In China, concerns about food safety are so serious that residents at times take to the green spaces between tenements to plant gardens. Others farm on windowsills and balconies, or use specialized e-commerce services to track down safe vegetables and meats.
在中国，食品安全问题非常严重，以至于一些居民会在建筑物之间的绿地里种菜。还有人在窗台和阳台上种菜，或是使用专门的电商服务，来获取安全的蔬菜和肉类。
These habits led Lennon Tsai to start a company that supplies all the hydroponics equipment necessary for a would-be urban farmer to get started on an indoor garden. While trying to sell equipment to a new Chinese middle class concerned about the rampant contamination of China’s soil and water, Mr. Tsai by chance came upon a secondary market in America.
这些习惯促使蔡万巧(Lennon Tsai)开了一家公司，为想在城里务农的人提供各种必要的水培设备，以便开辟室内种植园。虽然蔡万巧的初衷是面向中国新兴的中产阶层销售设备，因为他们对中国猖獗的土壤污染和水污染忧心忡忡，但他却在不经意中发现了美国的一个二级市场。
“One of my U.S. customers bought my product and grew marijuana at his home and sent me the photo. I was really stunned; I was surprised our product could be used to grow marijuana,” Mr. Tsai said in a recent interview. “Only later did I realize it’s a big market.”
“一个美国客户买了我的产品，在他家里种出大麻，把照片拍给我看，把我吓了一跳。我说，我们的产品怎么可以种大麻嘛，”蔡万巧在近期的一次采访中说。“后来才知道说，原来这是一个很大的市场。”
With the help of cheap manufacturing, Mr. Tsai’s company, iGrow, is now aiming to build its presence in the United States by selling inexpensive grow kits. His company, based in Hangzhou, China, is an example of a new generation of Chinese start-ups that are more flexible, internationally aware and globally ambitious than their forebears.
在低成本制造的帮助下，蔡万巧的公司宅耕科技(iGrow)现在希望通过销售廉价的种植套件，在美国赢得一席之地。他的公司总部设在中国杭州。新一代中国初创企业比上一代更加灵活、更具国际意识和全球视野，他的公司就是一个例子。
In the interview, Mr. Tsai discusses the difficulties in selling his plan to his staff and why he founded his company.
在采访中，蔡万巧谈到了向员工推广自己的计划时遇到的困难，以及为什么他会创办这家公司。
Q. What is the background of iGrow?
问：为什么创办iGrow这家公司？
A. I was born in a very rural environment. I grew up in a remote village, which had a very good environment surrounded by many flowers and plants. As a kid, I would plant stuff with adults; I planted rice, flowers and other types of agricultural crops. But with China’s industrialization, the place where I grew up now had been stripped of green plants. Also gone are the sentiments toward nature. So I have always had this wish or dream — is it possible for agriculture to get rid of the constraints of soil?
答：我从小生长在比较偏僻的农村里面，当时的自然环境很好，有很多花卉、植物，小时候也有过这种种植的体验。有时候跟着年纪大一点的人去耕种，种水稻、花卉、一些农作物。但是随着我们国内工业化的进程，我们那一代小时候生活的片区也已经没有了绿色植物。也没有了这种自然的感觉。所以我心里一直有个愿望，有个梦想，就说我们农业是不是可以摆脱土地的束缚吗？
Q. How has the younger generation taken to your products?
问：年轻一代对你的产品接受度如何？
A. Most of our customers are between 20 and 40 years old. The older generation is more used to things grown in soil; many put plants on their balcony and fertilize them every day, whereas young people don’t have time to do so, and they don’t have the knowledge. Young people don’t know how to grow plants.
答：我们的客户大部分是20到40岁之间。上一代人更习惯土壤的东西；放到阳台里面去，每天浇水、施肥，但年轻人没有这个时间，年轻人也不懂怎么养植物。
We have some educational work to do, and it takes time to educate people about the idea of soil-free planting. For now, we will start with flowers. For flowers, you can actually see how they turn out. Many girls love flowers and green plants, but they are having a hard time nurturing them. Many aren’t even able to keep alive cactus, which thrive in deserts.
我们前期是要进行一定的教育工作，无土在室内种植的体验和习惯是需要一段时间的推广。所以我们先以花卉为入口。花只要种好，这个事情是看得到的。很多女孩子喜欢绿色植物，喜欢花卉，但是她种不好。就连在沙漠里可以活得很好的仙人掌，她都养不活。
Q. How did you realize there was a different market for hydroponics?
问：你是怎么意识到水培还有另一个市场的？
A. I have some relatives living in California. The planting of marijuana is legal there under certain conditions. I didn’t pay much attention to such a market then. I thought marijuana had nothing to do with us. Then one of my U.S. customers bought my product and grew marijuana at his home and sent me the photo. I was really stunned; I was surprised our product could be used to grow marijuana. Only later did I realize that it’s a big market. I later learned that many people would like to grow marijuana at their homes. I conducted some research on marijuana in the United States. Some states have already legalized it, and others are considering it. In some states, medical use of marijuana is legal. Many U.S. customers have shown a willingness to cooperate, which reinforces my belief that we can achieve something really big in the market.
答：我有一些亲戚在加州生活。跟我们提过大麻种植合法，但是是有条件的。当时我并没有在意这样的市场，也漠不关心，认为大麻和我们这个没关系。后来一个美国客户买了我的产品，在他家里种出大麻，把照片拍给我看，把我吓了一跳。我说，我们的产品怎么可以种大麻嘛。后来才知道说，原来这是一个很大的市场。在加州很多人愿意在家里种大麻。后来我专门对美国的大麻市场做过一些调研，现在有些州已经放开了，有一些州在逐步放开，还有一些州医用大麻是合法的，政府是允许医用大麻这一块的。当我们想对产品做一些改进的时候，发现很多美国客户过来跟我们说愿意合作，愿意来打这个市场。在这个过程中更加确定了这个市场是大有所为的信心。
People began to use equipment to grow marijuana toward the end of last year, early this year in California. It’s been a while. It’s just I didn’t pay much attention in the beginning, and later it became a strategy for our company overseas.
去年底、今年初的时候，开始有人用我们的机器种大麻。一开始我没留意，到后来这变成我们公司在国外的一个战略。
Q. In China, the use of marijuana is far less common, and it faces serious stigmas. Did you face any opposition from your staff about the plan?
问：在中国，吸大麻远远没那么普遍，是非常见不得人的事。你的员工对这项发展计划有反对意见吗？
A. There were some concerns with our R and D team; they had some worries. Many believed marijuana is a bad thing. It’s not like growing flowers or vegetables, which are perceived as very healthy. They believed marijuana is unhealthy and harmful to human beings. That’s why some people were concerned about this, because they hoped the products we undertake would be good for human health and purification of indoor air. There were some arguments. But later, we managed to quell their concerns. We had undertaken some work. One is that we used a video from the National Geographic Channel that introduced what marijuana is, its status in the United States, why the government there has permitted its use and why it has legalized it in some states. This is to let people know that marijuana is not what people thought.
答：我们的研发团队有些顾虑。他们认为大麻是不好的东西，不像种花或蔬菜，非常健康。他们觉得大麻不健康，对人有害。所以他们对这个有情绪，因为员工希望我的产品种出的东西有利于人的健康，有助于净化室内空气。所以当时产生过争论。但是后来我们解决了员工的顾虑，我们做了几项工作。第一个就是，我们在美国国家地理频道找到一个视频，专门介绍什么是大麻，大麻在美国的情况，以及政府为什么允许使用大麻，为什么在有些州是合法的。就是让员工明白，大麻并不像人们想象的那么负面。
Q. How did your peers respond to the idea?
问：你的同辈人对此怎么看？
A. A classmate of mine is doing his Ph.D. in biology at Yale, and he told me I must pay attention to the marijuana market in the United States. I said why? He said it’s very likely the market will be bigger than your flower market in China. Marijuana is our priority in the States, but we also do vanilla and mint, things widely used in Western food.
答：我有个同学在耶鲁大学读生物学博士，他告诉我必须要重视美国的大麻市场。我说为什么？他说这个市场极有可能会超过你在中国大陆的市场。在美国，我们把大麻作为重点，但我们也有设备可以种植香草、薄荷等西餐中比较常用的植物。
Q. Do you think your company is an indication of how Chinese start-ups are becoming more internationally minded?
问：你觉得你的公司是否代表着一种新的潮流，可以体现出中国创业公司开始更具国际市场开拓意识？
A. My mother and my sister are all in Spain. Many of friends live in the States, and many of my classmates are thinking of immigrating there. Many were educated in the United States. We are eager to learn about the information overseas, and we want to learn about the business part. Ten years ago, the past generation did not have a lot of ideas about the world, but ours is more international, and we want to expand our business in mainland China to the overseas market. We want to build a global business community. I am just one person from our generation, and maybe I represent some hopes of our generation, namely that we want people overseas to participate in our business and we want them to be able to enjoy our products.
答：我妈妈和姐姐都在西班牙。我有很多朋友生活在美国，包括我的很多同学都是移民到美国，直接在美国读的大学。国外信息来的时候，我这类人是蛮有冲动去了解，想把生意做过去。十年前，可能上一代人这种想法不是那么多，但我感觉从我们这一代人开始，已经越来越国际化。我们想把自己在中国大陆做的事情也做到国外去，建立起一个全球商业社区。我是这个群体的其中一员，可能代表着我们这代人的一些希望，希望国外合适的客户群体也能参与我们做的事，能享受到我们的产品。