Ep. 2: The Rise of Social Commerce, and The Future of Co-Working in China

Pinduoduo is the fastest growing ecommerce platform that you have never heard of. It is behind only Taobao and JD.com in the number of users, exceeding JD.com in their monthly gross merchandise volume, and even surpassing Taobao in the penetration rate of users from lower tiered cities. To understand this phenomenon, Rui not only downloaded the app to give us a sense of why it is so popular, but also shared comments by Kathy Xu of Capital Today, an early investor in JD.com, on why she chose not to invest in Pinduoduo. We also had Mark Pols, a former investor from GGV Capital and Morgan Stanley, share his thoughts on how Pinduoduo has tapped into “an enduring human need.” Another trend that is sweeping China is the real estate side of the sharing economy: coworking spaces and offices. Is it a fundamentally real estate business, or does it belong to the service sector? Is WeWork’s purchase of NakedHub a sign that foreign startups can overcome barriers and succeed in China, or is it just the start of another tragic tale? Hear what Ying-Ying and Rebeca Pan, founder and CEO of the U.S. coworking startup Covo, and a coworking industry pioneer, had to say about the future of coworking in the U.S. and China. Like what you’ve heard? Follow us on Twitter @thepandaily and tweet at us! You can also like TechBuzz China on Facebook for the latest updates and give us a good review! If you would like to provide commentaries for the show, you can contact Rui or Ying-Ying at @ruima or @ginyginy on Twitter.

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