How an Investor in China Opened Doors in Silicon Valley

Last year, at a private club in the Rosewood hotel in Beijing, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was facing some tough questions. Across the table was Jenny Zeng, and she wanted to know Uber’s plans to beat local competitor Didi and why he hadn’t yet hired a CEO for Uber China.

Ms. Zeng is the founder of Magic Stone Alternative Investments and a well-connected Chinese venture capitalist who has parlayed relationships with China’s biggest investors into access to myriad companies in China. Now she is broadening her horizons to the U.S.