Innovation works is an all-round entrepreneurial platform, aiming at cultivating innovative talents and a new generation of high-tech enterprises. Innovation works will attract a group of outstanding entrepreneurs and engineers, and under the leadership of Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, build projects with the most market value and commercial potential, and conduct R&D and market operation. When the project matures to a certain extent, it will naturally split the parent company and become an independent subsidiary until it is finally listed or acquired. Innovation works will base itself on the hottest fields in the information industry: Internet, mobile Internet and cloud computing, and choose relevant technologies as the starting point for starting a business.
Innovation works will invest 800 million RMB in the next five years. The investor is the China Economic Cooperation Group founded by Mr. Liu Yuhuan. Investors also include Fortune 100 companies, well-known venture capitalists and Chinese and American elites, including Foxconn Technology Group, Legend Holdings Limited led by Liu Chuanzhi, New Oriental Education Technology Group led by Yu, and Steve Chen, founder of YouTube. These star entrepreneurs are already successful legends, and many of them expressed their willingness to coach young entrepreneurs together. Their participation will make innovative works even more powerful, and their participation will make entrepreneurial spirit passed down from generation to generation among a group of entrepreneurs. Operating mode In the era of the rise of the Internet, many ambitious young people have gained a lot of financial support through a prospect description, thus embarking on a successful life path. The magical thing of "one story for an investment" inspires countless people who want to start a business. Many people dream of such a good thing coming to them, but these people with large sums of money are so mysterious and out of reach that ordinary people can't reach them. Today, Kai-Fu Lee announced the establishment of an "innovation factory" in such a high-profile way. "The operating philosophy of the whole company is (angel investment+innovation) × scale". Its operation mode is roughly as follows: Recruit a group of outstanding entrepreneurs and engineers, under the leadership of Kai-Fu Lee, create projects with market value and commercial potential for R&D, and conduct market operation. When the project matures to a certain extent, it will naturally split the parent company and become an independent subsidiary until it is finally listed or acquired. This means that investors with a lot of money are standing in front of you, you know where he is, and you can find him at any time. What you need to do is to impress him with your own ideas and get investment. [Edit this paragraph] Application method It is reported that Kai-fu Lee will start a large-scale recruitment team after two weeks of news promotion, and form a team to select commercial projects; After another two months, we began to screen business plans for employees to start businesses. A spokesman for Kai-Fu Lee said that innovation works requires applicants to have a solid professional background. The process of applying for angel investment is not complicated, just like looking for a job. Just send your resume to the "innovation works" mailbox, with your academic background and project experience indicated on it. Regardless of the successful or unsuccessful experience, the applicant will be given extra points. Applicants do not necessarily have their own entrepreneurial team, nor do they necessarily have a mature business plan, which can be formed after discussion with the staff. In addition, having referees can also improve the chances of being shortlisted. (Note: The idea comes from internal staff)
Innovation works will directly employ 65,438+065,438+00 employees, about 65,438+000 of whom are trained to be "elite in running high-tech companies", except for financial and human resources positions. Company employees will brainstorm 20 creative ideas worth trying every year, then select 10 potential ideas to promote development projects, and finally select 5 companies from them. Once the new company is established, it will leave innovation works. Kai-fu Lee will continue to help it obtain venture capital, while innovation works will continue to recruit employees to make up for the vacancy. [Edit this paragraph] Innovative workers Employees engaged in innovative work are innovative workers, each with different roles and responsibilities. But the ultimate goal is the same, all to do innovative projects and put them into the project. Finally, set up a company for this project to develop better. Innovative workers mean creating innovative, creative and potential talents.
Background information: Innovative work-making angel investment move towards economies of scale.
Network Planner: Innovating the Mode and Essence of Works —— "Finance"+"Talents" —— Opening up a new model of venture capital in China. The essence of innovation works is a mixture of "angel fund+headhunting+incubation subsidiary"
In September 2009, "innovation works" became a hot word in China's industrial and investment circles.
Mr. Wen, a senior network planner, pointed out that the essence of "innovation works" is a mixture of "angel fund+headhunting+incubation subsidiary", and it is a venture investment made by VC in Greater China to Dr. Kai-fu Lee. Dr. Kai-fu Lee's second VC for a new generation of high-tech enterprises through the innovation works platform is a clever bridge grafting of venture capital with innovative genes. A company recently founded by Dr. Kai-fu Lee, a former executive at Microsoft and Google, is defined as "an all-round entrepreneurial platform aimed at cultivating innovative talents and a new generation of high-tech enterprises." At first glance, it is nothing more than a new case of venture capital company, but an important reason why "innovation works" has become a hot word is that Dr. Kai-fu Lee brought the angel investment model to a new realm of high scale and industrialization for the first time in China.
Angel investment originated in the United States in the19th century, and usually refers to the one-off upfront investment made by free investors or informal venture capital institutions on original projects or small start-ups. Angel investment and institutional venture capital together constitute the venture capital industry in America. Since 2000, venture capital in China has developed rapidly, but most investment companies like to choose short, frequent and fast projects, so it is relatively easy to finance mature large-scale projects (such as companies close to listing). Entrepreneurial enterprises with relatively high risk coefficient and more need all-round support are more difficult to get support.
In fact, Silicon Valley, the cradle of American entrepreneurs, has formed a complete and streamlined system from angel investment to venture capital in the middle and late stage. Therefore, innovative enterprises, whether in seed stage, introduction stage, growth stage or mature stage, can get corresponding help as long as they have potential. If an entrepreneur just has a good idea, he can find the help of angel clubs or angel investors, who focus on starting capital investment of about 50 thousand dollars; If he has an early version of the product and an entrepreneurial team, he may get a seed fund of $65,438+0-500,000 from angel clubs or angel investors; If the enterprise starts commercial operation and has formal customers, it may obtain financing of about $2 million-$5 million from early and medium-term venture capital funds; Then there is venture capital in the middle and late stage.
Take Google, whose market value has reached $65.438+04.5 billion, for example. sergey brin and Larry Page only had business ideas 65.438+0 years ago, and before the company was established, they got a check for $6.5438+million from angel investor Andy Bechtolsheim.
In addition to the financial investment system, in Silicon Valley, some investors also provide added value for start-ups at different stages. Early angel investors are usually successful entrepreneurs or former executives and industry veterans of large companies. They can often bring experience, judgment, industry relations and follow-up investors to the founders. In the growth period of enterprises, high value-added venture capital will also help to lead start-ups into a more formal operation structure and management model, and even help enterprises to equip professional teams needed for subsequent development. When the enterprise develops to the stage of listing or merger, venture capital will provide corresponding help. Therefore, at different stages of a startup, its investors are like running a relay, and through inheritance and cultivation, a concept can take root, sprout, blossom and grow.
Mike Markkula is an angel Bole. When Apple was founded, Markkula not only invested $92,000 himself, but also raised $690,000. Together with the $250,000 loan he guaranteed from the bank, the total was $6,543,800+0,000. 1977, Apple was founded, Markkula formally joined Apple as an equal partner, and became the vice chairman, with Jobs as the chairman. Markkula even recommended michael scott as Apple's first CEO. Markkula served as Apple's chairman until 1997.
With a relatively complete innovation system, many talents in Silicon Valley are also very willing to work in the founding enterprises. Different types of talents can participate in different stages of entrepreneurial enterprises according to their different skills, preferences and risk-taking expectations. There are serial entrepreneurs who focus on creating enterprises, managers and technical talents who like to work in the process of developing enterprises from dozens to hundreds, and managers who are good at expanding companies from hundreds to a larger scale. At different stages, startups can easily match different types of talents and even change management.
It can be said that angel investment is the main pillar of early American entrepreneurship and innovation. In the United States, angel investment can account for 40% to 50% of the total venture capital. According to a report by the Entrepreneurship Research Center affiliated to the University of New Hampshire, in 2008, there were more than 260,000 active angel investors in the United States. In addition, there are many angel investment institutions. They provided a total investment of $654.38+09.2 billion for 55,480 start-ups. According to the statistical report of PricewaterhouseCoopers, in 2008, the late venture capital investment in the United States exceeded $28 billion, and 3,700 investment projects were funded. It can be said that if there is no angel investment, the later venture capital is a clever woman who can't cook without rice.
There used to be such an image metaphor in the investment circles in China: Venture capital means watching a dish, paying the bill well and leaving the market badly. And mature angel investors will say, this dish is good, but it lacks two peppers and two pieces of tofu. Who will accompany this dish? Angels will match. Angels will say, this dish is good, but the chef is not good. Let's find a chef. It's better to be a chef. This dish is not like this. Let's burn it again.
In contrast, although venture capital has been flourishing in China, angel investment is rare.
According to the data provided by Zero2IPO Group, venture capital poured into China on a large scale because of its optimistic view on the China market. In the first half of 2008, venture capital in the middle and late stage raised a total of $49.302 billion, an increase of 65.438+090% over the same period in 2007. There are 348 venture capital enterprises in the middle and late stage, with a total investment of 7.383 billion US dollars, an increase of 50% over the same period in 2007. According to the data of 2006, the scale of domestic angel investment is only about 500-654.38+0 billion RMB.
No wonder at a venture capital conference in 2008, people in China venture capital circles asserted that it would take at least ten years for domestic angel investment to reach a certain scale. According to insiders, corresponding to the situation in the United States, angel investment as an industrial chain has not yet formed in China.
The birth of innovative works just fills this gap. Compared with traditional venture capital, innovation works is more hands-on. Starting from recruiting engineers and entrepreneurs, innovation works will build a group of elite teams. Under the leadership of Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, we will build projects with the most market value and commercial potential, and conduct research and development and market operation on different projects as a team until the projects mature, divest the parent company into independent subsidiaries, and even eventually go public or be acquired. Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, the head of innovation works, expressed the hope that a brand-new venture capital model of "finance+talents" would be established in China through the new model of innovation works.
Peter Liu, who has been praised as the godfather of venture capital in Asia for more than 20 years, said: "innovation works, as the pioneer of the resumption of investment, will bring the angel investment model to a new level of large-scale industrialization in China. I have always believed that venture capital companies should play the role of coaches and mentors, get rid of the role of pure financial investors and become more active technology promoters; Because the significance of venture capital is not only to pursue new investment cases, but also to introduce technology and capital from advanced countries, so that localized industries can upgrade and thrive. "
At present, venture capital in China market only plays the role of financial investors, and does not participate too much in the operation of investment projects. Innovation works is characterized by helping entrepreneurs and investors create wealth, but also discovering, gathering and cultivating a large number of technical and management talents for the whole industry. The so-called' workshop' means having the ability of efficient cloning and being able to market the best ideas on a large scale and industrially.
Liu Chuanzhi, president of Legend Holdings Limited, said: "Mr. Kai-fu Lee once served as a leader in both Google and Microsoft in China. He has both practical experience and a strong sense of innovation. He works with this new model of innovative works, which is an innovation in itself and is very worthy of support and encouragement. "
Kai-Fu Lee's accurate grasp of cutting-edge technology, rich management experience, deep industrial relations, great appeal to talents in the industry, international vision and excellent communication skills are the reasons why innovation works won the favor of investors including Liu Chuanzhi, Yu Hongmin and Steve Chen. In just one and a half months, innovation works has established a blueprint for investing 800 million RMB in the next five years.
Liu Yuhuan said: "From the 1960s and 1970s to the present, venture capital has created many mainland companies, from Silicon Valley to the Four Little Dragons in Asia and today. WEEC's investment philosophy has always been: choose new technology startups facing the future. Innovation works undoubtedly belongs to such a company. Innovation works showed me a new venture capital model of domestic "finance" and "talents", which is also a high proportion venture capital model of angel investment and innovative products. I believe that the future meeting will successfully practice the model that China venture capital enterprises, especially angel investment enterprises, can learn from. I believe that this model can inspire the R&D mechanism and talent training mechanism of the entire venture capital industry in China, and even affect the innovative growth model of the entire technology company in China. "