From a financial standpoint, Hong Kong offers a very practical middle ground. The average salary there hovers around $35,000 USD, which is much more manageable for a business compared to the $80,000 to $100,000 entry salaries found in places like Silicon Valley. Furthermore, the taxation rate is remarkably low at only 15%. While the rental market is known for being high, the salary actually goes a long way for locals because roughly two-thirds of the population receives subsidized housing from the government or lives in compact micro-apartments.
In the West, particularly in America, liberal arts, history, and English degrees are highly common. However, in Hong Kong, the vast majority of university students pursue engineering fields—specifically electrical and mechanical engineering. This creates a massive pool of specialized talent that is much easier to hire from, whereas mechanical engineers in America are both highly scarce and significantly more expensive.
John believes a major flaw in Western manufacturing is the habit of designing a product strictly on a computer and immediately sending it off to a foreign factory, expecting it to return perfect. He learned early on from working in a bicycle repair shop that real quality control happens when you physically build, repair, and iterate on a product. By basing the company in Hong Kong, Decent's design engineers can sit in the exact same room as the fabricating engineers, using the same technical language to seamlessly collaborate with nearby mainland suppliers who handle the sheet metal and PC boards.
Hong Kong is a highly unique territory because it gives foreigners the exact same legal rights as locals. For instance, John possesses a Hong Kong ID that grants him equal status. Historically acting as a place of refuge for people fleeing oppressive governments, the local culture is highly independent and creative. There is also a strong cultural boundary regarding governance; people traditionally focus heavily on their immediate lives and trades—like coffee—while staying entirely out of politics.
Communication is incredibly smooth because Hong Kong's entire school system operates in English. All engineering classes and exams are administered in English, resulting in an exceptionally high level of written technical literacy. Furthermore, technical engineering is traditionally done in English even when working with mainland China because the English language provides highly specific definitions that don't always translate clearly into Chinese words.
The workplace environment benefits greatly from a distinct lack of office politics, which allows teams to be very direct and focused entirely on their day-to-day responsibilities. Additionally, because the local language is Cantonese rather than Mandarin, the daily atmosphere is incredibly lighthearted. Cantonese functions as a vibrant "street language" that relies heavily on constant wordplay, puns, and joking around, which John notes makes for a highly collaborative and joyful factory floor.