"I Didn't Touch a Drop of Moutai and Still Did 30 Million Last Year" | AI in China ⑤: How to Actually Get Results with AI-to-B in the AI Era?

"I Didn't Touch a Drop of Moutai and Still Did 30 Million Last Year" | AI in China ⑤: How to Actually Get Results with AI-to-B in the AI Era?

June 2, 2025

Over the past decade, SaaS entrepreneurship in China has quite literally "killed" a generation of talented young founders. The difficulty of building B2B businesses domestically, with enterprise clients notoriously tight-fisted, has become something of a collective truism among entrepreneurs today.

Yet a group of what we'd call "stubbornly hard-headed" founders still choose to do B2B. What's interesting is that since the start of this year, we've been hearing from an increasing number of AI-focused B2B entrepreneurs: we're getting results! Solid revenue, solid profits. And there seems to be a shared conviction among them — that in the AI era, B2B has new life.

What results have they achieved? How did they get there? Why do they believe B2B is worth doing?

Today on Crossroads, we're joined by two AI B2B founders who have gotten results, to share their experiences and perspectives:

  • Xingji Zhai, Founder/CEO of Yuhe Technology
  • Rui Qin, Co-founder of BISHENG

🚥 This is also episode 5 of Crossroads's "AI in China" series, where we track how AI is landing in specific industries and use cases.

🟢 Part 1. Doing B2B in the AI Era: No More Moutai

01:59 Quick-fire Q&A: Xingji Zhai — Founder/CEO, Yuhe Technology

03:31 Quick-fire Q&A: Rui Qin — Co-founder, BISHENG

05:07 Why choose B2B in the AI era?

09:07 Hitting 30 million — how much Moutai did that take?

🟢 Part 2. With Xingji Zhai on Yuhe Technology: "We Absolutely Refuse Deals Over 1 Million"

09:56 Why start Yuhe Technology?

22:22 What's the most typical project? How much can it make?

25:02 How do you land major clients?

21:17 AI Agent and SaaS are fundamentally different businesses

28:43 The moment you thought "this company has made it — we can make money, we can survive"

34:07 "Just making money means nothing to me"

34:50 What differentiates you from competitors?

36:42 "We absolutely refuse deals over 1 million"

41:36 How do you spend your day?

47:46 Who's the best B2B entrepreneur?

51:20 What's the company vision?

52:38 The AI Agent hype is giving clients FOMO

🟢 Part 3. With Rui Qin on BISHENG: "The funding environment got worse, but more people are actually building real businesses — that's healthier"

15:02 Why start BISHENG?

19:21 What's the most typical project? How much can it make?

21:29 The methodology for winning clients

30:23 The moment you thought "this company has made it — we can make money, we can survive"

31:45 Compared to the era of the "Four AI Dragons" (YITU), what's changed in today's environment?

33:04 "The funding environment got worse, but more people are actually building real businesses — that's healthier"

33:46 Why not raise funding?

39:11 What differentiates you from competitors (e.g., Dify)?

45:27 How do you spend your day?

50:28 What's the company vision?

54:59 How do you attract the best young talent to B2B?

Subscribe to the Crossroads podcast 🚦 We track the industry shifts and entrepreneurial opportunities brought by the new wave of AI technology.

🚦 Crossroads takes its name from Steve Jobs's metaphor for Apple — standing at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, where great products are born. AI is transforming every industry, and we seek out, interview, and bring together a new generation of AI founders and active builders. Together with them, we explore and embrace the changes, the new possibilities.

👦🏻 Host Koji: I co-founded Jiepang, The Fair, and Tangdao, and started AI Hacker House, a community space for the new generation of AI entrepreneurs. I believe technology, especially AI, represents the greatest value-creation opportunity of our generation. Feel free to reach out to chat, exchange ideas, and connect on what's next. Koji on Jike | Koji's website

👧🏻 Host Ronghui: I've worked at a dollar-denominated VC fund and spent five years as a Silicon Valley correspondent, tracking technology development and business stories. Feel free to reach out to chat and exchange perspectives. Ronghui on Jike

🎄 This podcast is supported by The Fair's Sound Forest Podcast Initiative.