Of course, he also has an identity-"non-mainstream" angel investor. "The startup workshop solemnly admits that we are a' well-known investor' who invested in Huang Taiji. Because I have been lazy and have not announced it in time, I am sorry. " This is a statement made by Mai Gang in Weibo a few days ago in response to an article in which Tiger Sniffs questioned Huang Taiji. However, "a well-known" is quoted, because compared with Huang Taiji, who is in full swing in online marketing, investor Mai Gang is very low-key. Some people even confused Mai Gang's entrepreneurial workshop with Kai-Fu Lee's innovation works, although as a business incubator, the former was more than four years earlier than the latter. Mai Gang opens Mai Gang's resume, and the word "gorgeous" will definitely come to your mind: 1997 Join VC; Participate in the preparation of Shenzhen Innovation Investment Company; Participated in the establishment of Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Innovation Investment Company and served as vice president; As a director of Defengjie Investment Fund; Establish SNS website Easy Tour; Create a document sharing website, Douding; Established Tongka as the chairman of the company; As the executive director of China Youth Angel Association and the president of Tianjin Angel Investment Association ... "I was the earliest VC practitioner in China, and later started my own business. Later, I started to do angel investment and also contributed to the fund to do LP. These experiences have made me look at all angles of the industry, and the interests, ideas and entanglements of various roles have been opened up. " Mai Gang summed up the track of "GP-LP- Entrepreneur-Angel Investor" for I Dark Horse. Brother Heima asked Mai Gang's favorite identity tag, and his answer was angel investor. At present, he has invested in nearly 60 startup companies. As one of the few angel investors who have done GP, LP and started many businesses in China, why did Mai Gang invest in the controversial Huang Taiji? As an IT person, why should he invest in traditional industries? What investment philosophy and principles does he hold? The following is dictated by Mai Gang. "Cement+mouse" Now I pay more attention to the field of "cement+mouse" in my investment. This concept was put forward by me in 2009, but it was not really implemented at that time. From 20 1 1, I found that most internet entrepreneurs are unsustainable, but "cement+mouse" is a breakthrough direction. It should be said that my thinking is ahead of time, and my point of view is also verified by the actual operation of these cases invested in these years. Why should I vote for Huang taiji? Because its founder He Chang used the Internet to enter the catering industry, I agree with him very much. On the other hand, he is really a talent. He has been in Baidu and Google and has a deep understanding of Internet marketing and user experience. With these two aspects, I will not hesitate to vote. Huang Taiji made full use of the Internet to enhance the marketing and user experience of traditional catering. Later, some people said that they would follow the trend and make a Chinese hamburger, but is it really as simple as sending a message from Weibo to create a topic? Don't! There must be some unknown things about the success of a company, such as Huang Taiji's Internet ordering process, customer experience mechanism and queuing system, all of which operate internally through the Internet. To tell the truth, it is impossible for all consumers to like Huang Taiji. It can quickly acquire users through the Internet at a low cost, which is already very powerful, because as long as the consumer market is large enough, you can make money by selling shit. Internet has changed the traditional catering industry in terms of experience and brand connotation. Eating Huang Taiji is definitely different from buying pancake fruit on the street. The latter will make people feel awkward, while the former means petty bourgeoisie to many people. This is the same as Xiaomi's mobile phone, which is labeling itself. In addition, POP MART, a trendy shop I invested in, is a similar example, from which I can feel the changes of the Internet to the traditional retail supply chain. Wang Ning, the founder of POP MART, worked in Sina and worked in retail earlier. He is experienced in the combination of Internet and traditional industries. For example, in the past, merchants purchased their own products and then sold them to consumers, who passively accepted them. However, POP MART will introduce some Internet factors into the procurement process. For example, the purchase data comes from Taobao, allowing users to participate in the purchase process, and users can purchase which one they think is good. Supply chain management is applying the Internet model to enter the consumer-led C2B era, which will be a fundamental revolution in the retail industry. The fruit cool network I invested in also reflects the changes of it means and the Internet to the traditional service industry. Jia Ran, the founder of Guoku.com, didn't use Internet marketing like He Chang, nor did he do a very traditional retail business. He chose the easy-to-use fruit cutting, developed the system by using it technology, controlled the order process and established the purchasing system. An ordinary fruit vendor may be able to serve more than a dozen enterprises, but to serve thousands of enterprises, a strong management and operation system is needed. At this time, the advantages of IT people are fully displayed. The above three are typical cases of IT men transforming traditional industries. What kind of IT men are suitable for traditional industries? First of all, you should especially like doing dirty work. Many IT men can't pass this level, and too many people like to chase hot spots. At the same time, you should also understand that the internet is not omnipotent, nor can it be applied to all industries. You must find some suitable fields, such as the same retail industry. The standardized retail industry is not enough, while the experiential and non-standardized retail industry has great room for development. Therefore, entrepreneurs should understand this trend and keep up wisely. Many entrepreneurs follow suit, and some people engage in apps, but they don't know that the sky has changed. Many people think that these are small businesses that I have invested in, but in my opinion, there has never been a small business in the consumer industry, and low-threshold businesses often indicate greater market demand. Scale is always a very important thing. As long as the Internet is used, users can be continuously expanded and large-scale operation and management can be carried out through IT technology. Why invest in "cement+mouse"? No matter how you play the Internet, you can't get out of the traffic circle, because its essence is reverse traffic. If startups rely too much on external traffic, it means working for others forever. After buying traffic, it must establish its own business model. Why don't most e-commerce companies make money? Because the essential core of e-commerce is not online, but your brand, category, product promotion and cumbersome supply chain management. So the greater your external traffic, the more things you depend on others, and the weaker you are. A person's golden age is 25 to 45 years old, which is 20 years at most, so a person's life is limited. He can earn at least some money by working in the traditional consumer service industry for several years, such as selling tens of millions of pancakes a year. Even if someone gives you investment in the Internet industry, you will burn for five years at most, and it will only be a dream in the end, but five years in the traditional industry will give you financial freedom. This is my advice to entrepreneurs. There are few "dragons and phoenixes come together" in this world, and many entrepreneurs are doomed to failure. Most enterprises are destined to be small enterprises, and not everyone can become Microsoft and Google. The biggest innovation must be cyclical. In the history of internet development, the biggest innovations are nothing more than portals, search and communities, and others are just small storms. What is the use of micro-innovation? I copied it the next day. Entrepreneurs used to talk about micro-innovation. I think this is only the beginning at best, and it is definitely not a sufficient condition for success. Most entrepreneurs regard entrepreneurship as an effort to realize themselves, but they overestimate their ability and determination and say that they will stick to it until they find the direction, so that they can understand the nature of this industry. It is good to have determination, but success or failure is not measured by determination. In the face of industry trends, people's power is very small. Therefore, going back to the old saying that "men are afraid of entering the wrong line", persistence and maintenance are different, and the consequences of maintenance will be very serious, that is, wasting youth, time and money, it is better to die early and live early. Why do you have such an idea? First of all, I am a thoughtful person. In addition, I also created a business, and I know very well how the business works. Entrepreneurship can be successful first because you have grasped the strong demand, which is nothing more than meeting the past demand with new means, or generating new strong demand because of the changes of the times, but strong demand does not exist every day. After grasping the strong demand, you need to use good products to meet this demand. Therefore, I never talk about concepts, only thinking about which needs are not met. "Many investors are stupid." How to play the venture capital circle now? First of all, entrepreneurs should have a good relationship with the media and strive for frequent coverage, even if it is hype out of nothing, and then a bunch of investors will choose which project to invest in with high exposure. In fact, many investors are stupid, and many entrepreneurs throw money around. Nowadays, investors are impetuous and lack the will and ability to think independently. Basically, they follow the trend and go wherever it is hot. I think this is a very serious problem. In recent years, the investment circle has been chasing hot spots and investing at high prices. Looking back at these crazy cases three to five years later, you will find that most of them ended in failure. If your speculation is right, then quit as soon as possible without greed, and you will make a lot of money. If you are wrong in speculation, you will basically lose everything. The success rate of the entire angel investment circle is definitely less than 20%, and my investment success rate is 30%. Investment circle is the same as entertainment circle. Everyone showed their best side to everyone, went home to eat white rice and pickles and secretly cried. Angels are good. If they lose money, it is their own money. If they cry, forget it. Agency managers have to describe their performance beautifully in various ways. After all, they are still responsible for LP. We can't regard the success of Xue Manzi, Lei Jun, Xu Xiaoping and other super angels as a general probability, because they are all relatively successful entrepreneurs with qualifications and contacts that most angel investors don't have. So how to define a successful angel investor? In Mai Gang's eyes, he has been reluctant to define success with the rate of return. Angels are definitely not a simple investment behavior, and it is difficult to get long-term happiness just for the purpose of return. Supporting innovation, achieving others and cultivating China's new strength are the meanings behind angel investment. "I've always been lucky." I invested in nearly 60 companies, one third died, one third died, and one third lived better. Looking back at a few enterprises I did in those years, I found that they were not very successful in the results, but they were very accurate in the trend. Of course, the reason for not being successful can only be your own problem. Entrepreneurship is a world full of successes and failures. There are also objective reasons for not getting large-scale financing, because China investors are enthusiastic about what they invest in, and my projects are ahead of the trend prematurely. Financing failure means that you don't have the money to expand on a large scale, so the motivation will gradually weaken. But serial entrepreneurs are lucky, like me. In 2005, I set up the earliest business incubator workshop in China, but in recent years, I stopped being an incubator and only invested because I couldn't be an incubator in China. Why can't China set up an incubator? First, the ability of entrepreneurs is not enough. Silicon Valley in the United States has trained unconventional talents. The quality, thinking mode and realm of entrepreneurs are very different. Comparatively speaking, our entrepreneurs can only be regarded as "country players". Second, the early capital of the United States is very mature. They understand that investment is a kind of adventure, so one person invests tens of thousands of dollars and dozens of people gather together. There are few early investors in China, and most people are unwilling to share. Because the risk is too high, many early investors ended up losing money, and even fewer made early investments. Third, the entrepreneurial teams in China are all engaged in the Internet and are all talking about micro-innovation. In fact, the general trend of the internet has gone, and large and small companies are competing at the same time, which is a red sea. Therefore, in the first few years, the entrepreneurial workshop was my personal laboratory, and I did whatever I liked, but in recent years, my investment has become more rational. It used to be a dream of investing in yourself, but now it is a dream of investing in others. "People always come first." When I invest, I still look at the long-term value of the enterprise and see if its long-term evolution path, trend and business model can generate reasonable profits. Personally, I don't like to accumulate users on a large scale without seeing profits, because this illusion is a small probability event, and the style of the company I invest in is down-to-earth. For investors, people are always the first. Entrepreneurs should be particularly smart and have strong and outstanding execution. For example, Chen Ou, the founder of Jumeiyoupin, is very clever. When he was studying in America, he asked me for investment. But at that time, he made a game advertisement, which I thought was unreliable, so there was no investment. But I also admire Chen Ou, and I hope he can have other entrepreneurial ideas. Later, Chen Ou returned to China and made a game advertisement with the investment of Xu Xiaoping. After the failure of this venture, he was lucky to be transformed into Jumeiyou. When I saw him again, his picture had appeared on the billboard on the roadside. Later, Chen Ou joked with me and said, "Mark, if you know too much, you won't invest in me. Xu Xiaoping doesn't know anything, so he invests in me." If I still have time to go back, I will not invest in his game advertising company, but I will invest some seed money to leave him a fate. In addition, entrepreneurs must be excellent leaders. When a company grows from a few people to hundreds of people, it is impossible to lead a team without leadership. In English, you should have the skills of hiring, motivating and firing. First of all, you should find a good employee quickly and then motivate him effectively. If not, you should fire him immediately. Finally, entrepreneurs must be flexible people-they must admit their mistakes. This is reflected in many aspects, such as the company's direction, products, marketing and other decisions, which need to be corrected. Entrepreneurs, as shareholders, directors and management, have different interests and emphases. The hardest time is to deny yourself and choose a suitable person to be CEO. Comment on the standardization of O2O in the field of entrepreneurship. What projects do Internet startups do? Big companies can make a similar one right away. Wechat's acquisition of Tongka can be regarded as a watershed in the O2O (online to offline) industry. Since then, the standardized and shallow O2O marketing industry (coupons, LBS, pre-storage, rebates, etc. ) has basically ended, because WeChat locks users and Tongka locks merchants, and a group of startups and investors will be disappointed. My understanding of O2O has always been "merchants" versus "users", not "online". No chance to wear equipment. For small and creative enterprises, as long as the giants enter a certain field, it means that you are basically hopeless in this field. It is difficult for a new company to get up in a short time. Entrepreneurs should not always talk about equipment. Measuring blood pressure is measuring blood pressure, and running is running. Consumers only know the demand and will not tell you the concept. Hardware companies do not have the same network effect as the business model of network enterprises. Consumers' transfer cost is very low, and brand loyalty is basically absent. Mobile game bubble Internet practitioners make money in two waves: SP and games. But I didn't invest in a mobile game project, not deliberately avoiding it, because I never play games and have no judgment. Nowadays, mobile games have become hot and frothy, and the right to speak in channels is getting bigger and bigger, and the required share ratio is getting higher and higher. It is not easy to find a good mobile game company. Instead of investing in more than a dozen startup game companies, it is better to buy stocks of several game companies. Internet finance is not selling wealth management products. Many entrepreneurs do finance under the concept of the internet, and later they become selling wealth management products online. Internet, which relies on traffic, played badly in the past. They didn't take advantage of the subversive power of the Internet model (crowdsourcing, long tail, SNS, etc.). ). I invested in MEIX.com, an American market network, to discuss stocks through crowdsourcing analysis and show actual combat performance. Our slogan is "Only by mixing small circles can we make big money". SNS has changed many industries, and stock trading is essentially a social behavior. The combination with SNS will definitely produce fundamental changes. I also invested in OKcoin.com, which is now the second largest bitcoin exchange in China and will soon enter the international market. I think bitcoin is the monetary democracy of people all over the world and the greatest innovation of the Internet. (Intern and Liu also contributed to this article.