Conference Led by Industry Thought Leaders

Head of Validation, Brinc

Executive Vice President, Li & Fung

Managing Director, Brookstone Howard Chen is managing director of the Asian Division of Brookstone – one of North America’s largest catalog and specialty retailers. He has held management positions with multinational companies including Kenner Parker Toys, Tradepower Ltd. , Elan Electronics and Uniden Electronics. Howard has a total of 25 years experience sourcing and product development from Asia. He graduated from Taiwan University in 1974 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Director of Strategic Programs, Indiegogo Ben Bateman is Indiegogo's Director of Strategic Programs, and currently leads Indiegogo's China efforts. He has been a key player in building Indiegogo's hardware category, and now focuses on helping Asia-based companies launch products internationally through Indiegogo. He is passionate about making hardware entrepreneurship more accessible. He has worked with some of Indiegogo's largest campaigns including the Ubuntu Edge, JIBO and more.

Regional Director, Head of Edge AIA Originally a commercial pilot, Steve has held a number of senior corporate and banking roles in product, marketing, operations and general management. He has worked for a number of leading corporations and financial institutions including Dell, Compaq, Citigroup, OCBC, Shinsei and DBS Bank. Throughout his career, Steve has specialized in introducing new business models, businesses and products in all major markets in Asia and has filed 6 patents.

Senior Editor, Engadget Richard is a Hong Kong-based Senior Editor at Engadget as well as the Editor-In-Chief at Engadget Chinese. Over the last six and a half years, he witnessed the boom of Chinese smartphone brands and, more recently, hardware startups in this part of the world. He was one of the first international reporters to reach out to local companies such as Meizu, Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, OnePlus, Nubia and Smartisan well before they drew worldwide attention.

Partner, KPMG Irene is a Partner of KPMG China, specialized in the technology, media and telecommunications sector. She is also the Head of High Growth Technology and Innovation Group in Hong Kong. Irene has many years of experience in serving multinational and Chinese companies in the technology sector including software, media, telecommunications, e-Commerce, electronic components, and consumer markets on audit and advisory projects.

Global Vice President, Misfit Wearables Kai Liu, Global VP & General Manager in Greater China of Misfit, has over 12 years of experience in sales management, business development and project management. Prior to joining Misfit, Kai worked for Apple in building corporate gifting and reward business from scratch in China market. Previously lead enterprise marketing solution sales in IBM China and business development in Silicon Core Technology.

Director and Founding partner, Blocks Fred is a founding Partner of Blocks Wearables. He is an experienced Project Director who created some of the most award winning product launch in the world. Collected over 30 awards including Reddot best of the best award, Yellow pencil, Webby awards, LA movie awards, Creative circle Gold and more. Fred worked with brands such as Adobe, AT&T, Calvin Klein, Converse, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, JaegerLeCoultre, Microsoft, Samsung and Sony.

Principal Liaison Officer for HK,Qianhai Authority Dr Witman Hung is the Principal Liaison Officer for Hong Kong, Shenzhen Qianhai Authority and the President of iProA and the Executive Chairman of Chinese Big Data Society as well as an for technology start-ups. A well-known figure in the industry, Witman has worked in the computer industry for almost 30 years with extensive experience in management consulting, project management and outsourcing services.
Topics We Covered
Our conference program for April 2016 covered the four main important stages of a startup. We had a great turn out for each of our sections, join us again in October 2016 for more exciting topics.
April 11 - 14
April 18 - 21
April 11, 2016 - Product Ideation
13:00 - 13:30
Factors That Retailers Look For When Sourcing From Startups
Howard Chen, Managing Director, Brookstone
13:30 - 14:15
Market Trends and Application of Augmented Reality
Steven Ip, Business Development Executive, RealMax
14:15 - 15:00
Innovation Mindset: Application of Design Thinking
Christopher Geary, Founder & CEO, BSD Code and Design Academy
15:00 - 15:45
The Future of Aerial Robotics - The Latest Drones Development and Their Increasing Number of Commercial Applications
Caroline Briggert, Associate Director of Communication, DJI
15:45 - 16:30
Startup Sharing: From Thinking to Reality
Julian Lee, Founder & CEO, Ambi Climate
16:30 - 17:00
Panel discussion
All Speakers Of The Day
Moderator: Richard Lai, Senior Editor, Engadget
April 12, 2016 - Product Validation
13:00 - 13:45
Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship: How to Validate and Optimize Product Concepts for Commercialization
Michael Sung, Professor, ECE Department, HKUST
13:45 - 14:30
Insights On Technology Crowdfunding Projects
Ben Bateman, Director of Strategic Programs, Indiegogo
14:30 - 15:15
Raising Venture Capital in Asia
Dennis Plomp, Principal, Nest
15:15 - 15:45
Startup Validation From Marketing Point of View
Justin Bonnett, VP, Business Director, Jack Morton
15:45 - 16:15
Validating Your Next Product Launch
Nick Ramil, Head of Validation, Brinc
16:15 - 16:45
Panel Discussion
All Speakers Of The Day
Moderator: Marina Bay, CEO&Founder at Fin.Party, CEO&VJ at BeFast.TV
April 13, 2016 - Product Manufacturing
13:00 - 13:45
Successful China Sourcing: How to Negotiate Price With A Chinese Factory, Understanding Hidden Costs To Arrive at Your Cost Price, Pitfalls to Avoid
Charles B Kirmuss, President, Kirmuss & Associates
13:45 - 14:30
Project Compliance - How a Hype Can Turn Into A Commercial Tragedy - How To Do Better Next Time
Caspar ter Horst, Managing Director, ProductIP
14:30 - 15:15
Tips To Find The Perfect Supplier For Your Business, Case Study And Resources
Mike Bellamy, Founder of the PassageMaker Group
15:15 - 16:00
Building a Hardware Startup Business: The Big Picture and Lessons Learned
Greg Fisher, Founder/CEO Berkeley Sourcing Group
16:00 - 16:30
Panel Discussion
All Speakers Of The Day
April 14, 2016 - Product Distribution
13:00 - 13:45
The Challenges of Global Distribution for Startups
Augustin Ceyrac, Co-Founder of EasyShip
13:45 - 14:30
Lean Supply Chain for Startups
Vicky Koo, Director of Vizilog Asia Ltd.
14:30 - 15:15
Best Practices of eCommerce For Startups
Ricardo Li, Founder of Popeye Incubation
15:15 - 16:00
Best Practices in Successful Mid-Stage Startup O2O Retail
Richard McGirr, Head of Sales and Marketing GreyLoud Limited
April 18, 2016 - Product Ideation
13:00 - 13:45
Wearables: From Geek to Chic
Kai Liu, Global VP & General Manager of Greater China, Misfit
13:45 - 14:30
Pantone presents: Pantone Color of the Year 2016
Maryann Wong, Director of Sales & Marketing - Fashion & Home, Pantone
14:30 - 15:15
How the Internet of Things (IoT) and Disruptive Technologies will Revolutionize Your Business
George Stepancich, CEO, Invisionate LLC; Board Member, Consumer Technology Association
15:15 - 16:00
Competing for Capital, Designing Your Startup For Success
Steve Monaghan, Regional Director, Head of Edge AIA
16:00 - 16:30
Internet of Things, Smart Cities, and Big Data
Yuta Inoue, General Manager, \QUANTUM Inc.
16:30 - 17:00
Panel discussion
All Speakers Of The Day
Moderator: Irene Chu, Partner, KPMG
April 19, 2016 - Product Validation
13:00 - 13:45
Evaluation and Investment of Startup Companies
Roland Yau, Investment Director, CoCoon
13:45 - 14:30
What Are Angel Investor Looking For in Startups
Carman Chan, Founder, Click Ventures
14:30 - 15:15
Validating Your Startup Ideas
Graham Leach, Professor, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
15:15 - 16:00
Tips and Insights on Running Crowdfunding Campaign
Fred Chak, Director and Founding partner, Blocks
16:00 - 16:30
Capturing the Internet+ Opportunities for Creative & Innovative Entrepreneur in Mainland & Qianhai
Witman Hung, Principal Liaison Officer for Hong Kong , Shenzhen Qianhai Authority
16:30 - 17:00
Panel Discussion
All Speakers Of The Day + Arthur Law, General Partner, Vectr Ventures
Moderator: Suzanne Wang, Vice President of Corporate Development and Investments, Global Sources
April 20, 2016 - Product Manufacturing
13:00 - 13:45
How to Find the Right Factory for Your Prototype
Neale O’Connor, Managing Director, Ricebox
13:45 - 14:30
How to Make Yourself Attractive as a Startup Designer to a Chinese Factory
Heidi Larsen, CEO & Founder of Plus
14:30 - 15:15
How to Protect Business Secrets & Intellectual Property when Sourcing from China
Mike Bellamy, Founder of the PassageMaker Group
15:15 - 16:00
Startup Sharing: Turning Product Concepts into Mass Production for Retail
Christian Yan, Chief Operations Officer, Nanoleaf
16:00 - 16:30
Insights On Product Manufacturing and Distribution
Sean Looram, Executive Vice President, Li & Fung
16:30 - 17:00
Panel Discussion
All Speakers Of The Day
April 21, 2016 - Product Distribution
13:00 - 13:45
Now You Have Your Product – Where Can You Sell?
Andrew Tse, Director of Fittyshades Limited
13:45 - 14:30
Buying Journey: Optimization in the Mobile Age
Wong Hing Nam Wally,Chief Commercial Officer, Fusion Limited
14:30 - 15:15
Distribute Your Products Online in China
Charlotte Tang, Executive Assistant to Founder & COO, VIP.com
We will continaully update this page with the latest topics and schedule, so please do check back often.

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