About Connect To Asia

Management:

John Qin, Co-Founder and CEO

John is a graduate of the School of International Trade and Economics of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing and holds a BA degree in Economics.

He has served at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) and General Electric International Operations Company Inc. (GE) as an interpreter, project manager, English executive editor, business representative and deputy general manager for many years before launching his own business to assist Chinese business groups to attend trade shows overseas, meet and negotiate transactions with foreign counterparts in other countries, and vice versa.

For various types of missions, John travelled around the US, Europe and Asia, which helped him gain new vision and expect significant growth of the tremendous opportunities arising between the US businesses and potential cooperative partners from the Emerging Markets in Asia.

In 2009, John and Michael co-founded Connect To Asia, LLC in Tampa, Florida and were determined to develop new business models via internet technology to facilitate the flow of business information and conclusion of trade transactions in a creative and businesslike way.

John is responsible for the corporate executive operation and overall development strategy of the company.

Michael Murray, Co-Founder and CTO

Michael has had a career in the computer industry that challenged his creative inventiveness frequently.

His computing career began at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island. The environment encouraged exploration and invention.

Next, Michael went to NC and joined Superior Continental Corp, the manufacturing and supply division of Continental Telephone. His group was chartered with developing a production and inventory control system for a multi-division corporation, with each division having multiple locations. All processing was done at the headquarters location via remote data terminals.

He worked at United Brass Works in Randleman, NC as their Data Processing Manager. He successfully converted a punched card accounting system into a minicomputer-based production and inventory control system that allowed the company to grow and expand into owning their own bronze foundry.

Michael was recruited by Computer Systems in Rock Hill, SC because of his extensive System/3 experience and designed an animal registration system utilized by The American Dairy Goat Association in Spindale, NC. This system automated a process involving 21 file cabinets of records . Michael developed all the programming for this system.

An offer came from Arista Manufacturing Systems in Winston-Salem, NC to join their product development team, and Michael took the position. He wrote the first mainframe computer-based Net Change Material Requirements Planning System that was integrated as a module into the Arista software. The company, at that time, was the #1 supplier of production and inventory control software to Fortune 500 companies.

Michael was promoted to Project Manager at Arista and oversaw the implementation of the product at customer locations. He worked with companies such as TRW, Crane, Rockwell International, Holley Carburetor, Acco Industries and Aladdin Industries to implement the software. He delivered a paper on “Master Production Scheduling At An OEM Automotive Supplier – A Case Study” at a regional conference of The American Production And Control Society and Michael holds a Certification In Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) from APICS.

Arista was purchased by Xerox and became a Xerox Computer Services company. Because of his detailed product knowledge and strong programming background, Michael was promoted to manager for the Implementation Support Services group.

Three of us left Arista and formed Target Business Systems in Winston-Salem, NC. We asked for, and got, the entire state of NC to sell and support the production and inventory control system, QMRP. Eventually, we became a support group for Qantel and their dealers to help Qantel customers implement QMRP all over the USA. We sold almost no computers.

Next, Michael set up Software Consulting, Inc. in Winston-Salem, NC and operated the company for 18 years with a national client base.

A move to the Tampa Bay area of Florida followed, and Michael continued to do manufacturing systems support.

Next Michael established one of the first Internet Service Provider businesses in Tampa Bay. This was well before the World Wide Web and Internet Explorer. The first Internet connection he had was a single 28.8 baud modem that allowed up to 10 people online at one time. Michael built and maintained the PC-based network required for the business and grew it as the World Wide Web came around. The pricing, and profitability, of Internet access was dropping rapidly. When the price became $0, Michel decided that “free” was a very poor business model and moved on.

The next venture was Web site development. Michael avoided the flat, two-dimensional “billboard” type Web sites that did almost nothing, in favor of using Web programming and developing the first e-commerce system utilizing “cookies” to keep track of shopping cart contents. When people began blocking cookies, Michael developed one of the first database-driven e-commerce systems. Competition became fierce and Web design from Third World providers was greatly impacting profitability, so the decision was to engage in a business that required a fairly high start up cost and a high skill level. Internet video marketing and advertising became the new niche.

John and Michael met back in Michael’s Web developer days and talked often about the Internet and possible opportunities. John approached Michael with the idea for Connect To Asia and, as they say, the rest is history.