Now the hottest industry, the capital how to think?

Ji Jiapeng newspaper reporter

Intern reporter Chen Danning Wang Yajuan reported in Beijing

For any one industry, the power of capital has always been one of the most powerful drivers. Now the hottest industry, the capital how to think?

According to the latest statistics from Investment Group, since 2014, 25 hardware vendors have achieved financing through VC and other means, while most intelligent hardware is still in the stage of angel investment.

July 24, 21st Century Business Herald reporter interviewed angel angel investor PreAngel Wang Lijie. Wang Lijie from 2012 onwards, has invested more than 20 intelligent hardware companies.

"Investors have to judge the dark horse, and then widened network in order to get the chance." Wang Lijie told reporters that we all know that investment to vote dark horse, but in fact, many people are robbing the White Horse.

Consumption, driving force before and after the capital

"21st Century": Why do you want to invest in intelligent hardware?

Wang Lijie: Intelligent hardware in this industry is still on the rise, the front is the consumer pull, followed by the capital push. Now actively promoting or our angel investors, the real culmination is VC, PE force, they hit a lot of money. Now taking advantage of VC, PE has not yet entered a large scale, we have a chance, so in front of the user's pull and the thrust behind the industry is very important.

From a consumer perspective, smart hardware has captured young consumers in terms of brand, price, fashion, and functionality. And they are the mainstream, that's why I went to invest in smart hardware. Everything is smart, and we're all very interested in digging deeper into where he is.

The focus of investment or look at the market. From an industry competition point of view, BAT has software genes and Internet genes, but they also lack the hardware genes. Now some small business start-up team to do the hardware, to a certain extent, can lead slightly. At the same time, pure software products easily plagiarism, but the hardware has a certain threshold, in the supply chain, manufacturing has some difficulties.

From a large point of view, this time period all kinds of hardware overflow. Hardware entrepreneurs did not imagine so difficult, some incubators gathered talent, ideas and capital. We cast more than 20 hardware companies, and now the big VC is also the focus of attention, and even BAT is also concerned about the hardware. BAT's attention, so that entrepreneurs more confident, new entrants are also emboldened to come.

"21st Century": intelligent hardware which subdivision direction will have a big chance? As well as some smart hardware companies that talk about you.

Wang Lijie: We are optimistic about transport, health care, wearable devices for women and children, and smart home directions.

First of all, a lot of things can be done in transportation, such as solving problems of traffic environment pollution and parking spaces hard to find in an intelligent way, such as electric vehicles and air traffic systems. In the car networking there is a new hardware can be less fuel consumption, anti-theft, easy to share, such as someone to open my car, or even strangers, he can find my car through the Internet, mobile phone to open my car and then pay, we Hope is this way to share car rental.

In the area of ​​medical care, we voted Cloud Medical and Corey Medical, respectively, in the areas of mobile health products and cloud services, and wearable medical device hardware and software that provide health services to mothers and infants. There are many possibilities for this general direction of health.

Children's wearable devices have some more playing attributes, but also have safe and healthy growth attributes. The Lianhuo technology we voted for previously was an interactive fun toy and now focuses on women's health. The whole home, including living, power saving and other aspects of the convenience of hardware.

I am talking about the hardware core are in software, but its image is a hardware, hardware, no software, no soul.

21st Century: What do you value most when investing in smart hardware companies?

Wang Li Jie: essentially only two things: the entrepreneurial team and the company's development. Do hardware team must look at their ability to integrate the industry chain, is not done 10 years of hardware, which is related to the industry network; is not someone good at financing, hardware requires a lot of money; is not willing to cooperate.

In addition to look at selling, such as Tencent's team, coupled with Huawei's hardware team originally sounds more likely to sell. How to allocate the team's equity, morality, work experience, teamwork life, financing ability are all we need to see.

In addition there is marketing, we value the entrepreneur's "performance art" capabilities, such as Ma Jiajia, Luo Yonghao, all of its products are not out before a large number of pre-sale entrepreneurs are performance artists. If entrepreneurs have this ability, then marketing can save a lot of money.

Sub-business stage valuation

"21st Century": What do you think of the valuation of smart hardware startups?

Wang Lijie: Valuation is phased, mainly to see how long a company was founded, the product is not made out. If "everything is ready, only the difference between the production," then you may subscribe to the highest valuation of our funds, that is, rounds A 50% discount under the valuation. If only the operation of an earlier team, a good business, we value it at less than 10 million yuan.

Of course, the founders of some special cattle have also invested a lot in their own money. We can also consider a higher valuation. What they do is "tall" and we are optimistic. For example, holding an international patent company want to do some intelligent hardware in the medical field, the product did not make it, but also prepared about the same, then we can talk about.

Angel investors valuation is actually very flexible.

"21st Century": From the mobile Internet to the present, your investment logic, thinking have changed?

Wang Lijie: the first phase invested 40 companies with 4 million, some projects are in transition, such as our vote of love, and then do a good selection of martial arts; Travel Amoy direction has not changed, still doing overseas retail; flash transfer Has been doing tools, from the original computer management of mobile phones, mobile phones into a spread between, and then made a mobile APP distribution channels; girlfriends APP is now doing smart hardware, girlfriends honey bracelet.

In the second phase, 40 were cast with 30 million, and the software network was sent to these soft banks. There was also a small car. O2O was particularly heavy. In general, the O2O development needs to be continuously carried out. It takes a long time and Funds, the magnitude of the outbreak more difficult.

So this logic moved to intelligent hardware. The wave of intelligent hardware, VC, PE overall still wait and see, some of them have already entered O2O, but now has not given a very high valuation of intelligent hardware. We are generally earlier.

We cast hardware thinking will change. Hardware investment last year, the industry chain is not yet mature, the risk is great, but the industry chain is becoming more mature. Back-end manufacturing industry for development, entrepreneurs more and more open, the capital level, loans, supply chain finance will be more and more. In the sales channels, at present Jingdong, Amazon, Taobao are helping to do these channels, before and after, all aspects of growth. The industry has not grown to the best, from an investor perspective, the more mature the industry, the lower the risk.

"21st Century": What do you think of smart hardware business model?

Wang Lijie: Our business model is more emphasis on making less profits in the hardware, as much as possible by reducing profit margins, to reach penetration, increase sales, so as to make the Internet through the user, data, social profit model.

Of course, a lot of products still leave a big margin at the beginning, because there is a demand for new things, and entrepreneurs think they can make money. I do not stop them from trying to make money first.

However, if a competitor appears, it is necessary to promptly pass the price cut and other measures to profit out, because the big data, to have more user data, more accurate, more real-time companies, may be more valuable. Of course, this is the need for big money to help you burn money, docking big capital as soon as possible. Big capital came in, you can do zero-profit hardware.

"21st Century": You touched so many entrepreneurs, think entrepreneurs biggest problem is what?

Wang Lijie: We are most afraid of impetuous entrepreneurs, financial news around the industry continued, subject to disruption rhythm. The entrepreneur must be in a sub-area to maximize the product, then including investment, partners are not difficult, such as looking for Jingdong, WeChat cooperation.

Some entrepreneurs underestimate the value of the company, we suggest that entrepreneurs should run small steps, faster and reliable funds to take the first, and then continue to move forward. Entrepreneurs with money on the account to talk about financing will be more emboldened.

No matter at any stage, entrepreneurs will certainly wrestle, this time they must recognize the problem. We observe the entrepreneur's mind, perseverance, ideas, as well as the ability to deal with the crisis. When appropriate, we can invest money to help entrepreneurs to weather the storm, and we will demand layoffs in times of business difficulties and help find the right investor after we have learned the lesson.