AsianFin -- "I don't want to hear any more empty pep talk, just tell me how to survive in 2025," was a comment I saw under a colleague's New Year message. It struck a chord with me. So, while it is a tradition at TMPost to deliver a New Year message every first day of the year, I believe that the tradition of "speaking the truth" is the one that deserves to be upheld.

The year 2024 has been full of uncertainty and difficulty for many. To the companies still in the game, you deserve to celebrate. Looking ahead to 2025, things won’t be much better. Whether it’s the macroeconomic environment both domestically and internationally or business confidence, we are in for more challenges. My message to my friends for 2025 is simple: never waste any opportunity to make money. Only by accumulating enough wealth can we have the capital to face the bigger changes and challenges ahead.

Don’t believe the talk of "lying flat," because if you lie flat, you’re giving opportunities to others. Whether you feel confident or not, surviving and surviving longer, being among the last standing, should be our collective belief in this era of major upheavals.

"We have the largest market," "We have the most powerful supply chain" – we’ve said these too many times, and maybe the world believes us. But if the result is that the world now views us as an enemy, then we will lose all our so-called "largest" advantages. Arrogance won’t help us survive. If we want to live better, we should talk less about how strong we are and focus more on where the money is flowing.

Based on both domestic and international technology and economic trends, I’ll share seven observations and suggestions. However, these are for reference only, please use your discretion to make choices.

First, in 2025, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will continue to lead the global technological revolution, with competition in large language models stabilizing. The more significant development will be the explosive growth of applications and profitability, especially in the B2B market.

Demand for intelligent solutions will surge, and AI will permeate various industries, becoming a key tool for businesses to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Startups and investments in AI-related fields could be a major force in navigating 2025.

We’ve already seen signs of this in the second half of 2024 with the surge in stocks of B2B application companies in the U.S. stock market. For reference, here’s a list of U.S. software companies to follow in the AI field: Palantir, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Databricks, Snowflake, CrowdStrike, Xometry, Applovin, Microsoft, SAP, and Oracle.

"AI will rewrite all enterprise software industries," Zhang Hongjiang, the founding Chairman of Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI) predicted at TMTPost 2024 T-EDGE Conference.

China’s B2B industry is relatively underdeveloped and will grow slower, but it will eventually follow this trend.

Second, 2025 will see the official rise of cryptocurrency.

2024 is a landmark year for the cryptocurrency industry. Two major events have officially introduced Bitcoin to the mainstream market: the launch of Bitcoin ETFs and Donald Trump’s re-election as the first "Crypto President." These events signal the formal acceptance of decentralized finance by the mainstream market. Bitcoin, as the core of decentralized finance, is being re-evaluated for its value, whether we like it or not.

We are in one of the rare moments of wealth redistribution in human history, following the collapse of the silver standard and the gold standard. This is the third such event. A new era where Bitcoin, the U.S. dollar, and gold coexist is coming.

Third, the space economy will become accessible to ordinary people.

With advancements in space technology and the rise of commercial space exploration, space will present unprecedented business opportunities. Satellite launches, space tourism, and resource mining will all create new avenues for wealth generation. The most crucial factor is the cost of sending ordinary people into space. By 2024, the cost of sending someone into space is already close to $100,000 per person, and in the next five to ten years, that cost may drop to $50,000, or even $10,000 to $20,000. Going to space will soon be as simple as flying in an airplane, leading to a massive new wealth effect.

Fourth, the transformation of the energy sector will primarily focus on nuclear power.

The AI revolution’s massive computational and energy demands are now a reality, and nuclear power, as a key source of clean energy, is receiving increasing attention from tech giants. Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, Oracle, and others are ramping up investments in nuclear energy, with individuals like OpenAI founder Sam Altman and Microsoft founder Bill Gates personally investing in nuclear power. Their actions highlight the importance of future energy structures.

Fifth, biotechnology, led by longevity technology, will see explosive growth.

With the continued progress of AI and growing attention to health, the biotechnology and health industries will experience explosive growth. Whether it’s new drug development, gene therapy, or health management, biotech will provide abundant opportunities for entrepreneurship and investment.

DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis, the 2024 Nobel Chemistry Prize winner, recently stated that the pace of new drug development could speed up to weekly production. In the past, it took 10 to 15 years to develop a new drug, but with AI, the timeline is drastically shortened. This will first affect the treatment of known diseases, and soon most diseases may have cures. Preventing diseases will enter a new era, leading to a significant increase in human lifespan.

A few months ago, I attended an entrepreneurship discussion in Silicon Valley focused on longevity. Entrepreneurs are now boldly predicting that human lifespans could soon reach 120 to 150 years. We will all benefit from this, and many longevity-related companies may emerge in 2025.

Sixth, Chinese companies going global are entering a new phase – the "brand era" is replacing the "price competition" era.

In 2024, China’s photovoltaic industry suffered global setbacks, Chinese electric vehicles faced tariff resistance, and TikTok continued to battle the risk of bans in various countries. In 2025, the strategy will shift from "one-way" expansion (focused on "supply chain/engineer capability spillover") to "value expansion" – considering what new value our companies can bring to local residents.

Based on long-term industry observations, Titanium Media has identified two key factors for building global value in 2025: "brand premium ability" and "core technological capability," rather than price competition.

A case in point is Pop Mart, which saw its global business grow rapidly in 2024, with overseas revenue increasing by 440%-445%. This remarkable success exemplifies the new trend of Chinese companies going global.

Finally, the most important thing is to follow where talent flows. The best talent will become entrepreneurs.

I met Aravind Srinivas, founder of Perplexity, in the U.S., and he said, "We’re here to challenge Google." This is the charm of Silicon Valley: each generation produces a new challenger. But I haven't heard such bold voices in China for a long time. Entrepreneurs today rarely stand up to say they want to challenge Baidu, Alibaba, ByteDance, or Tencent. ByteDance was once the challenger to BAT, but today, such bold actions are hard to find.

In a VC environment that can no longer worsen, entrepreneurs in 2025 should be bolder. When others are fearful, you become rare. The best talents need to enter entrepreneurship and become challengers. Be a little greedier, more free-spirited. The brave are invincible, and luck often favors real adventurers. I hope everyone in the new year can do what they want and "live freely."

In times of comfort, you can lie flat. But in times of great change, survival is the only goal. “Don’t waste every opportunity to make money.” This might be hard for idealists to accept, but in times of upheaval, the best way to avoid difficulties is to take action. Only with a solid financial foundation can we face more uncertainties ahead.

Happy New Year to all friends of TMTPost and AsianFin!

In the new year of 2025, let's not strive for perfection, but live freely.