11 Years In – Reflecting On Global From Asia (and discuss 2025 + beyond) with Michael Michelini

This episode marks a special milestone—exactly 11 years since the Global From Asia domain was registered and the launch of the site and podcast. A lot has changed in the world, in business, and in life for all of us over the past decade.

In this episode, Mike takes a moment to reflect on the journey so far, discussing key milestones, lessons learned, and how the Global From Asia community has evolved. He also shares exciting plans for the future of the podcast, the community, and the business as we head into 2025 and beyond.

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√ Grab your tickets for Cross Border Summit 2024

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[00:00:00] Episode 445 of Global Formia. Today, we’re celebrating 11 years today of this show. Started in 2013. It’s 20 24, 11 years global Formia. So today we’re gonna be talking about, , a little bit of the past, the present, and the future. So let’s tune in. Welcome to the Global from Asia Podcast, where the daunting process of running an international business is broken down [00:00:30] into straight up actionable advice.

And now your host, Michael Micheli. Thank you all for listening to, or maybe watching. I’m sitting here in my Bangkok studio between the DCBK event. Getting this show recorded. It’s 11 years, 445 episodes, and I’m your host, Michael Micheli. And I just [00:01:00] wanna kind of give this short little show today about some of the past and the present, the future.

I really appreciate everybody. If you’re listening to this, I wonder how long you’ve been listening to maybe just randomly found this one and you’re watching it or listening to it. So let’s, let’s dive in. Global from asia.com/eleven years is the link. Are you looking for USA banking solutions for your e-commerce business?

I am proud to say mercury.com is supporting the podcast here, third year in a [00:01:30] row at Global from Asia. And we’re proud to say, ’cause we use ’em ourselves for many of our own Amazon brands, e-commerce brands and joint ventures with our US structures. And they’re super easy to do online application, no fees, and they have great customer support.

Have helped us with trouble with Amazon Seller Central. Over the years about some receipts and statements and everything like that. So we’re so happy to say thank you, mercury, for supporting our show, being a great service and supporting other e-commerce sellers. We’re really proud to say they’re a [00:02:00] sponsor here, and we also have a video tutorial as well as an overview and a special link with a little bonus for you as well for us under certain conditions.

Check it out@globalfromasia.com slash mercury for that information. Thank you for listening and thank you Mercury. I guess we started. The beginning, October 22nd, 2013, registered a domain name and got this kicked off. Actually, at this conference I’m in D-C-P-K-K. Dan Andrews from Tropical [00:02:30] MBA says, everybody here should start a podcast and then next slide.

Hong Kong business is a great topic, great niche. Somebody should start here and they should get that going and they can get a little business going and get things rolling. I think it would really work out. And I’m sitting in the audience, I’m like, yeah, lemme try that. So I was thinking of a name in a lounge where John Meyers still a good friend, was talking.

With me and I, I registered global from asia.com. I didn’t wanna call it like the Hong Kong [00:03:00] Business podcast or something like that. ’cause even when I first thought of it, I was like, yeah, Hong Kong to start. But then, , Asia, and even then I was living in Shenzhen, China. But even then I was thinking, I’m probably gonna move to Southeast Asia, probably Thailand, maybe some other country.

It was always the idea. But we started with Hong Kong podcast. If you go to the episode one. We’ll talk about introduction to Hong Kong business. The first maybe, I don’t know, 2030 was all deep into Hong Kong business, setting up operating [00:03:30] banking, trading businesses, import exports, stuff like that. And it was fun actually, 20 13, 20 14, interviewing great people.

But , we, we, we expanded from there. I remember in 2015 I was in the US. With my wife Wendy, and we were talking about the community and Canton Fair had just finished in 2015, I think we were in the US in around November, 2015 at that time. [00:04:00] And she says , people are coming into town to meet you.

I mean, ’cause I, with the podcast was so great. People were emailing and connecting and some were doing business with me and others were just picking my brain. Over drinks. Buy me a cup of coffee. And she says, , instead of just meeting everybody, one-on-one, you should do a conference. Bring all these amazing guests at your interview.

The people listening that want to support and participate can can come to this event, can do it around the CanCon Fair. [00:04:30] So we put it together for April, 2016, the first cross border summit in Sheen China cross border summit.com. Actually, a little fun fact, we’re thinking about calling it the Global PMA Asia Summit.

But at that time we were already, like, as I said, started Hong Kong, but we were going like cross border and then China Cross border is a pretty big word. It started to get more known internationally, but cross border was used more in China. And so I decided to go with the name Cross Border Summit and we, we had a [00:05:00] one day event, OC April 16th, I believe, 2016.

It was a really amazing day. I mean, it was a really community. Vibes, great people, people in town, , for the Canton Fair. Global Sources also had done at the same around the same time. I think we even had a little bit of an overlap, but I talked to Peter and others at Global Sources and we I, I arranged the dates to not overlap ’cause they had the Global Sources Summit and it was a, [00:05:30] it was a, it was a different world then for sure.

Different world for sure. So we. We had this amazing event and it was so exciting. Wanted to actually, some people said do it twice a year, et cetera, but we stuck to once a year and of course we got deeper into the Amazon space. I was already interviewing Amazon sellers. I think. Wilson Blues was one of the first, he actually kind to me in 2014 and says, Hey, you should also add Amazon and FBA.[00:06:00]

It’s really hot and a lot of people are doing well with it. I interviewed him. And , I got great feedback and of course the conferences Summit people gave me feedback and we, we, we went deeper into the Amazon space and the podcast and in the community after the first cross-border summit.

And I just, I just remember all the different things that we learned and it, the different people, , from around the world. There’s always been an international podcasts, international people from [00:06:30] course in China. Asia, the west, the south, I love, I love it. I love meeting people from around the world.

People also said they appreciate that we’re not US centric. ’cause a lot of shows and content is like from perspective of being in the US we always are international. So that was it. Also, the logo, I, I skipped this part in my list, but I. If you look at the global Esia logo, it’s, it’s [00:07:00] I think about this time is when we designed the logo.

’cause if the logo wasn’t built at the beginning, but it was at, based on Atlas Shrugged about the world on your back, the burden of the legacy on your back and your, but it wasn’t the world, it was the city. If you look at the global Inform Asia logo, maybe on your on your podcast icon or on a website, you’ll see it looks like a G.

But if you look, it’s got the head. It’s a person coming up into the right with a city on [00:07:30] his back, kind of in a rebellious way, like tossing this burden off of his back. And that’s, that’s really what I believe the, the meaning of, of this this show is about, , of course, like I said, we started in, we started a show about Hong Kong as a start and then a cross border and Amazon e-commerce and trade.

But it’s really about freedom. It’s about independence. It’s about not being based where you’re [00:08:00] from, , the country where you’re born. I, I, I meet people from all around the world, and I, I really want to make sure that it’s not based on where you’re, , entitlements of where you’re born. It’s about your ability.

It’s about your, your drive to make it happen. So that’s what the logo and, and , it did get more defined. I mean, global Mes was really, really popular. The, the traffic was like really high. People were learning [00:08:30] about, , Amazon and cross border trade and banking and Hong Kong, and I was going back and forth with Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

I had apartments in both sides. My children were being born and raised around those years. It was very exciting times. And it just kept a, it kept growing and evolving and , we’re at 445 shows now, so the summits have happened every [00:09:00] year outta those times. 2016, it was really well received. We did two days, 20 17, 20 18, 20 19, we brought into the Guang Jo area and.

Of course nobody predicted it, but it was also, the trade wars was happening in 2019. I was on Bloomberg and I was on I think BBC and various wall Street journals about the trade wars and about also policies of Amazon’s Chinese sellers from Amazon. And a lot of that was [00:09:30] happening around this tension.

It was building. And then, and then, covid. All right. And I feel like we talk about this too much on this show. I’m trying to stop talking about it when I interview people, but it really changed our community, our, our space. A lot of people kind of like left this space. Well, there’s also aggregators, people buying up all the, all the Amazon sellers.

And people just also getting kind of like wiped out in their business, in their trading [00:10:00] business or their various international businesses, and it was a very hard time. Of course, if you go back to archives of these interviews, you can hear quite a few of these stories, people getting locked outta their countries or other countries or apartment buildings or all kinds of stuff.

So we’ve adapted, , I’m, I’m back down in Thailand. Chang Mai, I’m happy the kids are happy, going to China be be mentoring at Amy Weis is [00:10:30] a amazing at home China Canton Fair. And then of course we have our cross border summit in Chiang Mai took it there after CO. So just a lot of things happening and I just appreciate all of you.

I hope you enjoy these shows. I actually, it was got another guest lined up. It’s raining right now, so we’re gonna do it here, but it’s just me today. We’ll have more guests lined up. I like the stories of how people built their [00:11:00] businesses and their, , e-comm, cross border stories, so expect more of that.

Of course, we got our cross-border summit just a couple of weeks. I really am excited for this. It’s. Definitely a high intense time. Super busy. Some of you’s reminding me how busy I am. I’m trying my best to keep up with everything and I appreciate all of you. So what are some of the plans in the future?

Of course, when you’re at the Cross Border Summit [00:11:30] this year, our sixth annual in in this November 3rd, fourth, fifth, I’ll be making some announcements and there’ll be some some more information, but I’ll just give you a little teaser today. There’s a new book coming. I got the draft here. We’re building a whole new program called Empower to Seller ETS, and we’re going deeper into Web3.

I know it’s not as cool as it was a few years ago with all the hype. I still believe in blockchain technology. [00:12:00] And we want to bring you with us if you’re willing to join us. So expect more information at or after the Cross-Border Summit, but where we’re gonna really start to integrate our e-commerce and our blockchains together.

And it’s a risk. It’s a risk, right? It’s everything is a risk. We try our best here to educate you and inform you about technologies and innovations and. Business opportunities that we think are the best, but of course, do your own due diligence. But we’re very excited about this. [00:12:30] So we will have this whole new program called Empower Seller coming.

Stay tuned for that. On top of that, of course, we have a marketplace called hamza.market, which is in public beta now to allow you to buy for all now, only buy soon. Sell your products using blockchain technology. So that’s gonna be a huge push. And generally it’s bringing back, bringing together these two worlds that I have been living in personally for [00:13:00] many years now.

Actually, if you go back in the archives of global from Asia, as early as I think 2014, we had Larry talking about Bitcoin. We had Adrian talking about Bitcoin. I was using it for cross-border trade in China and Hong Kong. So we’ve always. That, I mean, that was less than a hundred episodes. That was like episodes thirties, forties, fifties, sixties.

We were doing a few on blockchain. So it’s not like this is something new or some new trend, but we’re [00:13:30] doubling down on it and we’re gonna be integrating it more with the community at Global from Asia, with this ETS program, with Hamsa, with other, the load pipe protocol. We’re putting it all together under, so stay tuned for that.

I know you’re super busy with Q4. I’m super busy, as you can see, conferences, cross border summits, Canton Fairs. I just want to give you a little bit of a teaser. It’s also a celebration. This is 11 years. This show is going on 11 years since we [00:14:00] started this, this, this, this community or this , information channel.

I hope you learn from it. I hope you’re inspired by it. Again, we try to keep so much free. We try to give away so much for free. , most more is free than paid, but if you do enjoy, the best way to support is the Cross-Border Summit right now. Attending or recommending it as somebody you think we get value from it, it is paid, but it’s premium and its high impact, we [00:14:30] will love to see you there.

2024 dot cross-border summit.com for more information. And you will be getting some new information and some new opportunities. We are calling it planting seeds and building Streams sixth annual every year. Right now it’s high stress, high intensity. We have the AMP Mastermind for those VIPs that really want to go [00:15:00] above and beyond, which is gonna be epic.

And then, , of course we’re gonna get through the December and then finish up Q4. I hope everybody has a great Q4 in their business. And then we’ll get some rest into the new year. And I just expect more of this integration of our blockchain technologies, systems and programs to be integrated with e-commerce.

I just had a intense friend advisor expert meeting. He’s also been a guest in this show, but I [00:15:30] won’t say who I. Just now before this recording, we’re doing something really new and it’s not easy. I believe if we work as a community together and you also believe the value of what we’re building, you’ll hopefully participate with us in the way you seem best fit and we want to engage with you.

So thanks so much for watching or listening. Global from asia.com/ 11 1 1 years. Thanks [00:16:00] again and I hope to see you at Cross Border Summit, but of course, if you’re not able to, I still love you and I appreciate you. Take care. Save the date Cross-Border Summit 2024 is coming back. 2020 threes was epic.

Never got such great feedback in all of our events. Cross-Border Summit 2024, we’re planning already a year in advance. It is a full week of amazing things. There’s pre events, post events, workshops, trainings, elephant [00:16:30] sanctuaries. We have a lot of amazing things here in Chiang Mai, Thailand again, so I would love to see you there.

We’ve already presold some tickets to pre. Previous people, we will be opening up tickets soon. Subscribe to get updates at 2024 dot cross-border summit.com. Also, check out videos and testimonials from last year as well as all of our years we did ’em in China and this will be our sixth one. It’ll be great to meet you there and network and make some great relationships.

I can’t wait [00:17:00] November, 2024. To get more info about running an international business, please visit our website@ww.global. Global from asia.com. That’s ww.global from asia.com. Also, be sure to subscribe to our iTunes feed. Thanks for tuning in.