I had my own choices of top startups from last Sunday’s event–and they were completely different from the judges’ choices. When I look at a startup, my key question is: does it solve a user’s personal need?
In China, startups are now often so hype that they overlook the fundamentals, like what are your customers’ needs? How will repeat business be grown? Are there any existing substitutes and how will you compete against them? Using the word “startup” doesn’t mean you aren’t a business: you need to be profitable and operate in a business environment.
On last Friday, Follow 5′s operation manager Bi Yang (毕扬) announced on Sina Weibo that their servers will shut down in 30 days. This is the first major casualty of the Microblog War in China, and the death of an innovative startup that had so much potential. I wrote this post over the weekend to share how an innovative startup dies in China.
17startup (一起来创业吧！) was launched in China earlier this week, building on the model of TechCrunch’s CrunchBase, a comprehensive database covering tech companies and the people behind them, from startups to giants.
After the launch, I managed to catch up with the co-founder, Fly Wen (@文飞翔), and got some insight on the core design aspects of 17startup and how she envisions its development.
For all of you wondering what it is like to be a startup founder in China, I recently had the chance to chat with Adam Xu of Doit.im, the founder, team leader, and a very spirited entrepreneur who has a very clear mindset on what his product will become.
