Recently, Ren Quan, the founder of StarVC, accepted "Entrepreneur &; Interview with I Dark Horse, telling his investment logic and the entrepreneurial story behind it.
"Showing off is not my character."
StarVC investment is not limited to fields and stages, we should invest in surprises for everyone.
I remember Li Bingbing once said, "Being an actor is very tiring, and I have exams every day.". Because acting is about thinking, not just taking the script. The actor received a new script, which he couldn't do with his original experience. Everyone should constantly break through themselves. The new role can't be the same as before. I want to create a new person, his way of speaking, his way of dressing, his tone. This is similar to investing. Whether we can bring some surprises to you in the next project has become a question that we keep thinking about.
This may be what we have been looking for. I don't think a fund can define what it should do or what it must do. Because investment should be an investment in the future, not the financial return now. Several of our partners have literary feelings, and starting a business may not be to meet their own financial or life demands, but more to meet the demands of society.
If you talk to me about finance, I will fall asleep soon. Seriously, I'm not interested in numbers. You might as well talk to the finance department directly. I really don't like talking about numbers.
I made an angel fund five years ago. StarVC was founded in July, 20 14, when the capital was not too hot. Later, as soon as we announce what to invest in, the corresponding field is called the so-called "window".
In fact, I don't want to stand on the cusp, because the cusp is not my personality. I am an artist, and the most important thing is to be noticed. If I want to be glamorous, I won't be an investor, because no industry is more glamorous than being a star. Many people say that "StarVC has always been very high-profile", but to be honest, I never think we are high-profile. We seldom give interviews and attend business activities, so we should keep a low profile.
"Don't bet on direction and trajectory"
StarVC is the most impersonal, and does not bet on the direction and track.
When we look at an entrepreneur, we often pay attention to whether TA has humanistic feelings and literary characteristics. The so-called literary talent means not to be eager for quick success and instant benefit, and whether TA likes what he is doing. I don't think entrepreneurs need to be fanatical, but they must like what they do, not to start a company with a market value of several hundred million, but to promote their products and let more people use them.
StarVC's investment is not standardized and has no characteristics. We don't imitate others. I think if we just do the same things as other funds, this is not our strong point. Our judgment principle is that this direction is promising. If the founding team can have a chemical interaction with us and spark, we will consider (investing). So, we don't restrict any direction.
StarVC has invested in more than a dozen projects, the latest of which are technology-based companies, because I think technology can be revolutionary. Without technology, the business model cannot be revolutionized.
For example, Internet finance is a product with Internet attributes, but who should we trust? I think people in the future should trust the data, which is why we invest in 360. It may be a good platform company that provides data services.
I met Daqing (Ye Daqing, founder of Rong 360) in a forum. He was the first to talk about his thoughts on internet finance, and I was the second to talk about it. He was busy that day, so I took the initiative to pull him back.
I said I wanted to talk to you. I was always confused before, but I was very excited after listening to him for half an hour. Because I didn't know much about his model at that time, I thought at first whether Rong 360 had something to do with Zhou 360 Company.
I have been staring at this project since contact. I also became friends with Qing, told him what StarVC was, and decided to cooperate after half a year. I think such a company really has a future, and it will provide accurate information to each of us.
"Do things with the mentality of an entrepreneurial team"
I can't tell whether I am a perceptual or rational investor, but I must have feelings. I often ask entrepreneurs why they do this. As long as they say it, I will judge whether it is true or not. This feeling is your judgment of the unknown and unfamiliar team. It may take you a month or two to decide whether to invest, so you pay attention to the details every time you meet. Sometimes when you look at a person, you can feel that t a is in a state of entrepreneurship.
For example, in Shangtang Technology, we confirmed our investment intention in June last year 165438+ 10.
The ability of science and technology in the future must be very strong, just like we used to watch Hollywood movies, which can be basically realized now. There is no basis to see the future technology like this before, and there is no basis to prove that those things can be realized. I think the artificial intelligence involved in Shangtang Technology may be closer to our life in the future. This is an important reason why we invest in them.
I am not a technology investor, but also learn and understand artificial intelligence soon after I know them. In this process, I found that the future will really have a subversive impact, except for health care and life sciences.
I have been to Shangtang Technology for nearly ten times, and this team has more than 50 doctors. I didn't have much contact with scientists before I imagine that scientists should be over 60 years old. But it turned out that they were all young scientists, with their own unique innovations, studying technologies that we could not imagine. You will think that such a group of creative young people have hope for everything.
I was also deeply impressed by the entrepreneurial temperament of Shangtang Science and Technology Team. Their meeting room is so small that every meeting is packed. It's not that they can't afford to rent a conference room, but that they think it's more important to discuss and solve problems.
Speaking of the office location, there is another detail. Some entrepreneurs talk to me about things. In fact, they just need to find a place, and they don't have to go to a five-star hotel or coffee shop. When I first started doing StarVC two years ago, an entrepreneur directly said, Let's go to a coffee shop above that five-star hotel. I thought, is this an entrepreneur? It doesn't matter where we talk about something. We can go anywhere we are close.
Two days ago, I was in office decoration, StarVC, trying my best to save costs. Not that we can't afford it. We can have a more luxurious environment, but I don't think that's important. Just clean and comfortable. Everyone must do things with the mentality of a start-up team.
"Capital Entertainment"
I put forward a viewpoint in Boao Forum last year-capital entertainment, and AlphaGo is actually a typical case of capital entertainment. It tells people what artificial intelligence is through the well-known Go. If you want to explain artificial intelligence from an academic point of view, the paper on page 10 is unclear. And an artificial intelligence product makes people all over the world pay attention to it in the form of competition, which is the embodiment of capital entertainment.
If you don't let everyone know about artificial intelligence in this easy-to-understand way, the promotion will be very slow. We use entertainment to let more people know about truly valuable products, enterprises and companies. Although it is not directly related, the future is directly related to you.
In foreign countries, products like AlphaGo are highly respected, but in China, there may be more things in front of you.
The entertainment of StarVC's capital is more about letting people interpret technology and future things in an easy-to-understand way. In addition to the investment value of the project itself, another point is that I can convey the value behind it through my influence.
So besides investing in this relationship, I hope to share their ideas, stories and products with the public. This is why we want to invest in this company. Many people may think that this is the wind, so they voted, but this is not the case.
The original intention of starting StarVC is that my partners have a lot of industry resources to share with you. In fact, some enterprises and products do not need our capital, but need our brand and trust to endorse them. It suddenly occurred to me that in such a portfolio, our star will definitely bring value to others. I know more about the attributes of stars, so I think StarVC has a chance.
"Everything you know is successful."
In addition to investment, we also co-founded the Future Science and Technology Research Center with Shang Tang, hoping to really recruit people with research attitude and awareness. As long as young people come to us, they can help in planning company structure, financing and marketing.
I think it can influence more young people and give them a good direction and a correct sense of entrepreneurship.
Sometimes starting a business may go through a pit. The key is how to prevent it. I listen to other people's opinions and analyze how to cross. You are a successful entrepreneur.
I have been in business for 20 years, and I want to share my experience with you. I started my business in college. Some roads need to be taken, some roads are unnecessary, and some cannot be rushed. I can't succeed as soon as I graduate from college. That's very few.
It is difficult to start a business. Not everyone can start a business. Everyone sees successful entrepreneurs, in fact, what you see is just their glamour today. What you know is success, what you don't know is failure.
People's endurance is limited, not iron, not machines, so starting a business must go in a good direction and don't take detours. If you don't have strong ability and strength, you can't live by taking a detour and jumping into the pit.
I don't agree with the statement that you can't make progress without failure. Sometimes I can't stand up when I fail, and I am directly photographed on the beach.