ThreeEQ

In reverse-chronological order:

Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited – Strategic Advisor (2017 – 2018)
Bright Scholar (NYSE: BEDU) is the largest operator of international (K-12) and bilingual schools in China. Its chairman is multi-billionaire Yang Huiyan, Asia’s wealthiest woman and Vice Chairman of Country Garden, one of the world’s top three real estate developers. Jason strategically advised the VP of new business development, as well as thoroughly researched, identified, approached, and engaged potential U.S. top private K-12 schools and elite universities to create strategic partnerships. He helped close initial agreements/memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Columbia University, UC Berkeley, and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Jason also orchestrated a private meeting between Blackstone Group Chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman and Ms. Yang and her team at his office in NYC. (Jason attended BEDU’s IPO party in NYC in May 2017.)

Crystal Springs Resort – Senior Advisor to the Owners (2017 – 2018)
Crystal Springs Resort is the NYC metro area’s premier golf and hotel resort, consisting of 2 hotels, 6 golf courses (including a few of New Jersey’s top-rated ones), 2 spas, 9 restaurants (including New Jersey’s finest restaurant), a sports club, horseback riding, an adventure center, and North America’s second-largest fine wine cellar. Jason strategically advised the then-controlling owner, a New York-based finance and investment banking mogul. He also provided private equity help by identifying, approaching, and engaging potential acquirers/buyers, which included Asian and Middle East conglomerates and billionaires.

Forbes – Contributor (2011 – 2016)
Jason Ma’s Forbes blog on Mentoring Young Leaders for U.S. elite college admissions, unconventional higher education, next-gen leadership, entrepreneurship, and mentorship success (forbes.com/sites/jasonma) has yielded more than 1.5 million views and counting. His Forbes articles are:

12. How Mentors Shape Moguls, CEOs, Celebrities, and the Next Generation of Leaders
11. How Unconventional, Experiential Learning Is Reshaping Higher Education
10. Twelve of Today’s Most Impressive Young Entrepreneurs
  9. How to Handle College Admissions Rejections
  8. Lessons Learned, Reflections, and Advice from a Harvard Student Leader
  7. Student Entrepreneurship Is Humming at Elite Universities
  6. When to Say No to Harvard
  5. Advice on Applying to Top US Colleges via Early Decision or Early Action
  4. Why to Start Preparing for College in Sixth Grade
  3. College Apps Cheating Scandal Is a Learning Moment for China
  2. What It Takes to Get Into UC Berkeley
  1. College Apps: Stanford, Anyone?

IvyMax, Inc. + Another EdTech SaaS Company in China — Co-Founder, Interim CEO, and Senior College Counselor + Co-Founder and CEO; Investor (2006 – 2011)
IvyMax was a leading in-center and online provider of college counseling, test prep, academic enrichment, summer camp, and other educational services that prepared students for admission to top-tier colleges and universities and beyond. Jason Ma co-founded the company by leading and executing the merger of a chain of learning centers in the U.S. and an education technology and SaaS startup in China with a Cayman Islands holdco., where he was co-founder and CEO. The latter had engineering and market operations in China and the U.S.

Jason brought in renowned CEOs/senior executives—including Zoom founder and CEO (then Cisco/Webex corporate VP) Eric Yuan, a former Stanford University Provost, and Stanford and UC Berkeley professors—as investors and advisors. He was instrumental in orchestrating the Board of Directors and maintaining the cap table.

As senior college counselor, along with a team of editors and support staff, Jason inspired and provided 1-on-1 guidance to hundreds of high school and college transfer students, who were primarily from immigrant Asian/Chinese American families, in gaining admission to top colleges and universities and beyond. Besides counseling students and parents, he worked closely with fellow co-founders and management on strategic and tactical marketing efforts. Most American staff looked to him as their internal mentor.

GLG Council – Leader (Top 5%), Education/EdTech and Technology/Media/Telecom (TMT) in the U.S. & Asia/China (2006 – 2014)
Jason Ma counseled managing directors, principals, and industry research analysts in top and boutique financial services firms (private equity, venture capital, alternative assets, hedge fund, and investment banking) and management consulting firms—many of the big names on Wall Street and Main Street.

Congruent Partners LLC – Founder and CEO (2002 – 2008)
Congruent Partners was an international consulting firm that provided independent board director, board advisor, and acting CEO, CMO, and VP of sales/marketing services for tech companies in the U.S. and Asia.

Silicon Valley-China Wireless Technology Association – Senior Advisor (2001 – 2011)
SVCWireless was Silicon Valley’s leading professional association with interests in the Chinese mobile and wireless communications industry. Over ten years, Jason mentored five different presidents.

WithyaDirect (U.S. and India) – Co-Founder, Board Advisor, and Acting CEO (2004 – 2005)
WithyaDirect was a cross-border, new media startup based in Silicon Valley and in Gurgaon, near New Delhi, India.

AaaHaa Media (China) – Board Member, Advisor, and Investor (2003 – 2005)
AaaHaa Media (renamed from PRCDirect) was a call center that became a new media service company based in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. It focused on the Greater China markets (China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan).

Pacific Epoch (China) – Advisory Board Member (2004 – 2005)
Pacific Epoch was a TMT market research firm in Shanghai, China that partnered with Jason’s firm, Congruent Partners.

Strategic Alliance WorldGroup, Inc. – Chief Marketing Officer (2003 – 2004)
SAWG was an outsourced international business development, marketing, and sales services company for technology companies looking to expand worldwide.

YeePay (China) – Co-Founder, Interim EVP of Corporate Development, and Chief Strategy Officer; Investor (2002 – 2003)
YeePay (renamed from MobileBest) is a leading e-payment and mobile payment service provider in China with a Cayman Islands holding company, backed by top-tier VC firms, including DFJ/Tim Draper, and angel investors. It competed against Alibaba’s AliPay and other players. Jason Ma helped craft the business plan, put together a detailed business financial model, and mentored its CEO. He exited by selling his founder common shares and Series A shares to the Series D lead investor.

Asia-Silicon Valley Connection (ASVC) – Founding Chair, Charter Members Committee (2001)
In this professional association, Jason led the building and management of the paid premium membership of a microcosm (about 150) of top decision-makers and influencers across Silicon Valley. They were general partners (GPs) at top-tier venture capital firms, tech CEOs, senior executives, partners at major law, tax/accounting, and consulting firms, and a few university professors. The membership included a range of centimillionaires. Jason’s efforts helped spark the social networking movement in Silicon Valley.

iPass Inc. – Managing Director, Asia Pacific and Japan (1997 – 2000)
Along with Netscape, iPass (Nasdaq: IPAS) was a prominent Internet services pioneer founded in the mid-90s. It was the world’s leading global Internet roaming, corporate remote access, and cross-network settlement/clearinghouse services provider. iPass technology partners included Cisco Systems and various network systems vendors. Jason led the building and running of Asia Pacific sales and marketing, bringing in over 50% of global company revenue from Internet service providers (ISPs), carriers/telcos, channel partners, and enterprises during the company’s early stages and achieving a dominant or leading market leadership position in nearly all target markets across Greater China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Australasia, Indian Subcontinent, and South Korea. 

iPass APAC customers and partners included the ISPs and corporate data network services business units of AT&T Asia Pacific, NTT, NEC, Fujitsu, KDD, Sony, Japan Telecom, Hong Kong Telecom, PCCW, Hutchison, China Telecom, China Netcom, Singapore Telecom, Pacific Internet, Telstra, OzeMail, Telecom New Zealand, Malaysia Telecom, SK Telecom, Korea Telecom, VSNL, and more than 100 other ISP/carrier partners and, through channel partners, enterprise customers. Jason was also instrumental in expanding the iPass global network of access points across APAC. He set up and ran offices with regional staff in Tokyo, Japan; Hong Kong, China; Singapore; and Sydney, Australia.

Celcore Inc. – Director, International Sales and Marketing; Managing Director, Asia Pacific (1995 – 1997)
Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Celcore was a leading low-density cellular/mobile communication network infrastructure equipment and systems provider that included mobile switching centers, base stations, and network management system (NMS) and that competed against giant equipment/systems suppliers including Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and Siemens. Jason built and ran direct and channel sales and marketing to major mobile and telecom operators in Asia Pacific, including Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Pakistan, and other markets. The average sales deals were in the 7-figures. Celcore was subsequently acquired by DSC Communications, which itself was later acquired by Alcatel.

Peninsula Wireless Communications – Managing Director, Asia Pacific (1993 – 1995)
Peninsula Wireless Communications (named changed from Peninsula Engineering) was a leading microwave transmission repeater, cellular microcell, and cellular repeater (fixed and mobile wireless network infrastructure) equipment and systems provider to telcos, wireless/mobile operators, and OEMs in markets worldwide. Jason Ma ran sales and marketing operations in Asia Pacific, including mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australasia, and the Indian Subcontinent. Major direct customers included China Telecom (before China Mobile was spun out), Hong Kong Telecom (HKT)/CSL, Hutchison, Singapore Telecom, LG, SK Telecom, etc. In China, Jason managed the team at the Peninsula Representative Office in Beijing and led selling to nearly all major China Telecom provincial telcos/PTTs. Peninsula subsequently changed its name again and went public in Nasdaq.

Cylink Corporation – Regional Director, Pacific Rim (1993)
Cylink was a leading IT and network security (encryption) and wireless communication product and systems vendor. Jason built and ran direct and channel sales and marketing operations serving various enterprises (e.g., Blue Chip banks and enterprises), government agencies (e.g., Australian Federal Police), telcos, and network services operators in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Indian Subcontinent.

Digital Microwave Corporation – Area Sales Manager, Asia Pacific (1991 – 1992)
DMC (Nasdaq: DMIC) was a leading digital microwave transmission network equipment/systems vendor headquartered in Silicon Valley. The International Sales headquarters was in Scotland, United Kingdom, and the APAC HQ and a manufacturing joint venture were in KL, Malaysia. Jason built and ran mostly indirect sales through in-country agents serving major government-owned and private sector mobile operators and telcos in parts of Southeast and East Asia. His large end customers included AIS and TOT (large tenders were common) in Thailand, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), and Singapore Telecom. Jason ran a local DMC office in Jakarta, Indonesia. Sales deal sizes ranged from 6- to 7-figure USDs.

Fujitsu America, Inc. – Project Manager and Network Assurance Manager, Private Networks Division (1988 – 1991)

DCA/Cohesive Network – Software Design Engineer (1987 – 1988)

Tymnet/McDonnell Douglas Network Systems Company – Systems Analyst, Network Analysis and Design; Network Operations Analyst, Management Sciences (1984 – 1987)