Everyone should have a "reform and opening-up" mindset.

Reform and opening-up, as a crucial strategy for China's economic development, carries immense significance. When we distill this concept to the individual level, it offers equally profound insights. Everyone should cultivate a mindset of "reform" and "openness" to empower their personal growth.

Reform — It's About the New

Don't cling to old ideas The world is changing; holding onto the past only leads to falling behind. Everyone needs to regularly reflect and update their mental models and behavioral habits. Otherwise, we too will gradually become the "stuffy old fossils" we once despised.

Align yourself with the advanced Keeping pace with cutting-edge knowledge and ideas lets us stand on higher ground. "Advanced" simply means someone took a beneficial step before you did. Dare to try new things — sometimes, aligning with the advanced means aligning with the future.

The process of reform Reform is painful at first; it requires fumbling in the dark. But only through this process can we truly progress. It's gradual — keep what's good, and have the courage to discard what isn't.

Learn to respect the changes that time brings What works well now may not apply in the future. The passage of time shifts environments and contexts; we must continually adapt and adjust.

Learn to respect changes in the external environment The external environment keeps evolving; strategies that once worked may no longer apply. Survival favors the adaptable — we need to adjust in step with the times.

Learn to reject your own ideas, learn to admit mistakes Admitting mistakes and rejecting the flawed parts of yourself isn't negative. Japan's Meiji Restoration is an excellent example — it overthrew the old system and brought new vitality to the nation. We too should bravely reject our past selves, without rejecting ourselves entirely. Learn to distinguish your strengths from your weaknesses, and keep optimizing and improving. Keep what's good, remove what isn't. Those who can admit mistakes will always go farther than those who cannot.

The original intention behind reform But in the process of reform, we mustn't forget our original purpose. Be clear about why you're reforming — not for reform's sake, but for a better self. Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening-up, for instance, aimed to bring prosperity to the nation.

Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth Thinking without acting is useless. True reform requires putting ideas into practice. If you fail, adjust and try again.

Openness — It's About More

Broaden your horizons Read widely and engage with diverse people to make your knowledge structure richer and more multidimensional. Only then can we truly understand this complex, multidimensional world instead of simplifying everything into black and white. Understand that there are always two or more solutions to any problem in this world. Understand that your present is merely the convergence of all your past experiences — so by reading widely and interacting with others, by understanding different people's pasts and experiences, we can eliminate blind spots in our cognition and improve our capacity to handle complexity.

Learn critical thinking Openness means learning to accept different viewpoints and using critical thinking to sharpen our minds. Everything has two sides, but having two sides doesn't mean paralysis or losing one's convictions. These sides carry different weights and urgencies; in different eras, places, and cultures, they may lead to different conclusions.

Learning never ends Every month, engage with experts from different fields and learn from them. This is how we continually "recharge" ourselves. Know what you know, and know what you don't know. Only by knowing more do you realize how much more you don't know.

Standards within openness However, in openness we also need our own standards. Not all knowledge and viewpoints suit us — we must learn to filter. Preserve your bottom line, preserve your values. Only then can you stand firm amid the flood of diverse information that openness brings, take the essence and discard the dross, make it serve your purposes, and use it in pursuit of good.

The Ultimate Goal — Learning to Think Independently

Through reform and openness, the ultimate goal is to learn independent thinking. Not blindly accepting others' viewpoints, but learning to analyze and judge, forming your own mental models. Only then can we truly master our own destiny and become masters of our lives. In sum, reform and opening-up isn't merely a national strategy — it's a strategy for every individual's growth. We should reform bravely, learn openly, progress continually, and ultimately realize our own value.

PS: All images generated by Tiamat

About Linear Capital

Linear Capital is an early-stage investment firm focused on "frontier technology + industry" — frontier technologies such as data intelligence, digital new infrastructure, next-generation robotics, and technological transformation in traditional domains (biomedicine, materials, energy, etc.), applied across vertical industries to dramatically improve efficiency, solve pain points, and enable industrial upgrading. Through substantial increases in industrial value, we achieve outsized returns in commercial value. We currently manage ten funds with total AUM of approximately $2 billion.

Our investment stage focuses primarily on leading angel to Series A rounds, with typical check sizes of $3–8 million or RMB equivalent.

To date, we have made early-stage investments in more than 120 teams, including Horizon Robotics, Kujiale, Sensors Data, Tezign, Rokid, Guandata, and Agile Robots. The combined valuation of Linear Capital's portfolio companies is approximately $20 billion.

In the near term, Linear Capital is working to become the premier "Data Intelligence Technology Fund." Over the long term, we aim to build the most influential "Frontier Technology Application Fund."