Bay areas define who I am: US entrepreneur

Profile

人物简介

Raj Oswal is a second-generation Indian-American who grew up with computers around Silicon Valley at the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. He is now pursuing his career as a tech geek in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) city of Shenzhen.

Raj Oswal是第二代印度裔美国人，他成长于美国旧金山湾区的硅谷附近。目前在深圳创业的他是一名极客。

Video and photos by Liu Xudong except otherwise stated 视频、摄影：刘旭东

美国企业家：湾区生活塑造了我

For Raj Oswal, a second-generation Indian-American who grew up with computers around Silicon Valley at the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. and is now pursuing his career as a tech geek in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) city of Shenzhen, the two bay areas play a big role in his identity, defining who he is as a person.

Raj Oswal是第二代印度裔美国人，他成长于美国旧金山湾区的硅谷附近，目前在粤港澳大湾区中的深圳打拼他的极客事业。在两个湾区的生活经历塑造和定义了他。

Raj Oswal at an interview with Shenzhen Daily.

Raj Oswal接受英文《深圳日报》采访。

“I came to Shenzhen in April 2019 to represent a San Francisco-based client. It is a technology company called Gupshup, which is a big provider of conversational messaging solutions for brands all over the world,” Oswal said.

“我在2019年4月来到深圳，当时雇主Gupshup派我到深圳开拓中国市场。这是一家为世界各地的品牌提供会话式信息解决方案的科技大公司。”Oswal说。

Oswal works in his office at the Shekou Net Valley in Nanshan District.

Oswal在位于南山区蛇口网谷的办公室工作。

Gupshup has managed to make inroads into over 50 markets worldwide and Oswal has been helping to bring the company to China. Along with Gupshup, he also runs a small tech company named Interface (Shenzhen) Technology Co. at the Shekou Net Valley Area in Nanshan District. The veteran tech geek usually works on his computer or iPad with a cup of pu’er tea and his dog Coco around. His office may be small, but it is abounded with technologies and his aspirations as an entrepreneur.

Gupshup已经成功地打入了全球50多个市场，而Oswal一直在帮助公司开拓中国市场。除了Gupshup，他还在南山蛇口网谷经营着因特飞思科技（深圳）有限公司。工作时，这位极客会打开他的电脑或iPad，泡上一杯普洱茶，身边也少不了他的宠物狗Coco。他的办公室虽小，但充满了科技感，饱含着他作为一个企业家的愿景。

Oswal has progressed from hosting free coaching workshops attended by some 50 young Chinese entrepreneurs in his first six months in China to establishing partnerships between Gupshup’s major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in China, including Xiaomi, Vivo, OnePlus and Transsion. Oswal, who started his own company last year, has been impressed by Shenzhen’s rapid development in terms of technology, infrastructure and living environment.

Oswal的事业在中国蒸蒸日上。在中国的头六个月，他开办了有大约50名中国年轻企业家参加的免费工作坊，与Gupshup在中国的主要原始设备制造商建立合作，包括小米、Vivo、OnePlus和传音等。在去年创办自己公司的Oswal，对深圳在技术、基础设施和生活环境方面的快速发展印象深刻。

“I have seen a lot of tech companies that are evolving with lots of interesting technologies coming out of Shenzhen and China now,” he said. “Moreover, you can’t miss how many infrastructures are being built here every day. The rate of how fast something is built is incredible. And the environment here is also getting cleaner and cleaner.”

“我看到很多科技公司蓬勃发展，很多有趣的新技术出自深圳或中国其他地方。” 他表示。“此外，这里的基础设施建设日新月异，速度之快令人难以置信。这里的环境也越来越好。”

Oswal shows Shenzhen Daily journalists how a pair of VR glasses works in his office.

Oswal为英文《深圳日报》记者展示一副VR眼镜。

Oswal, with his new company, is now exploring the application of disruptive technologies such as VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality) and MR (mixed reality) in various fields like education and agriculture. He developed some short-burst VR experience prototypes, which can help students learn about plants or the solar system in an immersive way.

如今Oswal的新公司正在探索破坏性技术的应用，如在教育和农业等领域应用VR（虚拟现实）、AR（增强现实）和MR（混合现实）技术。他开发了一些VR体验项目，帮助学生以身临其境的方式学习植物和太阳系的知识。

Oswal feels that Shenzhen is a city where disruptive technologies can be applied, citing examples such as LiDAR in navigation, drones in real estate and agriculture, and VR in education.

Oswal认为深圳是一个可充分应用破坏性技术的城市，如导航中的光学雷达技术，房地产和农业中的无人机以及教育中的VR应用。

“Disruption and disruptive technologies are prevalent in almost every aspect of daily life in Shenzhen,” he said.

他认为，“破坏性技术普遍存在于深圳日常生活的各个方面。”

“The San Francisco Bay Area is a hub of technology. It has a very strong education ecosystem with Stanford and other top universities that help drive its growth. The market there is also very mature,” Oswal said while comparing the two bay areas that helped shape his identity. “Shenzhen is also a center of technology which follows that path in its own way, forming an ecosystem that boosts the growth of innovative startup tech companies.”

“旧金山湾区是一个技术中心。它的教育生态系统非常强大，有斯坦福和其他顶级大学帮助推动其发展，那里的市场也非常成熟。”Oswal在比较这两个塑造他的湾区时说道。“深圳也是一个技术中心，它坚持独特的发展方式，形成了一个生态系统，促进了科技创新型创业公司的发展。”

Oswal works in his office.

Oswal在他的办公室工作。

“The GBA is an enabler to me,” he said. “It is an international community which enables me to pursue a career in technology, to pursue relationships and to build bridges between different countries.”

“粤港澳大湾区推动着我向前。”他说。“这是一个国际社区，不仅让我继续专注于提升科技事业，也可与来自不同国家的人士交际，建立人脉。”

While pursuing his career, the Californian native always thinks about what he can do to give back to the local community in Shenzhen.

在专注事业的同时，Oswal总是在想自己能做些什么来回馈深圳本地社区。

Besides education, he is also looking to enhance the exchanges of ideas, technologies and knowledge among people through establishing a disruptive tech community on WeChat, holding offline events, and encouraging seasoned expat entrepreneurs to do coaching for the local community.

除了教育，他还希望通过在微信上建立破坏性技术社群，举办线下活动，鼓励经验丰富的外籍企业家指导社区，以此来加强人与人之间的思想、技术和知识的交流。