Zhoudao Shanghai 2019: Part 1

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「编者按」
"Editor's Note"

2017年3月，上海米哈游网络科技股份有限公司（以下简称“米哈游”）的一纸IPO申请，使得这家原本只在游戏圈内小有名气的公司引发了广泛的关注。
In March 2017, the IPO application of Shanghai miHoYo Network Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "miHoYo") attracted widespread attention to this company that had previously gained modest fame within the gaming industry.

年轻和会赚钱是这家公司最显著的两个标签。公司创立于2012年，三个创始人都是85后，公司员工的平均年龄不到30岁。同时，在短短的几年时间里，米哈游推出的两款手游已经获得了数千万的注册用户。
Youthfulness and profitability are the two most prominent labels of this company. Founded in 2012, all three founders are from the post-[19]85 generation, and the average age of employees in the company is less than 30 years old. Moreover, within a few years, miHoYo's two mobile games have already garnered tens of millions of registered users.

招股说明书显示，仅2017年上半年，米哈游就实现了5.87亿元的营收和4.47亿元的利润。
According to the prospectus, in the first half of 2017 alone, miHoYo achieved a revenue of 587 million yuan and a profit of 447 million yuan.

事实上，这家公司此前少有对外宣传，在业内都颇为神秘。晨报记者专访了米哈游总裁刘伟，听他讲述了米哈游的创业故事。
In fact, this company had relatively little external publicity before and remained quite mysterious within the industry. A reporter from [Shanghai] Morning Post interviewed Liu Wei, the president of miHoYo, who shared the entrepreneurial story of the company.

## Starting a Business

米哈游的成长历程是一个上海故事，也是一个大学生创业的故事。故事的起点是上海交通大学闵行校区的一间学生宿舍，创始人蔡浩宇、刘伟和罗宇皓都是上海交大计算机系09级的研究生，85后、技术宅、动漫爱好者是当时他们身上共同的标签。
The growth journey of miHoYo is a story of Shanghai and a story of college students' entrepreneurship. The starting point of the story was a student dormitory at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Minhang Campus. Founders Cai Haoyu, Liu Wei, and Luo Yuhao were all postgraduate students from the Class of 2009 in the Department of Computer Science at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. They shared common labels of being born in the post-[19]85 generation, tech otakus, and anime lovers at that time.

一开始，蔡浩宇就提出了一个在外人看来有些过于远大的目标：从零开始创建一家世界一流的原创动漫公司。但在这个三人小团队里，这不是一句可笑的大话，而是指导行动的准则。
From the beginning, Cai Haoyu proposed a seemingly ambitious goal to outsiders: to create a world-class original anime company from scratch. However, within this small team of three, it was not a laughable statement but a guiding principle for their actions.

2010年，还是研究生一年级学生的他们，开始在各种技术创新和创业大赛上崭露头角，但刘伟还是愿意把创业的元年定在2011年。那一年，团队推出了第一款手游《fly me 2 the moon》，主打萌系美少女的动作解谜闯关游戏。
In 2010, when they were still first-year graduate students, they began to make a name for themselves in various technology innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. However, Liu Wei was willing to consider 2011 as the first year of their entrepreneurship. That year, the team launched their first mobile game, *FlyMe2theMoon*, which was an action puzzle game featuring cute and beautiful anime girls.

更重要的是，他们在2011年年末拿到了上海市科技创业中心大学生创业基金会“雏鹰计划”的10万元无息贷款，和可以免费使用半年的50平方米的办公场地。刘伟说，当时注册公司仍实行实缴制，有了钱才能拿到营业执照。拿着这笔启动资金，他们在2012年2月正式注册成立了米哈游。
More importantly, at the end of 2011, they obtained a 100,000 yuan interest-free loan from the Shanghai Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Center's "Eaglet Program" for college students and were provided with a 50-square-meter office space free of charge for six months. Liu Wei mentioned that at that time, the company registration still required actual capital payment, and having money was necessary to obtain a business license. With this startup capital, they officially registered and established miHoYo in February 2012.

聊起公司成立前后的国产动漫行业，刘伟表示，好听点叫处于萌芽状态，说白了完全就没有这个行业。当时屏幕上充斥的是《喜羊羊与灰太狼》这种面向儿童的低龄动画，而且与国产动漫沾边的产业，都没有找到有效的盈利点，只能靠着政府的扶持勉强存活。
When talking about the domestic anime industry before and after the establishment of the company, Liu Wei stated that it was in its infancy, or more accurately, the industry didn't even exist at that time. The screens were filled with children-oriented low-age animations like *Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf*, and the industries related to domestic anime had not found effective profit points. They could barely survive relying on government support.

刘伟和伙伴们很清楚行业的状况，但还是义无反顾地一头扎了进去，唯一的挣扎就是没有在求职上浪费时间，而是直接选择了创业。他们也拒绝了不少不错的机会，参加完盛大公司的一个比赛后，盛大曾向他们抛出过橄榄枝，但因为工作内容不是他们想做的事情，刘伟和伙伴们并没有接受。
Liu Wei and his partners were well aware of the industry's situation, but they still plunged into it without hesitation. The only struggle they had was not wasting time on job hunting and directly choosing entrepreneurship. They also turned down several decent opportunities. After participating in a competition held by Shanda Games, Shanda extended an olive branch to them. However, because the work content was not what they wanted to do, Liu Wei and his partners did not accept it.

## Financing Roadblock

选择创业意味着要直面各式各样的问题，缺钱是这些问题中第一个到来的。购置完开发设备和基本的办公用品，10万元就差不多花完了。“我们算了一笔账，想要支撑一两年至少需要100万。”刘伟说，公司成立后的小半年时间，他们都在找投资。
Choosing entrepreneurship means facing various problems, and lack of funds is the first one to arrive. After purchasing development equipment and basic office supplies, they had almost spent 1 million yuan. "We did the math and realized that we needed at least 1 million yuan to sustain the company for one to two years," said Liu Wei. For the first six months after the company was established, they were searching for investment.

但对于一个致力于做原创动漫的大学生创业团队而言，拉投资的路异常难走。小半年里，他们把全国叫得上名号的天使投资机构和投资人都见了个遍。借着上海交大研究生创业团队的名号，他们敲开了大部分投资人的门，但一旦拿出那份以“成为世界一流的原创动漫公司”为目标的计划书，投资的事就再无下文。
However, it was extremely difficult for a group of university students dedicated to creating original anime to secure investments. In that six-month period, they met with well-known angel investment institutions and investors across the country. Leveraging the reputation of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University's graduate entrepreneurship team, they managed to get in touch with most investors. However, once they presented their plan with the goal of becoming a world-class original animation company, the topic of investment was dropped.

谈起那份让他们四处碰壁的计划书，刘伟脸上却是满满的骄傲：“那是一份很详细的计划书，虽然涉及的具体项目跟现在有所不同，但里面提到的公司口号、理念和愿景，至今都没有变过。”
Liu Wei proudly described the plan that led them to hit a wall: "It was a very detailed plan. Although the specific projects mentioned in it were different from what we have now, the company's slogan, philosophy, and vision mentioned in the plan have remained unchanged."

在刘伟眼里，当时他们会被拒绝是一件很正常的事。那个时候，不论是对于移动互联网还是国产原创动漫，人们都知之甚少。而对着这些内容高谈阔论的他们，只是一个没有任何工作经验和社会资源的学生创业团队，“团队成员既青涩又内向，说话也没有什么说服力。”
In Liu Wei's eyes, being rejected at that time was a normal occurrence. Back then, people had little knowledge about mobile internet and domestic original anime. They were just a student entrepreneurship team without any work experience or social resources. "The team members were inexperienced and introverted, and their speech lacked persuasiveness."

他坦言，如果现在有这样一群毛头小子站在他面前，说着八字没有一撇的远大理想，会不会选择投资，他也要好好掂量一下。
He admitted that if a group of youngsters with unproven grand ideals stood before him now, he would carefully weigh whether to invest or not.

幸好，投资圈互相引荐的习惯给他们留了一线生机。最后，他们通过一家投资机构的介绍，接触了当时同样名不见经传的杭州斯凯网络科技有限公司。斯凯的合伙人特意去交大的宿舍见了他们，“聊得很投机，他很看重我们的第一款产品，也能理解技术宅对于动漫的热爱。”于是，他们拿到了米哈游历史上第一笔也是唯一一笔外部投资，100万元。
Fortunately, the habit of mutual referrals in the investment circle provided them with a glimmer of hope. In the end, through an introduction from an investment institution, they connected with Hangzhou Skye Network Technology Co., Ltd., which was also relatively unknown at the time. Skye's partner personally visited them in their dormitory at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. "We had a great conversation, and he highly valued our first product and understood the passion that tech enthusiasts have for animation." As a result, they obtained the first and only external investment in miHoYo's history, 1 million yuan.

米哈游初始的团队，除了三个创始人外，还有一名来自广东工业大学的主美和3个来自上海交大计算机系、负责技术研发的学弟。三个创始人的分工一开始就很明确，并且延续至今，蔡浩宇是所有产品的总制作人，把控整个产品的技术方向；罗宇皓承担核心商业化的设计，研究产品怎么赢利；刘伟则负责产品的运营和整个公司的行政事务。
In addition to the three founders, miHoYo's initial team included a head artist from Guangdong University of Technology and three junior students from the Department of Computer Science Shanghai Jiao Tong University responsible for technical research and development. The division of labor among the three founders was clear from the beginning and has continued to this day. Cai Haoyu is the overall producer for all products, overseeing the technical direction of the entire product; Luo Yuhao is responsible for core commercialization and researching how to make products profitable; Liu Wei handles product operations and the entire company's administrative affairs.

这个7人团队为米哈游定下了之后会不断焕发活力的原创IP“崩坏“，这个IP讲述的是一群美少女英雄在被“崩坏”（ 即战争、自然灾害等生存考验）侵蚀的世界里战斗保护家园的故事。米哈游此后的各类产品，包括手游、漫画、动画、音乐等，都将围绕这个IP展开。
The seven-member team laid the foundation for miHoYo's continuously thriving original IP, *Honkai*. This IP tells the story of a group of beautiful girl heroes fighting to protect their homeland in a world devastated by "Honkai" (i.e. survival challenges such as war and natural disasters). Subsequently, miHoYo's various products, including mobile games, comics, animations, and music, revolved around this IP.

最初，刘伟和伙伴们把精力都投注到了手游的开发上，因为生存是第一要义，而手游几乎是唯一一个有盈利前景的产品。2012年，米哈游上线了“崩坏“系列的第一款手游《崩坏学园》，但市场的反应和那些投资人的冷淡态度如出一辙。
Initially, Liu Wei and his colleagues focused their energy on the development of mobile games because survival was the top priority, and mobile games were almost the only product with profit potential. In 2012, miHoYo launched the first game in the *Honkai* series, *Houkai Gakuen*, but the market's response mirrored the cold attitude of those investors.