Seeing the Unseen: Behind Chinese Tech Giants' Global Venturing

“Seeing the unseen” stands out among many recent books for tech executives. The book has three major sections, each of which addresses the past, present, and future of some of the most prominent Chinese tech giants of our time. Although TikTok, Alibaba, and Huawei are already household names, how much do we really understand these companies—their leaders’ mindset, their organization structure, and people proposition that have shaped them into who they are today? This book answers many such questions. I particularly like the POP-Leadership framework—crisp and clear! It is the Leadership, People, Organization, and Products that make these companies, or any great company, great. But what forms do these elements take and how do they matter for an emerging-economy tech company? The authors did a good job in navigating the readers through the book. In each element of POP-Leadership, the authors also lay out some key challenges for leaders to think. I highly recommend it to any tech executives, particularly those aiming to increase their global footprint and expand their business scope.

This book is a gem, not only for its ability to vividly and accurately describing how Chinese tech company work and think, but also deeply insightful in terms of providing the reader with lessons of leadership through examples from both recent occurrences and ancient history.A really unique read and worth reading not only once.

This book is absolutely amazing! Very informative and well written. It tells you why Chinese firms such as ByteDance (the parent firm of TikTok), Alibaba, SheIn, Meituan etc made their success in the past, and, ironically, the same reasons may create challenges for them in the global venturing. The book integrates and synthesizes several key business considerations into a POP-Leadership framework which I found very useful. We tend to focus on Product in business decisions, but fundamentally, the greater challenges are People, Organization and Leadership. The book also opens the window to understand firms by overseas Chinese communities, such as Shopee, J&T. It’d be interesting to observe how the business models developed from China, such as live streaming ecommerce, could be replicated in other regions, and how these firms may shape the global business landscape.

Not only is this book a good introduction (yet in sufficient depth) to Chinese tech industry, it is also a cultural eye-opener. Hidden behind the great firewall, the Chinese tech world has evolved in ways few of us could fully grasp. It's also interesting to cross reference other readings you may have in your library, to gain a deeper understanding of these tech giants, how they strategize and operate both inside China and internationally. Filled with historical anecdotes and literary metaphors, yet told in an engaging tone, this book is really an enjoyable read.Don't expect it to be too academic like "The innovator's dilemma", or surface-level like some self-help books (manuals). Highly recommend for business investors and executives.

It is truly awesome to see an academic and a practitioner from a top business school collaborating on a hot topic like this! Although I have read other books in this genre, a combined perspective from a researcher and a venture builder is a unique feature of this book. In addition, the book has a clear framework that guides through the key considerations in global venturing (which applies not only to Chinese tech companies but to any organization in more general terms). The book also has many interesting stories behind the tech giants and entrepreneurs and paints a broader picture of the macro environments not only in China but also beyond China. Highly recommend it for a read!