2024 Year in Review: AI Going Global — Dreams, Guts, and Making Tens of Millions in a Year | A Conversation with Linear Capital's Can Zhang and Linkloud's Ning Gao

⛵️ For this final episode of "Crossroads" before the Lunar New Year, we're tackling the question on every AI investor's mind: going global.

In 2024, more and more AI entrepreneurs began looking overseas, producing a wave of companies and products with annual revenue exceeding $10 million. This week we'll run through them: Plaud, Monica, Opus Clip, HeyGen, Notta, Hix, and more.

The global push is unstoppable. Of the AI founders I've met recently, I'd say half—no exaggeration—have told me they're targeting global markets. The other half are still focused domestically, but they're restless, actively thinking, stockpiling resources, and mustering the courage to go abroad.

So this week on Crossroads: Why are AI entrepreneurs going global? What opportunities and possibilities are they seeing that we aren't? What did the AI companies that rapidly went from zero to one and hit $10 million ARR get right? And how can we learn from, imitate, and replicate their success?

👬🏻 This week we're joined by two guests:

Can Zhang, Managing Director at Linear Capital: Linear invested in 11 AI projects in 2024, staying highly active. Over the year, Can estimates he spoke with at least a hundred AI founding teams, keeping his finger directly on the pulse.

Ning Gao, Co-founder of Linkloud: Over the past two years, he's accompanied more than a hundred entrepreneurs going global to the United States and Japan, developing unique insights into how founders think and where markets are heading. About six months ago, Ning joined us on Crossroads for an episode called The AI Products You Don't Know About That Are Quietly Making Serious Money Overseas, introducing nearly 20 outstanding global AI products. Today we'll continue that conversation—what new quiet moneymakers have emerged in the past six months?

🟢 02:53 - One keyword to describe 2024

🟢 04:28 - Which global AI products have crossed $10 million ARR? What can we learn from them?

🟢 10:09 - Notable moments from 2024:

• Ning Gao: Led delegations to Silicon Valley and Japan every six months, witnessing the founder-driven spirit firsthand
• Can Zhang: Linear invested in 11 AI projects, all targeting global markets, concentrated in education, companionship, productivity tools, and tech consumer goods

🟢 15:22 - Linear Capital's investment thinking on AI applications:

• Consensus view: AI applications are still in early days; new species will continue emerging over the next 3-5 years, especially vertical innovations
• Updated thinking: Commercialization of AI applications is happening faster than expected—the zero-to-eight-figures cycle has compressed dramatically, validating investment value during the technology dividend period
• Investment focus: Favor AI applications that can commercialize quickly, especially in刚需 (rigid demand) areas, and teams with global vision

🟢 20:33 - Ning Gao: How founder psychology around going global has shifted

• Main shift: From pure user-scale chasing to greater emphasis on monetization and profitability; understanding of overseas markets has become more pragmatic and sophisticated
• Why: Faster AI product commercialization, intensifying competition, and a more rational investment environment are pushing founders toward sustainable development
• Market strategy: More inclined to pick specific verticals and target markets rather than blindly pursuing global expansion, with greater attention to local product-market fit

🟢 21:56 - About six months ago, Ning Gao joined us for The AI Products You Don't Know About That Are Quietly Making Serious Money Overseas, introducing nearly 20 excellent global AI products. What new global AI products has he noticed in the past six months?

🟢 25:46 - Xing Wang's rare CES product post on WeChat Moments

🟢 27:15 - Key perspectives on AI going global:

• Market size exceeds expectations: Especially multilingual markets—India, Southeast Asia, and others remain underdeveloped with massive growth runway
• Japan market dynamics: Language and cultural barriers mean weak local competition, while strong enterprise digitalization demand creates a classic supply-constrained market
• Market selection evolution: Shifting from "which country" to "which language"—for example, starting with English, then expanding to Japanese, Spanish, etc.
• Product design principle: Avoid overcomplicating AI features; precisely grasp user habits and deliver "just right" functionality and interaction design

🟢 31:17 - What products have inspired you recently? Cursor, Bolt.new, Devin, Youmind, NotebookLM, Gamma

🟢 49:59 - 2025 outlook:

• Certain trends: Multimodal AI (text, voice, image combined) will become more widespread; AI assistants will feel more like real humans with more natural interaction capabilities
• Uncertain territory: AI development in emotional companionship, personality shaping, and other non-efficiency domains remains unpredictable, requiring continued observation and breakthroughs

---

Subscribe to the Crossroads podcast 🚦 We track the industry transformations and entrepreneurial opportunities emerging from the new wave of AI technology. "Crossroads" was Steve Jobs's metaphor for Apple—a place standing at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, where great products are born. AI is reshaping every industry. We seek out, interview, and bring together the "active doers" of the AI era to explore and embrace new changes and new possibilities.

👦🏻 Host Koji: Co-founder of The Fair and Tangdao. I believe technology, especially AI, will fundamentally transform society and empower humanity. Feel free to reach out to chat, exchange ideas, and connect on what's next. Koji on Jike, Koji's website

👧🏻 Host Ronghui: Works at a tech VC, former Silicon Valley correspondent for Yicai Weekly. Ronghui on Jike

Join the Crossroads member group ☀️ First-hand AI intel and insights

👫🏻 We encourage you to date/make friends/find future collaborators

🦀 Add our assistant on WeChat: Rwkfbcianvd, or scan the QR code below

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