Software park a magnet for IT firms

Gu said though the entrepreneurial atmosphere in Chengdu is not as strong as in China's first-tier cities, and financing firms are not as accessible as in Beijing or Shanghai, an enabling environment for technology start-ups, especially in the mobile Internet sector, has rapidly taken shape over the past two to three years in Chengdu.

Another attractive feature for Gu and Li's companies is Chengdu's relatively lower labor costs, which Gu estimated to be only half of that of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

"Those first-tier cities do have greater access to high-end talents but because of the intense competition there, highly skilled employees are more likely to switch jobs frequently. Here we have a much lower turnover rate," Gu said.

Both Gu and Li said they are grateful for the park's effort to organize a collective hiring program. Their companies could join the campus recruiting as well as flying to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen to hire employees. Organizing their own campus hiring campaign separately could cost them much more money.

Gu said the biggest challenge for his company is to transfer the Camera360 from a "tool" to a "platform" that helps its users manage their photo albums and share the photos with others, much like the function of instagram from the US.

"By shifting from a tool to a platform, we can add a social networking dimension to the application and increase users' loyalty," Gu said.

With these talented and devoted people and an enabling environment, who could deny Gu would not create another instagram and the possibility of Chengdu becoming the next Silicon Valley?