Cybernaut investment Zhu: To share the pain and joy of entrepreneurship

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California expressway on both sides, the exquisite and elegant villas, which was the first to the United States to read the Doctor Zhu one of the dream. But when he first started a successful venture and had the money to buy the villa, he found he was not in the mood to enjoy such a villa, but was pondering how to bring his own products to the world.

36 years old, as the first group of state-sponsored students to study at Stanford University in the United States, and the first contact with computer Zhu, 5 years after the beginning of the United States has started a series of 2 IT companies to promote his products to most of the Fortune 1000 companies, and use their position and influence in the United States to set up an international platform for Chinese enterprises.

The 2011 Overseas Chinese Blue Book found that the number of companies founded or served as chief executives by overseas Chinese now accounts for about One-third of Silicon Valley companies. The great contribution and achievements made by overseas Chinese to Silicon Valley not only greatly changed the "stereotype" of American society to Chinese, but also greatly enhanced the international image of China.

Silicon Valley Entrepreneurship

In Zhu's view, the idea of starting a business in the US stems from the entrepreneurial climate in Silicon Valley. "In Silicon Valley, the evaluation and recognition of a person is very simple, just based on whether you have created a business, whether the entrepreneurial success." If you are only in a large enterprise to do the executive, although the pay is also very good, but also embarrassed to greet people, afraid of being looked down upon. ”

Zhu, Ph. D. at Stanford, a PhD in engineering economics, is located in thousands of various new technology companies and Silicon Valley, where the world's elite gather. Thanks to the education environment in the United States, he was encouraged to participate in the practice of the school, so while working at IBM, while reading, accumulated a lot of practical experience, and therefore into the IT field.

In this fiery entrepreneurial environment, in 1991, in his garage, Zhu began his first venture, creating future Labs, the main product of which is an internet-based "Conference presentation Communication System". However, despite the difficulties of entrepreneurship in the United States, the greater difficulty is that, although the American society is relatively large, but a Chinese want to integrate into such a society is not easy, especially into the mainstream society, to find Americans to invest in you more difficult.

Zhu recalls that the Americans did not vote for him at first, but his product attracted a Singaporean to take the initiative to act as his angel. At the time, however, he did not understand that the software needed the Internet to support it, while future labs was in front of the internet and future labs struggled in the shadow of the rivals of IBM and Intel's two giants. It was not until 1996 that Quarterdeck bought future Labs at a price of 13 million dollars, and Zhu earned the first bucket of gold on the road to entrepreneurship.

When the co-founder took a large sum of money and his girlfriend traveled around the world, Zhu lying in bed, thinking that although his next half life can almost food and worry, but did not achieve their desired success, that is to bring their own products to the world.

Start a business again

So, Zhu again, he found an Indian partner Subra Eya, co-founder of the video products of the software company WebEx (American Network), to provide network conferencing software services and support. At this point, the Chinese students to start a business increasingly accepted, Zhu for the first time to get the U.S. wind vote 7 million dollars.

Zhu to find investment has also been a number of hit the wall, people heard that his competitors are Microsoft (Micro-bo) Such a large company, and Microsoft provided is tied to the browser, free of similar products, all think he is crazy. He got a second 30 million dollar investment from a former product manager at Microsoft, "only he really understands the product and knows the difference and value of our products with the original Microsoft products." ”

WebEx successfully listed on Nasdaq in 2000, and developed into a service provider for the world's most powerful network interactive service and Network Conferencing Center system, defeating Microsoft's NetMeeting and PlaceWare. Zhu also invented the "internet-based real-time interactive multimedia communication technology" and has more than 20 patents to become the United States famous scientists, the technology is well-known IT consulting company IDC called "Revolution in Communications history."

WebEx's share price reached $56 in 2007, when WebEx was bought by Cisco at a cash premium of 3.2 billion dollars in March, making Zhu famous. Excellence in innovation and entrepreneurial achievements, so that Zhu in the Silicon Valley enjoys a high reputation and reputation, as a model for international students and Chinese entrepreneurs. And even more let Zhu gratified that today's Fortune 1000 80%~90% are in the use of WebEx products.

In Zhu's view, the growth of the entrepreneurial team needs two kinds of running-in, one is the market running-in: What the market needs, what kind of products should provide the market; the second is the running-in of team members: for products, what kind of team, how the team members can seamlessly docking, provide the best products to the market.

Go again.

Influenced by the culture of Silicon Valley, entrepreneurship became the spiritual pursuit of Zhu, after returning to Zhu No energy to venture again, but he is very willing to use their own successful entrepreneurial experience to help young people embark on the road to entrepreneurship.

In fact, in the U.S. Silicon Valley, when the success of Zhu began to dabble in the field of investment. 2004, he was the largest early venture capitalist in the United States NEA Company in China's only investment partners, to help NEA successfully invested in SMIC, the exhibition technology, red children, such as a number of projects.

In 2005, Zhu and Nea co-founded the Cybernaut China Investment Fund, talking about current and future investment areas, Zhu said that the investment field is mainly located in the areas of education, training, finance and medical services related to Chinese consumer service based on internet and it technology.

Now Cybernaut has invested dozens of companies and entrepreneurs in China, including China Green Line, Chint Solar, and exhibition communications. Zhu Introduction, Cybernaut Many investments are angel projects, including the exhibition of communications and concentrating technology, concentrating technology two entrepreneurs once took a piece of paper to Zhu's home, because it is hard to find Zhu is their fellow, hope to support their entrepreneurship. "I listened to their thoughts and said maybe you could, so they invested 500,000 dollars." Now that the company has been listed on the gem, 500,000 dollars has turned into a a billion of return. ”

Another success story is Chint solar. Zhu introduced, Chint Solar's founder is one of his classmates. Cybernaut from zero investment, after 3-4 years of development, now has done 300 million ~4 billion of the scale, this year's sales may break 500 million.

As an experienced, Zhu says, if there are suggestions for entrepreneurs, the first is to start a very hard, to be able to share the pain and joy, followed by a great ideal, full of passion to start a business, while building a corporate culture of sharing, the third is to insist on insisting again, "most of the time is not a competitor to defeat you, but yourself".