Not Chasing Trends, But Backing the People Who Create Them: From Jumei to ZhenFund, Yusen Dai Has Navigated Cycles and Stepped Into the AI Era

This episode is a special crossover between "Seriously Speaking" (此话当真) and "High Energy" (高能量). Yusen Dai, managing partner at ZhenFund, sat down with business writer Li Xiang to talk about his journey—from leaving Jumei International Holding Limited to joining ZhenFund in 2017, and from internet startups to AI investing.

Dai also explained why ZhenFund has always stuck to its strategy of "only angel, only Chinese founders." At its core, it's a philosophy of betting on people.

Markets move in cycles. They heat up and cool down. When things are cold, you actually have more time to refine your team and product, building long-term competitive advantages. Take Xiaohongshu founder Wenchao Mao. ZhenFund invested in him at the angel round. Back then, Xiaohongshu was just a "small and beautiful" product—nobody imagined it would grow into the platform it is today.

Great companies need time to mature.

Another example: Red Xiao, founder of Manus. ZhenFund's first check came from a hackathon during his senior year of college. From that encounter ten years ago to Manus today, it's been a long journey—new directions, new teams, new rounds of funding.

Early-stage investing is a long-term commitment. It often takes 5-10 years to see how a company ultimately plays out, to see what it truly grows into.

Today, whether it's ChatGPT, Moonshot AI, Manus, or Genspark, the productivity gains they deliver are remarkable—they transform "impossible" into "possible," or take what you could already do and make it 10x more efficient. But this is still just the beginning.

The VC industry chases countless waves. When a wave hits, many rush toward what's already hot. But ZhenFund would rather back the people who create the waves. Without them, that thing might never exist in the world at all.

Betting on people and patience—that's the essence of angel investing.

02:27 Leaving a company he co-founded in 2017, choosing not to start another but to join ZhenFund as an investor instead 09:41 First entrepreneurial attempt: from a failed in-game advertising system to selling cosmetics 10:50 How does experiencing a full company lifecycle help in evaluating founders and startups? 17:37 The best thing to build today is something that makes giants think "not worth our time" 18:58 Three stages of transitioning to becoming an investor 21:12 The projects you're most bullish on often aren't the ones that make the most money 25:43 Zixiong Luo built a game called Party Animals to keep his company alive—it ranked second on Steam's wishlist, right behind Elden Ring 30:30 You have to invest in the people who create waves—without them, that thing wouldn't exist in this world 32:32 Entrepreneurship became, at one point, a life checklist activity like skiing or scuba diving 36:50 Massive opportunities always emerge in anti-consensus territories 39:40 The sharing economy was huge, but beyond bike-sharing and power bank sharing, few projects actually succeeded 41:38 ZhenFund's investments are all people-driven. We keep trying to answer: what do the best people of this era look like, and what are they working on? 44:38 Does ZhenFund's "bet on people" logic actually work? 55:23 How to tell good bubbles from bad bubbles 01:05:42 Investing in mobile internet was actually hard before the iPhone existed 01:08:38 Is there a systematic way to keep creating opportunities to meet people who might become great founders—like early Zheng Huang, Yiming Zhang, or Xiang Li? 01:13:51 This wave of AI will be revolutionary 01:20:35 After ChatGPT launched, how long did it take from noticing it, to learning and talking to people about it, to pulling the trigger on the first investment? 01:30:51 From Monica to Manus, Red Xiao is a textbook case of ZhenFund's "bet on people" philosophy 01:44:53 Will AI leave people with nowhere to go, driving everyone into fiercer competition—or will it create more new opportunities? 01:46:37 How do today's new founders differ from you and Leo Chen's generation? 01:55:06 Compared to Silicon Valley founders, what are Chinese founders' strengths and weaknesses? 02:01:34 Has entrepreneurial activity been active these past two years? 02:07:05 What's the best and worst advice you've received since you started investing?

"ZhenFund's Yusen Dai: From 'No Need to Pay' to 'Can't Live Without It'—AI Is on Track to Smash Humanity's Fastest Growth Records"

"Are Both Models and 'Shells' Undervalued? ZhenFund's Yusen Dai's 10,000-Word Mid-2025 AI Review"

"Manus in Conversation with YouTube Co-founder Steve Chen: A Dialogue Between Two Generations of Startups"

Seriously Speaking (此话当真) is a general business podcast produced by ZhenFund, where the investment team shares the latest hot topics and industry insights with leaders across various fields.

Founded in 2011, ZhenFund is one of China's earliest angel investment firms. Since its inception, ZhenFund has been actively seeking out the best entrepreneurial teams and era-defining investment opportunities in artificial intelligence, chips and semiconductors, robotics and hardware, healthcare, enterprise services, new energy, cross-border expansion, consumer lifestyle, and beyond.

ZhenFund—your first stop on the entrepreneurial journey!