中国许多硬科技初创公司正经历艰难时期。这些由顶尖研究人员创立、由风险投资家支持的公司，在中国激烈的工业竞争中面临诸多挑战。文章通过一系列前后对比的问答形式，生动描绘了这些公司在获得投资前后，以及在市场压力下的真实状态，从初期“世界领先”的承诺，到后期“战略性亏损”和“现金流告罄”的困境，揭示了硬科技初创企业生存的严酷现实。

🚀 **夸大其词的初期承诺**：在获得投资前，硬科技初创公司往往会对外宣称拥有“顶尖人才”、“数千人团队”、“世界领先”的技术规格和“行业巨头”客户，并声称“工厂正在建设中”，同时将竞争对手描绘成“完全弱小”，但在财务信息上则以“不便透露”为由回避。

📉 **投资后的现实落差**：一旦获得投资，这些公司在面对实际经营问题时，会用“战略性亏损”、“销售一空”、“收入为期票”、“客户付款周期长”、“实缴资本为零”等理由来解释财务状况，并可能出现总部搬迁以规避地缘政治风险的情况，同时积极谋划“快速通道”IPO。

⚠️ **生存危机下的挣扎**：在市场竞争加剧和资金压力下，这些公司面临产品“再次转型”、团队“精简”、现金流“捉襟见肘”的局面，并将失败归咎于“行业竞争过于激烈”。此时，公司控制权可能出现争议，创始人失联，甚至面临法律纠纷，投资者的退出也遥遥无期。

🏢 **公司印章的特殊含义**：在中国，公司印章（“chop”）具有法律效力，能够签署合同、授权决策并访问公司资产。因此，对公司印章的争夺，实质上是对公司控制权的争夺，这在共同创始人之间可能引发激烈的法律冲突。

Many of China’s deep tech startups are having a deeply tough time. Many of these companies, founded by industry-leading researchers and funded by expectant venture capitalists (hoping to find the next BYD or CATL) , face a lot of challenges in China’s Darwinist industrial competition. 

Someone recently wrote a satirical summary about the state of these startups – before and after they receive investment. It is structured in a series of questions and answers. We have translated the satire into English: 

Pre-funding

Ask about R&D? “Top-tier talent.”

Ask about the team? “Thousands strong.”

Ask about specs? “World-leading, obviously.”

Ask about clients? “All industry giants.”

Ask about production capacity? “Factories under construction.”

Ask about rivals? “Totally weak.”

Ask for financials? “Not available, sorry.”

Post-funding

Ask about gross margins? “Negative, but strategic.”

Ask about sales? “Sold out everywhere.”

Ask about revenue? “All in promissory notes.”

Ask about client payment terms? “Half a year, at best.”

Ask about paid-in capital? “Still zero.”

Ask about HQ? “Can relocate anytime.”* 

Ask about IPO coaching? “Fast-track green lane.”

Ask about the (IPO) filing date? “Next year, for sure.”

*(Note: many Chinese deep tech companies are relocating their HQ outside China to escape the China-US geopolitics. For example, Manus.ai, the Benchmark-funded general AI agent startup, has recently relocated its HQ to Singapore. 

Bright future

Ask about the product? “Pivoting again.”

Ask about the team? “Trimming as we speak.”

Ask about cash flow? “Running on fumes.”

Ask about the cause? “Industry is too competitive.”

Ask about countermeasures? “We’re chillin’.”

Ask about (investor) exits? “Still waiting.”

Ask about buybacks? “That’d bankrupt us.”

Ask about the company chop*? “Being fought over.”

Ask about the boss? “Nowhere to be found.”

Ask about the co-founder? “In court.”

(Note: In China, the company seal (“chop”/“公章”) holds legal authority to sign contracts, authorise decisions, and access company assets – so possession of the chop effectively means control of the company, which is why co-founders sometimes fight over it.)

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