At CNI, a seasoned venture capitalist seeks to be the bridge that spans the gap on traditional notions of the business
Duncan Chui Tak-keung has one major beef with many venture capitalists. They are neither venturesome nor capitalist, says the executive director of China Northern Enterprises Investment Fund (CNI). 'They have no spirit of venture - they always drill you on terms - and they are not very capitalist. The most powerful investors are the corporates such as Sony and Microsoft.'
Mr Chui came to the investment business through six years of management consultancy with Anderson Consulting and AT Kearny. He enjoyed helping clients such as Hongkong Telecom, China Light & Power and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong with change management and utilising new advanced technologies to improve their business efficiencies. Then he decided he had had enough of advising and wanted to be the one acting on the advice.
'I wanted to walk the talk, fulfil the strategy, implement what we recommended,' said Mr Chui, who was raised in Hong Kong and educated in the United States before returning here in 1992.
He joined venture capital firm Transpac Capital Group, which focused on private equity investments in Asia. 'My job was to look at the investment opportunities in Hong Kong and China.'
His previous experience led him to focus on high-technology, consumer and telecommunication firms, but venture capital proved a big disappointment. 'Initially, I was really excited to have the chance to put all the theory into practice. But ... in the first two years in venture capital, you only get to deal with the failures,' he said.