Independent studio / Strategy, product, technology
We work where China meets the rest of the world. Global teams come to us to understand how the Chinese market runs. Chinese companies come to us when their business abroad outgrows the systems behind it.
Automotive and mobility
Retail and commerce
Enterprise platforms
Who we work with
Each of them has a business decision that depends on understanding a market, a workflow or a system they do not see every day.
Software vendors, brands and consultancies that need to know how Chinese dealers, retailers and enterprise buyers operate before they commit budget.
Manufacturers and brands whose plants and sales have moved overseas faster than their finance, data and product systems.
Firms that have won the work and need a senior pod for a defined workstream: analysis, product definition, architecture or the executive story.
What you can commission
Scope, outputs and responsibilities are agreed before work starts. A small brief can be led by one of us and reviewed by the others.
01 / Assessment
We investigate the market, map how the business runs today and test the assumptions behind the plan. You receive a clear view of what is worth doing, in what order and what stands in the way.
02 / Blueprint
We translate complex operations into a product people can use and a brief a team can build.
03 / Build
We test whether the plan can be built, define the architecture and develop the backend for a clearly scoped product or pilot.
04 / Narrative
We build the argument behind the presentation, for boards, investors and enterprise buyers.
05 / Partner
We join a consulting or implementation team for a defined part of the work and report to your lead.
HEXU Studio / China outbound series / Report 1
Chinese manufacturers in Southeast Asia, and the systems that have not followed.
Latest research
Experience, in context
Our members have worked where customer journeys, commercial operations and technology decisions meet.
Automotive and mobility
Lead distribution, CRM, dealer platforms, aftersales, finance and performance reporting for international brands in China.
Retail and commerce
Omnichannel retail, store systems, commerce platforms and on-demand services, from planning to operation.
Enterprise services
Assessment products, service applications and internal platforms where complex rules need a clear interface.
Members helped international automotive brands build and evolve customer and dealer platforms in China, from first release through several years of upgrades.
Ken’s consulting work includes a retail group’s e-commerce strategy and implementation plan, a listed company’s ten-year plan and a B2C platform upgrade.
Margot supported internet ventures through funding rounds from angel to Series B, covering the business model, the pitch and the coaching.
These are prior contributions of individual members and not a list of HEXU client engagements. Client identities are withheld.
The people
Three senior leads work directly on the brief. Strategy, product and engineering sit in the same conversation from the first day.
Strategy and Transformation Lead
A former IBM solutions manager and serial entrepreneur. His experience spans omnichannel retail, commerce ventures and multi-year automotive digitalisation programmes. He connects executive priorities with operating processes and implementation.
Product Strategy and Narrative Lead
She works across business analysis, product strategy and storytelling. Her experience covers automotive customer and dealer platforms, enterprise credit and ESG products, and investor-facing business plans. She has an art direction background.
Technology and Delivery Lead
A senior backend engineer and project manager. He has led or contributed to automotive retail, finance and reporting systems and commerce platforms, working in Java, Spring, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis.
How we work
Most clients begin with one assessment or one blueprint. If it is useful, the next piece of work is scoped from what we learned.
Business context, constraints and a shared brief.
Clear scope, staged work and regular reviews.
Agreed acceptance criteria, documentation and next steps.
Start with a conversation
A market question, a plant abroad, a product that needs defining, or a story that has to land with a board. Tell us the decision you need to make and the outcome you need to reach.