Wildlife Conservation 20 Feet Away

You know how after you have been somewhere for a while, it begins to feel comfortable and you begin to feel like you can become part of it’s day-to-day fabric? After nearly 2 weeks in Zambia, it’s beginning to feel like that. It certainly helps that Zambia is a beautiful country with very generous and friendly citizens.

My IBD team and I have been lucky to have had the chance to start our experience with an amazing half-week of safaris in the South Luangwa National Park using the services of a bushcamp called Flatdogs. The bushcamp staff was very, very friendly, professional and seemed to love their jobs at the bushcamp. I think I might love my job if I got to wake up every day wondering whether there were any hippos, elephants or lions roaming the grounds of the bushcamp the night before (or even during the day, which happened while we were there). I can see myself getting used to that very quickly. After a couple of days there, I started to feel like it was my home in Zambia and I didn’t want to leave.

But back to the safaris: there are very few more pristine experiences I can imagine than going into a national park like this one. There is very little evidence of human presence there. In fact, human presence is mostly only found in 4-hour blocks of time: once in the morning and once in the evening when (walking or driving) safaris take place in the park. Outside of those hours, visitors are kindly welcomed outside the park. In the park, there are no bathrooms, no garbage cans, no convenience stands, nothing for human comfort. All this takes some adjusting to if you come from a western country but as a result, the wildlife in the park is nearly undisturbed. Luckily for us, the animals in the park do not have a strong memory of being poached, which means safari vehicles can get pretty close to them and they won’t hide back in the thick bush. In Zambia’s recent history, widespread illegal poaching has devastated wildlife populations in many areas. But Zambia has done a fantastic job of making wildlife conservation a top priority and now enjoys a steady recovery from illegal hunting and poaching activities. I’m not sure when again I will get to see an elephant and its baby eating the trees from 30 feet away, or a lion laying unconcerned of our presence only 20 feet from our vehicle, or the large, awkward-looking but magnificent giraffe running as if it was doing so in slow motion…and seeing a pack of hyenas tear a waterbuck to pieces in front of some very angry, hardworking lions who had done the work of capturing and killing the prey is an exhilarating experience impossible to describe.

Our International Business Development (IBD) team from Haas is in Zambia to work with the WCS-funded COMACO model. COMACO stands for Community Markets for Conservation. It is a group of trading centers located in three different towns in the Eastern Province of Zambia that promote wildlife conservation and alleviation of rural poverty by providing trade incentives to farmers who engage in conservation farming. COMACO is doing amazing work. Our job is to help them improve their organization by doing an annual check-up of their operations. Had we not visited South Luangwa National Park and seen the amazing wildlife we saw up close and personal, we would not have seen with our own eyes the importance of wildlife conservation. Now it is knowledge that cannot be taken away from us.

[Mayfield Fellows: China] Shanghai Express Rolls On…

The past two days in Shanghai have been filled with great meals and some fun exploration to parts of the city whose names I cannot pronounce. I apologize to any of you considering traveling to Shanghai, this entry will be of no help to your planning, unless you can match up the pictures to the actual destinations!

But first, business: Mayfield business to be exact. We were lucky to set up an appointment with one of Shanghai’s top IP lawyers of Watson & Band. We had a great discussion over tea about China’s regulatory processes, entrepreneurship and the law, and of course, the big question of how china is addressing violations and piracy of foreign IP.

We have explored several areas of the city over the last two days. The best I can say is that the city is divided into East and West by the Huangpu River. Most of the areas we’ve visited are on the West side. One of the great Chinese experiences is the Nanjing Road, with shopping galore for everything you can imagine, both fake and real. We were lucky to be there after dark and the lights and excitement of the area were fun. It got real interesting when we noticed one store selling pig faces (yes, it’s true)!! No one bought one, in case you’re wondering…

Today we explored a different part of town, near the famous “Bund” area of Shanghai. This area (which will remain nameless, someone please fill me in!) was a mix of local shopping area into an extreme tourist area. In the center of this tourist area is the famous Yuyuan Garden — this place is beautiful! We spent the better part of an hour exploring the nooks and crannies of the place – coi fish, rock formations, pagodas and all! Beautiful! (and surrounded by some great dumpling places I might add…)

Well, besides the good times during the last two days, we’ve had a great time exploring Shanghai’s nightlife as well – the French Corridor has Kaan’s favorite bar: Beaver. Known for it’s mean foosball table and relatively cheap beer. Tonight’s bar of choice was Luna, in some area I can’t pronounce. Expensive, but great fun! And near our favorite restaurant of our Shanghai experience, one that (again), I don’t recall the name, but it specializes in Taiwanese dumplings. Good thing Wende of the IBD team was there to show us the proper way to consume dumplings!!

We have one more day in Shanghai, and Brian is dead set on visiting the museum. One more meeting, and one last dinner hurrah, and we’re off to our final destination of our Mayfield trip, Beijing! More to come soon!

[IBD: Gabon] Bienvenue au Gabon!

I am writing on behalf of my IBD Team (Charlene Chen, Sergio Gonzalez, and Kris Harders). We are in Gabon working on a feasibility study for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s proposed Rainforest Discovery Center in the Mondah Forest 20 minutes north of Libreville. The mission of Bois des Geants is to inspire local Gabonese to appreciate their country’s best kept secret: its biodiversity.

 

After a couple of days in Bronx, NY visiting the headquarters of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), we flew from JFK to Paris (7 hrs) and then to Libreville (6 hrs), where we landed at Aeroport International Leon M’Ba. We are staying at the WCS lodging, where we have our own rooms, own bathrooms, a Gabonese chef named Pierre, an Equitorial Guinean security guard named Alejandro, and a house cat named Gin (her sister Tonic ran away).

 

We spent Saturday morning hiking through the Mondah Forest, which is where Bois des Geants would be constructed:

Then we spent a week conducting 8 interviews of officials from the ministries of Tourism, the Environment, and Education, a travel agency, construction company, the national school of water and forestry, a bank, and the national agency of national parks. Each day we increase our understanding of the culture of Gabon, which is a complex melange of French and Gabonese attitudes.

El Salvador de los E.E.U.U.

E.E.U.U. stands for Estados Unidos (or United States in gringo speak). During the two weeks I’ve been here, my friends and family have continued to ask me what it’s like in El Salvador. To be honest, the US influence in this country is so strong, that sometimes I forget I’m in a different country.

Our team has had Quiznos for lunch (at least 2 times a week), we’ve frequented Pizza Hut and Tony Roma’s, sipped on bottled Starbucks frappuccinos, and at night fall asleep to the soft glow of the McDonalds golden arches across the street from our hotel. And while you might suspect that we are simply missing our country…in fact, we have spent considerable time trying to find local restaurants and food. But good old Americana is always in the forefront with its fast, quick, and dominating presence.

If you aren’t impacted by the neon signs of KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Mickey D’s, you need only to drive up the hill to the Santa Elena neighborhood where the enormous fortress of the US Embassy and USAID buildings stand. El Salvador receives more funding from USAID than many other Latin American countries – a legacy of the Cold War interventions of the US in the country. We’ve witnessed this in person as we have met with multiple non-governmental organizations and industry associations who all get their funding from…you guessed it, USAID. It’s quite impressive that our tax dollars have practically funded the entire social sector of El Salvador. And El Salvador has reciprocated – being the only country who continues to support the US presence in Iraq with the addition of its own troops.

Beyond the international politics, almost every Salvadoran has a US immigration story to tell, whether a personal tale, a friend, or a family member. While a few are legitimate marriages, or work permits, the vast majority are harrowing tales of desperate journeys through Guatemala and Mexico, river crossings, border patrol run-ins, and deportations.

But the one US presence you will not witness in El Salvador is its people. Unfortunately El Salvador’s past civil war, coupled with a strong gang presence has limited most American tourists from venturing here. But the few Americans (myself included) who have found themselves in this country immediately experience the fantastic potential this country has for tourism: beautiful scenery, temperate weather, national parks, deserted beaches, and warm friendly Salvadorans.

While I appreciate traveling in an “unspoilt” country, I hope for El Salvador’s sake that US tourism increases.

[Mayfield Fellows:India+China] Last Hurrah in India, Hello Shanghai!

Well, our travels in India are complete, and I must say we went out with a bang. We traveled to the city of Agra to visit the famous Taj Mahal, which I can say is definitely an amazing experience. About 4.5 hrs outside of Delhi, it was a long ride into Agra. But walking through the gateway and getting the first glimpse of the Taj Mahal is something I’ll never forget. We had a great guide as well, who told us the romantic story of a king who built the Taj Mahal to satisfy the dying request of his beloved wife – an endeavor that took him 22 years to build. Walking throughout the grounds and into the tomb was a worthy experience, despite the 100+ degree heat.

After this trip, we headed to the airport and said goodbye to India, and Hello to China – first stop, Shanghai.

Yesterday was our first full day in the city. Despite the layer of fog/smog over the city, we still had a great day. We visited the famous Orient Pearl Tower that gives visitors great views of the central part of the city. We also enjoyed a boat cruise along the Huangpu River that runs through the city. Both experiences were great fun, although we all noticed the fact that the city is pretty dirty. The air quality is suspect and the river water was not anything you’d want to swim in… But we were amazed at how developed the city has become over the last 10 years as we compared pictures of the downtown skyline within the Orient Pearl Tower.

We had great timing as we were also able to attend the Berkeley Club of Shanhai’s alumni event at the beautiful Westin Hotel. We met up with our fellow classmates who are in Shanghai on IBD, ate delicious hors d’oeuvres, and networked with Berkeley alumni.

Today we are off on more adventures as we explore this huge city, and perhaps a visit to our IBD friends’ office! More to come later…

[Mayfield Fellows: India] Delhi’s Charmful Welcome

We flew into Delhi late last night.  We had expectations of a sweltering, heat-exhaustion filled experience in this city, but have since had our minds changed.  Yes, it has been quite hot, but not 110 degrees like we were anticipating.  The city is beautiful, well-planned, and the best part: all autos are required by law to use natural gas fuel!  Quite a contrast from the smog ridden streets of Bangalore!  We decided to end our stay in India with some flair, so we booked our rooms at the 5-star Intercontinental Hotel (very nice, and the hotel where the Delhi cricket team is staying as they fight to get into the playoffs of the IPL)…

Today was a great day.  We stuffed ourselves with a delicious (and free!) breakfast buffet from the hotel.  We then made our way to the India Gate, a national military monument that remembers the 80k soldiers who died in WWI. 

We then went to a very cool tomb (Humayun’s Tomb), which was in fact the inspiration for the Taj Mahal!  The grounds were beautiful, and I got my first upclose view of bats!!  I can’t wait to see what the Taj Majal is like, because I think this tomb was fantastic…

We will spend a day traveling to the Taj Mahal tomorrow, and then, sadly, we leave India early the next day…  We’ve loaded up on great Indian food, after tomorrow, we’ll switch to phase two of our trip and begin gorging ourselves on Peking Duck and Dim Sum in China! 

(Pictures have been uploaded to my previous posts, FYI – check them out!!)

[Mayfield Fellows:India] Bring it on, Bangalore!

We Mayfield Fellows are hardcore in our mission to meet as many contacts as possible in the business ecosystem of India.  Yesterday was a testament to this.  We flew into Bangalore early (ie, got up at 330am, ouch!), and went straight to our first meeting with Silicon Valley Bank’s India office.  We learned a great deal about their work here in India in facilitating deals and providing services to start-ups and invstors.  We also enjoyed their hospitality as we ate their entire store of  Good Day biscuits”!

After this meeting we were in high spirits.  Little did we know our next meeting would turn out to be quite an adventure.  We were to meet with GE Research’s Director of IP at 530pm in an area of town called White Field, a 1hr trip.  We had hired a personal driver with an SUV, which was a good decision as a monsoon began to pour down on us as we left our hotel!  The drive was quite “interesting” — from the flooding roadways, to the auto-rikshaws and buses seemingly trying to hit us, to the car that we actually did hit (!), to hearing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” over and over and over again whenever our driver backed up…yeah, let’s just say we were happy to reach White Field.  But that wasn’t all.  GE Research employs over 5000 people and is a huge campus.  And yet, actually finding the place was nearly impossible!  We persevered and found the campus, had a great meeting with the Director – a great example of “Intrapreneurship” in India with GE.

Now, that wasn’t the end of our adventure.  The ride back was just as hairy – I’m just glad I wasn’t in the back of the car as 2 buses nearly rammed into us (Kaan was lucky, let’s just say)…!  This journey is a little hazy for me though as I zonked out.  All I remember is two things – 1) the crunch of a motorcycle hitting a tree near us (not our fault, or was it?), and 2) momentarily waking up and seeing the side of a bus within inches of my face.  But we made it, and all was well.

Today was much tamer, our day off – some sightseeing and well needed R&R. 

Tomorrow is our last day in Bangalore, and then we hit the sweltering heat of Dehli!  But we’re tough.  We’ll pull through, don’t worry!  You can count on the Mayfield Fellows!!!

El Salvador Impresionante

After arriving last Sunday to the heat and humidity of El Salvador, I was immediately impressed by the warm welcome my International Business Development (IBD) team received from the Salvadoran people we met. We were particularly amazed by the team at SalvaNATURA, our client for the next three weeks. We will be working with SalvaNATURA to develop a strategic analysis of the certification landscape and make recommendations for the organization moving forward.

The staff at SalvaNATURA have been incredibly helpful in getting us up to speed. While we certainly researched the entire landscape of sustainable/fair trade/agriculture certification standards before we left for El Salvador, nothing could have prepared us for the immense challenge of understanding how certification trends would impact a local auditing body. In addition, we have come to understand how sustainable certifications such as Rainforest Alliance complement SalvaNATURA’s other services, which include managing national parks, conducting environmental research, and providing environmental education programs.

For our client, the challenges are immense. The organization is dedicated to the preservation of the environment and natural areas of El Salvador, a country with 98% deforestation. Yet the opportunities are immense as well, especially given the growing demand for certified products like coffee from consumers, farmers, as well as international companies such as Kraft, McDonalds, and Walmart.

These issues are incredibly interesting to research, but even more so in El Salvador. As the team debates (in Spanish) the future of sustainable certification in El Salvador, we nourish ourselves with pupusas and look towards the looming volcano in the north for inspiration. El Salvador Impresionante, indeed!

[Mayfield Fellows: India] Mumbai’s last hurrah

Well, our time in Mumbai was very short, we spent our 2nd and final day today.  It was a great mix of sleep, business, and play.  After a very exciting Manchester United win, half of the team spent the better part of the morning sleeping in until noon.  That would include me.  The other half (the better half I might add) spent this time enriching their perspectives by visiting the Ghandi Museum, which they said was very good… 

We were productive today as well, as we had a great meeting with a venture capitalist with the Seed Fund, an early stage investment house focused on Indian startups dealing with education, IT, services, etc.  It was a great meeting that almost never happened as the taxi drivers we commissioned didn’t know where the building was at all!  Somehow we made it, on berkeley time of course (which is acceptable in India I’m told…).

To cap the night off, we just returned from a fantastic dinner on the rooftop of a hotel near the “Gateway of India” monument, which is on the water off of downtown Mumbai.  Great views, super chill music, and probably some of the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten were had.  Plus great company of course.  Which leads me back full circle to the lesser half of the group who were intelligent enough to get enough sleep this morning.  Ah, the art of spin…!

We head to Bangalore tomorrow VERY EARLY, leaving at 4am.  Looks like this blogger will be running on fumes, but that’s the way I roll.  Next time…pictures, I promise!!!

[Mayfield Fellows: India] We’ve arrived!

The Mayfield Fellows departed on Monday the 19th for their annual trip to India and China.  After 26 hours of travel, we finally arrived in Mumbai, our first of many destinations.  The flights and layovers seem like a dream now that we’re actually on the ground in Mumbai; all I remember involves fidgety neighbors  intruding on my precious middle seat arm rest real estate, friendly conversations about very random tidbits of information, and the string of really bad movies shown on the planes (Rambo included…).  After a harrowing cab ride at 3am in the morning through the streets of Mumbai, we arrived at our hotel and subsequently passed out.

For those of you who don’t know what the Mayfield Fellows program really is, it’s basically a program for entrepreneurial focused, engineering- and science-background grad students at UC Berkeley to experience the start up ecosystem.  We are mentored by VC’s, find summer internships at start ups, and travel to other hotbeds of innovation (ie: this is why we’re traveling through India & China!).

Today was a blast – we had an opportunity to meet with one of the Mayfield Fund’s India partners.  This satisfied one of our trip’s goals to meet entrepreneurs or venture capitalists in India/China.  It was a great conversation and we learned a ton about the state of Indian entrepreneurship and venture capital inestments in only one hour!  I hope this is the first of a chain of great conversations that will balance our trip between play and education!

More to come, stay tuned!  (and hopefully some pictures too)  But now, I sign off to finish the 2nd half of the Manchester United / Chelsea football championship game!  Cheers all!