Advisory Board

Sage Brennan is an independent media and Internet analyst based in Shanghai. Sage is a founder and organizer of the Shanghai chapter of the global MobileMonday , movement. He was also recently Research Director of Hong Kong-based hedge fund Pacific Sun Investment Management and Chief Representative of the firm's China operations. Sage was earlier General Manager of Shanghai-based Pacific Epoch, a boutique telecom and technology research firm that was acquired by JL McGregor & Co. in 2006 He contributed the weekly 'This Week in China' column to Dow Jones' MarketWatch for two years, and remains a frequent commentator on China-related media and technology issues in print media and on programs such as CNBC's 'Asia Squawk Box.' His early career included sales and marketing roles at Nextel Communications and at several venture capital-backed technology firms in Silicon Valley. A native of Boston, Sage holds both an MBA and an undergraduate degree in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has been speaking and studying Mandarin since he first lived in Beijing in 1987.

Erik Bethel is a Managing Director at ChinaVest focusing on cross-border advisory and principal investing. Before joining ChinaVest, Mr. Bethel spent 15 years working in the private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance groups at Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Partners and Compass Point Capital Partners. His US$4 billion worth of transaction experience in Emerging Markets spans the manufacturing, infrastructure and natural resources sectors. Mr. Bethel graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis with a B.S. in Economics and a B.S. in Political Science. He also received an MBA from The Wharton School of Business.

Carson Block is pioneering the introduction of self storage to Mainland China through the company he founded, Love Box Self StorageLove . Box Self Storage is Mainland China’s first international standard self storage facility. Carson is also the founder and owner of ChinaPrimer.com Ltd. ChinaPrimer.com is a website that helps Western small and medium-sized enterprises save money and minimize risks when entering China. Prior to founding ChinaPrimer.com, Carson Co-Authored the popular book, Doing Business in China for Dummies (Wiley 2007). Before Co-Authoring the book, Carson was an investment professional and attorney. Carson practiced law in Shanghai for Jones Day, a large U.S.-based law firm. At Jones Day, Carson represented foreign clients in foreign direct investment and merger / acquisition projects in China. Prior to coming to China, Carson was a partner in a Los Angeles-based equity research boutique, W.A.B. Capital. At W.A. B. Capital, he focused on equity research and institutional sales. Carson is an adjunct professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. He has a Juris Doctorate with High Honors from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he was selected to the Order of the Coif, the Moot Court Honors Society, and the Law Review. Carson holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Marshall School of Business of the University of Southern California. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association

Dara MacCaba is founder of Lucid360, an international consultancy that integrates Psychological Deep Dives with the dynamics of Private Online Innovation Communities. A global network of researchers and innovators trained in these methods and best practices deliver insights, strategic direction and innovative concepts to multi-national corporations in both mature and emerging markets. Dara has previously held managing director positions developing psychological methods with Prof Gerald Zaltman of the Harvard Business School in the US and later with TMRC Research in China. He has also been responsible for delivering innovative branding, product, and retail solutions for MNCs while at ?What If!, a leading global innovation consultancy. Dara has enjoyed participating on the boards of the Yale Club of Boston, the Yale Club of Shanghai, the Irish Business Forum of Shanghai, and Next Step Directory. Dara is a native of Ireland and a graduate of Yale University