Li Feng's speech at Three Squirrels' IPO ceremony: The times make the enterprise; good people can make money

Congratulations to Three Squirrels. Congratulations to Liaoyuan Zhang and his team. And congratulations to everyone who made this moment possible. It's an honor to speak here on behalf of the investors. As someone who has accompanied Three Squirrels for seven years and witnessed their growth, I'd like to share two short stories.

A little over seven years ago — to be precise, eight years ago, in October 2011 — I answered Mr. Zhang's call. We went from online acquaintances to meeting in person, talked for more than four hours, covering many topics. When it came to e-commerce, we both said: "E-commerce will give rise to new brands." We both believed this was an unprecedented, unlike-anything-before opportunity.

We had a great conversation. At the end, Mr. Zhang said he'd take me to their best restaurant. So I followed him with great anticipation into UBC Coffee. After a few drinks, he said: "If you invest 10 million, I will definitely build a major e-commerce brand."

From the end of 2011 to today — at least at this moment — Liaoyuan Zhang has delivered on what he promised that day.

There was one thing in the subsequent entrepreneurial journey that differed from my expectations. When Mr. Zhang had just started out, when he was still a one-man operation, he said he was going to Wuhu. He ended up receiving attention and reception from the municipal government, and smoothly obtained the license for e-commerce enterprises to sell online. Over the years, the local government has given Three Squirrels tremendous support.

In the second half of 2017, Three Squirrels experienced slowing growth, and Mr. Zhang was under immense pressure. From the end of that year into the beginning of the next, he himself admitted that he often needed a drink at night, lying awake thinking through problems.

During those sleepless nights, it happened that I also stayed up late. Often at midnight, the two of us would start messaging on WeChat, back and forth, until past 1 a.m. This drew the attention and suspicion of Mrs. Zhang, who asked him: "Are you messaging with Mr. Li?" It turned out to be true. I also explained to Mrs. Zhang many times.

That was an extremely difficult half-year for Mr. Zhang. In such a moment, I was honored to have in-depth exchanges with him. As an investor and observer, this was a rare experience for me. I saw how a person, how a CEO facing difficulties, confronts and thinks through challenges.

Having told these two stories, I also want to say that the most important thing is this: when a business succeeds, it is always the times that create the opportunity.

Over the past seven years, the small miracle that Mr. Zhang and Three Squirrels created represents both the changes in Chinese consumers, in ordinary people's lives over the past decade — the rise in disposable income that fueled consumption growth and created Three Squirrels.

Three Squirrels is also a typical example of modern manufacturing combined with modern Chinese agriculture. One could say that Three Squirrels transformed the accumulation of these two sectors in China over the past 15 to 20 years into their own opportunity, into the Three Squirrels of today.

Furthermore, the fact that brands and Chinese enterprises represented by Three Squirrels could grow from online channels also owes to the channel changes and opportunities brought by over a decade of internet development.

I believe all three of these are created by the times, all are China's opportunities.

Because they are China's opportunities, I also hope that in the next 10 or 15 years, Three Squirrels can represent a new generation of Chinese brands. Starting from today's China's Three Squirrels, I look forward to the next 10, 20 years, when brands representing China can go global and become the world's Three Squirrels. I also believe China will give birth to more world-class brands.

Finally, as the CEO of a company I deeply admire, and as a good friend CEO with whom I've shared countless late-night conversations, Mr. Zhang ranks quite high in my estimation.

In 2016, less than a year after I started my own venture, I gave a talk at the Chuangye Heima entrepreneur community. I said something that spread widely online: "From today forward, in China, it is an era where good people make money."

Three Squirrels' corporate culture also represents the internet spirit: transparency, sincerity, customer-centricity. In my mind, within the scope of my experience, they best represent being good people who make money.

Congratulations on Three Squirrels' IPO! Go for it, Three Squirrels!