Sally Tian grew up between China and Canada, living and working in both countries at different points in her life.
After graduation, he decided against the corporate life and went to China to search for funds.
She says that returning to China reshaped her identity, her work goals and her relationship with her parents.
Growing up between two cultures shaped Sally Tian’s view of the world.
Tian was born in Guangzhou, China and lived there until she was 10, when her family moved to Vancouver. At 15, she returned to China to attend an international school before moving to Toronto for college, where she later began her career in management consulting.
“I thought, ‘I’m going to live out the immigrant dream. I’m going to get a big corporate job and all that,'” Tian, now 30, told Business Insider.
However, the predictions of her day left her wanting more and three years later, she moved to Beijing in 2020 to work for a major Chinese tech company.
After completing his MBA, Tian realized that he did not want to be in a corporate job.Sally Tian.
A year’s stay in China turned out to be almost three years. After a year in Beijing, she moved to Shanghai, where she remained in the role for another year before moving to a startup.
In 2023, amid a long lockdown in Shanghai, Tian and her boyfriend set off for graduate school in America, hoping that time away will help them decide where to make their futures.
Two years after earning her MBA at Harvard, Tian said she got her answer: The life she wanted didn’t include a corporate job.
Instead, she and her boyfriend wanted to start a venture fund, which involved finding and acquiring a small business to run themselves.
“I’d say people want to do it for a lot of reasons because they don’t want to work for somebody else. They want to be their own boss, and I definitely want to do the same,” Tian said.
While search funds are more common in the U.S., Tian said China felt like a place he could work. In September, she and her boyfriend packed their bags and moved back.
Tian lived with her boyfriend in a three-bedroom apartment in Shanghai.Sally Tian.
The couple considered several cities, including Guangzhou, but ultimately chose Shanghai for its strong investor network and business opportunities.
With the help of a real estate agent, they found a three-bedroom apartment located about 40 minutes from the city center. Monthly rent is 8,900 Chinese yuan, or about $1,270.
The neighborhood has everything they need, including a mall, a Sam’s Club, and a Costco, Tian said. Due to its proximity to many international schools, many expats live in their area as well.
Rent is about $1,270 a month.Sally Tian.
“Culturally, I understand. I feel like it’s my home, and I don’t feel like I’m doing it at someone else’s,” Tian said.
Furthermore, she said the success of her search fund in the U.S. will depend heavily on building relationships with potential sellers, which she feels will be more challenging due to cultural differences.
“I don’t think I can really connect with, for example, a Midwesterner in the ’50s or ’60s, or all the sports they’re into,” she said.
Tian said she is looking to acquire businesses in industries including B2B services, B2C franchises and construction.Sally Tian.
A 2024 Stanford report of 681 search funds formed in the U.S. and Canada since 1984 found that investors put about $1.45 billion into search funds and search-acquisition companies over the past four years.
While search funds remain scarce in China compared to the US, Tian believes the gap represents an opportunity.
While services and enterprise software dominate most North American search fund acquisitions, Tian said his focus in China is broader, spanning B2B services, B2C franchises, and manufacturing.
Many first-generation business owners in China may now be in their 60s and 70s and are looking for a plan to pass on their businesses to their children, who may not want to take it over, she said.
According to the 2023 report of the All China Federation of Industry and Commerce, private enterprises account for more than 90% of all companies in China, and about 80% of those private firms are family businesses.
Tian says that returning to China has given her a greater understanding of the struggles her parents faced as immigrants.Sally Tian.
Tian said that living and working in the countries forced her to rethink her identity.
Growing up as an immigrant in Canada, she said, the family dynamic changed quickly, as everyone focused on surviving in a new country.
Canadian culture had a sharp divide between those who assimilated and those who did not. In that environment, it was common for immigrant children to be alienated from their own culture and even from their parents, she said.
“There’s this social behavior where you feel like you need to keep your own identity so you can adapt to the mainstream culture,” Tian said.
When she first returned to China for work, Tian said she already knew who she was, with an established life and friends in Canada. She didn’t expect much to change. But that assumption was soon shattered.
“I realized that if I want to do my job well, and relate to my colleagues, I really need to understand how they think,” she said.
Over time, this process led her to reflect more deeply on her own identity and become more empathetic to the experiences of those around her.
Returning to China, she said, helped her reconnect with her roots — and, in the process, better understand the struggles of her immigrant parents.
“I think going to China helped me heal my relationship with my parents, and see them in a completely different way,” she said.
Do you have a story to share about moving to a new city? Contact this reporter agoh@businessinsider.com.
