Chinese entrepreneur markets ‘Sobrr’ app as the ‘anti-Facebook’

Global Business

Many young Chinese entrepreneurs in the United States have caught the technology bug. They’re starting their own companies in record numbers, often choosing Silicon Valley as the place to incubate their startups. One of these entrepreneurs is Bruce Yang, who built a social network for people who want to make friends who won’t stick around very long. CCTV America’s Mark Niu reported the story from Berkeley, California.
Bruce Yang  was born and raised in Anhui province, China and moved to Northern California ten years ago. Yang currently attends University of California-Berkeley and encourages students to try his new social network called “Sobrr.”

Convincing college students the app is cool is key to Sobrr’s growth strategy. In exchange for promoting the app to visitors, Sobrr paid for most of the costumes and props for one Berkley fraternity’s haunted house.

Sobrr is a social network that allows people to make temporary friends photos and new friends completely disappear in 24 hours, unless both users choose to maintain contact. It’s a trend called “vibing” – a sort of anti-Facebook – that’s all about living in the moment.

“Whether Facebook is a very efficient social network for people of our generation is no, because everything stays and your parents are there. Your grandma is there, and all your professors, they have their Facebook pages too. That’s the idea behind this, the life in the moment,” Yang explained. “We cherish the moment at this point. Because everybody is busy, you don’t really want to just take a photo and think about this the day afterwards. We want to take a photo, put it there and after tomorrow, you don’t have to worry about it.”


Startup CEO Xiao Wang discusses Chinese entrepreneurship

Startup accelerator Innospring is the first incubator in Silicon Valley connecting entrepreneurs in China and the US. Biz Asia America interviewed Innospring CEO Xiao Wang and asked her about the sectors creating the most buzz for Chinese entrepreneurs.