Failure versus face: how can Asia produce startups despite its culture?

You can blame China. It’s the biggest, most influential, and most long-standing civilization in Asia that came up with such aphorisms as:

A family’s ugliness should never be publicly aired.

By ugliness it means misfortune. And since Chinese civilization has dominated, conquered, influenced, and traded with almost every civilization in the Asian continent, rest assured the Middle Kingdom’s values have spread far and wide. Asians don’t want to lose face, much less misplace it. This is a nightmare for building a healthy startup culture.

What face does for failure

As some historians and translators have noted, it’s impossible to translate ‘face’. But it boils down to doing what is acceptable and honorable in society in light of what other people think of you and yours. Failing will surely result in losing face. Is it any wonder then why Asian parents want their children to become doctors, engineers, and lawyers? These are secure jobs that are guaranteed careers. The Asian status quo is wealth, good family, and health. Breaking the status quo is certain to cause a loss of face. It’s too risky. But that’s what startups are about.

There are companies overcoming failure in a world of face

And yet, Asia still produces startups. People are taking risks. As Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, said recently:

For years, we were considered to be crazy guys, people telling lies, people wanting to raise more money, people wanting to IPO. It’s okay, you know, people want to look down on you, as long as the people who support us grow.

So where did Jack, and other entrepreneurs of his kind, get the balls? Where did they get the courage to stand up in a world where people are constantly tearing you down for every little mistake? The answer to this question is where hope for Asia lies and the reason for the new growth that we keep seeing out of the continent.

Where does the defiance of face come from?

Asia today is unlike South America and Africa. South America didn’t have any leading tigers like Japan that could land a top spot in the G8. And Africa has been sadly stuck in its own centuries-long economic quagmire. By comparison, Asia, despite its rise in only the past few decades, has been vigorous. There are a few key reasons for this:

Asians want to be Western: For whatever reason, Asians love Westerners. They love lighter skin [1], and they’re singularly focused on the next trends coming out of the West, whether it’s odd things like drinking red wine or Hollywood movies or an obsession with Silicon Valley’s latest trends. This is especially true for parents who want to send their kids to America and Europe for education. This obsession with the West plays a big role in Asian societies. They want to be Western, and the only way to do so is with robust economics and tons of Western-inspired innovation. We can see it in Korea’s film industry. Obviously, this has rippling effects over entrepreneurs, who play a huge part in economic growth and innovation.