Stephen Campbell knows the cigarettes didn’t land him one of his biggest deals, but they certainly lit the match.
The cofounder of the startup Revamp AI was in Shenzhen, meeting with what he calls an “enormous” Chinese tech company. (He’s under NDA with them.) The initial meeting was stressful, especially because of the language barrier, he says. Then came Chinese barbecue, rounds of Baijiu, and countless cigarettes.
It took the relationship from vendor-customer to something more personal, says the 27-year-old. They made their way to a cocktail bar (where they smoked), and then a KTV karaoke bar (where they smoked).
“By the end of the night…
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