Building a business in China is one of the most notoriusly difficult tasks to accomplish. Now doing that as a foreigner? Next to impossible! Argentinian national Tomas Fuentes Benitez, however, begs to differ with convention. He is accomplishing the impossible though his startup, STOKES, the first and only all-natural beef jerky statup in China - which is well on its course to disrupt a US$ 3B category. In this episode of Millennial Musings, Anurag chats with Tomas on how he grew STOKES from a makeshift food lab he built in his dorm room, to now becoming one of the hottest food products in Chinese supermarkets - largelly all by himself. Along the way, he has attracted investments and support from massive names, such as football legend Javier Mascherano. The rocketship rise definitely has had many ups, but also several challenges. But at its core, this is truly a story of perseverence, dogged persistence, and rising up to the occasion. Make no mistake, Tomas is an absolute inspiration for budding entrepreneurs around the world.

About Tomas: Tomas Fuentes Benitez is a business lawyer turned entrepreneur from Argentina. He has lived in China for several years, where he founded STOKES, the first all-natural beef jerky startup in this market. Because of his experience in doing business in China, he also serves as the Investment Advisor of Argentina's Embassy in Beijing.

About STOKES: Founded in the dorms of Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University, STOKES is the first and only all-natural beef jerky startup in China. Based in Beijing and with factories in Shanghai, we are disrupting a US$3B category. Our products are on the shelves of supermarkets across China and have become category best-sellers in only a few months. Among our investors is football legend Javier Mascherano, former captain of FC Barcelona.

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