On April 14, 2024, Wen Li, the founder/CEO of Paper App, was invited to speak at the 27th Harvard China Forum held at Harvard University. Since its inception in 1997, the Harvard China Forum, held annually in April, has become the largest and oldest student-organized China-themed summit in North America, and an important platform for connecting business, academic and political leaders.
Wen Li's paper app is a fast-growing "Internet + Composition Learning" content platform, which has established strong brand recognition and popularity among students, parents and teachers through technology and data-empowered education. The paper app is committed to using scientific means to process large amounts of data and complex educational content, simplify it and present it in a user-friendly way. The platform now has more than 70 million registered users and 5 million monthly active users, plus nearly 10 million off-site followers and nearly 250 million social media exposures.
In his speech, Wen elaborated on how China's large population and rapid economic development have shaped a huge consumer market. He emphasized that with the advancement of 4G and 5G technology, the improvement of mobile payment technology, the improvement of digital infrastructure and the popularization of smart terminals, the business model of mobile Internet has been significantly enriched. In addition, the rapid development of generative AI technology provides an efficient and diverse means of creation for both professionally generated content (PGC) and user-generated content (UGC). This technological advancement provides valuable experience and model for startups with Chinese backgrounds to succeed in the global consumer Internet space.
Wen Li spoke at the Harvard China Forum on the topic of Chinese entrepreneurs going global
Wen Li said that since its inception, the paper app has been based on the field of educational content technology of the consumer Internet, and after 7 years of development, it has created a mature and efficient system from content creation, distribution, operation to commercialization, which can serve nearly 100 million users. In this process, the team led by Wen Li has established a sound human resources system, cultivated a large number of talents, and formed a complete talent echelon.
Wen Li also further emphasized the international vision and rich experience of the core team of Paper Strip APP. He pointed out that users in the global market have higher requirements for the quality and diversity of content consumption, especially in English-speaking countries, where consumers have higher expectations for the aesthetic design, usage logic and operation of Internet products. Generative AI technology provides an efficient and cost-effective means for global operations, allowing companies to respond more flexibly to the diverse needs of the market.
The paper note app was co-founded by Wen Li, Chen Lixun and Xia Enyang. Wen Li and Chen Lixun graduated from Stanford University, and Xia Enyang was a top student at Johns Hopkins University. Wen Li started his entrepreneurial journey in Silicon Valley in 2014 while he was a student. In 2017, Paper APP successfully completed a million-dollar angel round of financing led by Microlight Ventures, and then Mindfulness Capital, Panda Capital, and Highway 1 Capital also participated in the follow-up. In 2019, the company received millions of dollars in Series A financing from Sequoia Capital and GGV Capital, the world's top venture capital institutions.
Within the company, the three founders have their own roles and expertise. As CEO, Wen Li is responsible for overall strategic planning, financing, core business management, and talent organization. Chen Lixun served as CFO, and he used his talents in data analysis and technology in the fields of corporate administration, learning and R&D to establish the company's intellectual property protection system, and completed the company's angel round and Series A financing due diligence, agreement, variable equity entity (VIE) structure and asset restructuring, and established the company's performance management system, human resources business cooperation (HRBP) system and fixed asset management system. He also led the creation of the company's content production process management system, which not only improves the company's production efficiency and data accuracy, but also provides a more convenient working platform for content creators, which has an exemplary role in the digitalization and efficiency improvement of the entire industry.
As COO, Xia Enyang demonstrated his outstanding talents in data science and algorithm development, and he led the design of the algorithm recommendation system of the paper note app, which includes a label content aggregation system, a content matching system and a user data analysis system, which can recommend appropriate content according to the user's age group, reading preference and specific time node. In addition, Xia Enyang also designed a user growth system, through innovative design such as personalized learning and gamification elements, which not only popularized high-quality educational resources and improved educational fairness, but also effectively stimulated users' interest in learning and optimized teaching methods through interactive system design. From strategic planning to day-to-day operations, each of the three founders plays a key role in driving the company forward.
At the end of his speech, Wen Li emphasized that in the context of China's industrial upgrading, Papernote APP will continue to promote the innovation and expansion of content platform technology by leveraging its international background and expertise in the field of content technology to face the challenges of localized operations and a deeper understanding of different cultures around the world. Wen's presentation at the Harvard China Forum showcases his strategic thinking as an innovative leader, and as AI and mobile technology continue to advance, Wen Li and his team are committed to continuously optimizing and expanding the service boundaries of their platform to meet the growing demand for high-quality content from users around the world. Looking to the future, it is hoped that Wen Li and his note app can continue to play a leading role in the global content technology field. (Chen Xianjing)