity.
Amanda Zullo: To piggy back on that, what I also found very interesting is there were 50 Americans, or 52?
Vanessa: 54 ish
Justin Witz: I think a husband tagged along.
(Laughter)Justin: He didn’t come to any sessions.
(Laughter)
Amanda: Out of about 100 entrepreneurs participating in the forum, about 52-54
were from America, six of that 50 or so were from Charlotte.
Vanessa: And seven from North Carolina. There was one person from Raleigh.
Justin: We represented strong.
Amanda: I thought it was so interesting. I mean we joke about #TeamCharlotte, but I’m not even going to lie, before we even got off the plane everyone knew Charlotte was in China.
Vanessa: They knew we were here.
(Laughter)
Justin: We were also very loud.(Laughter)
Vanessa: You think so?
(Laughter)
Amanda: We all got to the airport, I think the initial flight was …
Justin: It took off at 6am, we all met around 4:10am.
Vanessa and Amanda: We were so loud.
Amanda: We were so excited to come here. So on that note, I thought it was very interesting how #TeamCharlotte really resonated and we were also really respected. A lot of people went, wow what is going on in Charlotte for Charlotte to have such pull at this forum.
Justin: And hype.
Amanda: We had a very high percentage of entrepreneurs.
Vanessa: And diversity of business.
Justin: Yes.
Vanessa: I mean we all do something different.
(Laughter)
Justin: I mean who does requests for proposals?
(Laughter)
Amanda: Which is great, I do to.
Vanessa: I do!
(Laughter)
