INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW ARNETT / STREET HUSTLE
Q: What made you start a company in China?
China's a bit like the wild west. Because everything is so new and developing so fast, everything's wild and untamed here. That doesn't mean just risk, but also huge opportunity and potential. With so much getting started, there's a lot of room to establish a company here to my own ideal, rather than fitting into a locale with an established way of doing things. People think of China as an old-fashioned country, but in many ways the new China is a place where new things happen.
Q: What brought you here? How did you end up in Beijing and how long have you been suspect here?
Seeing that China was the future of things. Everyone feels like China is the next big place to take over entertainment. It's going to be the next superpower, so I wanted to get a head start. Right now in Beijing, the entertainment is underdeveloped, and I felt like I could nurture. I have a lot of opportunity to create something like that. It's not like Shanghai, which has a much more developed infrastructure.
I came here in 2005 for a conference and Will took me out. And just because of the night life, I decided that I would come back and live. Beijing's night life is really on another level. I was so inspired that I came back in 2006 to work.
Q: How did you open a company? Was it a grueling process?
Starting a business from the ground up requires a lot of hard work and dedication, but I didn't name it "Street Hustle" for nothing. Everyone on board from day one is here to hustle and give all there is to give to the job.
It can be especially tough in the beginning because our thought from day one when we went to meetings with club owners, concert promoters, and other big companies was: let us prove to you what we can do first, then we'll talk about a contract. Let us throw a party, let us show how big of a crowd we can draw, how wild we can make the party, and then let's talk. Our bets paid off when show time came, but it did make for a tough beginning.
Q: How do you cope with doing business in China?
Doing business in a vastly different culture is harder than hopping on a flight. So I am used to reminding myself often to be patient and understand that there are different ways of doing things over here. My motto for working with partners is that it only seems like we have conflicts until we both just communicate what we need. I find over and over again that simple communication solves most problems.
Q: What are the elements of success in China?
In China right now, there's a great space for innovation. If you've got a great idea, you can come here to try it out and make it big. The only catch is that it will probably come with more cross-cultural hurdles than you can imagine, so you'll have to add a dose of perseverance.
Q: Is your plan long term here in China?
Street Hustle is a global idea, of which China is a part. Street Hustle will be in Beijing to stay, and plans are in the oven for expansion. If expansion takes me across the world, so be it. But Beijing will always have a place in my heart.
Q: What do you think about the Chinese party scene? Why do Chinese and westerners not mix?
People sitting at home across the ocean probably imagine the Chinese party scene to be as boring as a trip to grandma's, but they're dead wrong. Back in the US, most bars and clubs are legally required to shut by 2AM. Here, the party goes right on through the morning. In Beijing, some clubs don't really get started until 3 in the morning, when clubs back in the States would be long since shut.
Chinese and Westerners definitely have different styles of partying, but that doesn't mean they don't mix. Hip hop is an American phenomenon, but check the dance floor at Club LA any night of the week, and you'll see Chinese people enjoying themselves just as much as Westerners.
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