Global Law and Business

Bioscience and Biogenetics – Matt Plavan

In Episode #40, we are joined by Matt Plavan, CEO of Arcadia Biosciences. We discuss:

• Notable domestic and international developments in bioscience affecting plant genetics and the health of people in developing and developed nations.

• Arcadia’s work in increasing the nutritional value of traditional commodity products like soy and wheat that are widely consumed across the world.

• Developments in the biogenetics of cannabis (hemp) plants.

• The life of a CEO of a publicly traded company in a normal year and in a Covid-impacted year.

Reading, listening, and watching recommendations from:

• Matt:

  • The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

• Fred:

  • Making Sense podcast, Episode #230 – An Insurrection of Lies by Sam Harris

• Jonathan:

  • Africa’s Promising Untapped Potential for Hemp Production by New Frontier Data / Cannabyte

We’ll see you next week when we sit down with David Knapp from Ornavera to discuss technological developments in global agriculture.

Hong Kong and Banking – Nadia Lazareva

In Episode #39, we are joined by Nadia Lazareva, a senior manager at HSBC in Hong Kong. We discuss:

• Nadia's path from her native Russia to Hong Kong

• Why learning Mandarin is a great investment

• What working at a large international bank like HSBC is like

• Nadia's advice to women and girls thinking of a career in banking

• Why there is nothing wrong with saying "I don't know"

• Finding the right balance between motherhood and work

• What a typical day looks like for a compliance officer at HSBC

• The role of risk in career-building

• Reading, listening, and watching recommendations from:

  • Nadia

    • My Own Words, by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

  • Fred

    • Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians (Axios), by Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and Zach Dorman

  • Jonathan

    • To Stop China's Imperial Designs, Let It Bleed Itself Dry (The Federalist), by Sumantra Maitra

We’ll see you next week!

Matsu and Taiwan – Wen Lii

In Episode #38, we are joined by Wen Lii (李問), director of the Matsu Islands chapter of Taiwan's governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). We discuss:

• Taiwan's status and its relationship with China, in plain English

• Matsu and its sister Kinmen islands unique position as Taiwanese islands on China's shores

• How China and Taiwan agreed on an informal schedule to exchange fire during the Cold War

• How our guest helped the DPP establish a Matsu presence and dramatically improve their vote tally on the islands

• Dressing up as a mussel shell and other tales from the Matsu campaign trail (pictures can be viewed HERE)

• Concerns on the islands over illegal fishing and sand mining activities by Chinese ships

• Reading, listening, and watching recommendations from:

  • Wen

    • Visit Matsu!

  • Jonathan

    • Cannabis in the U.S. and E.U. (Harris Bricken webinar in partnership with German-based law firm KFN+ and Swiss-based law firm Froriep)

  • Fred

    • Rose Island (Netflix)

Ending 2020 and Looking Forward to 2021

In Episode #37, Jonathan and Fred look back at the podcast's first year and look ahead at 2021.

Some of the highlights:

• How 2020 and COVID-19 will change the way lawyers approach their work, especially in the transactional space

• The China lessons of 2020 and how they will be applied going forward

• Why cannabis lawyers are excited about the next couple of years

• The most downloaded episodes of 2020

  1. Episode 4 – Geetha Kandiah (Southeast Asia)

  2. Episode 3 – John Brittell (East Africa)

  3. Episode 2 – Dr. Jose Raul Perales (Puerto Rico)

• An appeal for guest and topic recommendations

We look forward to your continued listenership in 2021!

Sustainable Health and Wellness – Lingling Zhang

In Episode #36, we are joined by Lingling Zhang, a Presidential Diamond Wellness Advocate with doTERRA International LLC. We discuss:

• Lingling’s experience moving from China to the U.S., including how she was received in the U.S. and how her decision was viewed by her Chinese colleagues.

• The IT (information technology) industry in China vs. the U.S.

• How Lingling’s IT experience prepared her to succeed after her significant transition away from IT and into health and wellness.

• Why the prevalence of health and wellness companies, including those focused on essential oils and other nutraceuticals, have been increasing and will likely continue to increase.

• The challenges of overseeing and managing a team across multiple countries and time zones.

• How dealing with individuals across borders makes those international borders matter less and brings people together foremost as people, no matter the languages, countries, or cultures.

• Reading, listening, and watching recommendations from:

  • Lingling

    • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

    • The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz

    • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

    • The Secret (documentary) available on Netflix

    • www.doterra.com information regarding the benefits of essential oils, including a free class from a wellness advocate

  • Jonathan

    • Engineers of the Soul: Ideology in Xi Jinping’s China by John Garnaut

  • Fred

    • Hong Kong Noir, edited by Jason Y. Ng and Susan Blumberg-Kason

We’ll see you next week when we sit down to discuss our reflections on 2020 and predictions for 2021 for the blog and for international law and business.

Hospitality Business and Liberia – Dominique Tolbert

In Episode #35, we are joined by Dominique Tolbert, owner of TLBRT Hospitality, Mesean Spices, and Global MBA student at George Washington University. We discuss:

• How Dominique's lifelong passion for food led her down the path of entrepreneurship

• Dominique's Liberian heritage's role in sparking her interest in hospitality

• The diverse culinary influences that guide Dominique's work

• Living in China as a Black woman, and how China reminded Dominique of West Africa

• Dominique's perspectives on Liberia, its region, and Africa generally

• George Weah, Liberia's soccer star turned president

• The return of the African Diaspora

• Reading, listening, and watching recommendations from:

  • Dominique

    • André & his olive tree (Netflix)

    • Golden Veins (Fabrice Guerrier)

  • Fred

    • Electoral College votes (such as Florida's, broadcast on C-SPAN)

  • Jonathan

    • Inside Business newsletter

Private Equity in India and Southeast Asia – Uday Garg

In Episode #34, we are joined by Uday Garg, Managing Partner at Mandala Capital, a private equity firm focused on long term and sustainable investments across the food value chain in India and Southeast Asia. We discuss:

• The basics of food and agriculture ("agri") investing and why it is helpful to analogize to the oil and gas business.

• Why food and agri investment makes sense in Southeast Asia and India, from both a demand and supply perspective.

• The $2,000 per capita GDP threshold as a good indicator for consumption spikes in emerging nations.

• Mandala Capital's strategy for investing in food and agri.

• Why so much investment goes into agritech and whether agritech is really a new investment area.

• What cannabis (especially hemp) is doing to the US and global market and why seed companies and branding companies are most likely to emerge as major players.

• Impact investing and calculating an SROI (social return on investment).

• Reading, listening, and watching recommendations from:

  • Uday

    • 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World by Howard G. Buffet

  • Jonathan

    • The New Tech Supply Chain, a Nikkei Asia webinar

  • Fred

    • A Woman Called Hey, a Sixth Tone article by Zhang Yue

Bermuda – Adam Bathgate and Korin Knights

In Episode #33, we are joined by Adam Bathgate and Korin Knights, lawyers at the Bermuda office of Walkers, an international law firm. We discuss:

• Bermuda's status as a British Overseas Territory (it is the oldest such territory)

• International finance centers (IFC) and the myths surrounding them

• Bermuda's specialties as an IFC: insurance and reinsurance

• What Adam misses about onshore in Europe—and what he does not.

• Korin's perspectives as a Bermudian lawyer at a global firm—and the example he hopes to set for aspiring lawyers from Bermuda

• Bermuda's opportunities for digital nomads and fintech entrepreneurs

• Developments in Bermuda's legal framework for cannabis

• Reading, listening, and watching recommendations from:

  • Adam

    • The Spy and the Traitor, by Ben Macintyre

  • Korin

    • 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, by Jordan B Peterson

    • Joe Rogan Experience

  • Jonathan

    • "Exclusive: Nintendo chief plots post-Animal Crossing future", Nikkei, by Jada Nagumo

  • Fred

    • "How China seeks to redefine global norms and keep the West at bay", Hong Kong Free Press, by Simon Shen

We’ll see you next week when we sit down with Uday Garg, managing partner at Mandala Capital.

Global Capital Markets – Joel Gallo

In Episode #32, we are joined by Joel Gallo, CEO of Columbia China League Business Advisory Co., a cross-border transactions and management consulting firm. We discuss:

• The deferential treatment to Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges and why that matters to the markets and investors.

• The roles the Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Shanghai stock exchanges play and how those roles have been changing in light of China's reform and the opening up of its financial sector.

• What is going on with global stock markets now as leading indicators of companies and global economies.

• What increased interest in digital currencies within various countries' governments will do to the global currency market.

• Reading, listening, and watching recommendations from:

  • Joel

    • MIT Technology Review

    • Foreign Affairs

    • Le Monde Diplomatique

  • Jonathan

    • Pitchbook

  • Fred

    • Google Maps and Google Earth

    • The Florida Panhandle and St. Mark's Wildlife Refuge

We’ll see you next week when we sit down to discuss venture capital in Southeast Asia with Uday Garg.

Cybersecurity – Douglas Brush

In Episode #31, we are joined by Doug Brush, a cybersecurity expert at Splunk. We discuss:

• Current legal frameworks used to address cybersecurity.

• Data privacy concerns, including the EU's GDPR and California's CCPA, and whether a business or government can ever be 100% cyber secure.

• How companies should think about their cybersecurity, including which data generates revenue for the business, the data lifecycle, breach responses, and cyber insurance.

• The goals, motivations, cadences, and patterns of state-sponsored and other hacker groups.

• Some of the most important issues being discussed today among cybersecurity professionals.

• Reading, listening, and watching recommendations from:

  • Doug

    • Various cyber insurance conferences available online (WSJ's Pro Cybersecurity Forum) (Net Diligence's Cyber Risk Conferences)

    • Splunk.com's free online webinars

  • Jonathan

    • Nikkei Asia's Inside the US Campaign to Cut China Out of the Tech Supply Chain

  • Fred

    • Sam Harris' Making Sense Podcast Episode #220 - The Information Apocalypse

    • GQ's The Mystery of the Immaculate Concussion

We’ll see you next week when we sit down with Joel Gallo, CEO of Columbia China League Business Advisory Co., a cross-border transactions and management consulting firm.