Investing in Risks with Peter Mao, Co-founder of Panda Capital

Venture Capital is about venture and investing in startups that are doing something that has never been done. Still, a lot of investors think more about the risks associated with new technologies and business models that potentially will work.  Today’s guest clearly looks at the risky opportunities, not just as best for investment but the only ones worth considering. Peter Mao is Co-founder and Partner at Panda Capital. During his over 12-year experience in the venture capital firms, he has been part of the investment team behind companies like Xiaomi and more recently Mobike, a bike-sharing company where he led the Series B and eventually exited it at USD 2.7billion within just 18 months.  In this episode, Peter will talk about Panda Capital’s three preferred risky areas for investment, their data-driven investment approach and how he evaluates both external factors (e.g. market) or internal ones (e.g. team) during the Due Diligence process. He will also share the most common deal breakers he saw in the past for Series A companies. EPISODE NOTES01:46 Introduce Peter Mao03:11 Introduce Panda Capital05:35 The geographic focus for investment06:17 How to react to the current downturn07:49 Is it now a bad timing for deep technology companies?11:07 The industries that can thrive from the COVID-19 crisis12:51 The risky companies to invest14:22 Three types of companies that are risky but full of opportunities19:17 Are Chinese VCs looking for more obvious winners?22:21 How to evaluate risks25:30 How Peter evaluates founders and teams27:20 The business metrics Peter care about30:00 Deal breakers for Series A companies35:50 Why Panda Capital has a different investment strategy41:05 How to contact PeterMany thanks to our host Oscar Ramos; our guest Peter Mao; producer Eva Shi; editors David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsors People Squared.Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.comShare, subscribe, review, enjoy!Follow us on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/the-china-startup-pulse/Email us: [email protected]