What Determines Whether an Entrepreneurship Can Succeed

Why can some companies survive cycles while others fall before dawn? Why do some always say they have bad luck? Based on my experience investing in over 60 projects, combined with 30 years of industrial experience and many years of frontline investment, I found that technology can be iterated, business models can be copied, but the only thing that cannot be imitated—and ultimately determines a company’s fate—is the founder’s mindset.

What kind of person the founder is will shape what the company becomes. A company is never just a legal entity or a set of financial statements; it is a true reflection of the founder’s mental world.

On my desk, I always keep two completely opposite “investment profiles” side by side. One is a positive list, where the actual controller has ambition, understands sharing, is sufficiently focused, and respects investors; the other is a negative list, where the actual controller is too shrewd, works alone, seeks to maximize everything, and some even view the company as private property.

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