Bruce Robinson, BS 82 - Leveraging His Global Experiences

OneHaas

Bruce is a US executive with broad international experience in managing businesses, sourcing and making investments, and providing investment banking services, executive coaching, and leadership development services. His 17 years of experience working in Shanghai gave him an in-depth understanding of the business environment in China and developing Asia.

Currently, Bruce is a Managing Director at Stout Bluepeak Asia Limited and a Partner at Rui Dian Management Consulting /The Resilience Institute.

In this episode, Bruce shared his origin story, going to UC Berkeley and studying business, and eventually going into investment banking. He also went to Harvard Business School to get his MBA and entered venture capital.

Bruce also talked about his amazing experiences in Shanghai, how the pandemic shifted the international scene, how he navigated through these changes, and how he can help companies venture into the international markets successfully.

Episode Quotes:

On his experience in investment banking early on

I really enjoyed the deals, working on transactions that you read about in the journal, having access to CEOs and CFOs of companies, and helping provide them strategic advice about how to manage their businesses in regards to raising capital or mergers and acquisitions.

How the Chinese economy has changed throughout the years

China has produced a lot of wealth, taken a lot of people out of poverty. But there's now a sense of them needing international technical skills, capital, and technology, and they're starting to have that on their own. They've got people who've trained at the best universities, they have a lot of capital, and they are starting to generate some unique technologies. So, I would say there's less of a need, in their minds, for so many foreigners and so much international influence. There's a big push for localization of talent.

On venturing into management consulting

After I left the firm that brought me to China in 2012, I decided to leverage the experience of living and managing in Asia, primarily China, in helping other executives who came to the area understand what it's like to manage in a developing market and giving them that perspective.

I found a big demand for coaching services, essentially that cross-border nexus of people coming into China or Chinese managers having to go out needing coaching services. So, I've maintained that for 10 years and actually really enjoy helping people see the light, adjusting their management style, and achieving their career objectives.

Show Links:

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