OnePiece - by Yuanyuan Wei
OnePiece (https://www.onepiecework.com/) is a global co-working community and platform based in heart of the silicon valley, designed to foster innovation and growth through collaboration. As a hub for technology and innovation, it accelerates the business with mentors, introductions, and exposure. We went to visit the Palo Alto branch on the arrival of the first day and heard Wei Guo’s sharing from his investigation experience.
Our speaker, Wei Guo is an active angel investor in Silicon Valley, focusing on early-stage cross-sector investments. He founded Wei Fund in 2015 and UpHonest Capital in 2016. He ranked as the #3 of the top 50 angel investors by Forbes based on investment volume and successful exits. Wei was one of the few to be cited as a “China Whisperer” by the Washington Post.
In the beginning, Wei has shared his experience for fundraising. From borrowing the money from his classmates to establishing his own fund, his courage, as well as his patience, pays off. Compared to sending emails to companies, Wei suggested us to use LinkedIn for connecting. If possible, invite investors for a coffee is a better choice since face-to-face is more efficient. As a young investor, Wei encourages the young generation to start early on investment and asset allocation and has supported over 10 funds initiated by young investors.
As followed, Wei shared why he set up OnePiece. By working in a company, one can know his strengths in teamwork; while in start-up, he can clearly see his short-comings. In this way, OnePiece Work, the cross-board Incubator, is an evaluation of Wei’s own business. At the same time, OnePiece is s connection of community of investors and potential start-ups as well as a connection of money from mainland China and ideas in Silicon Valley. What’s more, it also provides a solution for big-name companies to communicate with the young generation. With the development of technology, Wei insists that Micro VC, CVC, and non-conventional investors will become the new trend.
After that, Wei has shared his point of view about entertainment and copy. Instead of wasting time, Wei thinks the entertainment apps provide a platform for us to open our horizon and follow up on the trend. As for copy, it’s just human nature to save both time and energy. But the more important thing is how to learn from it, how to improve it and how to make innovation based on it.
At the part of Q&A, Wei has shared his evaluation factors of investment. The most essential to him is the TIME and be super LUCKY. At the same time, scale, background, experience, gender and so on will also affect. There are some fixed evaluation factors, but most are flexible. Last but not least, he recommended 3 books to us: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin and Politics. “Use fashion things like 小红书 but not be addicted” is also in his suggestion.
Before we leave, we were shown around OnePiece, 2 floors in total. The flexible seating is mainly in 1F and the desks in 2F are dedicated. The co-working space provides an open platform for free communication.