The claim that 90% of entrepreneurs suffer from depression is an exaggeration, but psychological and emotional problems are indeed common in the high-pressure environment of entrepreneurship. Wang Huiwen announced his foray into artificial intelligence four months ago, but unfortunately became one of them.
According to Meituan's announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, due to personal health reasons, Wang Huiwen had to resign as a non-executive director of the company, a member of the nomination committee of the board of directors and an authorized representative of the company under the securities listing rules. This decision will take effect from the next day. Before that, Wang Huiwen had left light-years away from the days he founded. Subsequently, on June 29, Meituan issued an announcement announcing that it had completed the acquisition of 100% equity in domestic and overseas themes outside Lightyear by way of about US$233 million in cash and approximately RMB367 million in debt commitments.
In just four months, two people named "Lao Wang" completed a "two-person turn" in the field of artificial intelligence. At the beginning of 2023, ChatGPT came out, and the wave of artificial intelligence began to sweep the world. On February 11, Wang Huiwen, the co-founder of Meituan, who was already preparing to "retire", reappeared and announced his entry into the field of artificial intelligence with great fanfare. "I don't understand AI technology right now, but I'm trying to learn... Even if I'm just a person, I'm going to go. Wang Huiwen's determination is evident.
At that time, he promised to contribute $50 million, but not the shares, the capital accounted for 25%, and the remaining 75% would be used to invite top R&D talents to build China's OpenAI. As soon as this news came out, many people responded.
Wang Xing, founder of Meituan, published an impassioned text in the circle of friends expressing support for Wang Huiwen's entrepreneurial project: "The big model of artificial intelligence makes me excited about the huge productivity that will be created, but also worried about its impact on the whole world. Lao Wang and I have been on the road to entrepreneurship for nearly two decades, and since he has decided to embrace this wave, I must support him. Wang Xing revealed that he will participate in the Series A investment outside of Lightyear in his personal capacity and serve as a director.
Soon, Liu Jiang, vice president of KLCII, and Ma Zhankai, the "father of Sogou input method", joined Lightyear one after another, both from the "Meituan department". Among them, Liu Jiang served as the dean of Meituan Institute of Technology, and Ma Zhankai has served as a product consultant for Meituan since 2010.
Regarding financing, in addition to Wang Xing, Kuaishou founder Su Hua invested in Lightyear in his personal capacity, and Tencent was also rumored to be one of the investors. According to Wang Huiwen, before the release of the "AI Hero List", the top VC subscriptions worth $230 million had been locked in advance outside of Lightyears.
It can be said that Wang Huiwen is a rising nouveau riche in the field of artificial intelligence beyond his light years. In April 2023, only 2 months after its establishment outside of Lightyear, it has already been valued at more than $1 billion, becoming one of the unicorn companies. In the same month, Lightyear also completed the acquisition of OneFlow, a Beijing-based artificial intelligence large-model company founded in 2017 by Tsinghua Dr. Yuan Jinhui. Members light-years away moved into a new office in the Sohu Network Building on April 6.
On the same day, Wang Huiwen and the team members held a groundbreaking ceremony, celebrated this new beginning together, and ate cake. By mid-April, First-class Technology completed its industrial and commercial changes, becoming the largest shareholder of First-class Technology outside Lightyear, and Wang Huiwen also became the legal representative of First-class Technology. In addition, Lightyear has also engaged with two AI startups, Face Wall Intelligence and Shenyan Technology.
The development beyond light years under the leadership of Wang Huiwen is very fast, and it can be said that it has advanced by leaps and bounds. However, since entering May, the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse, and the problem is Wang Huiwen's personal health.
In fact, when announcing her "retirement" from Meituan in 2020, Wang Huiwen mentioned in her farewell letter: "I have always been unable to handle the relationship between work, family and health well. "For entrepreneurs, depression is a high-incidence mental illness.
A documentary "Randian" once surveyed 5,000 entrepreneurs, and the results showed that more than half of the entrepreneurs worked more than 60 hours a week, they felt more and more distant from family and friends, and their hearts were very lonely and anxious; 70% are in a state of high stress, and even 7% of entrepreneurs believe that entrepreneurship has affected their sex life.
Lei Jun once said: "Entrepreneurship is really not something that everyone can do. Under stress and anxiety, business celebrities such as Ren Zhengfei, Zhang Chaoyang and Mao Daqing have been plagued by depression.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla boss Musk is using small doses of ketamine to treat depression.
Wang Huiwen's withdrawal due to illness is indeed an unexpected event that occurred light-years away. And with his exit, the future beyond light-years has also become the focus of the outside world.