Through Landscapes, Through the World, Through Ourselves | Notes from BlueRun Ventures' Summer Outing

蓝驰创投·September 9, 2022·0·0

An Undefinable Journey to Shangri-La!

Every summer, the BlueRun Ventures team embarks on an open-ended long-distance journey — to feel the world, embrace nature, and rediscover ourselves.

This scorching August, honoring our tradition of cool summer retreats, we traveled to Shangri-La, one of the world's best summer escapes, for a six-day trip.

Let's revisit the highlights of this team retreat. Participate in our discussion at the end for a chance to win a gift!

Seeing the World

Pure and cool Shangri-La — snow-capped mountains piercing the clouds, sacred temples standing solemn, steep canyon cliffs, mirror-like lakes, meadows dotted with cattle and horses, and ancient towns where time moves slowly. We passed through Napa Lake, Yubeng Village, and Meili Snow Mountain, feeling nature's breath and pulse, experiencing Tibetan culture and customs.

Seeing Change

Arriving on the plateau, adapting to sudden change requires oxygen, care from others, sometimes even sitting out activities. It's much like switching tracks or navigating overlapping paths — you first need to ask: what new skills, what new connections, and should I pause to rethink my strategy.

Seeing Companionship

Hiking to the Sacred Waterfall in Yubeng Village, the team naturally formed small groups based on stamina and photo stops. Within each group, members looked out for one another — some deliberately slowing their pace, waiting for colleagues, buying bread for someone with low blood sugar. Only with empathy can we go further together.

Seeing Landscapes

Every summer and autumn, countless pilgrims travel from afar to worship the sacred mountains. August brings the rainy season; we told ourselves "let whatever comes, come." But luck stayed with us — we captured a shaft of morning sun breaking through days of rain, witnessing the rare and magnificent "Golden Sunrise Upon the Mountain."

Seeing What Moves Us

"King and Angel" is a BlueRun retreat tradition — guardian angels quietly prepare care, while unsuspecting kings continuously receive happiness and surprise. One colleague couldn't join due to health reasons, yet her "angel" still prepared gifts and surprises for her from thousands of miles away. This is what we call being a Bluerunner!

Seeing What's Real

Journeys often reveal people's truest selves. We found that being straightforward, self-driven, taking ownership, and being undefinable, trailblazing — these traits are already embedded in the everyday details of BlueRun colleagues. How fortunate to walk alongside people with similar foundations. Truly delighted — to have you all!

Seeing Ourselves

Having witnessed magnificent landscapes and vast horizons, during this retreat the BlueRun team also engaged in a fascinating discussion to "see ourselves" on this beautiful land. We explored: If you had 1 minute / 1 day / 1 year / 50 years / 10,000 years / forever... left to live, what would you do?

Colleagues gave all kinds of answers: wonderful, absurd, touching, the most true-to-nature...

Before time's ultimate question, everyone examined their lives from an unusual perspective.

What BlueRunners Say

Life holds both anticipation and fear; humans hold reverence for time. Though we live forever in uncertainty, we are forever filled with hope.

Heidegger had an important concept: being-toward-death. It means when we realize our lives must have an end, and that we will never be reborn, how should we live?

Humanity's greatest suffering comes largely from our sense of time. Without time, how would we view everything now, how would we see the present?

Many people drift through life, following others or basic cultural traditions, pursuing whatever others pursue. If you force yourself into the frame of a month, a week, even a day, you might find a better answer to this question.

After being ousted from Apple's board, climbing back from rock bottom, Steve Jobs asked himself every day in front of his bathroom mirror: If today were my last day, what would I do?

In answering this question, there is no right or wrong, because every person is unique. What emerges in the answer reflects each person's different life stage, their different lived experiences, and where the weight falls when making value choices.

This is diversity. This is the charm of the world.

What matters to you? You can actually start doing it now, no need to wait — life can move forward in "slash" mode!

Finally, we'd like to leave this question for you to discuss:

If you had only one day left to live, what would you do?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

We'll send gifts to the top 5 most-liked responses:

Activity period: September 9 — September 12, 24:00

Winners please reply with shipping information within 24 hours of receiving notification.

Currently, BlueRun Ventures China manages multiple USD and RMB dual-currency funds, with assets under management exceeding RMB 15 billion, making it one of the largest early-stage funds in China. The firm invests primarily at Pre-A and Series A stages, covering hard tech and innovative interaction, enterprise technology, new consumer, healthcare, and other sectors. It has invested in over 150 startups, including Li Auto, Waterdrop, QingCloud, Guazi Used Car, Songguo Mobility, Ganji.com, Energy Monster, Yuntu Semiconductor, Machenike, CloudSaints Intelligence, Anxin Network Shield, and BioMap.

BlueRun Ventures has been ranked #1 on Zero2IPO's "China Top 30 Early-Stage Investment Institutions" and ChinaVenture's "China Best Early-Stage Venture Capital Firms TOP30," and was named by Preqin among the Top 10 global VC fund managers for sustained high-return performance.

Additionally, BlueRun Ventures has received consecutive recognition from Forbes China, 36Kr, Cyzone, Caixin Media, CBNweekly, Jiemian, and other media organizations as "China's Best Early-Stage Firm of the Year," "China's Top Venture Capital Firm," "Most Entrepreneur-Friendly Early-Stage Firm of the Year," and "Most Influential Early-Stage Firm of the Year."