Vol.005 | A Conversation with Gongyuan: And I Choose to Start a New Table

April 14, 2026

A warm welcome to our first female interviewee at elsewhere: Gongyuan.

In my mind, Gongyuan has always been associated with fresh things. In 2018, when the VC industry was still drowning in the sharing economy whirlpool, Gongyuan at China Growth Capital was already embedded in tech circles. After joining Sequoia, she went and created HongshanX — publishing papers one moment, incubating scientists the next. A bit mysterious, that one.

In short, Gongyuan isn't someone who clings to extension cords. She defines this behavioral logic herself as: "starting another table."

In our conversation with Gongyuan, beyond her personal journey — how she stumbled into VC by chance; how she moved from an early-stage fund to Sequoia; and her path to becoming partner — we also spent considerable time discussing Sequoia itself. How their investment committee is structured; why Sequoia possesses an organizational form almost unmatched anywhere; and what lies at the core of Sequoia's culture, among other topics.

There's been plenty written about Sequoia historically, but these aspects have rarely been revealed.

🎙️ Voices Gongyuan | Sequoia China Partner

Jing Liu | elsewhere

📀 BGM Extraordinary Machine — Fiona Apple

📱 Socials Same name across all platforms: elsewhere

⏱️ Timestamps

Part 1: The VC That Publishes Papers 00:04:12 Xbench published a paper

00:07:04 Being scientists' co-founder

Part 2: From Silicon Valley to Beijing 00:09:44 Identity crisis returning from Silicon Valley

00:14:00 Joining China Growth Capital, but doing venture lending

00:16:24 A table full of heavyweights, start another table

00:20:02 Befriending scientists

00:27:52 Learning VC from a master of the old school

Part 3: Sequoia Is China's Primary Market in Concentrate 00:30:40 The great migration to tech and B2B, from China Growth Capital to Sequoia

00:38:07 Coming to Sequoia, still competing with the market

00:40:25 Climbing the same mountain, faster with Sequoia colleagues

00:44:03 "The day the company goes public, what do you post on Moments?"

00:50:21 The essence of IC: a microcosm of the market and expression of conviction

Part 4: HongShanX 00:56:51 Sabbatical

01:01:08 The embryonic form of HongShanX

01:08:16 Every incubation, she thought "might as well join this company"

01:18:06 Investors seeking projection in founders is ego

Part 5: New Partner / The New Generation of "Grinders" 01:22:43 The eve of New Year's dinner, Neil's phone call

01:25:29 The essence of Sequoia culture: winning and conviction

01:38:52 Old colleague from China Growth Capital asks: Did you live up to your 2019 expectations?

🧩 Team Producer: Yunxiao Guo

Filming & Production: Podcast Commune | OPS Podcast Studio

Planning / Director: Lao Yuan

Project Manager: Village Chief (Chaofan Liu)

Director of Photography: Yan Liu

Video Production: Yan Liu

Audio Production: Tutu

Visual Design: Wing (Chaosheng Zhi)

Lighting Design: Zang Zunzhuang Team

Venue Support: alahouse