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From Wall Street to Wudaokou —The Entrepreneurial Path of an M&A Lawyer

Apr 18-2013   



 

By Shiyao Liu & Bin Hai 
On the pleasant afternoon of April 18th, Mr. Terry Crawford paid a visit to Langrun Garden Peking University and delivered a lively speech entitled “From Wall Street to Wudaokou”. In the speech, Terry shared PKU students with his legendary career development stories as well as many practical interview techniques. This event was held by Ms. Crystal Fang, Senior Manager of Career Development of National School of Development (NSD).


From Wall Street to Wudaokou, from an eloquent M&A lawyer to a successful entrepreneur, Terry introduced his distinctive career path at the beginning of the lecture. After graduation from University of Virginia, Terry became an M&A lawyer. He previously practiced law in New York, Hong Kong and Beijing, where he assisted with IPOs for prominent PRC companies such as ICBC and Air China. Despite being a lawyer, Terry is an entrepreneur at heart. While working full-time, he successively launched a few websites, including www.hitchsters.com, which was named one of Time Magazine’s Top 50 Websites of 2007.


When it came to the topic of startup, the audience and Terry had a spirited discussion. Some BiMBA students considered business model as the key factor to the success of a startup. Terry, however, plainly concluded from his experience that customer is the most critical element. In answering the question of why giving up a fat salary job and starting a business abroad, Terry cited the passion and challenges he could earn from starting up a new business as the main reason. Meanwhile, Terry humorously indicated that due to his business model, even if he might fail, he’d fail cheaply and quickly. In this case, why not enjoy starting up new businesses?


Next, Terry introduced his current startup programs in China: www.InitialView.com. InitialView provides job seekers with a unique online interview platform. By recording the job seekers’ mock interview and then adding the video link on their resumes, InitialView not only changes an interviewees’ resume from a piece of paper into a vivid video material, but also simplifies an HR’s heavy resume selection work.


Terry taught the students some practical interview techniques. First, he emphasized the basic etiquettes in an interview, including a firm handshake, a confident eye-contact, and a decent body language. Then, Terry selected 5 volunteers and conducted an on-spot mock interview. By comparing volunteers’ performance and analyzing their responses, Terry illustrated to the students the appropriate way to answer common interview questions. For example, to answer the question of “Please briefly introduce yourself”, Terry suggested students highlight three of their unique characteristics and try to walk the interviewer into focusing on their resumes.


“From Wall Street to Wudaokou” is the 5th one of the Career Development Lecture Series. Prior to today’s event, CDD organized a series lectures or events on communication skills, resume writing, group interview techniques and interview preparation, all of which received enthusiastic responses from students. 

From Wall Street to Wudaokou —The Entrepreneurial Path of an M&A Lawyer

Apr 18-2013   



 

By Shiyao Liu & Bin Hai 
On the pleasant afternoon of April 18th, Mr. Terry Crawford paid a visit to Langrun Garden Peking University and delivered a lively speech entitled “From Wall Street to Wudaokou”. In the speech, Terry shared PKU students with his legendary career development stories as well as many practical interview techniques. This event was held by Ms. Crystal Fang, Senior Manager of Career Development of National School of Development (NSD).


From Wall Street to Wudaokou, from an eloquent M&A lawyer to a successful entrepreneur, Terry introduced his distinctive career path at the beginning of the lecture. After graduation from University of Virginia, Terry became an M&A lawyer. He previously practiced law in New York, Hong Kong and Beijing, where he assisted with IPOs for prominent PRC companies such as ICBC and Air China. Despite being a lawyer, Terry is an entrepreneur at heart. While working full-time, he successively launched a few websites, including www.hitchsters.com, which was named one of Time Magazine’s Top 50 Websites of 2007.


When it came to the topic of startup, the audience and Terry had a spirited discussion. Some BiMBA students considered business model as the key factor to the success of a startup. Terry, however, plainly concluded from his experience that customer is the most critical element. In answering the question of why giving up a fat salary job and starting a business abroad, Terry cited the passion and challenges he could earn from starting up a new business as the main reason. Meanwhile, Terry humorously indicated that due to his business model, even if he might fail, he’d fail cheaply and quickly. In this case, why not enjoy starting up new businesses?


Next, Terry introduced his current startup programs in China: www.InitialView.com. InitialView provides job seekers with a unique online interview platform. By recording the job seekers’ mock interview and then adding the video link on their resumes, InitialView not only changes an interviewees’ resume from a piece of paper into a vivid video material, but also simplifies an HR’s heavy resume selection work.


Terry taught the students some practical interview techniques. First, he emphasized the basic etiquettes in an interview, including a firm handshake, a confident eye-contact, and a decent body language. Then, Terry selected 5 volunteers and conducted an on-spot mock interview. By comparing volunteers’ performance and analyzing their responses, Terry illustrated to the students the appropriate way to answer common interview questions. For example, to answer the question of “Please briefly introduce yourself”, Terry suggested students highlight three of their unique characteristics and try to walk the interviewer into focusing on their resumes.


“From Wall Street to Wudaokou” is the 5th one of the Career Development Lecture Series. Prior to today’s event, CDD organized a series lectures or events on communication skills, resume writing, group interview techniques and interview preparation, all of which received enthusiastic responses from students.