School's not out for retired professor
Former startup adviser ventures into entrepreneurship with 'senior university'
By Liu Kun in Wuhan and Zhang Xiaomin | China Daily | Updated: 2024-01-29 08:04
Members of the Dian team have set up over 70 companies, 25 of which have been valued at over 100 million yuan.
She has also established a matchmaking studio to help aspiring entrepreneurs outside the university find investors.
"I have been guiding others in entrepreneurship for nine years. I have advised over 800 entrepreneurs, and they see me as a mentor for both strategic and tactical issues," Liu said. "However, now I find it quite amusing. In the past, I had no real understanding of the hardships of entrepreneurship, so what qualifications did I have to advise others?"
Some entrepreneurs have told her that even though she hadn't started her own business, having reviewed around 3,000 projects, she could summarize, draw conclusions and identify trends, which still held value.
Liu emphasized that it was only through firsthand experience that she began to understand the challenges that entrepreneurs face.
"When an overseas returnee who wanted to start up his own business visited me, I asked if he had ever experienced betrayal. It was as if he had found a kindred spirit. You see, this is a question I would never have raised before," she said.
"In the past, when I met young entrepreneurs, I would unconsciously adopt a teacher's posture or regard them as juniors, always maintaining a certain air of superiority. Now, regardless of how old the entrepreneur is when they approach me, I feel that we are comrades-in-arms."
