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Mr. China: A Memoir Tim Clissold
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What do you expect?
Tim and his partner, Pat, made few hundred investments each thousands times the average annual income of an individual. They did it all over China, from the bitter-cold north-eastern corner to deep valleys of the west. They did it without any clues on how the legal system works, not knowing how businesses were conducted, without trusted local consultation, without good command on Chinese language, without any check and balance mechanism, without reliable monitoring processes. They inspect their investments once in few months, or until a crisis emerges.
He lost few deals to “creative operatives.” Duh!
The book provides good entertainments. Tim's description on BaiJiu (white liquor) is hilarious. I really felt for him during the heart-attack episode. His realization of China will always pursue its “chosen path” was right on. “The civilization has always endured temporary invasions and eventually absorbed the invaders.” Sometime it took a couple of hundred years and that's OK.
But as a business book, it is a yawn. When I talked to a smart venture investor in San Francisco, she was cautious, “Everyone investing in China does not make me. I need to make sure I can get good return before I pour any money into anything.” The lessons Tim learned have been learned for generations. That they also apply to China is not really novelty.
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