ERIC GRAF VON DER RECKE AND OPTIASIA CONSULTING By David A. Chodack When you meet Eric Graf Von der Recke, you get the feeling right away that this is a man for whom the Internet was invented, a true man of the world, used to operating without borders. A citizen of both the United States and Germany, with dual passports, his permanent residence is neither in Europe or the US, but in Singapore, where he owns an apartment with his Singaporean  wife. He lived in the United States just long enough to enlist in the Marine Corps and then to attend college after service in Vietnam and he has never really lived in Germany at all. In fact, although he is BI-lingual, he doesn't even speak German, only English or Thai and he's much more at home in Bangkok - or Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, or Manila - than he is in Berlin or New York. In fact he was born in New York, but raised in India, by an ex-patriate German engineer father and an American mother, where he went to boarding school with people like the future Finance Minister of Bhutan. By the time he graduated at 18, his parents had divorced and he went back to New York to be with his mother. When that did not work out, he joined the Marines and became a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and rose to the rank of Captain. After he got out of the service, he went back to the US for college and began to learn about computers and software. When he graduated,  he headed back to Asia, got into selling software for mainframe computers and also found that there was a good commercial market for his skills as a helicopter pilot, so he alternated careers for many years. Finally, he decided that the demands of an ever-changing marketplace required a full-time commitment and founded Optiasia. He now considers all of Asia to be home.  and the Internet, rather than the airport,  the place where he works. Optiasia specializes in bringing Internet solutions and technology - mostly software developed in the US and Europe, particularly for the banking industry - to  Asia. Perhaps Optiasia's success can be attributed to Mr. Von der Recke's philosophy that Optiasia is not just a sales organization, but an interface between the suppliers of new Internet technologies and the users. This means service and consulting, as well as sales, helping the users integrate the software into their businesses and use it to solve their problems and increase productivity.  The sale does not stop when the customer purchases  software. It  just begins. Technical support is the backbone of the business. If companies could buy and install software themselves, then they would not need Optiasia. What they are really looking for is not software, but the answers to specific needs. Optiasia is there to supply those answers. Sometimes, the client is a software company anxious to penetrate the Asian market. Optiasia will take a good product and market it directly to end users, as well as through a network of partners and distributors throughout Asia. Then, Optiasia's job is to find customers in need of the solutions, show them how the software can meet their needs, get it installed and running smoothly. Research into the latest emerging technologies is also a big part of Optiasia's success. Many times, it is the banks and other companies in need of software help who seek out Optiasia's expertise. For example, Mr. Von der Recke recently received an urgent phone call from a large bank in search of e-commerce and e-banking solutions. This meant that he had to go searching for technology to meet their needs, since he did not have any clients at the moment who could supply what they were looking for. Through diligent research and a network of contacts built up over the years, he located two different software companies in Europe which seemed to have what the bank was looking for. Neither one had a sales force or any real presence in the Asian market yet.  Mr. Von der Recke contacted both of them, set up meetings and is in the process of evaluating their software to see which one -- or both - might best suit the bank's needs and then he figures it will take about six months of full-time work to install the software and train the bank employees in how to use it. Of course, at the same time, Mr. Von der Recke is also negotiating with both software companies to represent them in the Asian market. Whether or not their software fits the needs of this particular bank, he is sure that he can find other clients who will need it. Has he ever encountered obstacles and difficulties an "outsider" a non-Asian who obviously stands out wherever he goes? Of course he has. He has had prospective clients tell him right out that they would prefer - or they were convinced that their customers would prefer --  dealing with a native of whatever country he was working in. He has had others take a more subtle approach, giving him the run around and all sorts of excuses, without coming right out and saying that they did not want to deal with him or why. How does he deal with this? In a variety of ways. First of all, in many cases, he is able to turn it into an advantage. Over the years, he has found that those who are concerned with race, are usually at least as prejudiced against other Asians as they are against those of European descent. A Chinese may have the advantage in Hong Kong or China, for example, only to find himself at a disadvantage when trying to do business in Japan or Thailand or even Taiwan. Contacts in the Asian business community also help and he is not adverse to using local partners or employees when necessary. But primarily, it is expertise, not race, which count, in Asia, like anywhere else. People have problems and they are looking for solutions. If you have those solutions, then they don't care who you are or what country you're from. It took years to build up a reputation for solid expertise and quality service, but now people know that is what OptiAsia  stands for. The fact is, the technology is still coming from the US and Europe. A lot is happening in Asia and there is a lot of innovation going on, and there is a lot of opportunity, but the technology which is driving the Internet is still originating in the West. There's really no home-grown Asian software to compete against and that's an advantage. It's not like trying to sell American or European cars, or even computers. Having lived most of his life in Asia also helps. Understanding the people you do business and knowing something about their cultures, goes a long way towards making friends and earning their business. 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