Ma Huateng, Yang Zhilin, Lin Ruoxi, Huang Yuanhao… If you carefully look through the list of founders of Chinese technology companies, you will find that these names basically come from the same land – Chaoshan.
Recently, a “Chaoshan Technology Entrepreneur Map” is circulating on the Internet.
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Ma Huateng, Yang Zhilin, Lin Ruoxi, Huang Yuanhao… If you carefully look through the list of founders of Chinese technology companies, you will find that these names basically come from the same land – Chaoshan.
Recently, a “Chaoshan Technology Entrepreneur Map” is circulating on the Internet.
Among the hottest names in China’s AI circle, Yang Zhilin must be one of them.
The Dark Side of the Moon (Kimi), which he co-founded, has been valued at US$50 billion three years after its establishment. It raised US$3.5 billion in a single round of financing, three times more than it raised, and investors lined up to invest.
Lin Zhe, a technical secondary school student, put Sunmi Technology on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a market value of 40 billion, and Huang Yuanhao’s Obi Zhongguang ranked among the top three in the world for 3D vision.
In the early years, from Tencent to TCL, from Li Ka-shing to Liu Luanxiong, from the real estate empire to the retail world; now from AI to derivative technologies, Chaoshan people are everywhere.
The Chaoshan merchant gang at that time was famous for opening grocery stores, building toy factories, and engaging in real estate and trade. The impression was that they were “brick and mortar store owners” who were good at calculating accounts and good at forming groups. The older generation relied on connections and cash to make their fortunes.
Nowadays, Chaoshan people no longer only do physical business, but start to do technology, platform and technology products.
This place that was once labeled as “good at business but not high-tech” suddenly became the “Whampoa Military Academy” for China’s new technological elite.
Many people say, isn’t Chaoshan rich in small business owners?
Indeed, traditional Chaoshan merchants have three major characteristics: dare to gamble, stick together, and value integrity.
They like to do businesses with “visible cash flow”, and are particularly interested in industries with short payment cycles and fast turnover. This is why in the past few decades, a large number of Chaoshan people have concentrated in wholesale, retail, catering, real estate and other fields. These businesses have low barriers to entry and can earn money quickly, but the ceiling is also low.
However, the new generation of Chaoshan businessmen are no longer satisfied with “making quick money”, but have begun to lay out a track for long-term investment and patiently waiting for returns.
Chaoshan people have a deep sense of investment in their bones.
The previous generation thought that opening a shop would make money, so they sent their children to learn how to do business; this generation saw that there was greater leverage to monetize knowledge, so they spent money and resources on education.
Don’t look at the fact that the older generation of Chaoshan people are often labeled as “study is useless, start business early”, the real situation is that in the past two decades, Chaoshan has been one of the most educated areas in Guangdong.
Famous schools, represented by Shantou Jinshan Middle School, send top students to Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Hua Wu all year round.
Yang Zhilin was born in Jinshan Middle School and was the science champion in Shantou; Wang Shiquan, Lu Cewu and other technology founders were also top students in Chaoshan famous schools.
The capital and network accumulated by the older generation of Chaoshan businessmen have provided the new generation with the confidence to “dare to gamble”; the tradition of “grouping together” in the bones of Chaoshan people has also become “industrial synergy” and “resource complementarity” in technology entrepreneurship.
For example, in the Chaoshan entrepreneur circle in Shenzhen, everyone invests in each other, supports each other, and introduces customers to each other.
During the decades of inter-decade changes, the upgrades in education, business, and resource networks have grafted the business talents of Chaoshan people onto the technology track.
For Chaoshan children, the “boss mentality” is also engraved in their bones.
There is a saying in Chaoshan: “I would rather train the undercover than be the boss (read: I would rather sleep on the floor than be the boss)”
While others talk about visions, stories, and blueprints, Chaoshan entrepreneurs first consider three things: whether they can be implemented, whether they can make money, and whether they can scale.
Traditional fashion merchants rely on clans and fellow villagers to build a network of trust. When doing business, they first check whether they are one of their own. Capital turnover and supply docking rely on the endorsement of acquaintances.
In the technological age, this method of playing has not only not become invalid, but has been upgraded.
From “A Love Letter to Grandma” we can see how deeply Chaoshan people value friendship.
When Yang Zhilin started his own business, the resources of Chaoshan seniors and money from fellow investors came to him; Wang Shiquan and Lu Cewu joined forces, being both alumni and fellow villagers.
In the cold winter of financing, the business gangs from the same hometown are the strongest connections. By working together here and there, it is easier than others to save enough start-up capital.
Looking over a long period of time, today’s technological upstarts did not appear suddenly. The three leaps of fashionable businessmen in the past 500 years were all based on the cultural gene of “business first and team development”.
So by the third generation, Chaoshang’s track has directly reached the forefront of technology.
AI large models, laser radar, autonomous driving, and embodied intelligence are all tracks with the highest technical barriers and the most capital intensive.
Compared with their parents, they have higher academic qualifications, a more international vision, and a better technical environment. However, what has changed is only the outer shell of the business, while the core of trendy business remains unchanged.
Of course, we don’t need to overly deify the “Chaoshan Gang”.
There are successful people on the list, but there are certainly more entrepreneurs behind them who have not yet made it.
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