I shared a viewpoint in a previous article:

When I look at a project, many times I prioritize examining the founder of the project, looking at their past experiences, their values, and their way of handling situations.

While reading about the book "Because Unique," I was resonated again with my viewpoint through a narrative from Wang Ning.

The reporter asked Wang Ning why many investors do not have confidence in them and miss out on early investments in them?

Wang Ning replied (in essence):

They are typical startup companies, intending to do A, but while doing it, they ended up doing B, and suddenly achieved success in C, and possibly one day become even more successful in D.

During their entrepreneurial journey, they have tried many models and scenarios, but those models and scenarios have not achieved significant success or have become real stepping stones to later success.

Many investors they interacted with focused precisely on the specific business models they were working on at that time, judging their future success based on that specific business model.

Therefore, if investors measure whether they will succeed in the future based on the various business models they tried along the way, the resulting conclusion is likely to be negative and pessimistic, so it is not surprising that those investors missed the early investment opportunity in Pop Mart.

In the interview, Wang Ning specifically mentioned a past event that occurred when the well-known investor Mai Gang participated in them.

When Mai Gang called him hoping to meet and discuss in-depth, he clearly stated that he was not interested in the grid shop business they were doing at that time, but was rather interested in Wang Ning's entrepreneurial philosophy and his vision for trendy retail.

I believe that Wang Ning recalled this event with Mai Gang precisely because among the many investors he encountered, Mai Gang's performance was so unique that it left a deep impression on him.

This incident exemplifies the difference between Mai Gang and other investors:

He did not particularly care about Wang Ning's specific business model at that time, but instead focused more on Wang Ning's philosophy and vision for entrepreneurship— in my view, this is about assessing the entrepreneur's values and principles.

Wang Ning himself has said (in essence) that although they have tried many business models over the years, his original intention has never changed and he has always persisted, which is to build a respected company that meets users' needs for "happiness."

Back when Pop Mart was far from being as popular as it is today, Mai Gang often introduced Wang Ning to his friends; I estimate he likely saw Wang Ning's original intention and persistence.

After reading Wang Ning's interview, I immediately thought of my own case, which is my involvement in Virtual.

For this project, apart from Ethereum, I have remained devoted largely because of my recognition of the founders, believing that as long as they persist, they are likely to succeed—even if this project fails now, they will succeed in future entrepreneurial projects.

I remember while looking at the past entrepreneurial history of the Virtual team in its early days, one thing left a deep impression on me:

They had created another GameFi project before founding Virtual. That project ultimately did not succeed, but unlike many startups that quietly "disappear," they continued to maintain the rights of the token holders from the original GameFi project to the new Virtual project.

I greatly admire such values, which is why I participated without hesitation and have held on ever since.

Unfortunately, there is currently no direct method for investing in people in the investment field. If one day a method for directly investing in individuals appears (for example, giving a person a sum of money, and from then on, investors can claim a certain percentage of the value that person creates for life), I would definitely try to invest directly in people.

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