CEO DOSSIER
Founded by Kaifu, Innovation Works is the first internet products incubator in China that combines angel funds with incubating services. How could this new investment model benefit the entrepreneurs in China?
李开复博士创立的创新工厂是中国首家投资与培训相结合的互联网产品孵化器。这样全新的投资模式会给中国的创业者们带来怎样的福利呢？
early years
Li Kaifu immigrated from Taiwan to the United States with his family at the age of 11. In 1983, he graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. He then went to Carnegie Mellon University to pursue his Doctoral study. After obtaining his PhD in 1988, Kaifu’s joined Carnegie Mellon University as a researcher. Two years later, he became the youngest Assistant Professor in the history of Carnegie Mellon University.
Just when his academic career was thriving, Kaifu decided to leave the university and take a position at Apple. In the following six years, he led the development of many excellent products, such as QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, QuickTime VR, PlainTalk, which helped Apple gain a leading advantage in multimedia technology industry.
In 1998, Kaifu jumped to Microsoft and was put in charge of establishing Microsoft Research Asia, the biggest Microsoft R&D centre outside the United States, which later was elected as the hottest computer lab by MIT Technology Review. In 2005, Kaifu left Microsoft and become the Vice President and the President of Google Greater China. Within four years, Kaifu managed to double Google’s market share in China.
In 2009, Kaifu decided to leave Google and founded Innovation Works, the first internet products incubator in China that combines angel funds with incubating services.
李开复11岁那年同家人一起从台湾移民美国。1983年，李开复以最高荣誉毕业于美国哥伦比亚大学计算机系，之后进入卡内基梅隆大学攻读计算机系博士学位。1988年，李开复博士毕业后留校任教，并在两年后成为卡内基梅隆大学历史上最年轻的助理教授。就在他的学术生涯蒸蒸日上的时候，李开复毅然决定放弃教职加盟苹果公司。在苹果服务的六年里，李开复带领团队开发出QuickTime、QuickDraw 3D、QuickTime VR、PlainTalk等优秀产品，从而奠定了苹果在多媒体方面的领先优势。1998年，李开复受微软公司委任回国创办微软亚洲研究院。这个研究院被《麻省理工学院技术评论》评为“最火的计算机实验室”。 2005年，李开复加盟谷歌公司，成为谷歌全球副总裁兼大中华区总裁。在谷歌的四年里，李开复带领700人的精英团队让谷歌在中国的市场份额翻了一倍。
2009年，李开复离开谷歌创立创新工场，中国首家投资与培训相结合的互联网产品孵化器，并出任董事长兼首席执行官。
As ceo
“Innovation Works represents a new investment model of combining angel funds with product development,” Kaifu said: “We are a company that develops its own products. But when the product grows to a certain stage, we would bring on other investments. Our mission is to nurture more successful high technology products.”
As the CEO of Innovation Works, Kaifu is very good at utilizing his technology background, management experience, industry connections and public relation skills to create media buzz and attract investments for his company. Since its establishment, Innovation Works has received investments from many industry giants such as Chuanzhi Liu, Taiming Guo, Minhong Yu and Shijun Cheng.
Kaifu also devotes a great deal of time in communicating with young people, by writing books, microblogging, giving speeches and taking part in television shows, which helped him gain a reputation as a ‘Youth Mentor”. Due to Kaifu’s successfully capital operation, publicity and project management, Innovation Works was able to achieve rapid growth within a short time. By July 2011, it has reviewed more than 2,500 projects, incubated 39 and invested more than 250 million yuan.
李开复说：“创新工场是一种新的天使投资和创新产品的整合。我们是一个公司，自己做创新产品，但是做到一个阶段，会为这个产品开一个公司，再找其他的风险投资，一起投这个新公司。所以，创新工场的产品就是更多的高科技产品。”
作为创新工厂的CEO，李开复充分利用了其技术背景、管理经验、产业关系和公关能力，使创新工场在成立之初就倍受瞩目，并成功获得了包括柳传志、郭台铭、俞敏洪、陈士骏等多位重量级人物的投资。李开复也非常注重与年轻人交流。通过写书，发微博，演讲，参加电视节目等方式，李开复成功地打响了自己在中国年轻人心中的名声，并获得了‘青年导师’的称号。李开复成功的资本运作，公关宣传和项目管理使得创新工场在短短两年内取得了飞速发展。截至2011年7月，创新工场已审阅了超过2500个项目，孵化了39个项目，总投资额超过2.5亿人民币。
Away from work
In own words
The value of your life lies in the difference between the world with you and the world without you.
Only active people can achieve success in the fast changing competitive world. Only those who know how to showcase their skills can obtain real opportunities at work.
Innovation is important, but useful innovation is even more important.
“一个世界有你，一个世界没有你，让两者的不同最大，这就是你一生的意义。”
“只有积极主动的人才能在瞬息万变的竞争环境中获得成功，只有善于展示自己的人才能在工作中获得真正的机会。”
“创新固然重要，但有用的创新更重要。”
