The weight of dreams: this young entrepreneur’s startup nearly left him bankrupt

This is not Xu Zhenjiang. Photo credit: Pixabay.

It’s easy to look at the stories in the media and think that success at a startup is just a matter of having the passion to see your idea through and weather the bumps in the road. Experienced founders know that there’s quite a bit more to it than that, and many have had to learn that the hard way.

Xu Zhenjiang is one of those learnt-it-the-hard-way guys. His first startup experience nearly left him bankrupt. In a fascinating piece on iHeiMa, he explained what happened. Our translation is below.

I’m in my early twenties. Like most Chinese young people, I grew up enjoying the gradual advances made via China’s reforms, so I had some contact with computers as a kid and I watched the rise of China’s badass information industry entrepreneurs. They really influenced me. A seed was planted in my heart: I wanted to do something big.

In first-tier cities you’ll often see news in which a well-known CEO talks about starting up in a rented basement, going through tough times and bumps, but eventually getting to IPO. It’s like they’ve reached the apex of human life, becoming Mr. or Ms. Perfect, and enjoying the life of the wealthy and successful.

I always thought that I was going to become one of those successful entrepreneurs from the news

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about it now, but that was what set me on the path to entrepreneurship.

“Startup dogs” [founders] can be easily moved by their own words. When doing a startup: “My god, I’m chasing my dream!” “I’m engrossed in my work.” You can even arrogantly proclaim to others, “I have a dream!” Whether or not it was realistic, I always thought that I was going to become one of those successful entrepreneurs from the news.

When we first started, I was brimming with confidence. I was sure that what I was doing was without equal, covering every base, badass from every angle you looked at it. I got myself all worked up. Looking back on it now, you might better call it “too young, too simple” – it was like I was drunk. Now having the foundation of having done two startups, I strongly feel the startup road is a dark tunnel.

In 2014, during my freshman year in college I decided to suspend my studies to pursue a startup, so I started living like a migrant in Beijing. At that time, O2O was just getting hot and money was flooding in from the capital market. I thought there was an opportunity there too, so I threw my energy and passion into the startup scene.

Photo credit: Pixabay.

What I was doing at the time was a clothes-washing ecommerce platform called “9 RMB Wash.” As with most other startups, I had to try to balance that with life. Our team moved from US$230/month rent in Tongzhou to a spot in the CBD. Before that we had been in basements, but I saw that as part of the process. If you want to wear the crown, you must bear the weight. We were like so many other migrant youths, bearing the weight of our dreams.

I sent countless PMs on WeChat, and our business plan went out to virtually every VC fund in Beijing. I went to Shanghai to meet angel investor Charles Xue, and I went to Kaifu Lee’s [incubator/accelerator/VC] Innovation Works. During this time, we managed to raise US$770,000 from a single angel investor.