About 300 delegates, most of whom are returnees already working in China such as Robin Li of Baidu.com, were chosen, and I was one of the 18 representatives from the United States, and one of only four CEOs. A part of my function as a delegate was to attend the PRC’s 60 year anniversary celebration in Beijing on October 1^st. I was honored to be in such a momentous event, and was impressed with President Hu’s address to the delegates where he laid out his plan to focus China’s economic vision on innovation.

President Hu has engaged with the delegates in a similar way that Baynote applies its technology for our customers: He is taking wisdom of the crowds to make more well-informed decisions.

Here are some photos that I took that capture the essence of the celebration:

When I returned to Silicon Valley, I was energized and enthusiastic that the work we are doing at Baynote is making an impact beyond the borders of the United States. It was humbling to be surrounded by some of the smartest minds in the world, from scientists and professors, to entrepreneurs, who have all made a strong impact on technology innovation.

My visit to China was followed by a meeting at Baynote’s Cupertino offices with Mr. Li Yuanchao, head of China’s Organization Department of the Central Government and member of the Central Committee Political Bureau, and a delegation of several Ministers and the Chinese Ambassador to the United States. Mr. Li toured Baynote as well as four other Silicon Valley companies, including Cisco and Google, during his brief trip to California. The purpose of his trip was to learn from us how to operate technology-focused companies that are economically successful and technologically innovative so he could take what he learned and apply it to China’s plans.

Included below are some key points that I made during my presentation to Mr. Li. My goal in this presentation was to give him a better sense of what entrepreneurship is all about, and to pass on some lessons that I have learned over the years that are applicable around the world.

• It’s all in the people. Get the right people on the bus and the wrong ones off, and then decide where to drive. You need talents with experience, education, but more importantly with passion!
• A startup is a process. Research the market in the real world by talking to potential buyers and tapping into the wisdom of crowds. Don’t take no as a bad feedback. On the contrary, too many yes’s mean caution.
• A few things must be created from day one: A core team, leapfrog innovations, and a culture that will serve as the foundation throughout the company’s journey.
• It’s ok to fail many times. Without moments of despair, you don’t have a lasting startup. Take a flywheel iterative approach to anything: market, technology, business model…
• In order to succeed, you must have a strong desire to learn and change: Be open to learning from your peers and taking constructive criticism, as it allows for growth. Did I mention the wisdom of crowds?!
• Always challenge the conventional norm.
• Be open and direct. There is no place for politics in startups.

Mr. Li’s visit encouraged me that President Hu’s initiative is very real and imminent. We may see a Silicon Valley in China in the future, a great thing for the international collaboration for technology development. I look forward to seeing how Baynote’s input will be applied to China’s efforts to improve technology and science – not only throughout the region but around the world.

I’ve just returned from the Shop.org Annual Summit in

Many continue to ask whether eCommerce growth has peaked. With countless consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, one has to ask these kinds of questions. Well, the data suggests it has not peaked. According to Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru, ecommerce will continue to grow at a rate of 25% annually for the next many years. The reason? Online retailers not tackling the basics.

As the holiday season approaches, and since it’s football season (thankfully), it’s only appropriate that we talk a bit about blocking and tackling fundamentals. Forrester and other pay mention to the following:

1) Completing the Transaction

Amazingly, some leading eCommerce websites are seeing transaction failures as high as 12-14%. For comparison purposes, the airline industry which is hardly the gold-standard in service sees has delayed/cancelled flight rates of about 6%. There are $ millions left on the virtual table as consumers are driven to alternative channels to make their purchase.

2) User Experience

Snazzy front ends that are engaging and interesting may draw some attention, but don’t forget the basics of making it easy to browse, search, add to cart, and purchase. ‘Pretty’ is good, but usable is better.

… and finally…

3) Product Recommendations

The only technology that Forrester recommended were recommendation engines.  Recommendation engines help retailers dynamically up-sell / cross-sell / merchandize their products.   With thousands of products and millions of visitors to an online retailer’s website and automated solution to this is a necessity, but measure the impact so you can truly understand the hard-dollar impact it’s making.

So make sure to do your homework and invest in the basics of selling, merchandizing, and completing transactions.Also, I wanted to give some credit to Jason Billingsly over at Elastic Path. He presented an eye-opening and incredibly engaging session on leveraging social media for eCommerce. If you have a chance, check out his session at Online Market World in