With just under a month in Thailand – can’t help myself and had to do a factory visit. This is the factory of one of our brands – Akitai, handmade jewelry. Andres our business partner flew up from his home in Phuket Sunday morning, where we meet in Chiang Mai airport and drove 4 hours to a lake in the …
Kicking off OffChain Social Networking Meetups in Chiang Mai
I’ll be speaking about web3 domains and decentralized hosting at the second Offchain Chiang Mai, Thailand Meetup on Thursday, Sept 22, 2022 Catch you there! Just can’t help myself – need to network and connect with people – and doing that right off the bat here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Been attending Offchain (formerly Crypto Drinks) meetups in Shenzhen a …
Putting Thailand Life Back Together Again
So made it back to Chiang Mai, Thailand – took over 48 hours end to end to travel from Shenzhen, China to Chiang Mai, Thailand – pre-covid would have been about 6 to 8 hour travel time. But it is what it is – I am recovering from days of travel with a family – and we are here. Kids …
Arrival in Thailand (Allowed To Leave China)
Typing this up from a hotel lobby near the BKK airport, on the last day of the month of August 2022 – ready for a fresh start in Chiang Mai for the month of September and the rest of 2022. Still don’t want to reveal too much about the process of getting approval for my wife and children to leave …
Speaking at Scaleup Impact Summit on Metaverse + Ecommerce
I was lucky to be invited to speak and host 2 panels at Whub’s SIS2022 (Scaleup Impact Summit) for these 2 times lots: RSVP today
10 Things I Learned From Reading “How To Fail At Almost Anything and Still Win Big”
As I pack up on my last day leaving China, it is bitter sweet to read the final chapter of Scott Adams’s (author of the Dilbert comic series) book “How to Fail At Almost Anything and Still Win Big”. I took highlights in my Kindle, and wanted to come back and type it out – hope this can help inspire …
Quick Informal Going Away Party from Shenzhen
1 year back in Shenzhen – and it is time to move on. Processing the visa for the wife and kids was a true nightmare – and something I will not even begin to explain until all 4 of us are approved to leave the exit border at China customs. So with just a couple days left – I invited …
Art Gallery Show in Dafen Artist Village, Shenzhen, China
My friend and business partner in Excalibur Brothers brand, Luciano, has a lot to celebrate – he has his art pieces on display at an art gallery – alongside blue chip artists’ work! As I prepare to leave China, I wanted to make sure to support Luciano and attend this art gallery beforehand. It took place in the DaFen oil …
Moderating a Panel for HKTDC : Dialogue with Insiders – Insights into Sourcing like a Pro
On Thu, Aug 18, 2022 Mike will be a moderator and host of a HKTDC (Hong Kong Trade Development Council) event Thu, Aug 18, 2022 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM HKT TWO Asia-Pacific sourcing professionals will open a dialogue to share their experience and insight about Sourcing in Asia. It will cover the following areas: • Identify profitable products for …
Join Our Amazon Hustle Meetup in Shenzhen, China August 10
Planning First In Person Meetup in a While – Amazon Hustle – at Mambo Bar in Shui Wei area of Futian district. Literally writing this blog post from my locked down apartment (can’t leave for the next 3 days) – but hope by next week we are able to be released! The event is mostly going to be networking – …
Hustling and Launching – New Products Coming to Amazon (a story)
Still here in Shenzhen, China in the hot July heat! And it is hot for sure – after almost a year of hard work re-positioning Excalibur Brothers to a product brand, trademark, and tweaks in the product line. Back story, the original founder of Excalibur Brothers, Lawrence, and I had been friends since 2004. We met in ecommerce marketing forums …
Getting a Body and Heart Checkup
We are all under huge stress and pressure these last few years. Kids home from school 1+ week, constant changes in business and workflows, moving, the list goes on and on. Finally, I felt I had to pay attention to the pains in my chest and get it looked at (well Wendy is the one who insisted). Monday, July 4 …
Fathers Day 2022 – This is What Matters
And as a father of an 8 and 6 year old – this is what matters. The time I spend with them , support them, and encourage them to be good human beings. Maggie made a paper tie for me (in the photo) and insisted I wear it as soon as she returned home from school on Friday. Snapped a …
Proposal Party for Chris & Cindy ZhuZhu
It was a pleasure to be part of Chris Davey + Cindy “Zhuzhu”s wedding proposal party. Finally! After a few re-scheduling (I think mostly due to lockdown and COVID restrictions for the first half of 2022) it finally happened on Saturday June 11, 2022. Up in Mission Hills of Shenzhen (originally Huizhou but the rainy season changed that plan) – …
Our Family’s 2022 Living Situation (Visa/School)
Hi friend, I’m thinking why not just make it a blog post: So quite a few friends have been curious why am I still in China. And what is the plan. Last weekend the family took a trip to Huizhou city to look for options, but I think we need to step back and share the full story: July/ Aug …