Zhang Lu [China Women's News]
An outstanding young Chinese investor recently shared her story through China Women's News.
Zhang Lu is a well-known investor in Silicon Valley in the United States, focusing on investment in emerging technology start-ups and has profound insights on the capital market.
Zhang was selected as the 2018 Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in May.
She has been named one of the most influential women in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, and was recognized in the American lists of the Forbes 30 Under 30.
Zhang is the hottest name in venture capital circles in China and the US. Her experience in Silicon Valley is like a legend.
She is transforming and rising at an astonishing pace in a world used to be dominated by men.
Forbes once wrote an article praising her saying, "Zhang is a rare female investor from China in Silicon Valley."
For many people in the mainstream of Silicon Valley, Zhang is almost the most reliable intermediary.
There is now a general consensus that the US is more advanced in cutting-edge technology, while China has significant advantages in commercialization and business models.
With years of experience, Zhang knows the trend well.
"Silicon Valley attaches great importance to cooperation with China, because China is one of the world's largest markets now," Zhang explained.
She has found that since 2014, cross-border investment of domestic capital has begun to flourish, and there are more people in Silicon Valley looking for her to consult on China.
As a reliable adviser for Sino-US scientific and technological cooperation, Zhang patiently explains to American companies the Chinese way of doing business, and also helps Chinese capital enter the American market.
As for investment, she once said she likes to make early stage investing, in which capital is used to accelerate and gain influence on important technology trends.
Zhang works with extreme efficiency and runs at full capacity most of the time.
"I'm a bit of a workaholic," she says, "Although I'm very tired, I enjoy it when I've finished all the tasks on my to-do-list."
Women have always been "rare animals" in venture capital and technology circles.
According to a TechCrunch report last year, only 7 percent of investment partners in the top 100 venture capital firms in the world are women, with an average age of 40, and there are even fewer minorities.
However, for Zhang, she is already used to being part of a "minority group." And labels such as "minority" and "young woman" can hardly stand in her way.
Zhang believes that in the face of such stereotypes, "There is no need to argue or defend too much. All you can do is nothing but prove yourself. Don't ever limit yourself by race, age, or gender."
She is now one of Silicon Valley's fastest-growing investors and a mentor to Microsoft Venture and Stanford University's StartX Project.
As the old order in Silicon Valley continues to be buffeted and rebuilt, the Chinese power she represents is hard to ignore.
