“How to pick startups? Firstly, investors need to find the right investees but that is just 10% of the whole work of making an excellent investment. Then investors need to make independent judgments, instead of being affected by media and counterparts. Most importantly, investors need to support their investees with information about the market and with resources,” WU Shichun told media at Belt and Road Innovation Conference on Friday.
“So, shame on institutional investors who can only support startups with capital. Investors have to be prepared to go through hell with their investees.”
WU Shichun is the founder of venture capital company Plum Ventures, which has invested in 300 early stage startups since their inception four years ago. Plum Ventures’ portfolio companies include US-listed microloan platform Qudian, and over 30 overseas companies such as Indonesia’s microloan platform Cashcash, India’s news aggregator Roz Buzz and student credit platform KrazyBee. According to WU, more than 6 of his portfolio companies will go public this year.
