Fifteen Years in VC, Finally Catching the New Wave of AI | A Conversation with Minghao Zhuang on Opportunities, the Future, and Life Lessons | Doraemon in the Age of AI Ep01
March 28, 2024
This episode features Minghao Zhuang, who for many people was their first window into the world of venture capital, and a prolific Zhihu power user who has answered over 1,000 questions. Right as the new wave of AI emerged, Zhuang happened to hit his fifteenth year in VC. Now, he wants to jump into the waves and swim — to be among the first to get used to the salt of the sea.
We discussed the opportunities and challenges of AI entrepreneurship from the perspectives of both founders and investors.
We also shared, as everyday users, the AI tools we actually pay for.
And as two ordinary people living in Shanghai, we talked about understanding ourselves, making peace with ourselves, and how to live each day well.
🔵 The "Doraemon of the AI Era" Content Series:
We interview and bring together "active doers" of the AI era — today's Doraemons: full of curiosity and imagination, prone to anxiety and venting, but spending most of their time taking action and solving problems, giving us the strength to move forward.
In this series, we speak with entrepreneurs, investors, and indie developers in the AI era to see what interesting gadgets we can pull from their "four-dimensional pockets."
🚦 Welcome to subscribe to "Crossroads," where we follow the industry shifts and new entrepreneurial opportunities brought by the new wave of AI technology. Crossroads was Steve Jobs' 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 "active doers" of the AI era to explore and embrace the changes and new possibilities, together.
👦🏻 Host Koji: Co-founder of The Fair and Tangdao, and someone actively diving into AI. On Jike: [a self-introduction from Koji]
👧🏻 Host Ronghui: Works at a tech VC, former Silicon Valley correspondent for Yicai Weekly. On Jike
The "Crossroads" WeChat group is unlike any other. We do two things there:
🦀 Daily "AI News Morning Brief"
👫🏻 Encourage people to date / make friends / find future collaborators
🤖 Add assistant on WeChat: Rwkfbcianvd to join.
🎬 Timeline:
On AI
00:20 15 years in VC, in the blink of an eye
02:52 What were the two Zhihu posts that put Minghao on the map?
04:22 If the "Doraemon of the AI Era" time-traveled back to 2024, what would they do?
06:14 Is using Suno to write songs legit?
07:37 What AI products have been genuinely impressive lately?
11:49 AI's breakneck pace: exciting or terrifying?
14:29 What won the company AI hackathon?
24:52 Recent AI implementations in finance, consumer, legal, pharmaceutical, and industrial manufacturing
On VC
41:06 "I've always been lazy, so I've always looked for shortcuts"
42:47 What was the most demoralizing day of your career?
45:10 Having "dragon-slaying skills" — don't just wait by the tree for the dragon. So, how do you find the dragon?
48:37 What content, products, and tools do you pay for every month?
49:24 Why choose VC? And why choose to leave it?
57:27 Gratitude and assessment of Matrix Partners China's three GPs (David Zhang, David Su, Huadong Wang)
On Life
59:28 Are you an actor?
60:39 Why is "depressingly motivated" a good thing?
63:36 What do you do for a happier, more certain life?
🎄 This podcast is supported by The Fair's Sound Forest Podcast Initiative.