117 Chinese originals · 106 English translations · Page 3 of 3.
Entrepreneurship & strategyThematic illustration · AI generated
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Excerpts from 創業36條軍規 (36 Rules for Entrepreneurs, descriptive title) plus Robin’s commentary (as of November 2023)
Reading guide
The opening excerpts describe foresight as the habit of looking ahead and preparing a Plan B for everything. Robin adds that Plan B is neither retreat nor surrender, but the operational flexibility needed to respond to change. Many founders have only one solution and rely on fundraising whenever problems arise. Yet fundraising itself is often the biggest problem. He has seen a company rely entirely on raising money, fail to do so, and enter dissolution and liquidation. In his view, preparing alternatives is also a measure of management capability.
Key points
Foresight is a mindset, not simply an innate gift.
Plan B provides operational flexibility in response to change.
Robin sees different investment expectations as a matter of stage. A team still building an MVP and seeking product-market fit will naturally be losing money and needs investors willing to take early-stage risks. After PMF, investors want more numbers and evidence. The critical question is whether the team has found a business model capable of profitability. Expanding staff and replicating at scale before doing so often hastens failure. A Taiwanese team pushed overseas by fundraising narratives or investors before validating its model at home may burn money in both markets without clear results.
Key points
Loss-making early-stage teams need investors willing to accept early-stage risks.
After PMF, investors want evidence of results.
Expansion abroad before validating a profitable model can accelerate cash burn.
Robin offers eleven startup-mentoring observations. A need ranked thirteenth by customers is a nice-to-have, even if they acknowledge it exists; investors prefer must-haves. Before committing resources, conduct open-ended interviews with thirty target users, one-on-one for two hours each. Test willingness to pay: actual customer payments are the strongest signal. Treat free pilots cautiously, since passing a trial does not guarantee payment. Recycling ventures need full cost-benefit analysis because customers may not pay higher costs. Avoid projects requiring expensive market education where possible. Interview before building even an MVP, and heavily discount stated willingness to pay.
Key points
Establish whether demand is must-have or merely nice-to-have.
Conduct open-ended interviews with roughly thirty target users.
Actual customer payments provide the most convincing validation.
Robin and his supervisor asked several startups about preparing for the Taiwan Innovation Board and received cautious responses, largely reflecting doubts about their appeal after listing. He argues that this is precisely the critical moment to plan how to survive a funding winter. Rising global uncertainty will make fundraising harder. He offers four suggestions: customer revenue is preferable to shareholder funding; prepare rather than expecting fundraising to solve everything; create a fresh financing plan investors can believe in; and develop a capital-market plan to improve the ability to endure.
Key points
Money from customers is preferable to money from shareholders.
Do not expect fundraising to solve every problem.
Develop a fresh financing proposal and a capital-market plan.
Robin’s commentary (as of January 2026; personal impressions)
Reading guide
Robin refers to past fundraising scandals such as Hongyuan and explains his view that only designated institutions under specified legal frameworks may raise funds from the general public. He believes most countries have comparable rules. Banks, insurers, and public companies have laws and supervisors intended to protect depositors, policyholders, and retail investors. Not everyone may simply collect public funds; small fraudulent or pyramid schemes should face stricter oversight. Taiwan’s startups have many other financing channels, including angels, VC, CVC, incubators, and accelerators that can refine business models and connect founders with appropriate investors.
Key points
Public fundraising must take place through regulated institutions.
Banks, insurers, and public companies have distinct laws and supervisors.
Startups can seek angels, VC, CVC, incubators, and accelerators.
Robin’s supervisor asks how many companies with successful recent listings previously pitched at startup matchmaking events. Robin observes that earlier Taiwanese entrepreneurs often grew by solving customers’ practical problems: air-conditioning graduates moved into cleanrooms and semiconductor facilities, while engineers from major electronics firms and ITRI founded businesses after learning market needs. He calls for closer links between entrepreneurship, Taiwan’s core strengths, and its capital markets. A resource-limited island should focus on advantages rather than seek gold medals in every event. Ventures beginning overseas are different. For Taiwanese founders raising abroad, semiconductor work with TSMC may attract more interest than software platforms serving only Taiwanese customers.
Key points
Earlier Taiwanese entrepreneurs often began by solving customers’ practical problems.
Connect entrepreneurship with Taiwan’s strengths and capital markets.
Focus on strengths rather than trying to cover everything.
Robin’s commentary, preceded by excerpts from Dedao’s audio summary of 成長雙螺旋
Reading guide
The opening audio-summary excerpts argue that performance is often weakest in the year after fundraising, as attention shifts from doing the work to proving the company deserves the money. Robin adds that pursuing an excessive valuation, raising capital, then failing to deliver expected results pushes a team toward a cliff. Startups do not always starve; many overfeed themselves. Immediate hiring and advertising expansion can raise expenses before the organization, product, user experience, and sales are ready. Faster cash burn then makes the next funding round a harsh test.
Key points
An excessive valuation without matching results pushes a team toward danger.
Rapid expansion after fundraising can raise expenses faster than results.
Startups may fail from overfeeding rather than starvation.
Robin’s commentary following book excerpts and quoted figures
Reading guide
The opening passage relays views from Chen Zhiwu and Peter Thiel on venture capital’s role. Robin adds four observations: only around 1–2% of US startups receive VC, comparable to Taiwan and perhaps lower; VC is an alternative asset representing a tiny share of total financial assets, possibly below 0.1%; that capital nevertheless drives entrepreneurship, technological change, and economic transformation; and Taiwan’s large businesses, financial institutions, family offices, and wealthy individuals could allocate 1–2% of assets to early-stage and venture investment.
Key points
Receiving venture capital is a low-probability event.
VC is a tiny share of financial assets but an important innovation driver.
Large Taiwanese institutions and wealthy individuals could allocate 1–2% to early-stage investment.
Investors assess a market’s ceiling, but founders should not simply chase media excitement. This column brings together industry size, niche needs, and personal passion. Begin with a problem you genuinely understand and want to work on for years, rather than choosing a venture for fundraising.
Key points
Market size shapes growth potential, but popularity does not make entry suitable.
Solve a small group’s real problems first, then seek opportunities to expand.
Build for your own ideals rather than substituting investors’ expectations for direction.
Facebook’s early investment story illustrates the value of trusted introductions: trust, industry understanding, and an introducer willing to share the risk. The author then compares fundraising to concentric circles, reminding founders to value all money equally and accept the responsibility it brings, whoever provides it.
Key points
Trusted introductions help early teams cross the trust barrier.
An introducer’s industry knowledge and willingness to co-invest influence the result.
The first investment also brings new responsibilities.
Before investing in a team and product, establish who needs it, why the need is urgent, and whether they will pay. Starting with the technology-first approach common in academic ventures, this column emphasizes priorities, niche customers, and continual validation rather than attributing every sales problem to insufficient market education.
Key points
First identify the target customer’s most urgent problem.
Clarify needs through experiments and validation, not confidence in technology alone.
Start with a small, clearly defined problem and win paying customers.
Shareholders are long-term partners, not funding sources you can replace at will. Comparing CVC and VC resources, interests, and risks, this column advises founders to investigate investors’ reputations while cash is still sufficient and consider whether the shareholder mix supports long-term cooperation.
Key points
Equity partnerships last and are difficult to exit; choose shareholders carefully.
Strategic resources can bring labeling, conflicts of interest, and disclosure risks.
Fundraising is mutual selection; investigate investors’ collaboration records.
Looking back at crises, this column prepares startups for a funding winter: prioritize customer revenue, concentrate on the core, and offer investors a new plan worth backing. It is a strategic view from 2025, not a real-time forecast of 2026 fundraising.
Key points
Strengthen survival through paying customers and the core business.
Help yourself before fundraising; abandon expansion that does not support core value.
Investors need a viable plan, not merely a request for winter provisions.
More accessible funding, abundant incubators and accelerators, founder-friendlier terms, and AI have lowered entry barriers. Success is harder: abundant capital fuels irrational, unprofitable competition; talent costs more and is harder to retain; accelerating technology makes investors hesitate. Understanding the rules and everyone’s motives still offers a chance to win.
Key points
Funding, incubators, terms, and AI make starting easier.
Unprofitable growth spreads through competition, while rapid imitation shrinks the window.
Low birth rates force startups to compete directly with technology giants for talent.
Rapid responses by AI giants can make customers and investors hesitate.
Described as a ‘little Tencent of the Middle East,’ Yalla began in Dubai with voice-based social networking and listed on the NYSE in September 2020. It illustrates building for the target market from the outset. Founder 楊濤 spent years with ZTE in the UAE and understood local needs.
Key points
Described as a “little Tencent of the Middle East,” Yalla began in Dubai with voice-based social networking and listed on the NYSE in September 2020.
It illustrates designing for the target market from day one.
The founder’s ZTE experience in the UAE supported local understanding.
Do not abandon customer needs and product goals to please investors.
Robin contrasts his subjective picture of earlier founders such as Jobs and Gates focusing on products rather than politics with today’s close Silicon Valley–Washington ties: Thiel’s support, Musk’s funding, and OpenAI’s US$6.6 billion round led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital. He argues that geopolitics and antitrust pressures make what technology companies can do increasingly complicated.
Key points
The image of earlier founders avoiding politics is the author’s subjective generalization.
Silicon Valley is closely connected with Washington, illustrated by Thiel and Musk.
Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital led OpenAI’s US$6.6 billion round.
Geopolitics and antitrust pressure complicate companies’ choices.
Opening section relayed according to the tag #萬維鋼現代思維工具100講 (not compared word for word); closing commentary by Robin
Reading guide
Overruns receive extra funding and failed projects are repackaged because someone else pays. Robin adds that budget and revenue achievement help identify responsible founders. The original date given for János Kornai’s soft budget constraint concept is incorrect; a verification note corrects it.
Key points
Under a soft budget constraint, the spender is not the person who ultimately pays.
János Kornai developed the concept while studying state-owned enterprises.
A note corrects the original chronology.
Robin: budget and revenue achievement help assess a founder’s accountability.
Compilation of the original post (see the notes for source and verification limitations)
Reading guide
The post identifies 春澗資本 and 陳慶森, but its WeChat link currently indicates an account migration, and the same original text was not obtained for comparison. The full approved post is retained; limitations concerning sources, figures, and quotations appear in the body note.
Key points
Preserve the original post’s arguments and examples.
See the body note for limitations on original-source, numerical, and quotation checks.
Book excerpt from Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup, with Robin’s commentary
Reading guide
Before committing substantial time or capital, founders should rigorously assess unit economics. Pets.com failed to evaluate customer lifetime value against acquisition costs, losing more as its customer base grew; it was liquidated in November 2000, leaving investors with a $300 million loss. Groupon also stumbled on unit economics after failing to build a durable competitive advantage. Robin’s comment: “The best money comes not from shareholders, but from customers.”
Key points
Rigorously assess unit economics before committing substantial time or capital.
Pets.com did not adequately evaluate LTV and COCA; the more customers it acquired, the more it lost.
Groupon also struggled with unit economics after failing to establish a competitive advantage.
Robin: “The best money comes not from shareholders, but from customers.”
Translated from Steve Blank’s 2009 blog post “Lessons Learned: A New Type of VC Pitch”; opening paragraph by Robin
Reading guide
Cafepress’s founders focused on what they had learned from customers rather than promoting a methodology. Their pitch covered the market, three lessons, and why they were there. Robin’s takeaway: concrete experience gives you a better chance of standing out.
Key points
Cafepress’s founders replaced methodology talk with customer experience.
Pitch structure: market, three lessons, and why we are here.
Robin’s takeaway: the more concrete your practical experience, the better your chance of standing out.
Book excerpt tagged #矽谷創業課, with Robin’s commentary
Reading guide
Investors care about a market’s ceiling. Early-stage companies should not force market-size estimates into a spreadsheet. The US and Taiwan have different fundraising environments: neither is inherently better; the question is fit.
Key points
A market’s ceiling affects fundraising.
Early-stage market size cannot simply be estimated through a spreadsheet.
The US and Taiwan have different environments; fit is what matters.
Reprinted compilation (tagged #Dedao and #WuBofanWeeklyBusinessCommentary; author not identified)
Reading guide
Using Microsoft’s difficulties from 2005 and its recovery within three years of Nadella’s 2014 appointment, the course argues against rushing to judge a company. It describes three layers of refresh: products, from PCs to ubiquitous computing; systems and management; and culture. Culture is the hardest, it argues, with Nadella’s empathy, developed through experiences of disadvantage, supporting a more collaborative stance.
Key points
Suspend judgment: a struggling company may have an internal capacity for recovery outsiders do not understand.
From easier to harder: products, systems and management, then culture.
Empathy means a cooperative, collaborative, constructive stance, expressed through behavior rather than slogans.
Move from a dominant-player mindset to a service mindset, and from product-centered to customer-centered thinking.
Original post compilation (see notes for source and verification limitations)
Reading guide
This is an excerpt from a talk by Wang Qiang at a ZhenFund training camp; the source includes information about the institution’s activities and resources. The original post is retained in full; see the notes in the body for source details and limitations concerning figures and quotations.
Key points
Retains the arguments and examples in the original post
See the notes in the body for the original source and limitations on verifying figures and quotations
Excerpt from Rework (post tagged #StartAtTheEpicenter) + Robin’s commentary
Reading guide
Robin uses the hot dog stand analogy to argue that founders should first identify their business’s epicenter: if you can remove something and still operate, it is not the epicenter. He then comments on Super Wenheyou, a sensation at the time: packaging can create excitement, but whether it lasts depends on the strength of the food business itself.
Key points
Ask yourself: if I remove this, can I still run this business?
Packaging can create a craze, but staying power depends on the core offering
Robin on Wenheyou: whether the investment craze continues depends on the food business at its core
Maven founder Kate Ryder discusses conviction in entrepreneurship, her experience as a journalist, interviewing, and giving feedback. Her experiences emphasize seeking expert advice, understanding candidates’ self-awareness, and allowing room for design exploration within clear objectives.
Key points
Use user stories to sustain an early team’s conviction
Use the qualities required for a role to understand how candidates think
Make feedback specific without deciding every step for the professional team
Original post compilation (see notes for source and verification limitations)
Reading guide
This post can be compared with Master60’s Chinese summary of Lawrence Ingrassia’s book; it is not a verbatim translation of the English original. The original post is retained in full; see the notes in the body for source details and limitations concerning figures and quotations.
Key points
Retains the arguments and examples in the original post
See the notes in the body for the original source and limitations on verifying figures and quotations
