Most employees think that founder Wang Zhengran is pragmatic. Unlike other internet companies, who walk the world by bragging, he is down-to-earth.
Internet crowdfunding is an arena for individual investors to compete for the capital market. Because the investment threshold is relatively low, the investment game that only institutions can participate in in the past has become the game of many individual investors. The so-called "everyone is an angel investor".
For Wang Zhengran, crowdfunding gave him a different life opportunity.
Although it is only in its early thirties, it is already an "old gun" in the Internet crowdfunding industry. He knows this industry better than anyone else, and almost watched the growth of Internet crowdfunding in China.
But his identity is multi-layered. He is not only an investor, but also an entrepreneur. He set up a crowdfunding house, personally participated in and tried to lead the team to change the status quo of this industry and make it better and better.
Today, he has been involved in crowdfunding investment for five or six years and has seen countless crowdfunding projects. The company crowdfunding house he founded has also become the largest equity crowdfunding portal in China.
However, because he has been running between investment and entrepreneurship for many years, he has little time to be interviewed by the media. Therefore, this interview should be about his most detailed version, which also includes his thoughts on equity crowdfunding and the announcement of the general direction of crowdfunding house this year.
one
Young people fleeing the system
Dare to innovate to make investment.
In 2009, Wang Zhengran, who was in his early twenties, graduated from South China University of Technology in Guangzhou and left the school. Like thousands of college students in Qian Qian, he is faced with the problem of career direction after graduation. As a native of Guangzhou, my personality tends to be pragmatic. The family suggested that it is enough to find a decent job to support the family.
In the evaluation of people around him, he is a typical science and engineering man, sensitive to mathematics and good at mathematics.
Because of this, he entered a private bank to do investment-related business. There, he first came into contact with investment and knew for the first time that money could be earned in this way.
In 20 10, internet finance began to surge, P2P online lending platforms flooded in, and Guangzhou and Shenzhen became the concentrated places of P2P platforms. There are not only many platforms, but also many investors. With its unique natural advantages, Wang Zhengran came into contact with P2P online loans very early, so he met many investors. Several of the investors had a great influence on his founding of the crowdfunding house.
"Small achievements, small profits." Wang Zhengran said modestly in the interview. However, in his words, he still revealed a special liking for investment.
But the work of the bank is as boring as ever. Working within the system means that there are many restrictions, such as getting a fixed salary every month and drawing a fixed expenditure every month. This lifeless life, like providing for the aged, has given him unlimited innovation and the idea of leaving the bank.
When Wang Zhengran entered crowdfunding, there was no concept of "equity crowdfunding" at that time, and equity crowdfunding was also tied to P2P, which was actually a sub-business of P2P platform.
He recalled that Hongling Venture Capital just started a few years ago and opened an equity financing board (which was later closed). He and some investors began to invest in the seed wheel of startups. Basic early crowdfunding platforms are involved.
He said with a smile, I may be one of the earliest investors in equity crowdfunding in China.
Frankly speaking, investing brings him more happiness than doing the same job every day, as if he was born to do this. He may not talk much in front of everyone, but he has all kinds of crazy ideas in his heart. When you talk to him and suddenly talk about a point in his mind, he will suddenly cheer up and tell all the points he thinks.
When he hesitated to leave the bank, he met an angel investor through a friend's introduction. That afternoon became a turning point that changed his life. Angel investor, also surnamed Wang, talked for a whole afternoon. There was controversy and speculation, which was regarded as a brief encounter. Finally, a very crazy idea came into being: Do you want to set up a third-party platform for equity crowdfunding?
Most people in Guangzhou are pragmatic, thinking and acting, and paying attention to economic benefits and values. But he didn't think too much when he made the biggest investment-when he founded the crowdfunding house.
He said that at that time, there was no communication platform in the crowdfunding industry, and investors were scattered to various project exchange groups, which was very troublesome to communicate with each other. I wonder if I can provide you with a platform to facilitate everyone and yourself. I didn't think how big it would be.
"This is mainly because I don't want to stay in the system, want to leave the system and want to be free," he added. Although his family once dissuaded him, his inner desire for freedom has gone far away and cannot be redeemed.
He said with emotion that if he is too conservative and thinks about risks in everything he does, he is afraid of his hands and feet. Such people are not suitable for starting a business or making investments. To make an investment, we should have an inclusive attitude, absorb all kinds of information, be able to accept different ideas, be innovative and have imagination.
As one of the earliest crowdfunding investors, he almost witnessed the growth of China Internet crowdfunding industry from scratch. Up to now, many crowdfunding investors can see him in the WeChat exchange group. Every time investors encounter crowdfunding problems, they will look for him and let him answer them.
In the eyes of investors, he is the nearest crowdfunding industry veteran.
With seven or eight years of crowdfunding experience, he has a different attitude towards crowdfunding investment. In an interview with a paper media in Guangzhou last year, he said, "Crowdfunding can't be too serious, but we can't take it seriously. We must have a' lose' attitude, otherwise life will not be over. " We should treat crowdfunding with a "play" attitude.
Just like the attitude of many people in Guangzhou, "the most important thing in life is to be happy." Leaving the work within the system, making investments and making communication platforms all revolve around people's simplest emotional needs-making money happily.
two
Early investment depends on the founder.
Follow the trend and do your own research.
You can't invest according to your own preferences.
His investment experience has almost kept pace with China's Internet crowdfunding. His early equity investment has gains and losses, and all the lessons are bought with money, which has become a magic weapon for his increasing success rate in investing in crowdfunding projects.
In Wang Zhengran's view, both investment and entrepreneurship should be responsible for themselves. He said that the early investment mainly depended on people and founders. Generally, serial entrepreneurs will be chosen now. If they fail, they won't have nothing and can't afford to lose. I'm afraid that people who can't afford to lose will lose their balance and make mistakes because of something.
Secondly, continuous entrepreneurs have a deeper and more reliable understanding of products than the general ones. Furthermore, some enterprises with better cash flow may be selected.
He gave an example. In the second half of 20 15, he took a fancy to an entrepreneurial project on a local platform in Shenzhen, immediately contacted the platform, met with the project entrepreneur, and chatted directly in the small conference room of the platform that day. The project leader is a serial entrepreneur and product manager. He has his own unique views on products and people are more reliable, so he decided to invest at that time. Later, the project was valued at160,000 at that time, but now it has risen to1800 million, and the valuation has increased by 10 times.
He calculated that up to now, he has invested in about 20 or 30 projects, focusing on consumption upgrading, financial technology and other outlets. However, he added that this is actually changing, and it will not be decided which industry to invest in, but it will change with the change of the wind.
Some investors are not responsible for their own investments. For example, investing without communicating with entrepreneurs is a typical irresponsible behavior. For another example, it is irresponsible to invest in a project without knowing the industry where the project is located and not doing industry research. Wang Zhengran said that although individual investors have limited resources and cannot obtain very detailed core information, there are a lot of public data on the Internet. If you take the time to check it, it will make the investment more reliable.
For example, he said, I have a drone project in front of me, but I don't know much about drones, so I will find my friends and let those who know about drones tell me and get the answers I want from them. I can also find some related articles to understand this project from the side. In some aspects of due diligence, some are deep and some are shallow, but in terms of breadth, we still have to do it ourselves.
"Equity investment is not to invest when you have money, but to end when you invest, and it takes a lot of thought before and after," Wang Zhengran emphasized.
Among the projects he invests in, he will find some relatively unpopular projects, even "dirty", such as gay and lesbian communities, sex tools, nightlife-related apps and so on. Speaking of which, he smiled. First of all, he said that he has never been involved in overnight life, so he must have a regular life when investing, otherwise he can't stand the high-intensity investment work.
Regarding these projects, he explained that I invested in these projects because I thought they were profitable. As an investor, the return on income is the first, and you can't invest according to your personal preferences. However, nightlife doesn't mean you can't make money from people who have nightlife.
In the second half of 20 15, he also invested in some foreign crowdfunding platforms, such as the WeFunder platform established on 20 12, and he is one of the shareholders of this platform.
He compared it. In fact, the gap between domestic and international crowdfunding platforms is not as big as people think. In terms of post-investment management, domestic crowdfunding platforms are doing better. Domestic crowdfunding platforms will have operation reports and feedback every month, but like some foreign platforms, they may only give you feedback on the basic situation of the platform once a year. Of course, I hope the platforms at home and abroad can communicate with each other and learn from each other.
three
A Brief History of Entrepreneurship of "Crowdfunding House"
I used to sleep in the company and even take a bath in the bathroom.
I also felt sorry for the departure of several employees for a long time.
"If I hesitate a few times and don't start a business, I will definitely not come out again by 20 16, and there will be no crowdfunding room." When it comes to crowdfunding houses, Wang Zhengran can't help feeling.
According to public information, crowdfunding house was established in July 2065438+2004, and it is the first portal of domestic equity crowdfunding. The website focuses on the needs of investors, providing all-round equity crowdfunding information, authoritative data comparison, high-quality project recommendation and industry exchange community.
In fact, at the beginning of its establishment, the crowdfunding house was just a forum for crowdfunding investors to communicate. The people who often surf the Internet are the same people, and everyone communicates in the same WeChat group. Later, with the growing influence, the crowdfunding house has gradually changed from a small community to an industry portal that provides one-stop services.
He said that our earliest co-investors actually grew up watching the parents of online loans. At that time, we felt that the crowdfunding industry also needed a third-party platform, especially the information asymmetry in the crowdfunding industry, which was even greater than P2P. Therefore, the crowdfunding industry will have greater demand for third parties. One more thing, at that time, users began to transfer, and newcomers including myself began to turn to the equity investment market.
However, entrepreneurship is not lip service, and it is difficult to start a business. In the process of establishing a crowdfunding house, many things happened that moved him very much.
When he started his business, he rented an office near Gangxia subway station in Futian District, Shenzhen, which was very small and could only accommodate a dozen people at most. Different from ordinary office buildings, there are only two or three companies on a single floor, which means that the bathroom can only be placed in the office.
This office structure is like home. When he first came, he really lived here as a writer because he had no place to live. On the first day of work, others always bring an file bag. On his first day at work, he brought a toothbrush, toothpaste, towels and a change of clothes. He wakes up at seven or eight in the morning and works until evening 10 1 1, and then takes his clothes to the sweater room to take a shower. At the end of the day.
I lived like this for a while until I moved out.
He recalled that the idea of starting a business was simple. Several friends became partners and everyone had a common goal. Everyone is enthusiastic. Although life is a little bitter, they are still happy.
However, at the beginning of 20 15, something happened in the crowdfunding house, which made him sad for a long time. Previously, the crowdfunding house recruited many people in order to expand its business. Among them, he personally recruited several employees and then personally trained them, which was regarded as bringing them into the door of crowdfunding. If you are free, let's have dinner together and take care of each other like friends in life.
But it didn't last long. At that time, equity crowdfunding had just started, which was not as good as the P2P online lending industry. In this case, these employees have resigned. And the reasons given by those employees made him sad for a long time.
-I think the crowdfunding industry has no future.
I think the salary is too low and the future is better.
There is nothing to learn here.
This kind of sadness is like a friend suddenly saying that he is going to a distant place. He was caught off guard and had a great psychological touch. When Wang Zhengran talked about this past, his voice choked for a second and then returned to normal.
He said that after the most difficult period of starting a business, the crowdfunding house is now basically on the right track. The crowdfunding house has transformed from a pure information website to a major shareholder platform and has become a one-stop service platform. When talking about the reasons for the transformation, he said, "One is because the' ceiling' of pure information websites is very low, and it can be a round, but it is difficult to get up; The other is that I still want to do something and want to lead the crowdfunding home to go further. "
According to reports, in 20 17, he will develop more business for the company, launch a series of one-stop services, form a closed-loop transaction with crowdfunding houses and major shareholders at this stage, and continue to exert his strength in the Internet crowdfunding market.
In the process of starting a business, he often has to switch between investors and entrepreneurs, but for him, these two identities can actually complement each other. I can learn a lot from other entrepreneurs because I invest. Because I start a business, I know what the real situation is when I invest in those projects, what problems I will encounter and what they really need.
He also mentioned that in the current environment, the Internet crowdfunding platform wants to survive, not by people with financial background, nor by the background of large groups, but by having these three factors-industry resources, investment ability and Internet operation thinking. All three are indispensable.
Looking forward to 20 17, he believes that the internet crowdfunding market is still relatively stable in the first half of the year, and the trend in the second half of the year still depends on regulatory policies.
In addition to watching projects and keeping a clear head, he will choose to accompany his family at other times. This is similar to the idea of many entrepreneurs in Guangzhou. No matter how busy they are, they have not forgotten their families.
Attached to the basic information of Wang Zhengran, founder of Crowdfunding House:
Wang Zhengran, born in198665438+February, a native of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, graduated from South China University of Technology and has seven years of experience in the financial industry. He is one of the earliest investors who entered the Internet finance industry in China, and he is an investor in many well-known Internet finance companies in Shenzhen.
2065438+July 2004, Wang Zhengran founded the first third-party portal of equity crowdfunding in China, "Crowdfunding House", focusing on the needs of investors, providing all-round equity crowdfunding information, authoritative data comparison, high-quality project recommendation and industry exchange community.