?iAsk x China Daily | What determines a VC will be long-lasting?

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18歲，倪正東收到的第一份「成年禮」是——「挫折」。這年夏天，他因高考志願填報不當而與理想的清華大學失之交臂。

At the age of 18, Gavin (Zhengdong) Ni faced his first major setback in life. He failed to be admitted to Tsinghua university because he filled in the application form inappropriately, despite getting a high score for the university entrance exam. 

但是入學第一天，他就在心裡打定主意：四年後報考清華大學研究生。於是接下來的四年，他都算得上大學裡最勤奮的學生。

So starting from the first day in college, he was determined to get into Tsinghua for grad school.In the following four years, he was the most diligent student.

四年後，倪正東如願進入清華。之後，倪正東便一門心思想出國深造，泡腳時都在讀英文報紙。

Four years later, Gavin Ni got into his dream school – Tsinghua University. Subsequently, he wished to study abroad, and was reading English newspapers even while taking a bath. 

有次，報紙上登載麻省理工學院開展創業大賽的新聞，獎金高達五萬美金，他看到以後念念不忘，萌生了一個念頭，

「清華不僅是工程師和科學家的搖籃，還要成為企業家的搖籃！」

Once, he was impressed by a piece of news he read about an entrepreneurship competition at MIT with the prize as high as 50.000 dollars. A thought came to him:

Tsinghua shouldn"t just be an incubator for engineers and scientists, but also for entrepreneurs! 

於是，他和幾個同學在清華成立了創業者協會，開始邀請王志東、張朝陽、丁磊等一批成功的企業家演講。

He then founded an entrepreneurship student association with a few fellow students, and invited successful entrepreneurs such as Wang Zhidong, Zhang Chaoyang, Ding Lei to give talks. 

當時清華乃至全國，尚無學生創業先例。

At that time, there were no student entrepreneurs in Tsinghua or entire China.

雖然倪正東曾說，「當時清華科技者創業協會，現在最有出息的人不是我，而是當年的一個新生——美團的創始人，王興。」但是他帶領創業協會策劃的第一屆大學生創業計劃大賽不僅成為了亞洲第一個創業者計劃大賽，還吸引了上百個創業團隊參加。

Although Gavin Ni used to say, "The most successful person coming out of the Association of Student Entrepreneurs at Tsinghua was not me, but a  freshman  – Wang Xing, the founder of Meituan." Under his leadership, the association hosted the first student entrepreneurship business plan competition, which became the first of such contest in Asia, attracted hundreds of teams to join. 

那時，清華最流行的詞語就是「創業」和「開網站」。

At that time, the most popular words at Tsinghua was "entrepreneurship" and "making a website".

而這也為倪正東的創業打下了基礎。從那時起倪正東就一直跟年輕的創業者、企業家、投資者們保持很好的交流和溝通。

These experiences also laid the foundation for Gavin Ni"s own founding journey. Since then, he was interacting closely with young entrepreneurs and investors, and made a name for himself. 

1999年開始，當中國創投業翻開了外資創投主打的新篇章時候，倪正東也憑藉著當時的名氣，號召校友、海外投資銀行家，共同創辦了北京清科信息諮詢有限公司。

In 1999, when foreign VCs were coming into China"s venture world, Gavin Ni"s name and reputation helped him to gather a few alumni and oversea investment bankers to co-found Zero2IPO Group.

19年後，清科集團已成長為中國領先的創業與投資綜合服務平台及投資機構，不僅擁有清科創業、清科投資、清科資本和清科空間四大業務板塊，還打造了私募通、投資界、新芽、沙丘學院、項目工場和財富街六大互聯網平台。

19 years later, Zero2IPO has grown to be China"s leading service platform and investment organization for venture andinvestment. Zero2IPO not only has four business units - venture services, asset management, financial advisory, and innovation space, it also has six internet platforms and products - PEdaily.cn, PEdata.cn, project factory, Newseed, Sandhill college, and PEstreet.cn.

如果說以前清科是一個「雜貨店」的話，那麼現在則儼然已是風投界的「百貨商場」了，不過在倪正東心中，清科依舊是投資界的「店小二」、「服務員」。

To give an analogy, Zero2IPO started off as the "convenient shop" for the venture capital industry and now, it has grown to be the "department store". However, for Gavin Ni, Zero2IPO is still a "waiter" providing services for the investment industry.

倪正東目前參與投資和幫助融資的企業超過100家，直接投資的企業包括奇虎360、博納影視、麥考林、百分通聯、56網、海報網、天涯社區、夢芭莎、三夫戶外、愛康國賓等眾多明星項目，成為中國創業投資界青年一代的代表人物。

So far, Gavin Ni helped financed and invested in more than 100 startups. He is the representative of the younger generation of China"s venture capital industry. Some featured companies he invested include Qihoo 360, Bona Film, Mecoxlane, 51welink, 56.com, haibao.com, tianya.cn, moonbasa, Sanfo Outdoor, and iKang healthcare.

他見過了萬眾創業、資本涌動的繁榮景象，也見過了募資艱難、監管趨緊的資本寒冬，從元年到拐點，倪正東和清科見證了中國創投行業的一步步成長。

He has seen both the prosperous times with booming startup scenes and huge capital flows into this market, as well as the downtimes when financing gets difficult with tightening regulations. From the starting point to the turning point, Gavin Ni and Zero2IPO have witnessed the growth of China"s venture capital industry step by step. 

「當初我的理想並不豐滿，但這個時代卻創造了如此巨大的機會和潛力，這個市場實在太肥」。

"In the beginning, I did not have very big dreams, but this era has brought such great opportunities and so much potential, this market is just so lubricious."

本期艾問頂級人物，艾問創始人艾誠對話清科集團董事長倪正東，解析中國創投行業二十年的變化與延續。

This issue of iAsk Media, Gloria Ai is having a conversation with Gavin Ni, CEO of Zero2IPO, to analyze the changes and continuations of China"s venture capital industry.

艾誠：

這19年走過來，哪些是中國投資圈一直沒有變的？哪些是急速變化的？

Gloria Ai:

Having been in China"s VC industry for the past 19 years, what are the things that remained unchanged, and what are the most rapid changes?

倪正東：

其實這20年下來，不變的東西是大家還是有使命感，還是特別愛國，愛自己的國家，還有好奇心，我們這幫人都還有好奇心，不變的是我們這些年輕人，不變的是我們支持一些從未成功的東西、從未成功的人、從未成功的公司，不變的是我們還跟當年一樣熱情洋溢、拚命三郎。

大家的這種心態是不變的。

Gavin Ni:

For the past 20 years, what remained unchanged are a sense of mission, patriotism and the love for our country. Our curiosity remains, we try to discover young talents. What also did not change is that we support things that were not successful, talents that were not successful, firms that were not successful. We are still as passionate as before and keep pushing hard.

I think this state of mind remained unchanged.

艾誠：

很多中國的企業不再拼利潤、營收、用戶，而是拼用多快的時間可以達到估值10億美元以上。

Gloria Ai:

Many Chinese firms are no longer competingon profits, revenues or number of users, but competing on how fast it takes toreach a billion dollar valuation. 

其實不管是在中國還是全球，在資本快速發展的過程中儼然有很多的泡沫，您會不會擔心泡沫甚囂塵上，會導致大量的創投企業死亡？

Actually, no matter in China or around the world, during this fast capital development process, there appear to be lots of bubbles. Would you be worried that during this bubble period, many startups will die out?

倪正東：

其實很多方面在美國發生的事情在中國也是會發生的，

我2003年去美國見到美國的VC，2008年再見他們的時候，三分之二已經消失了，

所以這個市場是非常殘酷的。

Gavin Ni:

Actually many things that happened in America will also happen in China.

In 2003, I went to the US and visited many US VCs. When I tried to meet them again in 2008, two-thirds of them disappeared.

So this market is very cruel.

艾誠：

那是什麼決定了創投機構基業常青或者失敗離場？

Gloria Ai:

Then what determines whether a VC will be long-lasting or fail?

倪正東：

其實我覺得做投資機構，最重要的還是持續投資好的公司。

你能募到錢，能投到好的公司，能做好管理，能退出，這是非常重要的。

Gavin Ni:

The most important thing for an investment organization is to be able to continuously invest in good firms.

You are able to raise capital, invest in good firms, manage things well, and make your exit. 

這個行業不是靠嘴的，是靠投資案例的，你投了什麼公司，佔多少股權，賺了多少錢，非常非常明確，不要講那些紙面上的東西，而是讓投資人、出資人得到錢，這是最關鍵的。

These are very important. This industry is not about pitching, but it is based on successful investment cases. Which company did you invest in, how many shares do you have, how much did you earn, are all very clear. Do not talk about how much it is valued on paper, but how much money have your LP actually received. This is the most important. 

一個投資機構不在於它今天怎麼樣，而是長期來看怎麼樣，我們這個都是以十年作為標準的。

So the success of an investment firm does not depend on how it is doing today, but how it is in the long-term. In our industry, we measure it over the course of 10 years.

艾誠：

您曾經說過，投資的活兒是專業的活兒，投資界行業是要看人和看事的，在這個行業待的越久，越覺得人難以判斷，為什麼？

Gloria Ai:

You used to say that investing is a professional thing, one needs to check out both the people and the business, and the longer one stays in this industry, the more it feels that people are hard to judge. Why is that?

倪正東：

幫我們賺錢的公司，都是人投對了。

09年投周鴻禕，其實我們也是閉著眼睛投的，

你說對他的商業模式、財務報表、客戶有多了解，其實並不是，就覺著周鴻禕是一桿槍，他能成功。

Gavin Ni:

The companies that helped us to earn money were the ones which we invested in the right people.

In 2009, when we invested in Zhou Hongyi, actually, it was based on a gut feeling.

You say how much you understand his business model, his financial sheets or his clients, it is actually not like that. I just felt that Zhou Hongyi was a good shot, he can succeed. 

京東當年的估值是5000萬美元，沒人願意投劉強東。

所以我覺得投資人比較大的一個困難，不是對事的判斷，而是對人的判斷。

JD was valued at 50 million dollars, and no one wanted to invest in him.

艾誠：

有人說投資就是投國運，投資人對於宏觀的經濟、微觀的企業都是非常敏感的，對於未來，您是更焦慮了還是更自信了？

Gloria Ai:

Some say, investing is to invest in the future of a country. Investors are very sensitive to the macroeconomic situation and the micro-conditions on the company level. Facing the future, are you more anxious or more confident?

倪正東：

今天我們都要感謝40年前的改革開放，如果沒有改革開放，我們也不可能讀書、讀大學、創業、創投，我們40年取得了巨大的成就，全世界有目共睹。但未來是什麼樣的？

今年我們都特別焦慮，特別特別焦慮。

Gavin Ni:

We all have to thank "the reform and opening up" from 40 years ago. Without "the reform and opening up", we would not be able to get an education, to go to college, to found a startup, or join a VC. We had huge achievements in the past 40 years, which are well-received around the world. But how the future will look like?

We are all very anxious this year, very very anxious.

在北京，如果你一個人還好一點，如果幾個兄弟在一塊兒，每個人都說的是壞消息，大家都是負能量，大家坐一塊兒其實很焦慮。

In Beijing, it is better if you are alone. When you gather with a few friends from the VC circle, everyone is talking about bad news, so everyone is full of negative energy, and people get more anxious when gathering together. 

但雨天過後肯定是晴天，我相信我們投資界今年面臨的這些焦慮，面臨的這些挑戰，不管是註冊的問題、稅收的問題、募資的問題，

過了今年明年或許就不是問題了，所以我們要樂觀一點。

But whatever it turns out, everything will be good eventually. So I believe that, all the worries, challenges we are facing in the VC circle this year, no matter about registrations, taxation, or fundraising, 

they won"t be aproblem next year. So we have to be optimistic.

—END—

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