36Kr Project Open Mic weighs operating records over pitch decks

Lashou.com once scheduled its planned IPO date in reverse order while leading China's group-buying competition. According to geekpark, competitors during that peak spent aggressively on billboard advertising and consumer subsidies. Lashou.com collapsed three months before its IPO. The failure stemmed directly from an unworkable business model whose basic economics did not add up.

As geekpark argues, a startup's first investment is typically the easiest funding round to secure. Real survival requires something far more durable than attention.

Investors who can be easily influenced by public relations are unlikely to be the partners most crucial to a startup's future, geekpark observes. Flamboyant marketing opens initial doors, but it quickly evaporates under financial scrutiny. Sustainable trust demands a verifiable operating record. Founders who outline their unit assumptions early and publish honest results create the credibility that pitch decks cannot buy.

Visibility opens initial conversations without buying core trust

According to 36kr, many early-stage startup teams spend the majority of their working time directly on business operations. Because internal resources remain narrow, they lack dedicated staff for branding or media content. To surface these quiet teams, 36kr runs an initiative to discover and feature projects that lack broad public visibility. A candidate does not need to be an industry leader. It does not need substantial prior funding to earn an editorial recommendation. Projects that pass review and demonstrate news value receive free reporting from 36kr, though submitting a project never guarantees that it will receive media coverage.

Initial visibility opens conversations with prospective backers. It cannot sustain an operation whose unit economics break under pressure.

A geekpark author argues that an early-stage venture usually finds its first investment round the easiest to secure. Investors swayed by publicity rarely matter to its long-term future. During the peak of China's group-buying war, competitors poured capital into billboard advertising alongside aggressive subsidies. Lashou.com led the group-buying sector and publicly scheduled its planned IPO date in reverse order. That posture could not save it. Lashou.com collapsed three months before its IPO date, an outcome the geekpark author attributes to an unworkable business model whose basic economics did not add up.

Thought fulfillment turns economic assumptions into verifiable records

According to geekpark, durable trust follows what its author terms "thought fulfillment." The framework begins at point A, the bet made under uncertainty alongside the economic reasoning behind it, and leads to point B, where objective operating outcomes validate earlier calculations. Validation unlocks point C. From there, proven logic justifies where the founder guides the company next. The author argues that entrepreneurship is an accumulating A-to-B-to-C cycle rather than a pursuit of capital through promotional appearances. Its essence is accumulating certainty.

Operating metrics reveal what pitch decks conceal. 36kr finds customer and product data more informative than a polished plan, excluding teams from its Project New Power List that lack a viable unit economics model and commercial logic loop.

Historical validation governed Wang Xing's tenure at Meituan. When competitors subsidized group buying, he stated that cash burn and advertising did not add up economically, insisting the business model could not work on that spending. Instead of running promotional campaigns, Wang Xing displayed a bank statement at a press conference showing that Meituan had 70 million yuan in its account. Meituan ultimately became the leader in China's group-buying market.

That performance established a track record for the next contest. During the food-delivery competition, after Alibaba entered to support Ele.me, Wang Xing declared that money should go to the most efficient spenders, including himself. Investors funded him to compete directly against Alibaba, and Meituan became the market leader. According to geekpark, this investor trust arose from credibility accumulated through earlier decisions and outcomes rather than from public relations.

Structured discovery replaces speculative pitches with working proof

Every Monday, the 36Kr Project New Potential List (36氪项目新势榜) recommends early-stage ventures through its WeChat Official Account. It filters entries before they ever reach an audience. Software submissions must supply an operable MVP or direct testing feedback from real seed users. Hardware and industrial candidates must show engineering prototypes and pilot production runs accompanied by testing data. Teams identified for high solution scarcity and product exploration earn priority access to the 36Kr Project Open Mic (36氪项目开麦) interview pool.

Open Mic eliminates speculative pitches. Projects must move beyond the conceptual stage, arriving with a working prototype machine or an active customer pilot demonstrating verifiable progress.

In front of the cameras, 36kr puts front-line leaders through an eight-step analytical framework. The program evaluates people and opportunity, structural opportunity, the project solution, core barriers, real-world validation, difficulties and mistakes, financing and needs, and practical constraints. Rather than rehearsing polished pitch decks, founders must discuss operational bottlenecks and past errors. They explain how their solutions function under everyday friction.

That focus on boundary conditions reflects how disciplined teams build internally. According to woshipm, Ai-Lin observed that managing teams and developing products both require setting clear direction and enforcing operational boundaries. Leaders must also consistently review critical choices. Before assigning any task, Ai-Lin clarifies target user profiles alongside baseline metrics, then isolates the specific process designated for improvement. His team maintains a strict not-to-do list. It rejects assignments with ambiguous goals and prevents outsourcing critical decisions to tools. Furthermore, it forbids sacrificing long-term viability for short-term numbers.

Verifiable Operating Records and Exposure Framework

• An early-stage team seeks media visibility, investor matchmaking, or editorial recommendation (such as the 36Kr Project New Power List or Open Mic) but only has a concept or business plan. Do not submit until moving past the pure concept stage. For software projects, ensure you possess an operable MVP or testing feedback from real seed users; for hardware and industrial projects, ensure you have engineering prototypes, pilot production runs, or testing data, alongside a clear unit economics model and commercial logic loop.
• Competitors are engaging in aggressive cash burn, heavy advertising, and accelerated timelines (such as scheduling IPOs in reverse order). Refuse to sacrifice long-term economic logic for short-term numbers. Anchor communication in verifiable operational solvency-such as Wang Xing demonstrating Meituan's 70 million yuan bank statement-rather than matching unsustainable subsidies, because unviable business models collapse when the economics do not add up.
• A team faces tight project delivery deadlines and considers outsourcing proposal drafting, directional strategy, or problem definition to artificial intelligence. Enforce a strict boundary: handwrite your own judgment on direction before using AI to add details. Because AI cannot detect errors rooted in your specific business scenario and acts as an amplifier that makes incorrect solutions larger and faster, core direction and decision logic must never be delegated to tools or subordinates.
• A founder or manager considers launching a project in a target domain where they lack direct background knowledge, intending to rely on outside experts or hired personnel. Do not initiate the project until meeting three minimum preparation thresholds: articulate three to five fundamental pitfalls of the domain in your own words, establish an objective verification or post-mortem review mechanism, and demonstrate the ability to distinguish execution errors from directional errors.
• A startup is preparing for competitive growth rounds against deep-pocketed incumbents and wants to attract high-conviction investors. Build and present a demonstrable 'A-to-B-to-C' track record-showing that your historical assumptions and decisions made amid uncertainty (Point A) achieved objective validation over time (Point B) to earn trust for your next strategic judgment (Point C)-rather than relying on polished PR messaging.

A dated claim log transforms strategic pivots into compounding credibility

A credible strategic pivot starts with a recorded baseline rather than retroactive spin. In geekpark's framing, every testable venture moves between point A, the initial bet made under uncertainty, and point B, the objective result that validates earlier calculations over time. geekpark terms this alignment thought fulfillment. To structure that baseline, woshipm contributor Zhang Liang-leo sets preparation thresholds: founders must articulate three to five fundamental domain pitfalls in their own words, then build an objective post-mortem review rather than relying on intuition.

Direction requires strict ownership. As woshipm contributor Ai-Lin observes, if a direction cannot be clearly explained, it is better not to act than to let 10 people head toward the wrong outcome.

That clarity cannot be outsourced. After Ai-Lin approved an automated draft that hid a domain-specific flaw, he made a rule to handwrite directional decisions before adding details with software. Zhang Liang-leo notes that artificial intelligence lowers the barrier to gathering information without easing verification. Without independent judgment, automation merely magnifies incorrect solutions and accelerates bad execution, and surviving a pivot demands separating operational execution errors from strategic directional errors. While enthusiasm starts projects, judgment determines whether teams catch their own mistakes.

Public records turn that calibration into proof. Every Friday, the 36Kr Project Recommendation WeChat Official Account publishes an interview video alongside an in-depth text analysis. 36Kr archives these sessions on its official website and PC channel with long-term search-index weighting. Basic filing places projects in the candidate pool for the weekly 36Kr Project New Power List and opens backend business matchmaking with investors or enterprise clients. A dated archive of tested assumptions outlasts any pitch deck.

Comparison of Operating Verification and Decision-Validation Frameworks

As Zhang Liang-leo argues on woshipm, artificial intelligence eases information gathering without lowering the barrier to verification. Without independent judgment, automated tools simply scale flawed solutions into larger missteps. Starting with zero domain knowledge shifts the primary risk from personal error to placing faith in the wrong advisers.

Enthusiasm initiates a project. Judgment determines if a team recognizes mistakes. It sustains the work.

To ground that judgment, woshipm points to three preparation thresholds before launch. Founders must first articulate three to five fundamental domain pitfalls in their own words, and they then need an objective post-mortem review mechanism rather than intuition or authority. Finally, operators must reliably separate execution mistakes from flawed strategic directions.

For readers outside China

• Availability: The discovery channels and submission workflows mentioned-such as 36Kr Project Recommendation and its web portal (https://36kr.com/seek-report-new)-are publicly accessible on the web, with institutional contacts reachable via email (aireport@36kr.com). However, the primary distribution and interaction pathways operate within mainland China's digital ecosystem, heavily utilizing WeChat Official Accounts for weekly publications (the New Power List on Mondays and Project Open Mic on Fridays) and applicant matchmaking. The sources do not disclose support for non-Chinese languages or specific onboarding mechanisms for teams operating outside China.
• Pricing: Submitting a startup project for coverage review via 36Kr Project Recommendation is free of charge. Projects that pass editorial review and demonstrate news value receive reporting and media exposure at no cost. Commercial sponsorship fees, advertising pricing, and other potential commercial engagement costs are not disclosed in the sources.
• Closest Western equivalents: TechCrunch (specifically early-stage discovery formats like Startup Battlefield and pitch submission pipelines); Product Hunt (for curated launches requiring operable MVPs and early user feedback); Indie Hackers (for public, verifiable operating metrics and candid post-mortem reviews)
• Data residency: Project submissions through the 36Kr web portal and interaction via the WeChat Official Account backend require submitting business plans, operational metrics, and contact data directly to platforms hosted in mainland China. These systems are subject to Chinese domestic data security regulations. Specific cross-border data transfer policies, compliance terms for international data privacy standards, and data residency certifications are not disclosed in the sources.

Sources

• woshipm 谈谈"零基础靠团队/靠AI就能搞大计划"这件事 https://woshipm.com/it/6444537.html
• geekpark 对拿下一轮投资最有效的沟通，是「思想履约」 https://geekpark.net/news/370611
• 36kr 36氪项目开麦：来开麦，把项目聊明白 https://36kr.com/p/3987097781861383
• woshipm 40岁，我把"带团队"当成一款产品重做了一遍 https://woshipm.com/share/6456588.html
• 36kr 项目做出来了，然后呢？很多创业者其实卡在了"被看见"这一步 https://36kr.com/p/3984125136091905
• 36kr 36氪项目新势榜：不看包装，只看项目真实进展 https://36kr.com/p/3984568434129664