Winter has come
After that period passed, however, the market entered a "capital winter" following the slowdown of physical economy, and observers believe this winter may last a few more years. As a result, many companies whose names rose during that period have since popped.
Before this chill hit, creating one's start-up was already difficult. Chen Wei, CEO of Shenzhen-based investment group Oriental Fortune Capital told the Guangzhou Daily in 2015 that "Data shows a start-up company pops up every eight minutes in China in 2015 … but the failure rate is about 80 percent with an average of three years lifespan per start-up. College students' failure rate is as high as 95 percent."
In 2016, companies started laying off people or going bankrupt all together. The Beijing-based O2O food and drink delivery start-up Beequick started a massive layoff of employees, including upper level managers.
In September 2015, Beequick received $70 million in its third round of fundraising, according to news portal sohu.com. Less than a year later, the money was gone, and Beequick couldn't secure new funding.
As of March 2016, the 2-year-old O2O start-up has dismissed 400 employees in its purchasing and sales department, or 36 percent of its total staff.
Adjusting to reality
Many who have dipped in the sea of entrepreneurship have gone back to everyday jobs.
Ma Nan, who had started a retail website in 2012, finally gave in a few years later and went back to his old employer, IBM. Afterwards he switched to Hangzhou-based Alibaba group just before it was listed on The New York Stock Exchange. People around him became envious of his endeavors. His case doesn't stand alone.
During that time, even people who knew what they were doing were affected.
Zhang Shilang generally spoke in a deep, calm voice when talking about his project and years of hardship. But he instantly switched to a more agitated and rapid tone when asked whether his project can turn around.
He had the idea of cloud optometry when he was in college and throught he had invented a way to make it work. He even registered his copyright in 2010. In 2014, he created a start-up with the idea of teaching people to do optometry and ordering glasses all online, instead of going to offline shops or hospitals and received more than 3 million yuan of investment.
But he gradually found his way wasn't working and the manufacturing costs were too high. Besides, he couldn't get enough customers and had to switch his commercial mode several times. For the entire time he's had the business, he never once profited, even though he was regarded as a hero by many young people who are just starting out, including Alex Hu. His picture was even once hung outside buildings on Inno Way.
The situation worsened last year, especially during the capital winter. Zhang said. There was an opportunity for a 20 million yuan investment but that quickly went down the drain.
He remembers in 2015, his entire right hand became inflamed from an infection and it wouldn't heal. He figured it was because of the stress.
But Zhang said he will keep going with his project. During his hard times he thought about selling up, but he's had this project for years and developed it from the start, he couldn't bear to hand it to someone else. He said he will keep trying to find the right commercial mode.
"I think entrepreneurship might be in one's blood as well, some people might think of quitting right now, but after a few years they'll still want to pick it up," he said.
Zhang's investor, Ye Chong from the Zhiying Group said the slowdown has affected his company as well. After this tide passed, they are more cautious about who to invest and will only choose those that can create new value, such as international online e-commerce platforms.
An article published by the Beijing-based Xiaohe think tank blamed the high failure rate of start-ups on young people's rush for mass entrepreneurship and lack of preparation, striking a pessimistic note on the future.
Ye doesn't quite agree. "Innovation is an important link in developing the economy. Even though the failure rate is quite high, it's still necessary to encourage it," he said. "It's true there are some who are merely copying others without thinking it through, but as capital cools down, they will naturally be eliminated. But I believe the real good projects will last and grow stronger."
Hu can't go back to sitting at a desk at some government job now. He's seen and experienced too much since then, he said. In the trade, some people say once you've launched a start-up, you'll always be a start-up man and that's exactly how Hu feels.
"Even though everybody's jumped into the sea, there are plenty of fish," Hu said. "You may have gotten stung, but maybe tomorrow you'll find a fish that won't sting and it'll be a much bigger fish too."
