You may rarely see such a conversation in a public roundtable forum: a young investor expounded his institution's "tricks", and then the moderator immediately responded, "I am actually not satisfied with this explanation", and then the investor's speech became sharp, "We never look at the fundraising materials, it makes no sense".
Wittgenstein said that the boundaries of discourse are the boundaries of my world. Only the rational spirit of professionalism, coupled with inspiration, enthusiasm and courage, can follow the footsteps of their predecessors and expand the boundaries of their own world in a period of change and in a limited young age.
On May 9th, at the "18th China Investment Annual Conference and Annual Summit", at the NOVA Supernova Investor Branch, Gao Jiankai, Partner of Lightspeed Phototechnic, He Fuchang, Founding Partner of Jinding Capital, Li Hongsen, Partner of Jinyu Bogor, Meng Xiangpeng, Partner of Guofang Innovation Industry, Qiu Wenyi, Vice President of Investment of PwC Capital, and Wang Wenrong, Partner of Dachen Caizhi, gave a speech on "Why Can't Young People Lie Flat?" This topic was discussed in depth, and this summit dialogue was hosted by Dong Lihan, editor-in-chief of ChinaVentures.com.
At the beginning of the roundtable, the moderator quoted a magazine cover and proposed that to solve the current "maze", some new methods, thinking and ideas are needed. Young investors are not hiding, and they have opened up to share their unique "unique skills". In the end, under the host's "prodding", the young investors were half realistic and half longing, and "bragged about it".
The following is a transcript of the on-site discussion, which was compiled by ChinaVentures:
Dong Lihan: Today's theme is called "Don't Lie Flat", I thought about it for a while, and there is a bit of survivor bias, because today's people are all relatively good people in the industry, and the selection is basically the post-80s and post-90s investors.
In the self-introduction, I hope you will highlight a key point, what tricks and tricks you have, and what is different from the existing market and the older investors of the previous generation, and share it with you.
Yesterday, when Yang Xiaolei, CEO of China Pitch Information, opened his speech, the last picture of PPT put a magazine cover of foreign media: there is an arrow coming in from the left, and after coming in, there is a maze, and the maze draws a lot of turns with solid lines, and it is difficult to break the game, I think the Americans and our views are similar, but the Chinese estimate their inner state is more complicated than that picture. To break this situation, some new methods, new ideas and new thinking may still be needed.
Yesterday and today, I have heard a lot of bigwigs talk about their current thoughts and situations, and the theme that can be highlighted today is, what will this generation of young people do? What is the perception of the market? I'm going to share with you, what do I think is the thing that needs to be done with some interaction with you? There's a chance something will collide with you.
Enjoy the dividends of compound interest
Gao Jiankai: I am from Lightspeed Photosynthesis, and the scale of the fund under management of Lightspeed Photosynthesis exceeds 20 billion yuan. I hadn't thought about this before, but if I really wanted to have one, I think it was very important to iterate on my own abilities.
I joined the industry in 2014, and it has been just ten years now, and I have just started to focus on investment in the field of enterprise services and health, and the best investment in recent years has been cross-field and interdisciplinary projects.
Dong Lihan: Which case represents what stage of your thinking? In the last two years, what has become of the state again? What does that case illustrate?
Gao Jiankai: I used to do consumer electronics, and I worked in ASUS for five or six years, doing products, R&D, and sales. Through Alibaba's resources, China's best work, whether it is e-commerce or the Internet model, can basically be accessed, which can help me iterate on capabilities.
After Ali, I not only invested in AI+, but also invested in synthetic biology at the speed of light, and I have a lot of accumulation so far. I have slowly iterated from the Internet to this wave of cutting-edge technology, to interdisciplinarity, and then recently, we have been watching AGI-related, iteratively improving our capabilities wave by wave.
Dong Lihan: You start to enjoy the dividends of compound interest. I heard that young investors began to slowly follow the growth path of the old guns, and there will be more and more in the future, and they began to have no perception, and suddenly one day they told you that I am valuable to you, and you are right to use me like this.
Gao Jiankai: Not only that, but there are other bonuses. For example, I have a little seniority in the team, and sometimes my past experience can be shared with young colleagues, and I can change from the previous one-man battle to team combat and grow together.
Jump down and hug the "enemy".
Dong Lihan: Last year or the year before last, China Ventures made a topic, and several post-80s generations were contracting CVC. I'm actually very curious, this business model sounds, like "I have a different entry point from yours, I have a different view of myself, and when I came in, I used this trick and everyone else is different", this evaluation, including contracting CVC, this sounds very retro, and at the same time very fresh thing, is it accurate?
He Fuchang: Because all of you here today are post-80s, relatively young. Jinding Capital was founded in 2014, positioned to do industrial investment, the source of funds are all industries, are given by industries in various tracks, and last year also invested in nearly twenty or thirty projects, more than one billion.
Dong Lihan: How many people voted for twenty or thirty projects?
Ho Fuchang: We have 40 or 50 investment managers, and compared with the previous generation, we have never enjoyed the opportunity of the wind and waves. I started my business in 2014, and I have been stumbling and tumbling in front of me, and now I am talking about not getting off the table. For example, our predecessors Dachen, they enjoyed the opportunity of asset securitization back then, and a large number of enterprises from more than 2,000 to five or six thousand opportunities, similar to the opportunity to pick up money from our old employer.
When we came back in, there wasn't really such an opportunity. So when we think about our generation, we have to go more to the industry. For example, today it is said that if there is no Beta, you have to go to the industry and make more money from the growth of the industry, so I will use a figurative analogy, which is a bit similar to the Battle of Pingxingguan, where our predecessors are very strong.
Of course, it's not such a metaphor, someone else is very strong, when we fight, he has an air force, artillery shells, and if we stand on it, we will be blown up, so our solution is to jump down and hug the "enemy". The strategy adopted by Jinding is that we want to be the industry, we want to be with the industry, we are friends with it, we are with it to explore all the investments and the growth and future of these industries.
Objectively speaking, it is a bit similar to the path of entrepreneurs, so Jinding defines culture as entrepreneurship, as an enterprise to do, may be in the previous generation of more investment companies to discuss the track, investment direction, as an investor, all here are investors, we are investors before we do an entrepreneur, think about how to be deep in an industry, like the pulse of an entrepreneur to beat, change, and then we are an investor. Add another creator and create value with them, so we chose this path.
Dong Lihan: It's very good, with a set of special standard PR words, it is sincere, but I understand. Let me ask you a small question, when you entered, did the founders have any specific industrial resources? Or how was that road paved? What can be shared in terms of methodology.
Ho Fuchang: A few of us don't have anything, so we hold on tighter. When he started his business, it took two years to enter a listed company, which is equivalent to becoming a department of theirs, going to work in the company every day, helping him develop from a single business to a variety of businesses, in terms of market value, four or five billion to achieve a maximum of 30 billion, helping him to do PE investment from VC investment, Tongcheng Tourism also invested with him, helped him do mergers and acquisitions, we have been polishing and understanding the industry and becoming an industry through two years, and then take the case out to copy, and then do it in more tracks.
Dong Lihan: Won't you hit a cycle?
Ho Fuchang: Yes, our cycle is changed by the way we play. For example, Jinding plunged into the pet track early, which may be an opportunity to invest in foundries in the early days, an opportunity to invest in VC, an opportunity to invest in brands, and now an opportunity to invest in PE.
Dong Lihan: I sound like I don't have anything, so I can try anything, and what I can stay can extend my ability. The mentality is completely different, the results are similar, and both sides are actually good now. The tricks are completely different, but they may come to the same end, and at a certain point in time, you will find that there is more than one path to success.
"There are no assets to be a VC, it depends on people"
Li Hongsen: I'm Li Hongsen from Jinyu Bogor, and I'm mainly responsible for the company's investment in the medical and health industry. We have been established for 20 years, engaged in venture capital for 15 years, investment headquarters in Nanjing, now the management scale of more than 17 billion, next year may exceed 20 billion, invested in more than 300 projects, most of them are early, has cultivated 33 listed companies.
Just now Mr. Dong said a trick, I don't think I can talk about it, but each institution has its own characteristics, from 2004 to the present, has experienced different cycles, and now can maintain a very high frequency of activity and fundraising ability, last year raised 2 billion, invested 1 billion, this key is the spirit of struggle of Jinyu Bogor does not lie flat, we still have our own characteristics:
First, we still closely surround Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, especially Jiangsu, and deeply penetrate into every city in Jiangsu, from Suzhou to Wuxi, to Nantong, to Nanjing, and our tentacles have penetrated into every city and township in Jiangsu, and we have first-hand project resources.
Second, in such a long time cycle, we have managed fifty or sixty funds, each of which has a scale of about 300 million, 80% of which are VC stage projects, and the most profitable project is Maiwei, a solar energy equipment company in Suzhou, which has been with it for almost 12 years.
Third, I have always invested in hard technology and manufacturing, because I am investing in medical care, we are in the medical sector, a long time ago, probably in 2014 and 2015, consumer medical care as a very important sector to invest in, in 2016 invested in a company called Bethany, and now it has grown into the domestic consumer medical industry leader.
Including the semiconductor industry rarely invest in design, most of the investment in some parts, materials, our company can still maintain a very healthy growth process, this is Jinyu Bogor so many years of accumulated experience suitable for us, of course, this process needs to continue to innovate, including continuous industry research to find the latest industry direction, including internal partnership, the interests of each team member infiltrate into the fund management, encourage the team to hold shares in the GP, after the project exits, Although carry the assignment to the team.
I don't think VC has assets, and it doesn't mean that it relies on patented technology, but on mechanism, teamwork and fighting spirit.
Dong Lihan: Very good, I have to expose myself, don't look at me in this industry for more than ten years, in fact, the people who write articles are basically written and read at the head, I have received a lot of different new information today, and heard a lot of new and different ways of playing. You just talked about two projects, one is to earn dozens of times, that project is called Maiwei, the first round of investment?
Li Hongsen: Yes, more than 100 million.
Dong Lihan: Its outbreak period is actually very late.
Li Hongsen: The fund has been in the fund for 8 years, and there have been projects that have withdrawn before to do some capital repatriation, but the time of listing is almost in the eighth year of the fund, and then it was locked for another year, and the reduction of holdings has been reduced for one year, and the money has been taken back in almost the 11th year, and the income of the project is close to 1.9 billion.
Dong Lihan: This is a particularly standard early investor play.
Li Hongsen: Bethany's actual controller team came out to make another company, going towards consumption, which was called medical skin care at that time, and it was almost 2015, when it was invested, it was almost one or two million profits. Later, we helped the company to do a lot of financial normative actions, and in 2017, we began to assist the company in doing financial internal standardization, and soon promoted the progress of the IPO.
Dong Lihan: The two projects are completely different in terms of play. I think you are very flexible in terms of strategy, and you are optimistic about one thing, and it is not a big problem to use what tools and strategies you use to get in.
Li Hongsen: It doesn't matter, the old shares and capital increase are not a big obstacle to the investment itself, the key is whether the innovation direction and investment logic of the project are in line with ours.
Dong Lihan: In addition to financial tools, what do you think are the (differences) between the two projects in terms of investment strategies and team capabilities?
Li Hongsen: From equipment, materials, silicon wafers to silicon materials, to the equipment behind solar energy, we are also the first batch of institutions in China, which is mainly due to years of industry accumulation.
Bethany is also because of the difference from our original logic of traditional pharmaceutical companies, it is a partial consumer market, with both medical and consumer attributes, I feel that this market space is larger than that of medicine, and more importantly, when we invested in Dian Hong Pharmaceutical before, we saw Bethany with Mr. Guo as the core team, which is also a continuous investment in people.
"Fund-raising materials, meaningless"
Meng Xiangpeng: I come from Guofang Innovation, and the company has three investment directions, hard technology, digital software, and biomedicine, which may be the only three directions left in the investment industry. In addition, we have three investment tools, the first is the parent fund, the second is VCPE financial investment, and the third is to cooperate with the chain owners of the three industries to launch the industrial chain CVC fund.
There are three industry groups internally, and this industry group is vertically connected, investing in 56 sub-funds and nearly 80 direct investment projects. The staff of the whole company is relatively small, there are only 30 people in the front, middle and back office plus the boss, although there are three investment tools, in fact, they are all a group of people, and there is no special fund of funds group.
Dong Lihan: So you can do anything.
Meng Xiangpeng: The fund of funds, financial investment, and CVC funds in the direction of hard technology are all managed by our group. State-owned background, market-oriented operation. There is a joke that if you add enough adjectives, you will be able to become unique, and with the addition of five predicates, we feel that we have found uniqueness.
Dong Lihan: I am actually not satisfied with your explanation just now, and I have set up a box, and there is no 12345. These few plus one piece are advantages, I don't think it's a trick, the trick must be a single-point breakthrough.
Meng Xiangpeng: I would like to share a little bit about three unique points. I have two six-year personal experiences. The first experience is to work in two companies in the semiconductor industry, the first is Qualcomm, the second is Spreadtrum, six years from R&D, FAE, system architecture, PM, marketing to do five positions, in the semiconductor industry can basically do the positions have been done.
The second experience is that I officially made investments at the end of 2017, the earliest was angel investment, in 2018 and 2019, I invested more in Series A and B, and in 2020, I went to the country, and I can invest from the early incubation to the parent fund. From an angel with a valuation of 30 million to a project with a valuation of 14.4 billion, from a single investment of 5 million to 5 or 6 billion, I have done it for six years, and it can be regarded as a second round trip.
The third counter-cyclical development of the country, the country began to be the first fund of funds in 2018, began to do its own financial direct investment in 2020, made the first CVC in 2022, and is ready to start its own industrial incubation this year, step by step, we think this is reverse growth.
In fact, China's investment institutions, after angels have done a lot and accumulated a lot of reserve projects, they will do A and B rounds smoothly and expand the scale of their funds. It is easy to invest in Pre-IPO if you invest in a good fund in round A and B, and you will feel that it is easy to judge by looking backwards, and you can make the fund bigger and charge management fees, which is a development path that is in line with human nature.
However, there are very few investment institutions that can go from the second level to the first level, from the late stage to the early stage, which is a rare way of development that I have observed in my six years of personal practice. Essentially, this approach to development is against the human nature of the whole management and investment.
Dong Lihan: The third cycle is particularly interesting, it is retracted from the outlook on life or the world, it sounds like a particularly advanced thing, but it must be very difficult. What kind of time did the process of regression or restraint begin in time? For example, the general trend is coming, and the market is not good?
Meng Xiangpeng: Many people share their successes, but in fact, the successes that everyone sees are the history written by the winners. We can say in flashback that the country has been doing it for six years, which is a little bit of success, in fact, half of it is an idea, and half of it is an accidental exploration, but the general point of change should be at the beginning of the establishment of the fund, the boss's original intentions.
Our boss is from a background in the government and financial industry, and has the most government resources and financial resources. However, since its establishment in 2018, the management team has always had a belief that the most important thing in the future is assets and industries, rather than funds and resources, which is the concept that the whole team has always been relatively sure, so we have only focused on the three major directions of hard technology, digital software and medical care from the beginning, and at the same time paid great attention to industrial resources and in-depth industry ideas.
The second is that we think that we are now in a kind of anxious downward society, and you will find that no matter how smart you are, no matter how hard you work, no matter how good your luck is, you can only beat others by half a step, and you will be the same as others after stopping for half a year, and it is very difficult to invest in such a state. In the problem that there is no solution, there must always be a way of thinking, that is, in the higher dimension, in order to solve the problem that is both, wanted, and needed in the low-dimensional world.
Because of these two ideas, we chose the path just now, hoping that the team has the ability of first-line financial investors in the market, looking at the GPs in the industry, selecting sub-funds in the industry, and contacting the project at the same time or even earlier with the front desk partners of other funds in the industry, we are crawling together with the investment team in the industry, rather than collecting fundraising materials at home.
So we never look at the fundraising materials, it doesn't make any sense. On the other hand, we also hope to further deepen the industry, so we have made Huahong Hongxin Fund in the semiconductor field, CSPC Biomedical Fund in the biomedical field, and will do the third CVC in the second half of this year.
After we have more industrial resources and closer cooperation with the industrial side, we will have a different guiding ideology when we make financial investment. Because of these two original intentions, we have chosen this development path that seems to be a bit characteristic.
Dong Lihan: Listen, everyone's solutions and tools for the current situation are similar. But where you come from, where you come from, who you are, where you come from, these things are quite different, and they will lead to different views on certain things. Including the fact that you just said that you don't read the fundraising materials, the anger of the entire LP is raised, which is really completely different.
"Make money in your own investment strategy, and combine knowledge and action"
Dong Lihan: Last year, Mr. Wang was on the list with us, and after being on the list, he was also on our column. After the column was launched, Yang Xiaolei came to me and asked me, why is Wang Wenrong so popular? Why does everyone come to me and ask me who Wang Wenrong is? Why is it so powerful? I said look at Wang Wenrong's results, 4 IPOs in six years, how many investors of this generation can come up with this kind of results?
So I'm very much looking forward to Wang Wenrong talking about it today, and taking out your tricks to shine.
Wang Wenrong: First of all, thank you, Mr. Dong.
I'm Wang Wenrong from Dachen Caizhi. Dachen is a relatively old institution, established in 2000, this year is the 24th year, and it is also one of the first institutions established in China, with a management scale of nearly 50 billion, and has also invested in more than 700 companies and nearly 140 listed.
This is the miracle created and the platform built by the previous generation. In my generation, it seems to me that the "tricks" may be a few points:
First, sincerity is nirvana, I am a more down-to-earth person, in the process of communication, including the thoughts I expressed in that article or what I want to share, are very real, down-to-earth, real things.
Second, the unity of knowledge and action. I remember saying at the dinner last year that a lot of times what people say on stage is actually different from what they actually do in their true hearts. Many times we speak, maybe for the sake of personal and institutional publicity, for fundraising, for the sake of post-investment, and we may not actually step down in accordance with this. I feel like I can basically do what I know and do.
This is important among young people. Nowadays, everyone talks more about emotional value, in fact, many times, the post-80s generation wants to be recognized.
For example, if you don't talk about anything else, he will at least make our friends or family think that you are quite awesome. For the post-80s, the emotional value of this award is more important, which is equivalent to saying that such an authoritative organization awarded a red flower or certificate of merit, which is still relatively full.
We are now in the year, when we are about to go all out, it is certainly not particularly ideal to encounter such a market, but we must not lie flat, and the future of the industry still needs to be carried by everyone.
Dong Lihan: Do you have this mentality?
Wang Wenrong: For example, some policies have been introduced recently, and everyone is still very concerned about the emotional fluctuations in the industry, and they will consider their future investment and direction, and how to take the next step.
Dong Lihan: I don't think a top-notch investor like you would feel this way.
Wang Wenrong: If the general environment changes, no matter how good or hard you work, it may not have a good effect. But I want to say that if we continue to be deeply involved in this industry in the future, whether it is an LP, a GP, or a third party, we must believe that the future will be better, believe in the power of believing, and under this premise, we should pay more attention to those things that you can change and do things better under the given conditions.
No matter what, we can't lie flat. There are so many outstanding practitioners here, and everyone is still willing to socialize, which means that everyone is still very active, if you lie down, this will be impossible to do, and the work will not be able to be done. Yesterday, Mr. Yang said that China cannot do without venture capital, let alone venture capitalists. Our generation needs to face the next 5, 10, 20 years and beyond, and China's venture capital needs this generation of people who are motivated and hardworking.
Dong Lihan: Let me go back to the question, do you have a wealth password? Let me share it with you.
Wang Wenrong: There are a few points.
First, it has something to do with our institution, Dachen pays attention to the track, valuation, growth and whether it can exit in the A-share market, looks at the project from the perspective of foreign capital, and invests in the project with domestic capital, these keys are very effective, which is the secret of the precipitation of the old group of venture capital institutions. When I first invested in technology, the market was not so hot, and I invested in projects with reasonable valuations, and then caught up with the trade war, etc., and the growth also came, and when I was listed, it was when the PE of A-shares was relatively high, so I obtained a relatively high multiple of returns.
Dong Lihan: You think you're doing something right on the right track.
Wang Wenrong: Yes, there is no right or wrong in investment, and the strategy of each institution is different, the important thing is that we can make money in our own strategy.
In general, 3-5 of the 10 projects of RMB funds are listed, 1-2 projects are not successful, and 3-4 projects are repurchased or mergers and acquisitions, so as to ensure the return rate of the fund.
The US dollar fund has the US dollar play style and yield, but in the future, its reappearance needs more time and place. Especially considering the current changes in the exit market, return investment and other factors, what should be done in the current Chinese venture capital market is also changing.
Investments may seem personalized, but they can also be "standardized" for output
Qiu Wenyi: I'm Qiu Wenyi from PwC Capital, so let's first briefly introduce our own company.
PwC Capital was founded in 2004 and has been in the company for 20 years so far, with about 100 colleagues throughout the company. The areas we invest in are mainly divided into four major sectors, from medical care, consumption, technology, to new energy/new materials, which can be said to cover the mainstream investment tracks in the market, and each investment team colleague will belong to a professional industry track.
In addition, we now manage more than 30 billion funds, and the main fund is 20-3 billion.
Speaking of our own company, if our own company can continue to invest in VC investment banks, there may be several characteristics that I have understood and summarized in the past 20 years.
First, the standardization of management. The first thing to do is to say that it is a very personalized action and event, so why do I say standardization? With the continuous evolution of the capital market in the past 20 years, we have continuously iterated the risk control indicators and latitudes before, during and after investment, so that we can manage the risk of investment and the compliance of funds very well.
This set seems to unify our investment actions, I think this is extremely important, especially at present, the compliance and risk control of the investment management and withdrawal action is actually very important, the reason why we can continue to invest and harvest with the cycle changes, is very important, is that we have turned the investment into a standardized action to manage, so that the risk of the entire company can be very well controlled.
Second, the liberal development of the individual. When it comes to liberalization, in fact, it is the career planning of each colleague and the track we look at the project, the company will not have a very strong rule, and it can be deeply rooted in its own track and industry. In addition, the company will not restrict the ability and resources of colleagues to develop and grow more fully, the company for each individual's career development to give enough tolerance and tolerance, freedom, so that our company as a whole staff turnover rate is very low, in the company for seven years, eight years, more than 10 years of colleagues in the staff of more than 70-80%.
Thirdly, our acuity is good. Acuity can be said from two perspectives.
One is to cast. It cannot be said that we are the first investment institution in the market to smell a certain outlet or a certain technology that will explode in the future - generally speaking, it is indeed the first dollar fund to lay out these innovative hard technology projects - our characteristic is that we are very sensitive, once we feel that there may be such an outlet, we can quickly follow up.
The reason why we were able to follow up quickly is based on the in-depth understanding of this industry by our colleagues, which is the result of accumulation, and our sensitivity has indeed helped us invest in and lay out some pretty good projects.
Another aspect is fundraising, we raise funds to transform the rapid transformation of private investment institutions, institutional investors account for the vast majority, this kind of funds are strong and can be repeated investment, so in recent years we have enough bullets, this is also to the investment team, colleagues have strong confidence.
Dong Lihan: It's still very rational to hear. In terms of management, you can do whatever you want and don't exceed the rules - I have a "moment", but you can do whatever you want in it, you can't manage it with something completely solidified, you still have to break through something to live more comfortably now. I think this is a very modern style of play, a modern management process.
Everyone is invited to simply brag
Dong Lihan: Let me ask the last question, inviting you to simply brag, what are my expectations for myself next year? Let's come back next year to see if the bull that bragged last year can be done? Of course, this cow can be a little smaller, so you can just talk about what you expect from yourself.
Gao Jiankai: I haven't thought about this problem, I think I really have to brag about it, then it must be realized next year. We quite believe that in addition to being a good hunter and seeing trends, VC should also insist on doing a lot of seeding.
Dong Lihan: You hope that you can do more things that don't make money now.
Gao Jiankai: Now that everyone is talking about the cold winter, they don't know what to do, they have to lie down, but I think it's actually a very good time to sow seeds, and sow different seeds at this time. Even if you attend an industry conference, or contact a certain person, or talk about the industry with a big star in a certain field, such things accumulate a lot, and slowly plant the seeds. I hope that by this time next year one or two seeds will bloom and can be blown again.
Dong Lihan: You talked very well, everyone said that I accept going down, but going down does not necessarily mean lying flat, you can bow down to enter the game, you can bend over to work, and sow seeds.
Ho Fuchang: We still hope to increase the number or amount of investment by 30-50% every year.
Dong Lihan: Expectations are so high?
Ho Fuchang: I think we can refactor some things, for example, our LP should also accept that there is no longer as much return as 10 times or 20 times as before. We as an institution should lower our expectations and do a lot of work in this area, rather than keeping expectations as high as ever.
Of course, in the entire industrial chain, we must also reconstruct the exit. Because our generation is quite lucky to be able to invest in many young entrepreneurs. It turns out that entrepreneurs born in the 60s and 70s should also accept change.
Someone said today that many founders in the United States only have 10, 20, or 30 shares to be listed, and many of our founders in the past would like to get 70 or 80, and he will also restructure them.
Of course, we think investors also need to restructure. It turns out that we are used to earning 1 million or 2 million yuan a year, and we may have to explore it again. Everybody has to lower, and I think I'm going to lower it too. Of course, the ultimate goal of this reduction is to create value, we need to invest in more entrepreneurs, and finally achieve Carry. We hope to do more transformation or some innovation in the whole chain, or to maintain a certain growth.
Dong Lihan: Mr. He is very frank, I understand what you brag about, that is, to lower the expectations of LPs and employees, but the investment team and this company need to add the workload. Let's come back next year to see if it happens, your bull is the biggest.
Li Hongsen: I especially want to make the usual timely exit. In fact, I am more proud of last year, because from the end of the epidemic to the present, the pressure on the entire medical industry is very high. Fortunately last year, we invested in three projects during the epidemic, and they were all three projects with the epidemic as the main business, one project earned nearly 60% last year and exited, and another project has been IPO, and the third project, with a valuation of less than 300 million, is now a valuation of more than 2 billion, which has been withdrawn by half, and has been transformed into a more stable and lasting industry outside the epidemic.
I think I'm proud that all three projects have been withdrawn and haven't fallen into the pit.
My expectation this year, which is also what I hope to do for investors, just said that the first fund after the internal partnership that our team started was to start investing in February 2020, and this year is almost over in the fourth year, and in the fifth year of the exit period, there are two IPO projects that I hope to be able to withdraw this year, plus some phased exits, I hope to give the fund about 80% of the principal back.
If we can do that, I think it really sets a flag for investors.
Dong Lihan: I blew a very big cow in a particularly modest tone, you are all talking about investment, and buddy will talk about retreating for you.
Meng Xiangpeng: The more you go to the back, the greater the pressure.
As I just said, in fact, our institution has made three iterations and leaps since 2018 - starting to do the parent fund in 2018, making financial investment in 2020, and starting to do its own actively managed CVC fund in 2022. By 2024, there is an idea internally, we hope that we will do Guofang 4.0, and the theme is six words "mergers and acquisitions, integration, and incubation".
We believe that in fact, after the industry has reached the current stage, the traditional financial investment, that is, the equity participation method, has indeed encountered great difficulties and challenges, but it does not mean that the entire industry will stop. The entire tech industry is still evolving and changing, but maybe the ship is gone, and many investors are still where they are. The next step is that after the end of the era dividend, you have to create value.
In the past, whether we launched the Science and Technology Innovation Board or reform and opening up, in essence, everyone was enjoying dividends, but in the end, everyone would sum up their success as their own success, in fact, 90% is the dividend of the times.
In the next five years, more industrial chains need you to create value, and only by creating value can you get benefits and share value with LPs and employees. Therefore, in 4.0, we are more going deeper with the industry, through mergers and acquisitions, integration, and incubation, and by creating value to earn income and create returns. We hope that this year, as the starting point of the 4.0 model, will make a case in each of these three directions.
Dong Lihan: I blew a particularly abstract cow, especially like a boss's tone, the boss was 3.0 last year, 4.0 this year, I think it's very good, and it's high again.
Wang Wenrong: Strive for another IPO, although this bull is very difficult, but it still has to be blown.
Dong Lihan: This is a very specific cow.
Qiu Wenyi: My own requirements or work goals for myself are the goals of one year from now, which are mainly divided into two parts, fund management and synthetic biology investment layout.
First, because I have helped the company set up a new fund last year, my work has also changed from simple investment to more responsible for fund affairs, which is a comprehensive blind pool fund that is biased towards manufacturing, so I definitely hope that in the new year, I can take advantage of the market trough to quickly deploy some good projects of hard technology.
Second, because I myself invest in synthetic biology and medicine, I will be more inclined to synthetic biology projects in the coming year. Judging from some macro data in the industry, for example, in 2023, the total financing amount of global synthetic biology will be 6 billion US dollars, a decrease of about 60-70% compared with the previous year. However, the scale of synthetic biology investment in the Chinese market was similar to that of the previous year last year, 6 billion yuan, only about 10% less than the previous year, which shows that the domestic enthusiasm for synthetic biology is very high.
At the same time, China is blessed with a unique soil for development, because 70% of the world's fermentation capacity is in China, so we have enough production capacity and talents. In addition, as the iterative efficiency of gene editing is getting better and better, AI, artificial intelligence and other technologies are developing rapidly, in fact, this industry is expected to explode. Therefore, I very much hope to be able to deepen the industry in the next year and lay out some high-quality early-stage synthetic biology projects with real commercial value.
Dong Lihan: The bull you just bragged about has already been recognized, Mr. Gao has been nodding, and I think in the end he blew a particularly pragmatic cow, which is very good.
That's pretty much it for today, the exchange is actually quite sufficient, and in the end, this bull is also very pragmatic and very good. Then next year, let's agree, come back and talk again, blow again, and we'll verify it.