On 15 July 2016 the second OTEC (Overseas Talent Entrepreneur Competition) was successfully held at Imperial College Business School. It was sponsored by Beijing Chaoyang Overseas Talent Entrepreneur Conference, and organised cooperatively by Young Entrepreneur Society (YES Global) and UVIC.

After four-hour pitch, the high tech team Tangi0 eventually won the first place. The PetDreamHouse team, that was focused on the cross-border E-Commerce platform to make pet businesses trade easier and more efficient, took the second place and was followed by FitCat team that worked on developing the comprehensive nutrition and exercise plan for cats.

The judging panel consisted of the Professors from Imperial College Business School, Cambridge Judge Business School, Newcastle Business School of Northumbria University, and lawyers and business leaders. The judges also shared their insights and opinions about the entrepreneurship in the context of Brexit.

The whole application process was very quick and easy, and was open for only one and half months. It aims at providing opportunities to new entrepreneur teams with innovative business ideas or to those who have already started operation. The competition is globally oriented.

YES Global, the organiser of this competition, has received over 100 applications from China, Great Britain and the rest of Europe. The projects cover various fields including internet, financial consultation, new recognition sensing technology, design, healthy food and others.

The audience mentioned that they have been inspired by this competition. They say that they could improve their own business ideas and plans based on the guest judges’ suggestions and learn a lot from that.

The winner of the competition would be provided with free international flight ticket and accommodation by the organiser, and would attend the final in Beijing to compete for the 1 million RMB cash awards and 10 million RMB investment.

The participating teams in this competition were very confident. When they were asked how they felt about participating in the competition, the FitCat said:

“The competition helped us to find out more about potential opportunities in China. China market is fast growing and we would like to seize this market. Nowadays cats gradually become members of many families. Our original intention is to help families to take care of their new members. Now, we need at least £100,000 seed investment”.

The FitCat team also states that, as an entrepreneur, the best way to improve your products and services is to share your idea with others. By attending this competition, the startup companies are able to improve its business model and network.

The NutroPuree team brought their fresh products for judges to taste them and won the Congeniality Award. All core team members said that this competition helped them to polish their ideas and improve the team work. The success could be reached with the effective use of all resources.

The Dementia Simulator team won the Popularity Award. They provided family members of Alzheimer's patients with the simulation of the exact patient’s feelings when they are affected by this disease.

The Intelligent Bionics team and Credase International Investment team, who offered financial consultation services, were very grateful for the help from YES Global Super Mentors. Both teams stated that it was necessary to hash out their thoughts and carry on with their plan immediately rather than hesitating.

It was exactly what was emphasised by Mr Fei Hao, President of YES Global and the Founder & CEO of MyOffer. As an entrepreneur himself, Mr Hao said:

“Entrepreneurship is meant to be insistent and attempted to change uncertainty into certainty. Meanwhile, your thoughts will be improved constantly”.

Mr Fei Hao hoped that every person or a team could have had a clear plan not only for studying abroad but also for entrepreneurship.

Before the competition, three keynote speakers delivered speeches on entrepreneurship and Brexit. Professor Erkko Autio, Chair in Technology Venturing and Entrepreneurship, Imperial College Business School, pointed out that the value trend in digital age was completely different from 25 years ago. That the old methods of creating value were quite expensive, and now entrepreneurs just need to find out the customers’ needs and effectively integrate them into their products to then sell them to customers. The value created by the entrepreneur is a mixture of this effective integration. Whether in the past, creating value only meant producing products.

Professor Yu Xiong from Northumbria University has many years’ experience in China-UK cooperation relationship and government work. He said that there were plenty of opportunities for China-UK cooperation. It was shown by recent researches that many founders of big famous companies were originally from the UK, which in turn proved the excellent entrepreneurial environment in the UK. For example, Chinese companies could cooperate with British schools, and Chinese entrepreneurs were able to establish Science Park in the UK. Joint Funds could also be established to invest locally.

Mr. Simon Stockley, Senior Faculty member in Management Practice from Cambridge Judge Business School, has experience of coaching more than 300 entrepreneurs and 60 high-growth venture projects. He believes that entrepreneurs are supposed to be equipped with the ability to deal with the uncertainty, because it is the time to seize opportunities. At present, the biggest challenge for Britain is that the great ideas are underestimated. However, we should believe that there are always great opportunities existing and we could create this world from the perspectives of education, innovation, cooperation, reciprocal technology transfer and bilateral trade due to our solidarity.

Mr. Kevin Milne, the owner of Due Diligence Reports, who has 30-year experience in financial service industry said that Britain would find new markets to replace European market. It might be a good chance to find opportunities, and it would be better for young entrepreneurs to keep a relatively low cost (WHAT?) as much as they could. Europe has a strong market liquidity and the investment would soon be run out of. It is more important to be adaptable to actual circumstances rather than expect immediate venture capitals.

Mr. Jonathan Pfahl, the founder of Rockstar Hubs, pointed out that the customers’ confidence to buy did not decrease, though, the economy would be hit. From this perspective, it would be good news for products and services. The products during this difficult time are especially needed to keep the customers’ confidence. Meanwhile, the investors are supposed to select the most essential products. For instance, Groupon was a typical company which had risen from the last recession. In that period, discount was the one thing that everybody needed.

Mr. Tony Shen, Senior lawyer from Zhonglun Law Firm, vividly expressed his views on UK’s opportunities after Breixt. He said that Britain would always be the part of Europe. Europe is still a has a potential of a growing market and we would witness its development in the future.

Miss Amanda Wang, Managing Partner and Director of Operations of UVIC, added that it does not matter whether Britain chooses to leave or stay, we all need to look for our own way out. We should look into every revolution as an opportunity. Entrepreneurs will not need a static state. We are confident to move on.

This competition was undertaken by Young Entrepreneur Society and UVIC. Shenzhen entrepreneur competition is now open for registration. For more detailed information, please contact YES Global: hello@yesociety.org.