
Ask HN: Launching a US startup in China - boltzmannbrain
Any insights and recommendations from those that have been down this path?<p>What about Chinese accelerators [1, 2]? Would this be useful guidance to better understand the relevant market(s) and tech culture?<p>[1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.ycombinator.com&#x2F;yc-china-qi-lu&#x2F;<p>[2] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reuters.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;us-usa-trade-china-startups&#x2F;in-silicon-valley-chinese-accelerators-aim-to-bring-startups-home-idUSKCN1II0UG
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auganov
You could be more specific about the nature of your product. The wording is
confusing.

If you want to build a China-only consumer product from scratch this is likely
impossible as a foreign entity. Some specific industries will be laxer. But
most pop consumer Internet is off-limits [0].

If you're introducing a somewhat established product and just want to broaden
your customer base, then there are ways. But again super tough. Like the
article you linked mentioned, many Chinese join venture schemes are just
conduits for IP theft.

Generally my best guidance is to be very careful about risking any money in
China. (lost quite a bit myself)

There's no publicly available information as to how YC China is structured
legally. But they mentioned it's going to be China-first, investing on Chinese
terms in Chinese companies. So likely the accelerator operation is going to be
like any other in China. The creative part is how YC can maintain ownership
over this structure.

[0] And despite what some will try to tell you, as an individual you also
cannot own or hold stock in plain a domestic company. And all the crazy
workarounds only start making sense once you're already very successful and
are still super shady.

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boltzmannbrain
Also interested in the same info on Japan, thanks!

