The capital winter is just a superficial phenomenon. The entrepreneurial logic behind Haier U+ Maker Competition

With the rapid development of China's economy, China's scientific and technological strength is catching up with developed countries, and China's industrial structure is also undergoing profound and drastic changes. Along with this change comes countless market opportunities, and a wave of national innovation and entrepreneurship is gradually rising in this ancient land of China.

Among them, industries surrounding the Internet and mobile Internet are breeding, growing, intersecting, multiplying, and decaying at an unprecedented speed. Every day, a large number of new startups are born, trying to use their ideals and creativity to change the trajectory of the world and change people's lifestyles.

However, the thorns and quagmires that these brave makers face on their way forward are often beyond their imagination. Funding, technology, experience, connections, channels and other obstacles that makers have to a greater or lesser extent have caused countless ambitious brave people to fail halfway and fall on the road to realizing their dreams.

The arrival of the capital winter has further exacerbated the tragedy among start-up companies. According to statistics, the number of entrepreneurial projects that received financing in 2016 showed a cliff-like decline compared to 2015. A large number of makers are facing the dilemma of broken capital chains and their companies are struggling.

In this turbulent industry, how to help makers realize their dreams on key projects and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results in the smart economy has become the current focus of upstream investment institutions, incubators, and innovation and entrepreneurship platforms in the startup industry.

China ranks first in the world in terms of the number of startups

According to statistics, China has 4,000 new companies every day, ranking first in the world. This is mainly due to two reasons. On the one hand, China's economy is in a downward trend, and the development of traditional economy is sluggish, forcing the public to choose new ways of employment. With the change of thinking, starting a business to seek a new way out has become a new choice accepted by the public.

On the other hand, the government is also actively encouraging people to start businesses. China is working hard to transform from an investment and export-driven economy to a consumption and service-driven economy. To this end, the government has adopted a large number of policies to encourage, support, and even support entrepreneurs in terms of taxation, fees, finance, personnel, land, etc., which reflects the government's determination.

This trend is fully reflected in the data: in 2014, the number of start-up companies in China doubled from 2010 to 1.6097 million, ranking first in the world in terms of growth rate, far exceeding the second-ranked United Kingdom. Among them, the Internet sector has become the newest frontier for entrepreneurship and the foothold chosen by the vast majority of entrepreneurs and enterprises.

Hope that cannot be blown away in the capital winter

In the first half of 2015, the number of projects that received financing reached 2,659. With the support of government policies and the opening of the capital market, entrepreneurial projects have sprung up across the country. Even ancillary industries such as entrepreneurial cafes have emerged, demonstrating the popularity of the venture capital circle.

However, starting from the second half of 2015, the capital winter suddenly arrived without warning, the number of projects successfully funded dropped by more than 30%, and countless start-ups went bankrupt in the winter due to broken capital chains. The cold wind from the once popular outlet was bone-chilling, and the power of the cold winter was chilling.

But in fact, most of the companies that "died" in the capital winter were due to their own problems.

In the wave of bankruptcies that began in 2015, poor team management, unclear business models, unclear brand positioning, and blind pursuit of false demands and data were the main reasons for the companies' demise. The tightening of capital on investment targets made it difficult for these companies with unclear profit prospects to raise funds to maintain operations, ultimately leading to their demise.

However, although the number of successfully financed projects decreased during the capital winter, the investment amount of a single financing project was larger than before, and the proportion of projects worth tens of millions and hundreds of millions increased, indicating that investment institutions were more cautious about financing projects and attached more importance to the profitability of startups.

In other words, the challenge facing entrepreneurs is how to become a project leader that is truly competitive with investors?

Entrepreneurship service platforms and incubators will shoulder a greater historical mission

The so-called entrepreneurial service platforms and incubators are able to help entrepreneurs save time, avoid detours, create an entrepreneurial aggregation effect, and increase the success rate of entrepreneurship. They can reduce entrepreneurial costs and improve efficiency by providing start-ups with production and R&D space and infrastructure services, connect venture capital institutions and start-ups, reduce information asymmetry between the two parties, and provide a tool to reasonably share entrepreneurial costs and risks among entrepreneurs.

At a time when everyone is starting their own business, the abilities of makers vary, and investment institutions are cautious, the role of entrepreneurial service platforms is even more crucial.

Haier, one of the most influential companies in the global home appliance industry, has transformed from a traditional home appliance manufacturer to a platform for incubating makers for the whole society. In the Internet era, Haier is committed to becoming an Internet company, subverting the closed system of traditional companies, becoming a node in the network, and creating a new platform for co-creation and win-win.

On October 12, at the "U+ Intelligence, Blooming Dreams - Haier U+ Maker Competition Season 2 and Ecological Forum", Haier U+ platform, together with invited experts and news media, jointly launched the third ecological forum of the year, focusing on the scenario needs of the smart home field and U+ ecosystem, and recruiting makers and resources.

At the competition, Shanghai U+ helped makers solve the technical, financial, experience, and management problems in the process of developing smart home products, and provided "one-stop" incubation services from industrial design, manufacturing, and sales. After the fierce on-site PK of the maker project came to an end, Internet marketing expert Yu Jian, as a special guest, gave a lecture on the spot and shared relevant practical information on the essence of brand marketing, marketing concepts, and user insights in the Internet era. Actively using the resources and influence of the U+ Maker Competition to accelerate the transformation to the Internet has become a consensus among more makers and start-ups.

Haier U+'s Maker Competition has improved the innovative and entrepreneurial smart life service platform in the era of the Internet of Things. It not only better meets the expectations of users and stakeholders for the smart home industry, but also serves as a good demonstration for innovation and entrepreneurship in the smart home field. It also sets a good example for China's entrepreneurial service platform that should rise more widely in the future and shoulder the mission of guiding the direction of Chinese entrepreneurs.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.