Excited to share my latest piece on Substack! What do TikTok and a consumer robotics company like Roborock have in common? They are both Chinese consumer companies that have seen significant success in the Western markets, but have achieved success in different ways. In this post, “TikTok, Robots, and Opportunities in Consumerland”, I argue that while we’re in a “consumer VC winter”, there are interesting product concepts and culture that Western companies can borrow from their Chinese counterparts while building the next generation of iconic consumer businesses in the West. Specifically, I present product design (TikTok, Little Red Book) and culture (Roborock) as two things that Western companies can emulate: • Product design: the use of new data modalities alongside novel UX/UI gives scrappy startups an opportunity to win significant market share. I also introduce the concept of *“*user generated content inversion*”* as one example that companies like Xiaohongshu/Little Red Book have used to differentiate themselves from the competitive landscape in China • Company culture: Chinese consumer robotics startups’ focus on building revenue generating products is the better approach vs. the more “research focused” approach that many Western robotics startups are taking Would love for folks to check it out & give feedback!