戚永曄
作為令世界矚目、位于浙江杭州的特色小鎮,夢想小鎮目前已經吸引創業項目近千個,集聚創業人才超過萬人,金融機構近200家,創業者的智慧加上投資者的資本,推動了夢想小鎮快速發展。夢想小鎮已成為年輕人實現創新創業夢想的平臺。
雖然發達國家的創新創業早于中國,但夢想小鎮“快、準、狠”的創業大潮,依然吸引了大量國際目光的關注和參與。
留學生:夢想走出去
從硅谷到斯坦福大學、從波士頓到哈佛大學,創業圣地一直和大學生有著深厚的聯系。但今天,大學生的目光首先瞄準了夢想小鎮。
近日,在由浙江省教育廳、省新聞辦、省外僑辦等主辦的“世界青年看中國夢”活動中,來自英、法、德、日等50個國家的200余名青年走進杭州夢想小鎮。他們是來自溫州大學、浙江大學、中國美術學院、浙江師范大學等全省16所高校的200余名外國留學生,都有著年輕人熱衷的創業精神,他們的祖國也大多時興著創新創業的新潮,但夢想小鎮依然給了他們極大的震撼。
行走在夢想小鎮的創業大街,來自也門的浙江科技大學留學生王亞當一直舉著手機在拍照。他說著一口流利的普通話,聽不出半點“老外”的口音。走進金燦燦的夢想長廊,他激動地高呼:“太棒了!”他說,長廊仿佛是通往夢想的路,走在這里,一種儀式感油然而生。
“這里每走一步都是歷史。”當聽到這句解說詞,王亞當和其他留學生無不瞪大眼睛,臉上流露出驚喜的表情。得知腳下的倉前老街已有880多年的歷史時,這些年輕人為中國傳統文化發出的驚嘆聲、贊嘆聲不絕于耳。
來到中國只有4個月的烏茲別克斯坦姑娘倪漢,目前就讀于溫州大學。談及夢想,她有些害羞地說:“我的夢想是成為烏茲別克斯坦的駐華大使。”她這一句話引來了臺上8位嘉賓的點贊,“雖然有難度,但我會一直朝著這個夢想努力。”
留學生們參觀了夢想小鎮創業大街,包括創業大街展示廳、夢想長廊、海龜國際創業中心、南方海龜夢立方、特色小鎮研究院、希望田野等,并在夢想小鎮互聯網村展開了一場圍繞中國夢的論壇。大家聊夢想、說青春、談創業、論奮斗,不約而同地期待在中國、在浙江圓自己的文化使者夢。
在夢想小鎮保留下來的一塊稻田前,年輕人紛紛合影留念,因為這里包含了對年輕人、對創業者的美好祝愿——“水稻(到)渠成”。
“參觀完夢想小鎮,我更加堅定了創業的夢想,我想把中國的好產品帶到我的祖國。”王亞當的一席話,道出了臺下許多留學生的想法。在他們眼里,中國的經濟發展成就舉世矚目,從事貿易不僅可以幫助自己國家的人民提高生活水平,同時也能把博大精深的中國文化帶到世界各地。
其實,這已不是留學生們第一次關注夢想小鎮,早在2016年3月,夢想小鎮開啟一周年之際,在浙江省科協主辦的“科學+:對話中外青年、共享創新創業”系列交流活動中,已經有30名來自英國、比利時等國各大高校的學子走進夢想小鎮。當大家得知僅用一年時間,夢想小鎮就集聚了數百個創業項目和數百億元市場資本時,他們驚呼:“這就是中國的硅谷。”
而這,正是更多留學生的共同想法,也是他們向世界宣傳中國、宣傳夢想小鎮的響亮口號。
海歸族:夢想引進來
“我負責陽光雨露,你負責茁壯成長”的杭州未來科技城(海創園)招商局副局長李潔說,今天,夢想小鎮已經形成了一支以“阿里系、浙大系、海歸系、浙商系”為代表的創業“新四軍”。
而這當中,海歸系是最值得注目的一股力量。如果說留學生是夢想小鎮品牌“走出去”的中堅力量,那么海歸系創業者則是把國外先進理念和技術引入夢想小鎮的“生力軍”。
90后溫州女孩黃佳佳是賓夕法尼亞教育學碩士、海歸學霸,回國后在夢想小鎮灣西加速器創業研發了Native Talk(外教君)App。
“一鍵呼叫外教、即時匹配、按課時計費,模式類似UBER和中國的‘滴滴打車。”在夢想小鎮公司辦公場地,黃佳佳用英語流利地向來訪者介紹了自己的創業項目。
創業之初,黃佳佳和合伙人一起聯合百所海外名校的學生和老師,組成一個強大的外教團隊,用戶只需要發起對話需求,在線的外教會根據對應的要求自主接單,加上團隊研發的教材,通過語音、視頻實現即時交流,英語基礎不好的人則可以利用文字輔助學習。
80后帥小伙——斯坦福大學海歸博士王孟秋有創業故事,他放棄美國不菲的收入、Twitter誘人的股權激勵而回國創業。轉眼已近一年,他的“小黑俠”跟拍無人機,已成為當下熱賣的互聯網新品。“杭州正在越來越接近甚至在某些方面開始趕超美國硅谷。”500萬元的創業基金、3500平方米夢想小鎮免費辦公區域,這給了“小黑俠”充足的陽光雨露,“在海外這是無法想象的。”
中國青年創新創業投資聯盟副會長、專注于園區運營的海龜科技董事長傅智建表示:“在過去,我的夢想是不可思議的;而今,我的夢想依舊不變,是為人類做一件有意義的事情,能夠被世人銘記。”同時,他希望搭建平等互通、資源共享的國際交流平臺,讓每個人都擁有平等創業的機會,并將優秀的創業資源引進來,讓優秀的項目走出去。
海外平臺:夢想搭舞臺
留學生們、海歸族們對夢想小鎮的關注當然不是個例,事實上,許多海外的資本,也在陸續進入夢想小鎮的建設中。
500Startups就是個例子。
被許多外國媒體稱為“生于硅谷,投資全世界”的500Startups成立于2010年,總部位于美國硅谷。除了美國外,還在很多地方設立了辦事處,是一家國際化風險投資種子基金及創業加速器,目前管理資產規模逾2億美元,主要關注金融科技、電子商務、搜索、社交、移動平臺、教育及語言等“加速器”領域。其核心特點主要有:聚集了250多位導師;經篩選加入加速器的項目都會給其種子投資;注重全球布局,喜歡投資有國際化思維的創業者,并且非常注重網絡營銷。
每年,500Startups在舊金山和硅谷總部舉辦加速器項目、網絡營銷、用戶設計和體驗及創業實踐等實用創業戰術的培訓活動,加速器篩選非常嚴格,錄取率僅為3%。
2016年12月18日,500Startups與未來科技城簽署了戰略合作協議,在夢想小鎮設立辦事窗口,并在此直播硅谷的創業活動。
500Startups創始合伙人Dave McClure表示:“我們的國際創業者和企業家網絡希望將創新帶入這座城市和其他中國城市,用我們帶來的硅谷經驗助力本土創業生態系統的成長和發展。”
其實,目前小鎮已經有阿里百川創業基地、B座12樓、36氪、灣西加速器、蜂巢等15家新型孵化平臺;還推進與美國灣區委員會的合作,引進硅谷500 Startups、Plug&Play,形成了涵蓋辦公、融資、培訓、輔導、市場推廣等創業各環節的服務鏈條。
“建立多層次創業平臺,有助于不同層次創業者找到自己的位置,讓夢想小鎮更好地為創業者服務。”杭州未來科技城相關負責人如是說。而海外平臺及資本的各種配套,使夢想小鎮率先在國際發展藍圖上畫下了濃墨重彩的一筆,而這只是一個美好的開端。
Foreign Students Visit Dream Town in Hangzhou
By Qi Yongye
Dream Town in a northern suburb of Hangzhou is not just one of the hundreds of special towns in the making, a town development project of the province. Dream Town is a new name for Cangqian, a town that is 880 years old. Since the start of the provincial project, the town has attracted more than 1,000 startup projects. Right now, over 10,000 entrepreneurs are working there and nearly 200 investment institutions are operating there.
Recently a group of over 200 foreign students visited Dream Town. The visit was jointly organized by the Zhejiang Administration of Education, the Information Office and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the provincial government. The students are from over 50 countries such as UK, France, Germany, and Japan. They are studying in 16 universities and colleges across the province.
The young visitors were excited by what they saw. They visited exhibitions, platforms, incubators, and a research institute. They looked around the town. They took photos. They sat down and discussed about their own dreams for future. Most of these young visitors expressed their wish to act as ambassadors of their respective cultures in Zhejiang and China.
It wasnt the first time that foreign students came to visit the town. In March 2016, a group of students from universities of UK and Belgium visited Dream Town on the first anniversary of the town. The tour was organized by Zhejiang Science Association. The students were astonished to learn that the 1-year-old town was a huge incubator of entrepreneurs running hundreds of startup projects which involved venture capitals of over tens of billions.
“We take care of all the infrastructure and services and you take care of startups and growth!” This is a statement made by the local investment bureau. The entrepreneurs in the town are presented by four major groups: those from Alibaba, those who graduated from Zhejiang University, those who studied abroad and returned, and those who are Zhejiang businesspeople.
Unlike the three other groups, those who returned from abroad are a big player. These entrepreneurs introduce advanced ideas and technologies to their motherland.
Huang Jiajia, a holder of master degree in education, has developed and is operating Native Talk App, a paid language tutoring service through mobile phones. Huang and her partners have a team of students and teachers who can be accessed by users in China. Huang has also developed textbooks. Students and native speakers can see each other and talk directly. For those who have difficulty in listening and speaking, texts can be displayed.
Wang Mengqiu, a PhD from Stanford University, has been in Dream Town for nearly a year. His startup business is a drone that follows and takes video records. The drone is hot on internet shops. He commented: “Hangzhou is catching up with the Silicon Valley. In some aspects, it is better.” The drone project started with a 5 million startup fund and a 3,500-square-meter free office space, all provided by the town. Wang Mengqiu said such concrete assistance is unimaginable in foreign countries.
500 Startups, an investment and incubation platform born in the Silicon Valley, USA, has set up a partnership with Dream Town in Hangzhou. The platform has over a team of about 250 advisors and seeks best startup projects through a rigorous selection system. The projects that qualify get seed money form 500 Startups. Only 3 % are chosen.
In December 2016, 500 Startups signed a strategic cooperation agreement and started an office in Dream Town. At the platform, the entrepreneurs in town can see ongoing startup projects in the Silicon Valley.
Dave McClure, a founding partner of 500 Startups, says, “We hope to bring innovation into this city and other cities across China. We help the local startup system to grow with the experience of the Silicon Valley.”
At present, the town has fifteen incubators and works in partnership with Bay Area Committee of USA. The town provides startup businesses with a full range of services in office administration, finance, training, coaching, and marketing.