What does Kai-Fu Lee’s Innovation Works do?

Founder of Sinovation Ventures, Dr. Kai-fu Lee founded Sinovation Ventures in Beijing, China in September 2009 and served as chairman and CEO to help Chinese youths successfully start their own businesses and help China build a new generation of high-tech companies. Based on the Internet, mobile Internet and cloud computing, Innovation Works tries 20 new ideas every year and spins off 3-5 independent operating companies. Before starting his own business, he served as Global Vice President and President of Greater China at Google from 2005-2009. During his four years at Google China, Dr. Li established an elite team of approximately 700 people in Greater China, increasing Google China's market share in China from 16.1% in 2006 to 31.0% in 2009. The Chinese team led by Dr. Kai-Fu Lee has been focusing on product development and has made Google Chinese search and other Chinese products industry-leading. At the same time, Google Maps, Google Mobile Maps, Google Mobile Search, and Google Translate became the most commonly used related software in China in 2009. Before joining Google, Dr. Kai-Fu Lee served as the global vice president of Microsoft from 2000 to 2005, responsible for the research and development of .Net. The technologies developed by Dr. Li's team are included in server software, Windows, and Office. Before being promoted to global vice president, Dr. Li founded Microsoft Research China (later renamed Microsoft Research Asia) in 1998 and created a world-class computer research institute in a very short period of time. It was once cited by MIT Technology Review "Rated as "the hottest computer laboratory". From 1996 to 1998, Dr. Li served as vice president and general manager of the Internet department at SGI, responsible for the development direction of multiple product series and the formulation of the company's Internet strategy. At SGI, the team led by Dr. Li developed an Internet server business with an annual turnover of US$200 million. At the same time, he is also the president of Cosmo Software Company, responsible for the research and development of multi-platform, Internet 3D graphics and multimedia software. Dr. Li served at Apple from 1990 to 1996. His last position during his six-year tenure at Apple was vice president of its interactive multimedia division. This team established Apple's leadership in multimedia and developed products such as QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, QuickTime VR, and PlainTalk. Before joining Apple, Kai-Fu Lee taught at Carnegie Mellon University for two years. He received his PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University in 1988. His doctoral thesis was the world's first "non-person-specific continuous speech recognition system." In 1988, Business Week awarded the system its "Most Important Scientific Innovation Award." While in school, Kai-fu Lee also developed the "Othello" (Othello) human-computer game system, which became famous for defeating the human world champion in 1988. Dr. Li graduated with highest honors from Columbia University with a bachelor's degree in computer science. Kai-Fu Lee is an academician of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the vice president of the Committee of 100, an elite Chinese American organization. In addition to his achievements in the field of science and technology, Dr. Li is very concerned about the growth of young Chinese students. He has written seven letters to Chinese students, published three best-selling books including "Be Your Best Self", "Walking with the Future", and "Love on the Internet", and gives dozens of lectures in colleges and universities every year. The "Wexue.com" he founded now has 500,000 registered users, and 50 experts work with him to help young Chinese students online. Investor Liu Chuanzhi, President of Legend Holdings Co., Ltd.:

Independent innovation is of great significance to China’s economic development. In China, the IT industry is now facing very large business opportunities, whether it is hardware or software, especially Internet services.

Mr. Kaifu Lee once held leadership positions at Google and Microsoft in China. He has both practical leadership experience and a strong sense of innovation. His coming to work using the new model of Innovation Works is itself an innovation and deserves support and encouragement.

The innovation workshop may provide a larger platform for young people with innovative ideas and abilities, and will also increase many employment opportunities.

Terry Gou, Chairman of Foxconn Technology Group:

I have known Kaifu since 1991, and it has been 18 years this year. From Apple and SGI to Microsoft and Google, every time Kaifu joins a new company, I will ask him about the latest trends in technology and industry development.

I admire his precise grasp of the field of science and technology and his creative ideas that change life with technology. Today, I am very happy to see that Kaifu has turned his creativity into an innovation workshop. I believe that the innovation workshop will lead China's future network technology innovation. I am also very happy to be a founding investor of Kaifu.

Yu Minhong, Chairman and President of New Oriental Education Technology Group:

Over the past few years, Kaifu and I have helped the growth of Chinese youth in different fields. Kaifu's huge appeal among Chinese youth makes me always hope to have the opportunity to join forces with him. Today, Sinovation Ventures brings us together. Sinovation Ventures will provide an excellent platform for innovation and entrepreneurship for Chinese youth. This brand-new model allows me to see: "Standing on the shoulders of giants, you can see further!". I am particularly willing to join Kaifu and help him cultivate the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders in China! I believe that every young person who joins Sinovation Ventures can realize their dreams and create miracles in China!

Chen Shijun, founder of YouTube and PayPal:

As one of the founders of YouTube and PayPal, I deeply believe that passion and persistence are the key factors for the success of entrepreneurial companies. Every time I visit China, I am deeply inspired by the passion and focus shown by local entrepreneurs. I firmly believe that Sinovation Ventures will provide the best platform for these entrepreneurs to realize their dreams.

Investment leader - Liu Yuhuan, chairman of the US-based China Economic Cooperation Group, I have been engaged in venture capital in China since 1999. Although venture capital in China has developed rapidly, it lacks a relatively mature entrepreneurial environment and the actual success rate of entrepreneurship has not been Not high. In recent years, global funds have been pouring into China, but many factors such as entrepreneurs' lack of management experience, lack of initial start-up capital, and difficulty in attracting outstanding technical and management talents have not improved. Kaifu's innovation workshop comes at the right time to fill the gaps. . Sinovation Ventures is a highly scaled and industrialized new venture capital model marked by ‘finance’ + ‘talent’. We will select the best entrepreneurial ideas, entrepreneurs, and engineers, optimally match each entrepreneurial link, and then provide funds, guidance, and support. Sinovation Ventures will become the best integrator of entrepreneurial resources. I believe this model can inspire the research and development mechanism and talent training mechanism of the entire Chinese venture capital industry, and even affect the innovation and growth model of the entire technology company in China. Company History Sinovation Ventures was founded in September 2009 by Dr. Kaifu Li to help Chinese youth successfully start their own businesses. Sinovation Ventures is a comprehensive entrepreneurial platform designed to cultivate innovative talents and a new generation of high-tech enterprises. Sinovation Ventures will attract a group of outstanding entrepreneurs and engineers, and under the leadership of Dr. Kaifu Li, they will create projects with the most market value and commercial potential for R&D and market operations. When the project matures to a certain level, it will naturally spin off the parent company and become an independent subsidiary until it is finally listed or acquired. Sinovation Ventures will focus on the most popular areas of the information industry: the Internet, mobile Internet and cloud computing, and select related technologies as the starting point for entrepreneurship. Sinovation Ventures will invest 800 million yuan in the next five years. The investment leader is the China Economic Cooperation Group founded by Mr. Liu Yuhuan. Investors also include Fortune 100 companies, well-known venture capital and Chinese and American elites, including Foxconn Technology Group led by Terry Gou, Legend Holdings Co., Ltd. led by Liu Chuanzhi, and Yu Minhong New Oriental Education Technology Group, YouTube founder Chen Shijun, etc. Many of these celebrity entrepreneurs who are already legends of success have expressed their willingness to work together to mentor young entrepreneurs. Their participation will make the innovation workshop even more powerful. Their participation will help the entrepreneurial spirit be passed down among batches of entrepreneurs. Focus on the field Internet Industry: China’s Internet users have exceeded 300 million, surpassing the United States to become the country with the largest number of Internet users in the world. At present, the number of Internet users still accounts for only one-quarter of China's total population, and there is still huge room for growth. At the same time, the rapid development of network speed devices has gradually enabled network applications to reach the level of client capabilities. In addition to being able to access the Internet through computers, they can also access the Internet through entertainment devices, mobile phones, etc., which will eventually exceed desktop usage. Therefore, there are still huge opportunities in China's Internet field, and we believe that more Internet applications will continue to appear.

Mobile Internet Industry: As of the end of 2008, China’s mobile Internet users had exceeded 117 million.

Due to the pressure of ARPU and fierce competition, operators have shifted their focus to the mobile Internet and attached great importance to mobile Internet services. In addition, the mutual influence among users and the sudden rise of copycat mobile phones have laid the foundation for the progress of the mobile Internet. With the advent of the 3G era, mobile Internet access will make a greater leap.

Information technology industry:

The era of "cloud computing" is coming. This new computing model and network application model have brought about new areas of information technology development. Huge changes breed huge changes. Chance. "Cloud computing" is based on open standards and services, with the Internet as the center, providing safe, fast and convenient data storage and network computing services, making the Internet the data center and computing center of every netizen, and all data and applications in the future are stored on the Internet. Operation Model In the era of the rise of the Internet, many aspiring young people have obtained large amounts of financial support through a prospect description and embarked on a successful life just by relying on their vision and planning for the future. In this way, "one story changes another." The miraculous thing of "an investment" has encouraged countless people who want to start their own businesses. Many people dream of such a good thing happening to them, but these people with large sums of money are so mysterious and out of reach for ordinary people. Hard to reach. Nowadays, Kai-fu Lee has so high-profile announced the establishment of an "innovation factory". "The operating concept of the entire company is (angel investment + innovation) × scale." Its operating model is roughly as follows: recruiting a group of outstanding entrepreneurs and engineers, under the leadership of Kai-fu Lee , create projects with market value and commercial potential, and conduct research and development and market operations. When the project matures to a certain level, it will naturally spin off the parent company and become an independent subsidiary until it is finally listed or acquired. This means that an investor with a large amount of money is standing in front of you. You know where he is and can find him at any time. What you need to do is to impress him with your creativity and get investment. Application method: It is reported that after two weeks of news promotion, Kai-fu Lee will start a large-scale recruitment team to form a team for selecting business projects; after another two months, he will begin to screen employees' entrepreneurial business plans. A spokesperson for Kai-Fu Lee said that Sinovation Ventures’ requirements for applicants are to have a solid professional background. The process of applying for angel investment is not complicated. It is similar to finding a job. Just send your resume to the "Innovation Works" email address and indicate your academic background and project experience on your resume. Whether it is successful or failed experience, the applicant will gain points. Applicants do not necessarily have to have formed their own entrepreneurial team, nor do they have to have a mature business plan. The business plan can be formed after discussions with staff. In addition, being recommended by an introducer can also increase your chances of being shortlisted. (Note: Ideas come from internal employees) "Innovation Factory" will directly employ 110 employees. Excluding finance, human resources and other positions, about 100 people are ready to be trained to become "elites operating high-tech companies." Every year, company employees will use "brainstorming" to select 20 entrepreneurial ideas worth trying, and then select 10 potential ideas to promote development projects, and finally select 5 companies from them. Once the new company is established, it will be separated from the "Snovation Works", and Kai-fu Lee will continue to help it attract venture capital. At the same time, the "Snovation Works" will continue to recruit employees to fill the vacancies. Innovation workers Employees in innovation workshops are all innovation workers. Each person has different roles and responsibilities. But the ultimate goal is the same, to create innovative projects and invest in them. Finally, a company was established for this project to develop better. Innovative workers are those who create innovative, creative and potential talents.

Background information: Sinovation Ventures - Let angel investment move towards economies of scale. Network planner: Sinovation Ventures model and essence - "finance" + "talent" - to open up a new model of venture capital in China. The essence of Sinovation Ventures is " "Angel Fund + Headhunting + Incubation Subsidiary" hybrid In September 2009, "Sinovation Ventures" suddenly became a hot word in China's industrial and investment circles. Mr. Wen Haoming, a senior network planner, pointed out that "Sinovation Ventures" is essentially a mixture of "angel funds + headhunters + incubation subsidiaries". It is a venture investment made by Greater China venture capital VC to Dr. Kaifu Li. Dr. Kai-Fu Lee uses the Sinovation Ventures platform to target high-tech companies as secondary VCs. It is an ingenious bridge and grafting of venture capital and is highly innovative. A company recently founded by Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, a former executive at Microsoft and Google, uses their own definition as “a comprehensive entrepreneurial platform aimed at cultivating innovative talents and a new generation of high-tech enterprises.

"At first glance, it is nothing more than a new case of a venture capital company, but an important reason why "Sinovation Ventures" has become a hot word is that Dr. Kai-fu Lee brought the angel investment model to a highly large-scale, industrialized market for the first time in China.

Angel Investment first originated in the United States in the 19th century. It usually refers to a one-time preliminary investment by free investors or informal venture capital institutions in original projects or small start-ups. Investment, together with institutional venture capital, they constitute the venture capital industry in the United States. Since 2000, China's venture capital has developed rapidly, but the vast majority of investment companies prefer to choose short-term, frequent, and fast projects, so relatively mature large-scale projects. (For example, companies that are close to going public) Financing is relatively easy. However, entrepreneurial companies that have a relatively high risk factor and require more comprehensive support are more difficult to obtain support.

In fact, in Silicon Valley, the cradle of entrepreneurs in the United States, A complete, streamlined system has been formed from angel investment to mid- and late-stage venture capital. Therefore, innovative companies, whether they are in the seed stage, introduction stage, growth stage, or mature stage, can receive corresponding help as long as they have potential. . If the entrepreneur only has a good idea, he can find the help of an angel club or angel investor that focuses on startup capital investment of about 50,000 US dollars; if he has an early version of the product and a startup team, he may start from Angel clubs or angel investors receive US$100,000-500,000 in seed funding; if the company starts commercial operations and has formal customers, it may receive around US$2 million-5 million in financing from early and mid-term venture capital funds; and then the next step It is mid- to late-stage venture capital.

Take Google, which currently has a market capitalization of US$145 billion, as an example. 11 years ago, when Sergey Brin and Larry Page only had corporate ideas, the company Before it was established, it received a check of US$100,000 from angel investor Andy Bechtolsheim.

In addition to the financial investment system, in Silicon Valley, some investors also provide funding to founding companies at different stages. Added value. Early angel investors are often successful entrepreneurs or former executives of large companies and industry veterans. They can often bring experience, judgment, industry connections and subsequent investors to the company during its growth period. Value-added venture capital will also help lead start-up companies into a more formal operating structure and management model, and even help companies equip them with professional teams needed for subsequent development. Venture capital will provide corresponding assistance when the company develops into the listing or acquisition stage. Therefore, at different stages of a startup, its investors are like running a relay, making a concept take root, sprout, bloom, and grow through inheritance and cultivation.

Mike Markkula is one. An angel Bole. When Apple was founded, Markkula not only invested US$92,000 himself, but also raised US$690,000, plus a US$250,000 loan guaranteed by him from the bank, totaling US$1 million. In 1977, Apple was founded. Markkula officially joined Apple as an equal partner and served as vice chairman, while Jobs served as chairman. Markkula even recommended Michael. Scott becomes Apple's first CEO. Markkula served as chairman of Apple until leaving in 1997.

Due to its relatively complete innovation system, many Silicon Valley talents are also very willing to work in founding companies. Different types of talents can participate in startups at different stages based on their skills, preferences, and risk-taking expectations. There are serial entrepreneurs who focus on building a business, there are managers and technical talents who like to work as a business grows from dozens to hundreds of people, and there are managers who are good at expanding a company from a few hundred people to a larger scale. . At different stages of a start-up company, it is easy to match different types of talents and even change management.

It can be said that angel investment is the main pillar of early-stage entrepreneurship and innovation in the United States. In the United States, angel investments currently account for 40% to 50% of the total venture capital market. A report by the Entrepreneurship Research Center affiliated with the University of New Hampshire showed that in 2008, there were more than 260,000 active angel investors in the United States. People, in addition to that, there are multiple angel investment organizations. They have invested a total of $19.2 billion in 55,480 startups.

According to a statistical report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, in 2008, late-stage venture capital firms in the United States invested more than US$28 billion in funding 3,700 investment projects. It can be said that if there is no angel investment, late-stage venture capital will be a trick.

There was once a vivid metaphor in the Chinese investment community: venture capital is like looking at a plate of food. If the dish is easy to pay for, then don’t get rid of it. Mature angel investors will say that this dish is good, but it lacks two peppers and two pieces of tofu. Who will prepare this dish? Angels come to match. Angels will say, this dish is good, but the chef is not good, let’s find a chef, or the chef is good, but the dish is not like that, let’s cook it again.

In contrast, although venture capital has become very popular in China, there are very few angel investors.

According to data provided by Zero2IPO Group, due to optimism about the Chinese market, venture capital poured into China on a large scale. In the first half of 2008, mid- and late-stage venture capital *** raised US$49.302 billion, which was higher than that in 2007. An increase of 190% over the same period, 348 companies received mid- and late-stage venture capital, with a total investment of US$7.383 billion, an increase of 50% over the same period in 2007. However, at the same time, angel investments are hard to find. Judging from the data in 2006, the scale of domestic angel investment is only between RMB 500 million and RMB 1 billion.

No wonder that at a venture capital conference in 2008, people in the Chinese venture capital community asserted that it would take at least ten years for domestic angel investment to truly reach a certain scale. Industry insiders say that, corresponding to the situation in the United States, in China, angel investment as an industrial chain has not yet been formed.

The birth of Sinovation Ventures just filled this gap. Compared with venture capital in the traditional sense, Sinovation Ventures is more "hands-on". Sinovation Ventures will start by recruiting engineers and entrepreneurs and build multiple elite teams. Under the leadership of Dr. Kaifu Li, we will create projects with the most market value and commercial potential. The teams will conduct R&D and market operations on different projects until the projects mature. , spin off the parent company and become an independent subsidiary, and even eventually go public or be acquired. Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, head of Sinovation Ventures, expressed his hope that through the new model of Sinovation Ventures, he hopes to help establish a new venture capital model of 'finance' + 'talent' in China."

In the venture capital industry for more than 20 years, Peter Liu, known as the “godfather of Asian venture capital,” said: “The Sinovation Ventures led by Kaifu will bring the angel investment model to a new level of high scale and industrialization in China. I have always believed that venture capital companies should play the role of coaches and mentors, get rid of the role of pure financial investors, and become a more active technology promoter; because the significance of venture capital is not only to pursue new investment cases and introduce technology from advanced countries. Technology and capital enable localized industries to upgrade and thrive. ”

Currently, venture capital in the Chinese market only plays the role of financial investors and does not participate much in the operation of investment projects. The characteristic of Sinovation Ventures is that it helps entrepreneurs and investors create At the same time, it also discovers, gathers, and trains a large number of technical and management talents for the entire industry. The so-called "factory" means that it has the ability to clone efficiently and market the best ideas on a large scale and industrially. .

Liu Chuanzhi, President of Legend Holdings Co., Ltd., said: "Mr. Kaifu Li once held leadership positions at Google and Microsoft in China. He has both practical leadership experience and a strong sense of innovation. His coming to work using the new model of Innovation Works is itself an innovation and deserves support and encouragement. ”

Kai-fu Lee’s accurate grasp of cutting-edge technology, rich management experience, deep industrial relationships, huge appeal to industry talents, international vision and strong communication skills are exactly what Sinovation Ventures The reason why Sinovation Ventures has been favored by investors including Liu Chuanzhi, Terry Gou, Yu Minhong, Chen Shijun and so on. In just one and a half months, Sinovation Ventures has established a blueprint for investing RMB 800 million in the next five years.

< p> Liu Yuhuan said: “From the 1960s and 1970s to the present, venture capital has created many mainland companies from Silicon Valley to the Four Asian Tigers to today. The investment philosophy of China Economic Cooperation Group has always been to choose new technology start-up companies that will guide future development. Sinovation Ventures undoubtedly belongs to such a company.

Sinovation Ventures allowed me to see a new venture capital model of "finance" + "talent" in China. It is also a highly scaled new venture capital model of angel investment + innovative products. I believe that Kaifu will be able to successfully implement a model that Chinese venture capital companies, especially angel investment companies, can learn from in the future. I believe this model can inspire the research and development mechanism and talent training mechanism of the entire Chinese venture capital industry, and even affect the innovative growth model of the entire technology company in China. ”

[1] Sinovation Ventures is an all-round entrepreneurial platform aimed at cultivating innovative talents and a new generation of high-tech enterprises. Sinovation Ventures will attract a group of outstanding entrepreneurs and engineers. Under the leadership of Dr. Li Kaifu Next, we will create projects with the most market value and commercial potential, and conduct research and development and market operations. When the projects mature to a certain level, they will naturally spin off the parent company and become independent subsidiaries until they are finally listed or acquired. Popular areas: Internet, mobile Internet and cloud computing, and choose related technologies as the starting point for entrepreneurship.

Sinovation Ventures will invest 800 million yuan in the next five years. The investment leader is China Economic Cooperation, founded by Mr. Liu Yuhuan. Group, investors also include Fortune 100 companies, well-known venture capital and Chinese and American elites, including Foxconn Technology Group led by Terry Gou, Legend Holdings Co., Ltd. led by Liu Chuanzhi, New Oriental Education Technology Group led by Yu Minhong, YouTube founder Chen Shijun, etc. Many of these star entrepreneurs who are already legends of success have expressed their willingness to work together to mentor young entrepreneurs. Their participation will make the innovation workshop even more powerful, and their participation will help the entrepreneurial spirit be passed down among batches of entrepreneurs.

What is Sinovation Ventures?

“Sinovation Ventures is a new integration of angel investment and innovative products. We are a company that makes innovative products ourselves, but at a certain stage, we will open a company for this product, and then find other venture capital to invest in this new company together. Therefore, Sinovation Ventures’ products are more high-tech products. ”