Swimming with Asian Sharks - Business Secrets from the Pacific Rim

Sir Shark and Director Shark

That evening, we met a Mr. Knight, Mr. Princeton’s best friend. He is a massive shark who talks with an air of superiority.  He is a Ph.D. after all and also a knight of the realm. He was in charge of getting Mr. Princeton involved with LoyalPlus, and is amazing at getting people to pay for his projects simply for an idea.  We met up with Mr. Knight for a movie, sitting pretty much silent for the entire time, and then at the end of the movie, Mr. Princeton and Mr. Knight fell into a deep conversation about business.  Mr. Princeton bounced ideas off him and asked for advice.  Mr. Knight gave many deep insights and something he said really struck a chord in me. "We are in an age of cooperation.”  This is translated from Cantonese, but essentially he was referring to the fact that corporations used to compete on everything.  The trend now is to find out who does a thing the best, and make use of that resource, instead of trying to roll your own.

The next day we were scheduled to fly to Subic Bay in the evening.  We had brunch and lunch with one of Mr. Princeton’s good friends, Mr. Director. Mr. Director is director of business development at an Internet service provider.  He is a professional shark.  Mr. Director often gives me advice, and is a solid guy.  He is also very clear upfront about what he will receive if he is involved in a project, which is a skill that I refined after meeting him.  Mr. Director is one of Hong Kong’s most well-connected businessmen. He is a director or member of many business groups, both for technology and for charity.  Mr. Director is a professional networker; as such, he knows how to become friends with you instantly, very similar to Mr. Princeton.  However, Mr. Director has an air of nervousness that makes you feel that he is up to something.