A quick serious note: on the first day back at work.

Produced by | 36Kr Venture Capital Research Institute

2023 Research Program

In 1917, a Scotsman named B.C. Forbes founded a business magazine bearing his name, dedicated to "entrepreneurial spirit and wealth-building tools." Unlike most media of his era, Forbes refused to merely pile up dry data. He insisted on focusing on the concrete, individual "people" within the business world — establishing a distinctive style for the publication.

A century later, when we speak of "Forbes," it is no longer merely a name associated with business tales. To some extent, along with the era-defining benchmarks it created — the various lists bearing the Forbes name — it has become a way for all of us, in business and beyond, to know and understand the world.

This is also the mission 36Kr strives to fulfill: not only through quality original reporting, but also through different "benchmarks" to establish coordinates for outstanding companies, investment funds, and exemplary individuals.

In May 2017, a roster titled "China's Top 10 Knowledge-Based New Economy Investment Institutions" was unveiled at 36Kr's mid-year WISE conference. "Knowledge-based new economy" may sound like a venture capital buzzword from the last century, but for the 36Kr Venture Capital Research Institute, this roster of merely ten institutions marked an entirely new beginning.

Since then, 36Kr has successively launched a series of roster products including: Most Popular Among Entrepreneurs, Most Recognized by LPs, 36Under36, China Domestic, and more. A rough estimate suggests we have awarded over 5,000 trophies to investment institutions, companies, and individuals.

This year, we will further upgrade our evaluation system: building upon the existing foundation, we will strengthen the "procedural justice" in how these rosters are created — that is, by expanding research and interview components. Our previously published article "Three Barometers for the Primary Market, for Reference" represents an experiment with this research methodology.

In 2023, we hope to reach more diverse and extensive business organizations and individuals through our research.

Below is the 2023 Research Program:

This Is Part of the Plan

Alongside the research program announcement, we are officially launching the new edition of the 36Under36 Entrepreneurs List — a classic IP that has endured for six years within our research system. Following a comprehensive upgrade last year, we have named it: the "X·36under36" Nomination Program.

In 2023, we stand at the beginning of an entirely new business cycle. Everything is unknown, yet everything leaves traces. People attempt to use the technology maturity curve to vaguely determine which historical moment today resembles, yet the present circumstances are never quite the same. Perhaps, as Mark Twain said: "History never repeats itself, but it often rhymes."

At the intersection of multiple major economic cycles —

> Today's Web3 has just experienced a bubble burst similar to 2000. Application-layer narratives collapsed for lack of underlying infrastructure support, confidence evaporated, and projects fell in droves — yet blockchain infrastructure rose rapidly in the mere months that followed.

> After two energy revolutions centered on coal and oil & gas, green renewable energy has finally taken center stage. More than one million new electric vehicles hit cities each month, continuously creating massive energy demand. Sun and wind are entering a new phase of technological resonance with electricity, and nuclear fusion has moved from a perpetual "ten years away" story to reality.

> The last great geographical discovery was nearly 500 years ago. Then, Dutch ships capable of long-distance voyages at low cost, combined with the Chinese compass, created an era of global trade prosperity. Today, SpaceX's reusable rockets and Starship aim to reach the Moon and colonize Mars.

...

In a future world that is flatter and more multipolar, powered by sustainable energy, with vaster interstellar lands and resources — what will become of humanity? The answer must be sought in technology, business, and civilization. And those writing the answers on history's examination paper may still be young people around 30, bearing the conviction to change the world.

In light of this, to more sustainably and systematically unearth this potentially great new generation, the 2023 edition of 36Under36 builds upon last year's momentum, continuing to expand sample collection nationwide — covering the most forward-looking, creative, and representative business domains and active companies of our era.

2023 marks the second year of this large-scale social experiment. We hope to glimpse answers from more emerging business talents and across a longer time horizon — perhaps this is also an interrogation of our own inner selves. Last year our theme centered on contemplating the evolutionary patterns of business individuals; amid intensifying transformations in human society, this year's reflection turns to "desire" — humanity's tireless ambition, summarized as enterprise, propels technology, business, and civilization forward; ultimately, these are sedimented into experience, thought, and belief.

What of the future? Perhaps it draws closer to Yuval Noah Harari's conclusion in Sapiens regarding the end of Homo sapiens. He wrote, "If we truly come to understand and control our desires, perhaps the question we should ask is not 'What do we want to become?' but 'What do we want to want?'"

X·36under36 — discovering the future, together with you.

Image Source | Visual China

Layout | Meng Du