(Chinese Version)

Editor’s Note:

In the Silicon Valley, a new form of travel service has become extremely popular among Chinese tourists in recent time, that is, get a passing glimpse of tech giants like Facebook, Apple and Google. Most service providers of this sort are in fact employees of these companies. And therefore, Chummy, a shared-economy platform that links Chinese travelers with local Chinese expats in the US, seized the opportunity and launch such service section on its platform. Unfortunately, it evoked a great crisis for not only Chummy itself, but also a group of Facebook’s Chinese engineers that had provided such services to the tourists.

Lisa Liu (Liu Chang) hasn’t been sleeping lately. Two days ago, she posted a statement on WeChat’s Moments in response to the Facebook incident that her startup company had encountered.

“To those that made rumors and tried to damage Chummy: I feel heart-broken to be attacked by my fellow Chinese, but I thank you for making our statistics go up these days. Our UV, PV, and the number of registered users have skyrocketed to a whole new level in recent days! What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

However, this post erupted a passionate discussion and debate on Chummy in the Chinese engineer community in the Silicon Valley, which, went against Liu. “How could you build your happiness and pride upon others’ sufferings? Those engineers that were fired from their company are still fearing for their future,” some Chinese engineers pointed out harshly, questioning the true intention of Liu for posting such statement.

Criticisms against Liu continue to pile up in the Silicon Valley, alongside with suspicions and rumors. Liu was overwhelmed.

Lisa Liu is the founder of Chummy, a shared-economy travel service platform that’s been making a great stir in the Silicon Valley. Liu is also the former vice-president and chief of public relations at Chinese tech giant Tencent, who had gained her name in the 3Q war regarded by many as a milestone incident in the Chinese Internet industry.

Liu chose the Silicon Valley as her first overseas market several months after leaving Tencent. Having worked for Tencent for over 10 years, one of the most outstanding Chinese tech companies, Liu had always had a thing for the Silicon Valley. “This is the innovation center of the world, where there’s a maximum tolerance of innovations and failures. It’s the best place for startups to grow,” said Lisa Liu when she was entering the Silicon Valley to launch her startup project in the beginning of this year. She’s confident and ready, hoping that she could build a travel service platform that linked people globally just like Airbnb which linked people with houses. In her mind, that’s the tendency of the sharing economy.

As a travel enthusiast herself, Liu had traveled almost the whole world. And during her journey, she found a potential market. She wanted to use the shared-economy model to revolutionize the world of traditional tour guiding. Very soon she quitted her job at Tencent and set off to kickstart her startup.

Chummy’s landing page in the start

“Do you regret for launching Chummy?” when our journalist at TMTpost asked her this question, she answered without any hesitation: “No. I will never regret for making Chummy happen. There’s no turning back in entrepreneurship, and I will continue my path.” Liu turned down almost any interviews proposed by media outlets. She’s unsure, and she was afraid of being misunderstood by the public again.

Lisa Liu has a very strong personality. On one hand, she’s sensitive, but on the other she’s also incredibly tough. During the first few months of kickstarting her startup, she changed her image completely by cutting her long hair. Her friends couldn’t believe a girl like her, a former senior executive of Tencent who had achieved financial independence ages ago would make such a huge transformation. And the truth is, all of her friends opposed to her idea of starting a business at that time.

However, her natural optimism and strong personality allowed her to always show the tough side of her in front of people. This toughness was also shown in her response to the Facebook incident. She’s not willing to show her weakness. That’s also why her communication method and inappropriate statement angered many people from the Chinese community in the Silicon Valley.

This Facebook incident we are talking about now took place just recently. Tech giants including Facebook are now conducting internal investigations on their employees to find out if there’s any staff had also taken travelers from Chummy to tour around the company campus during the working hours. Staff that was found having done so had already been fired. After confirming with several sources, we have evidence to believe there are indeed more than three people that were involved and affected by this incident. However, their dismissal was not mainly due to the fact that they had taken the travelers to the company’s fancy dinning hall.

On Chummy’s website, the introduction states that Chummy is a shared-economy travel service platform where travelers can find local expats of their travel destination. “Find the most interesting people in the world and let them accompany through your journey.” That’s how Chummy’s slogan goes.

Chummy’s operation model is pretty simply, that is link travelers with local expats. The local expats can charge the travelers for a certain amount of money for providing the service. This model has been gaining popularity and recognition from many ever since its launch. However, the part where local expats can charge their clients for money became the blasting fuse in this incident.

In the Silicon Valley, a new form of travel service has become extremely popular among Chinese tourists in recent time, that is, get a passing glimpse of tech giants like Facebook, Apple and Google. Most service providers of this sort are in fact employees of these companies. And therefore, Chummy, a shared-economy platform that links Chinese travelers with local Chinese expats in the US, seized the opportunity and launch such service section on its platform.

However, a crisis came very soon. Recently, a post titled Facebook Employee Fired For Taking Travelers To The Company’s Dinning Hall appeared on a well-known Chinese forum in the Silicon Valley, which told the fact that an employee of Facebook got caught taking travelers to the company’s dinning hall and was fired after Facebook finished investigating the traveler’s background and the employee. Suddenly, Chummy became a much-hated troublemaker, getting all kinds of suspicions and criticism from the outside.

In fact, before this incident went viral, Liu had contacted Chummies (Chummy Users) that might be affected by the investigation and those that were already fired from their company, making attempts to resolve their visa problems and current unemployment. But she had never revealed her efforts to the public until recently. She continued to hold on to her tough image and expressed her opinions that might appear to be insensitive, eventually erupting a new wave of criticism against her.

“I didn’t know it would end up like this. I didn’t post that statement on WeChat to counterattack. I know that it was my Chinese rivals that reported Chummy to the giants and I know the fact that they wanted to destroy us. I just didn't want to show my weakness to them,” Liu’s own pride made her pay heavily.

“And I want to say that we don’t have enough experience in the field and we have made a mistake. I made a mistake, and I am willing to take responsibility for that,” Liu sounded almost in tears on WeChat. “But we are just a startup company that’s a few months old. Don’t we deserve a chance to be better?”

A couple of months were enough to make a startup company famous, and enough to devastate it as well. When Liu got the news, she immediately removed all services related to company tour on Chummy.

“It was only a very small part of our services. Chummy has numerous travel services.”

We all have to admit that Chummy’s model is extremely creative and innovative. The founder of TMTpost Zhao Hejuan herself had booked three services on Chummy for her stay in the Silicon Valley this summer: one was taking a helicopter in the Silicon Valley, one was strolling in fascinating communities in San Francisco, and one was having an authentic Xinjiang cuisine in a local Chinese household. Although such services on Chummy were not cheap and some services didn’t work, Zhao still thought that they were worth to try out. After going back to China, Zhao spoke highly of Chummy at TMTpost.

But what Zhao didn’t expect is that Chummy would soon get into such a major trouble. She was shocked when she first learned that Chummy was involved in this free-meal-at-Facebook incident.

The crisis didn’t just stop there. Giants including Facebook are even bringing this incident to the level of conflicts of interest in business. Chinese engineers in the Silicon Valley are now protesting against such actions, fearing that this incident would have a tremendous negative impact on their career and status in tech giants as well as the future immigration policy in the US.

Everything that has happened lately is way beyond Liu’s expectation when she first brought about the company tour service.

“Chinese engineers are very insecure. Their status in the Silicon Valley has always been lower than the Indians. In this round of president election in the US, the immigration policy has been a frequently discussed topic, which contributes to the insecurity they are feeling now too. In fact, the anxiety and insecurity that they are feeling now are not something new that’s provoked by this Chummy incident, they have been in their subconscious all along,” a Silicon Valley based engineer told TMTpost. “But make no mistake. These Chinese engineers are positive at heart. They don’t want to use their company’s perks to make extra money either. In the Silicon Valley, it’s generally very hard for Chinese companies to find the tolerance toward disruptive incidents they expected. We have our rules here. This is also why some Silicon Valley based companies can’t find their foothold when competing with local firms in China. ”

“I finally understand how they feel now. I am just a newcomer in the Silicon Valley and I am learning everyday. I am willing to grow with them,” Liu had her lessons in a WeChat group full of Silicon Valley based Chinese engineers. “I am thinking about starting a NGO fund, which will dedicate to helping the engineers here. As an entrepreneur, I don’t know how far I would be able to go. But I am willing to take the responsibility and do whatever I can to make it up.” When Liu was talking to our journalist at TMTpost, she appeared to be calmer.

In fact, for Liu, making a mistake, apologizing for it and moving on are all part of her entrepreneurial journey.

Yesterday, Chummy’s founder Lisa Liu did a further interview with TMTpost at the airport. What follows is the full transcript of the interview:

TMTpost: How did the free meal incident happen?

Lisa Liu: It’s ridiculous you know. The tour service wasn’t about getting a free meal at Facebook’s campus. Some famous media outlet in China reproduced an interview we did with a Chummy user. It’s about a Chinese mom and her computer-loving kids’ traveling experience in the Silicon Valley. Her kids expressed great interest in computers at a very young age. That’s why she decided to take them to visit a tech company in the first place. In the article there were a few photos, including the user’s family picture. We didn’t even put mosaic on them. The truth is that the Chummy who provided the tour service was not even an employee of Facebook. Media likes to exaggerate things. And the article was reproduced again and again, making the story become even less truthful. Eventually it became something like an employee abusing the company’s benefits for the staff etc. But, seriously, who would come all the way from China just to go to the Silicon Valley to get a free meal?

TMTpost: Can you explain the Chummy’s business model to us? And when did you realize that the company tour service had created a crisis?

Lisa Liu: Ever since the “free meal” incident the Silicon Valley community, and even the Chinese community in the US, have been spreading information and news about this very incident, which put Chummy on the center of attention. Chummy was only two-month-old at that time. Basically I couldn’t sleep for days after the incident occurred. I have never thought that after leaving Tencent for two years, I would once again get so much attention from the crowd.

In the beginning of this year I founded Chummy. If you are going to visit a complete foreign place, you can find some local expats there on Chummy’s platform. These expats can take you to visit and stroll around the city like local people, share their own life experiences with you, basically just letting you into their life there. After the tour ends, you would become friends.

Since we started our project in the Silicon Valley, company tours became one of our primary products. I chose to launch such services because in my opinion it sounded interesting and fun. I had also tried out a few company tours on Chummy. Although those Chummies were not professional tour guides, they spoke and introduced their companies with real passion, which really impressed me. They actually made me envied their working environment even though I had worked as a senior executive for Tencent before.

I was happy that the concept of Chummy could be accepted by them and was incredibly glad to be able to make friends with them. Their energy, talent and passion for their company really changed my opinions about programmers. Some of them could even drive a plane, some had a farm, and some had even held their own concerts. It’s incredible. And I really liked them. They treated me as friends as well and simply just called me Lisa. They even shared their own stories with me.

Very soon, the company tour service on Chummy became popular and the platform was in a great state. A great start indeed, until the free meal incident came and some Chummies were fired from their company.

TMTpost: How did you react when you learned the news?

Lisa Liu: I was shocked and guilt washed over me. It’s like learning that something bad had happened to my families. These Chummies, they are really talented and they love the companies they were working for. They made so many efforts and worked so hard for years to get such a good job. I knew this because I learned it during the company tours.

My first reaction was like we must to do something to help them. They were fired because of Chummy, and that means we have the responsibility to deal with the aftermath for them. Our team then tried to handle their unemployment and visa problems. I have used all the social contacts and resources I have accumulated through out my career in the IT industry to try to solve the problems. The thing is all those resources and contacts I have are back in China, so in the US I was literally begging people for help. I only wanted to do everything I could to help them and make it up to them. These talented people deserve better.

Meanwhile, we are also trying to contact the management of companies involved through different channels. I respect their corporate culture and I understand their emphasis on business information security. And I hope I can solve the misunderstandings and clear the air here through face-to-face communication and sincere apology. Such incident does have a negative impact on the Chinese community in the Silicon Valley. I had worked as a publicist for Tencent for 10 years and I know I must face questions directly and never avoid the mistakes I had made. I hope we could have a chance to make it up for everyone involved and the Chinese community in the Silicon Valley. And if anyone has any suggestions or is willing to provide help, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Also, I want to thank my young crew at Chummy here. Chummy is a loving family. In just two short months my teammates had already become friends with many Chummies. When they learned that some of them were fired because of Chummy, they couldn’t even eat. Just like me, they haven’t been sleeping for days. There are only a few people in the startup team are able to help. They spent days communicating with those Chummies to learn about their situation and try to help them.

I really do feel extremely bad for all those Chummies involved. They not only lost their jobs but also were accused of being petty by some bystanders who said that they abused their company’ perks just to make some extra 20 dollars. That’s not the story at all. You know, even newly recruited engineers in big firms in the Silicon Valley have an hourly salary of about 50 dollars. Plus, many of these Chummies didn’t even charger their clients for money.

I notice that many news outlets and forums eventually focus on the 20-dollars-for-a-meal part. But if they look further they would understand that’s not the whole story. They would see a story in which a mom took her kids who were interested in computers to visit tech giants. Or stories about young people born in the 90s in China that admired Google and came to the Silicon Valley to open their eyes. Or it could be stories about industry leaders from China that only wanted to see what the very Silicon Valley was like.

TMTpost: Who provide services on Chummy’s platform mostly?

Lisa Liu: After all these talks, have you understood why my team at Chummy, my fellow Chummies, and I myself would fight for this very platform? Let me tell you a few stories to further illustrate and answer your question.

There was a girl who went to school in Monterey. She saw Chummy’s concept and really liked it. Then she designed 34 tours for Chummy. Before we even assessed the tours she designed, she just came to join us instead.

We also have a 3D printing shop owner who had provided services to many kids from China. His expectation was simple. He just thought maybe his tour could intrigue these young kids and lead them to the path of science and technology.

There’s also a young man who provides university tour service. He said that every time he felt excited to meet news friends in places he’s familiar with. And every time he could learn something from his new friends. In real life he’s a knowledgeable person. As he makes more friends, he actually feels all those things he knows become useful and now he has people to share them with.

There’s also a guy who drank wine. He said he didn’t come here to share a tour, but his dreams and his heart. He didn’t work in the wine industry at first but was later inspired by the romantic vineyard in the movie A Walk In The Cloud. After watching that movie, he decided to enter the wine industry. Up till now he has been working in this very industry for many years and he always has the wish to share his passion for wine with other people.

These are the four stories that just crossed my mind and I think they are the very examples of Chummy’s concept: they have passion for their dreams, they are kind to strangers they meet and are willing to make friends with them, and they are willing to share. I believe there’s a good side of everybody’s heart. We all have something we like and friends we love. For instance, some girls might like shopping with their girlfriends, some boys might like drinking with their roommates, while some might like to share their company’s culture with people that are interested in the tech world. I believe every one of us all likes to spend time with people we like and share the things we love with them. I think this makes people happy. That’s why Chummy emphasizes on social networking and sharing.

TMTpost: Will you give up on Chummy? What’s your future plan?

Lisa Liu: Of course not. I will learn from my mistakes. I have made a terrible mistake, there’s no way around that. It’s wakeup call. Our Chummy friends have been affected badly by this incident and I want to apologize sincerely to them. I will take the responsibility and take care of the aftermath. And we will continue our path.

In the beginning I had a great vision for Chummy and I was extremely lucky to have these Chummies friends. These fans of Chummy wrote the stories on Chummy. They created Chummy’s voice. And they told Chummy’s stories. In this entrepreneurial path, I was able to carry on thanks to their support and trust. Every suggestion they had said to me when the company was in trouble and when we were losing faith made us stronger and more determined.

As long as our dream still lives on, as long as people with mutual feelings are still willing to tell their stories, I will continue to run Chummy. I will try to improve Chummy’s business model in the future and continue to provide help for those that are affected by this incident. I will also participate in related NGO campaigns to help Chinese engineers in the Silicon Valley.

TMTpost: Chummy will still face many challenges and risks in the future, such as the personal safety and insurance problems that many shared-economy platforms are facing. Do you have any approach to tackle these obstacles?

Lisa Liu: To be honest, I don’t know what kind of trouble will come next. Innovation itself always comes along with risks and opportunities. I can only say that we will learn from the mistakes we have made this time and try our best to prevention crises from happening beforehand. We have hired an experienced law firm and had involved their lawyers even in the design of the products. We hope in this way we can better avoid risks.

[The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @TMTpost, please note source and hyperlink when reproduce.]

Translated by Garrett Lee (Senior Translator at ECHO), working for TMTpost.