(Chinese Version)

[TMTpost’s new column Photo Gallery aims to record individuals and entrepreneurs in the Internet industry: whether young ambitious entrepreneurs who have just found their place in the world of business, star investors who walk through different venues, programmers who spend hours of time writing codes in front of the computer screen, or Internet operators, geeks, even delivery guys…It is their collective efforts and devotion that constitute the Internet world we live in right now, so their moments are worth recording, and remembering. Photos don’t lie, but they don’ tell the whole truth; photos are free, but they are also full of traps. Therefore we present the images we see, and let you have your own understanding of these individuals.]

Editor’s Note:
Long time ago, after a new goldmine was discovered in a remote village, gold diggers across the country flocked to the village. However, they had to cross a river before reached the village. Therefore, a guy rent a boat and ferried gold diggers across the river. Whether those gold diggers found gold or not, he always got to ferry them back and forth. Chen Buheng compared himself to a ferryman for entrepreneurs: “I never charge them, except for some shares.”

In TMTpost Photo Gallery 008, we turns our lens towards Mr. Chen, a so-called Entrepreneur Mentor. His courses are very straightforward, and practical indeed: How to Impress Your Investor? How to Build an Efficient Startup Team?... He attempts to make being an entrepreneur easier, yet his approach also reveals that how impetus this era is.

“Supporting startups and encouraging innovation,” this is how he defines what he and his team are doing right now. He teaches entrepreneurs to draft their business plan, help them to raise funds and with team management. In most scenarios, he asked for no direct payment, except for some shares in the startups. His ultimate goal is to become the Chinese YC.

Mr. Chen used to live in Tianjin and his team also used to be based there. Just recently, however, he gradually shifted his team to Beijing and started to cooperate with innovation incubators on the Innovation Way around Zhongguancun area by delivering free lectures.

December 24th, 2015. After delivering an afternoon lecture on Innovation Way, Mr. Chen and his colleagues are heading for another lecture spot. He started to cooperate with innovation incubators on the Innovation Way around Zhongguancun area by delivering free lectures since November.

Mr. Chen quoted Liu Chuanzhi’s “three principles on enterprise management” in a course titled “How To Build An Efficient Team?”.

Mr. Chen has rich experiences in both starting a business and managing a startup. Previously, he worked as a private overseas shopping agent, established a Korean language school of his own and even headed several Innovation Incubators in Tianjin. In addition, he once established a human resources company and developed a human resources test system based on the Enneagram Test. This human resources test system is also a crucial component of his course “How To Build An Efficient Team?”. In the course, he also randomly picks students and predicts their personality based on their appearance and what they wear.

A student of Mr. Chen spoke highly of his lecture. After finding a gap in parent-kid social networking app sector, he gave up working in the commercial real estate industry and chose to develop a product by himself. “Our App will be released soon, so attended his lectures to cram for it,” he admitted.

After a course is over, lots of students turn to him to exchange business cards and add his WeChat account. Mr. Chen has never paid for the lecture hall for the past two months. “I never went to places that charge me with site fee. They charged me because they haven’t realized the value of my lectures”, he says proudly, “I shall be better-known two months later and a lot more innovations incubators and centers will turn to me at that time.”

On the wall of Crowd Innovation Space are full of posters looking for investors and partners. “Although there are plenty of resources on Innovation Way, there isn’t much high-quality startup projects here. Most of them have no more than symbolic meanings. We choose Innovation Way because there are more opportunities here. Admittedly, entrepreneurs across China know this place and will come here to pay tribute,” he explained.

“How to Impress Your Investors?” is another popular course of him. In this course, he teaches entrepreneurs to draft their own business plans and prepare for their roadshows. Mr. Chen admits that his course was based on his own life experiences for over one year when he was an entrepreneur. He adds that his method, for sure, isn’t the only correct one, yet a very effective one.

Mr. Chen doesn’t think it possible to instill the qualities of a competent entrepreneur into someone, yet he does think it possible to teach someone the tricks and techniques of how to draft his or her business plan and prepare for roadshows.

Mr. Chen is delivering a lecture on business plan on December 25th, 2015. “I never talk big words or empty clichés. Instead, I only talk about techniques and practical tips. College courses on entrepreneurs should also be about these practical stuffs, otherwise no students will have the patience to finish those courses,” he suggested, “However, I do admit the value of chicken soups and brainwashing, since these kinds of courses can be essential and useful for any entrepreneur, fundamentally.”

According to him, 80% of entrepreneurs failed to raise funds because they didn’t get their ideas across to investors, not because there were anything wrong with their projects. “Todays’ entrepreneurs can be generally divided into three groups: those who have a great idea but don’t know how to express their ideas, those who can’t find a good partner and those who don’t know how to manage their startup team,” he concludes, “most entrepreneurs start their projects to make their ideas into reality, but gradually become speculative when they see other people making better progress in other areas.”

Some entrepreneurs are performing in a get-together of entrepreneurs in the Internet circle. The host also invites Mr. Chen to attend the activity. It happens that the place is also one of the new lecture spots of Mr. Chen in Beijing.

This night, Mr. Chen agreed to help manage another startup project. According to him, good projects are actually those most people don’t understand. “If everybody understands your project and thinks high of you, then you are definitely the only one to have such ideas. However, when few people can understand your ideas, it’s probable you will make something out of it at last.”

TMTpost Photo Gallery

Special column of TMTpost

Aiming to record individuals and entrepreneurs in the Internet industry

Photos don’t lie, but they don’ tell the whole truth

Photos are free, but also full of traps

This is an Internet age, and we want you to discover stories with us online

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[The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @fliesslaughterhouse, please note source and hyperlink when reproduce.]

Translated by Levin Feng (Senior Translator at PAGE TO PAGE), working for TMTpost.