Team

Joe is a founding member of the team that developed the original concept and strategy for the most successful entrepreneur networking event in Shanghai, NextStep. With over 7,000 followers, Joe has led the expansion in conferences (Shanghai Green Business Forum), forums, and partnerships with various chambers of commerce. Having already been in greater China for 5 years running a business, Joe clearly understands the needs of small and medium size business owners and managers. As a result of the network developed through the original NextStep project Joe has developed a breadth of contacts to accelerate the directory project in China and throughout Asia. Joe was also a part of the team that led the successful launch of LexDex.com, an e-learning project based in Shanghai, received funding, and is currently expanding its market reach in the United States. At LexDex Joe created a unique Campus Rep program relying upon student-to-student marketing and business development. Joe moved permanently to NextStepDirectory.com on November 1, 2008 in order to organize the team, partnerships, and growth model of the directory project. Having worked directly with multinationals and as an independent entrepreneur Joe realizes the need for relevant and easy to use business information to make educated business decisions. Joe graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with three degrees in Economics, Political Science, and Urban Studies.

David is the co-founder of DavYin E-Marketing Solutions, and has overseen a variety of China and international e-solutions projects. A proponent of OpenSource software development in China, David has combined his educational experience at The University of Hong Kong where he received an MS in Computer Science to forge a new path of development among young Chinese developers. David has played the lead role of technical development for LexDex.com and other projects specializing in Open Source CMS, DOJO, and site optimizations according to W3C standards. Web developing is David’s passion, and he brings the enthusiasm of a technical developer to the product development in order to create a user interface experience that meets the needs of today’s business professionals.

Gregory has established himself as one of Shanghai's most relied upon sources of business consulting. In less than two years, he not only started the European Department at G&T Consulting ( www.gnt-consulting.com ), but made it one of the leading business consulting firms catering towards foreign entrepreneurs such as www.88brands.com, and www.almachina.cn .  He is currently an advisor for companies such as www.lepetitjournal.com/shanghai.html, www.optimeast.com, and www.sosexpat-sh.com. Greg is also a co-Director of the NextStep networking group www.nextstepshanghai.com  and brings his expertise in creating business networks and social marketing to the NextStep Directory. With a marketing budget of zero, Greg's understanding of tools such as facebook, linkedin, twitter, blogs, and forums has enabled him to make both G&T Consulting and NextStep into households brands in the Shanghai expat business community. In less than a year, Greg became one of the most recognized entrepreneurs among the French community and beyond in Shanghai.  Greg studied Event and Hotels Management, Business Administration at the University of Lyon III and at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Some of Greg's projects :

• Le Petit Journal Shanghai as associate partner. In charge of Social Media Marketing Campaign.
• Travailler Ensemble, as a consultant, e-marketer and event organizer. Forum organized by the JCEF, Ubifrance, the French Chamber of Commerce, CCE, to introduce 50+ French SMEs, to 25 French MNCs.
• Biznest Helping entrepreneurs and organizing coffee club between experts and entrepreneurs.

Eddie has been a serial entrepreneur in China since his college years having started his first company, Celestial Press (www.celestialpress.com), while studying and interning in Shanghai. Since then, he has co-founded Tangential Consulting Shanghai Ltd., the NextStep networking group (www.nextstepshanghai.com) and LexDex.com. The inspiration for the NextStep Directory came from his frustrations as an entrepreneur in Shanghai seeking good resources to help him run his companies. Eddie brings his keen understanding of the Internet and product development to the NextStep Directory team. Eddie studied music as an undergrad at the University of Virginia.

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 . Looking to further bridge China and international dialogue, Sage led the team to organize TEDxShanghai in June 2009. 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