Is short-video start-up Kuaishou too ‘Zen’ for China's internet culture? Its founders think so
- Kuaishou lags behind ByteDance’s Douyin in China’s short-video app despite starting years earlier
- There is a growing chorus of opposition by tech workers in China against the industry’s long-hours work culture
Kuaishou operates one of China’s most popular short-video sharing apps with more than 200 million users logging in every day. Yet its founders worry that the Beijing-based start-up is at risk of sliding into irrelevance.
In a call to arms to its more than 8,000 employees on Tuesday, Kuaishou’s founders, Su Hua and Cheng Yixiao, set a target for the company to reach 300 million daily active users by February 2020 and to shake off a laid-back corporate culture that sets it apart from its peers in China’s fiercely competitive internet industry.
“Behind what looks like good numbers, we see deep, hidden dangers,” Su and Cheng said in a joint memo to staff, obtained by the Post. “We’re no longer the team that runs the fastest. Somewhere during the growing-up process, our muscles are losing their strength, reaction times are slowing, and our connection to users is weakening.”
The call to shake off the “Zen attitude” and switch to “combat mode” comes as China’s short-form video industry becomes increasingly crowded. It also follows calls by many other tech bosses, including Baidu chief executive Robin Li Yanhong and Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, to step up their game amid growing uncertainties on the domestic economy brought on by the trade war between the US and China.
Lei urged Xiaomi’s employees to seize the opportunities brought on by ultra-fast 5G telecommunications networks. “Win or lose” will be determined in the coming three years, he said on Tuesday in an internal meeting.
