SLS in Beijing
In the spring of 2018, Professor Cole took 12 Stanford Law students to Beijing, China, for an overseas course that provided an overview of China’s venture capital market and broader business and regulatory environment.
The students spent 18 hours during the winter quarter at Stanford learning about the legal and financial principles underlying venture capital investment, with a special emphasis on a comparative analysis of the ways in which the various legal and financial structures employed by venture capitalists are replicated in China. Over spring break, the class traveled to Beijing, China, to meet with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, lawyers and regulators. Their trench experience supplemented the students’ previous classroom learning.
Perspectives: Venture Capital China: Field Study
China is a country very different from any we have encountered in the history of Western civilization. No nation has managed to lift more than 800 million people out of poverty over the course of fewer than 40 years (commencing with Deng Xiaoping’s market reforms in 1978). Over the most recent decade, this explosive growth and reform process has been accompanied by an increased importance of venture capital and private equity as growth drivers of the Chinese economic machine. This development has occurred against two key backdrops: what the Party refers to as “socialism with Chinese characteristics” and the cultural and political aspects inherent in Chinese society.
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