I Am Willing to Be the Cold Water in the Entrepreneurship Boom

I Am Willing to Be the Cold Water in the Entrepreneurship Boom

Photo by Jia Daitengfei

Source: Popular Photography

Born after the 1990s, CEO Xia Jun had obtained an early-stage investment of two million yuan before graduating from the university, and the market valuation of his final project amounted to 50 million yuan. However, he immediately hit rock bottom because of the investor』s sudden withdrawal of funds. Having gone through all the rises and falls and tasted the mixed feelings of joy and sorrow on the way to entrepreneurship, Xia Jun realized that a truly successful business was to generate money by itself instead of relying on others for funds.

「Will you brag about it if you collect an investment of ten million yuan in three months? The media will report your story and you will receive a lot of likes in your WeChat Moments. It is incredibly amazing, making you feel as if you cannot do any better…」 On August 31, 2015 in an investor meet-and-greet road show, Xia Jun, CEO of igoutuan.com, frankly said that he hoped to strive for 「an opportunity to survive」 for his company with complete sincerity.

Born in 1994, Xia Jun had obtained an early-stage investment of two million yuan before graduation, and the market valuation of his final project amounted to 50 million yuan. However, he immediately hit rock bottom because of the investor』s sudden withdrawal of funds. What is entrepreneurship? What is business? Is the post-90s generation competent enough? A series of questions make the 21-year-old young man lost in his thoughts.

For Xia Jun, a post-90s entrepreneur, this summer was supposed to be a harvest season. However, on August 1, his investor suddenly told him that no additional investment would be given to him anymore. Xia Jun was completely overwhelmed by the sudden and shocking news.

At the very beginning, Xia Jun locked himself up in his office and declined all his friends』 visits. Later, he returned his investor the rest of the two-million-yuan fund, except for the part already spent on project construction and operation, though he did not have to do this according to the contract. Yet, he thought that his investor might have actually encountered some difficulties and he would just take it as an opportunity to temper himself.

Xia Jun kept two goldfish in his office. He said that he was in a similar situation to that of the goldfish: Trapped in a small fish tank, they had nowhere else to go in spite of the dazzling sunlight in the outside world.

Xia Jun was lost in his thoughts in the dark corridor outside his company. At the end of July, 2015, he was really excited to meet with his investor for the second time in Beijing. Before that, he, as the CEO of the pet service e-commerce platform igoutuan.com, had nailed down an investment of ten million yuan and received two million yuan as the first batch of fund. It seemed as if he was one step closer to success and the world was about to witness another legend created by him.

The news of the investor』s withdrawal got round. Those engaged in entrepreneurship with Xia Jun held conflicting opinions. As fresh graduates, they found it a major dilemma of whether to stay and tide their boss over the difficult period or to leave and look for new jobs.

To Xia Jun』s gratification, his team members were loyal not only to him but also to the love for dogs, ready to make a difference in the pet market.

The first thing that Xia Jun』s employees should do is to nurture their intimacy with dogs.

Their previous office was set at a creative industry park whose rent was over ten thousand yuan each month. However, Xia Jun did not have enough funds on hand to sustain the cost, so they had to find a new base. On the day they moved, Xia Jun and his friends swept the office clean. All sorts of emotions welled up as he stood in front of the map of China, which was hung on the wall of the company hall and bore all his ambitions.

The moment he left the creative industry park, Xia Jun was wrapped in mixed feelings. He believed that he would be able to come back some day.

Admittedly, this is the best era for entrepreneurs. The government spares no effort to encourage and support 「mass entrepreneurship and innovation」 with different policies, and the capital market is witnessing the emergence of rich investors one wave after another. Everything seems perfect. After all these rises and falls, Xia Jun has realized that it may be a good idea to stop and consider whether his project is as valuable as he thought it was when he is busy with a new round of financing and feeling excited about the valuation.

Xia Jun likes indulging himself in a trance in the still of night. He is willing to make reflection on his experience: For one thing, he wants to warn the 「post-90s」 entrepreneurs against embarking on the road of entrepreneurship rashly, because the stories of entrepreneurship are sometimes just stories; for another, he wants to caution himself that if he is not ready for full commitment, then he should give up.

Xia Jun and many other young entrepreneurs participated in the entrepreneurship forum activities organized by a media organization. As one of the five entrepreneurs invited to deliver a speech, he would try to convince investors with his presentation.

The 「post-90s」 became the CEO

Born in Shiyan City, Hubei Province, Xia Jun, majoring in Information and Computational Science, graduated from the School of Statistics and Mathematics, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law this year. He is indeed a typical 「child coming from the village」: His father is a labor contractor on the construction site and his mother is a farmer. When other students were enjoying their graduation trips or participating in different job fairs, Xia Jun chose to start his own business. 「You should never take things as they are. Even if you fail, you will be better off than you were at the very beginning.」 His father』s remark has been deeply imprinted in his mind since he was a child.

Xia Jun, 21 years old though, is engraved with maturity untypical of his age. He often jokes about his appearance that 「I am ugly and poor and have to share family burdens very early.」 He found himself a big fan of dogs in university and also fixed his gaze on the market of pet service. Therefore, the brave and passionate young man built a team rapidly. Team members include his elder cousin, a student from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, who takes charge of background technology; one of his schoolmates who is responsible for products and management; and a student from Wuhan University, who is in charge of external communication and operation. A small but complete team was thus established.

Xia Jun was delivering a speech at the entrepreneurship forum. 「You should never take things as they are. Even if you fail, you will be better off than you were at the very beginning.」 His father』s remark has been deeply imprinted in his mind since he was a child.

Xia Jun and many other young entrepreneurs participated in the entrepreneurship forum activities organized by a media organization. As one of the five entrepreneurs invited to deliver a speech, he would try to convince investors with his presentation.

Xia Jun and his colleagues built a comprehensive database after visiting all the pet stores and kennels in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. In his opinion, many people who like dogs have no ideas about how to pick them and they are afraid of falling into tricks at the thought of buying dogs. Therefore, he would like to build a platform for those who want to buy dogs to find the most satisfying one with a transparent price.

Their original project 「Uncle Hachi,」 inspired by the Japanese movie Hachi, was released on April 20, 2014. Xia Jun』s framework was based on the popular mode of 「Internet+」 companies: online APP and operation and offline promotion in combination with the vigorous search for investors. However, the process did not go on smoothly. Many investors were not optimistic about the project because of the team』s lack of experience in entrepreneurship. When September came, Xia Jun, on the brink of giving up, served his internship at a startup, helping university students with installment. With his help, the business volume reached six million yuan in one month.

Finally, Xia Jun won the recognition of an investor with his concrete performance. In January, 2015, Xia Jun met with a fellow businessman in traditional business at the recommendation of a friend. The investor was willing to invest ten million yuan as 20% of the company』s stock, which meant the estimated value of Xia Jun』s company was 50 million yuan. Before long he received the first batch of funds of two million yuan.

Xia Jun, 21 years old though, often jokes about his appearance that 「I look older than I actually am.」 Some of his friends said that he looked like the Chinese singer Zhao Chuan, and he replied that in that case he would like to be a small bird, flying higher and higher just as sung in the song.

In July, two of his partners left. As team management ran into trouble, people in charge of operation, design and technology left in succession. The team built in three months by Xia Jun almost collapsed.

To Xia Jun』s gratification, ten or so people, many of whom had already received offers from Tencent and Alibaba, still chose to stay with him after all the fluctuations. Fully committed, they were doing everything they could to launch the website in the middle of October, with an ambition to achieve the turnover of one million yuan in one single day.

Working extra hours every day, the employees ate and lived together without any salary for the time being. Xia Jun is really grateful to these colleagues and friends. According to him, hiring employees is essentially the same as dealing with a romantic relationship: Getting along is the most important thing.

Xia Jun』s team consists of highly competent members from Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. Upon graduation, however, they were faced with various choices. They might prefer a decent job to entrepreneurship for family, for romantic relationships or for living, because entrepreneurship could be risky after all.

Xia Jun thinks that the current pet market is too complicated. For instance, in the dog market, the price of a Samoyed can range from thousands of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan. Buyers, however, are not very clear about the differences. Thus, Xia Jun and his team hope to establish a standard to realize transparent purchase in the dog market.

Despite all the longings and wishes, Xia Jun found it incredible when happiness actually came knocking. 「Before I figured out how they assessed the value, I became a post-90s CEO worth 50 million yuan.」 In order to strike while the iron is hot, Xia Jun was almost about to adopt the propagation mode of the Internet to publish such marketing articles as How Did a Man Born in 1994 Tap into the Pet Market of 90 Billion Yuan and How Did I Obtain Tens of Millions of Investment upon Graduation. 「Fortunately, I did not publish those articles. Otherwise, it could be rather awkward,」 Xia Jun said.

Six Obstacles on the Way to Entrepreneurship

XXX Clinched an Investment of XX Million Yuan in XX Minutes, A Valuation Exceeding 600 Million Yuan in the Angel Round at the Age of 22: An Overwhelming Change of the Entire Video and Advertising Industry, The Post-90s CEO on Temporary Suspension of Schooling: Scanning the 「Cabinets」 for Breakfast and Attracting an Angel Investment of 20 Million Yuan, Yu Jiawen: I Will Reward My Employees with 100 Million Yuan the Next Year, and Beautiful 「Post-90s」 Female CEO Marching into the Tourist Industry and Charles Xue Clinching Investment in 15 Minutes… Xia Jun said that the public has read and seen too many legendary stories of entrepreneurship and brilliant startup stars. Now it is time to reveal the actual experience of entrepreneurship. If you are still willing to passionately remain committed to entrepreneurship after knowing all its difficulties, then you will become a real entrepreneur. 「I am willing to be the cold water and a negative example on the way to entrepreneurship.」

With the aid of the first batch of fund totaling to two million yuan, Xia Jun』s project of 「igoutuan」 forged ahead on the 「golden road.」 Yet, the seemingly broad and smooth road was actually dotted with obstacles, constantly inflicting setbacks on the team.

The first obstacle lies in the entrepreneurship project positioning. For instance, in terms of APP, should they develop a product providing remarkable experiences or a function-based platform? This question determines whether they should develop technology independently or turn to outsourcing.

The second obstacle is team building. At the very beginning, five people were enough to handle everything. However, they became shorthanded when their products were launched, so they had to recruit new employees. Just as Xia Jun has said, recruitment is like a romantic relationship. If new recruits do not share similar values, interests and hobbies with the original team members and are incompetent with a bad personality, they will only aggravate problems in the future.

The third obstacle is that the core team was constantly confronted with problems. In the second month after obtaining the investment, one colleague responsible for personnel left and one partner in charge of products could only work part-time, both due to the fact that their mothers were suffering from serious diseases. For two weeks, Xia Jun felt as if he were living in the hell: He had to take care of everything from personnel to administration and from operation to products to external communication! He barely had time to sleep or eat stuffed buns. Xia Jun said that to be a CEO of a startup was not noble at all, because you would have to do and know how to do everything, instead of simply giving commands.

The fourth obstacle is that partners may leave at any time in the university students』 entrepreneurship. According to Xia Jun, the biggest problem facing undergraduate entrepreneurship is that 「most of them have not graduated from universities yet, so there are too many uncertainties.」 As graduation approached, Xia Jun』s elder cousin was faced with the choice of continuing to stay with 「igoutuan」 for entrepreneurship or accepting Alibaba』s offer to work in Hangzhou. Another partner responsible for technology was conflicted as well. Eventually, two of the technical backbone in Xia Jun』s team from Huazhong University of Science and Technology left them for Alibaba and UC Browser. Xia Jun said that they made the right choice because they would have a broader horizon and more confidence if they came back for entrepreneurship after working for large companies. Fortunately, a professor from Huazhong University of Science and Technology rendered technical support to Xia Jun at that time, helping him maintain the project.

Xia Jun was concentrated on running the lines with the director before going up to the stage.

When people came to know Xia Jun』s stories, many media invited him to participate in different kinds of entrepreneurship programs. 「When everyone else is discussing success, I am making reflection on failure.」 Xia Jun hopes that his stories can reach more people so that they will be informed of the passion of entrepreneurship and misery during the process.

Xia Jun was exchanging experience and feelings with an entrepreneur who participated in the same program with him.

The fifth obstacle is the fact that members left the company in group. When July was around the corner, two partners left and team management ran into some trouble as well. The people they recruited in three months for operation, design and technology left one by one. In face of such a situation, Xia Jun was on the brink of breakdown for a time and was about to give up. Now the members of 「igoutuan」 has witnessed an almost overall change. The current nine partners have reached the consensus that they would continue to work with Xia Jun for another three months, eating and living together with no salary.

The sixth obstacle is the rupture of capital chain. At the end of July, the investor told Xia Jun that he might have to withdraw the investment because of his tight budget. Hearing this, Xia Jun finally collapsed. He lay in bed with eyes wide open, laughing and crying throughout the night.

In retrospect of the early stage of his entrepreneurship, Xia Jun said that he fell over the six obstacles and picked himself up. For one thing, he wants to warn the 「post-90s」 entrepreneurs against embarking on the road of entrepreneurship rashly, because the stories of entrepreneurship are sometimes just stories; for another, he wants to caution himself that if he is not ready for full commitment, then he should give up.

Xia Jun was taking a walk with his beloved pet Shadow, which is exactly the inspiration of igoutuan』s logo.

A TV station in Guangdong Province reached out to Xia Jun in hope of interviewing him.

Xia Jun was exchanging experience and feelings with an entrepreneur who participated in the same program with him.

An investor was encouraging Xia Jun at the backstage before he went up to the stage.

After the investor withdrew the investment, Xia Jun returned him the rest of the two-million-yuan fund, except for the part already spent on project construction and operation. Actually, Xia Jun did not have to do this according to the contract, because it was the investor who breached the contract first. However, Xia Jun thought that the investor might have run into some trouble as well and he could brace himself up against the situation.

Xia Jun said that he thought gaining the investment meant success in the past. Yet, it is just a beginning. A truly successful business is to generate money by itself instead of relying on others for funds. If the withdrawal of capital can destroy a company, then it is not successful in essence.

Many investors have now reached out to Xia Jun. However, after all these ups and downs, he has begun to think calmly, declining their offers one by one. He plans to re-launch his products and make a difference before engaging in negotiation with those investors.

Stories of rising from the bottom and becoming well-accomplished in life are indeed passionate. Nevertheless, they have given rise to a blundering and fickle mindset. 「Those genius 『post-90s』 spare no effort to deliver performances. But if they are just performing, then they deserve punches in their faces.」 Xia Jun said that his father always tells him to be practical and not too fickle. In the past, he thought his father』s generation was too conservative. However, he now thinks that the principle of doing things in a down-to-earth manner is universally applicable to every generation.

Xia Jun stood in the studio, talking about his entrepreneurship and failure. He said that more often than not the team was more important than the project. Though he may encounter more unknown forbidding obstacles in the future., he is still highly grateful to own a team with big dreams after all the ups and downs, 「Successful or not, I will never give up.」