Code Brain | This Year, We've Been There for Founders Every Step of the Way

2024 is about to become history. For entrepreneurs in China and around the world, it was a year full of "magic": intensifying geopolitical tensions, deepening global trade barriers, mounting economic growth challenges...

But the more extraordinary the times, the more firmly Source Code Capital believes in the power of long-term value. Our original commitment to serving entrepreneurs has never wavered, our pace has never slowed — we have remained steadfast companions to founders every step of the way.

This year, Code Brain hosted 18 learning and exchange events across Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou — an average of 1.5 per month — with 950+ participants from nearly 500 companies, both within and beyond the MaHui community. Entrepreneurs gathered in Code Brain spaces to share genuine insights, exchange experiences, debate issues, resolve confusions, and explore collaborations. They learned from each other, and they drew warmth from each other.

"Going global" was the keyword of 2024, and for Chinese companies in particular, it became a critical market strategy.

In fact, Source Code Capital sensed the going-global trend among Chinese companies as early as 2022, and even under exceptional circumstances organized numerous themed exchanges on the topic. Starting in the second half of 2023, as the broader environment shifted, Chinese companies accelerated their going-global plans and demand increased. Over the past year, we received a flood of requests and questions from companies about expanding overseas.

Beginning in January, we started organizing going-global themed exchanges at a deliberate pace, tailored to the needs of companies expanding abroad. Recognizing the vast differences in going-global demands across industries, we planned 5 closed-door evening sessions focused on specific sectors — one topic at a time, explored in depth. This included 3 sessions primarily for consumer and smart manufacturing companies, and 2 for AI and SaaS companies, zeroing in on practical issues like overseas growth strategies, market channels, brand marketing, supply chains, intellectual property and compliance, and tariff responses.

Additionally, we organized 3 going-global study tours, bringing companies to visit benchmark enterprises in person. In January, we led several consumer companies through offline retail stores in Silicon Valley and to CES. In April, we brought 10+ companies to Suzhou to visit ECOVACS and others, learning about product experience. In October, we led 30+ founders/CEOs, co-founders, and senior executives on an intensive tour in Shenzhen of 4 representative going-global companies: BYD, Insta360, Shopee, and Woan Technology.

"AI" was another defining label of 2024, and also a key investment focus for Source Code Capital — we uncovered numerous rising stars in this space throughout the year. We organized 5 AI-themed private sessions, bringing together our internal investors and external institutions to focus on the pain points and future risks that AI companies currently care about most.

Early in the year, we led a group of portfolio companies to visit Zhipu AI, where they had in-depth exchanges with COO Zhang Fan and his team on the practical implementation and application efficiency of large models across vertical industries. In April, we organized an AI exchange event in Beijing, inviting CEOs from multiple AI companies to meet face-to-face with students from relevant departments and research labs at capital-city universities including Peking University and Tsinghua University.

Addressing the going-global topic that AI companies particularly care about, we also specially organized 2 themed sessions, inviting founders of frontline AI companies and policy experts to share overseas growth strategies and industrial policy issues. Additionally, we hosted a themed dinner on AI edge-side applications, inviting edge model leads from major tech companies and frontline entrepreneurs to have deep exchanges with Source Code Capital portfolio companies on the current practical implementation of AI at the edge, exploring collaboration opportunities.

Beyond industry exchanges, we also continued providing entrepreneurs with urgently needed professional learning courses. Based on extensive upfront demand research, we approached from three angles — "money," "power," and "momentum" — focusing on the most thorny problems and pressing topics for startups today. A total of 230+ companies and nearly 500 people participated online and offline.

On "money" and "power," we organized multiple offline learning sessions on themes including "cash flow management," "cost control," "strategic goal decomposition," "tax collection and incentives," and "IPO planning." The "cash flow management and cost control" course alone attracted 90+ founders and executives from 40 companies, receiving widespread praise.

And "momentum" represents the macro perspective that entrepreneurs must cultivate. In 2024, Code Brain invited core scholars and experts from inside and outside the organization to share macro trends at multiple critical junctures, hoping to provide entrepreneurs with firsthand insights. Just two days after the U.S. election concluded, we specially invited a scholar based in the United States to share perspectives on the future trajectory of China-U.S. relations and the global landscape.

In the year ahead, Source Code Capital will continue serving entrepreneurs and accompanying their growth.