Matrix Partners China Re-Launches Pro Bono Initiative 'Founder Clinic' with Zhang Ying for Direct Entrepreneurial Guidance

Entrepreneurship is inherently a journey fraught with uncertainty and risk. Recently, the global trade, economic, monetary, and even political orders have encountered disruptive turbulence, with rising unilateralism and protectionism, as the global order faces restructuring. “A Community with a Shared Future,” in certainIn a sense, it also signals that we are once again standing on the same front in the face of similar challenges and difficulties.

In 2016, Matrix Partners China leased a large football stadium on the East Third Ring Road and hosted its first public welfare event for the venture capital community: the Matrix Pro Bono Q&A Session. The concept originates from the Latin phrase “pro bono publico,” which refers to providing professional services to specific groups. Unlike traditional volunteerism, pro bono practitioners possess high-level professional expertise and uphold a strong spirit of altruism, seeking no compensation in return for their social contributions.

In 2016 and October 2018, more than 1,000 entrepreneurs each year engaged in face-to-face consultations with guests at the event, addressing practical challenges encountered in their ventures. Each participant was precisely matched with different guests based on the questions submitted during registration, with each consultation session strictly limited to 15 minutes.

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” This principle lies at the heart of our initiative. For an extended period, we suspended this large-scale public welfare campaign due to various reasons—such as the pandemic, the trough in entrepreneurial activity, and uncertainties surrounding exit mechanisms (though these were also convenient excuses). Now, however, we are poised to officially relaunch it.

We plan to restart.This public welfare initiative, however, features higher frequency and greater precision—achieved through a smaller scale. “Jingwei Consultation” will enable more precise diagnosis of entrepreneurs’ challenges.This event features a direct conversation with Zhang Ying of Matrix Partners China., and depending on the nature of the issue, weWe will be joined by 2–3 Matrix Partners China investors and post-investment team members, starting with the Beijing office.

In other words, we will select approximately 20 entrepreneurs or business operators from the applicants to engage in face-to-face Q&A sessions in Beijing. Each one-on-one session will last around 20 minutes. The first session is scheduled to resume on June 19 at Jingwei Beijing. As this is our inaugural exchange, priority will be given to in-person participation to ensure optimal communication effectiveness.

Below is a further explanation regarding the “Jingwei Consultation” session on June 19. If registrants have any additional questions, they are welcome to leave messages in the background. It should be further clarified that the “Jingwei Consultation” event is entirely unrelated to investment; participants should not attend with the expectation of pitching projects or securing financing.mindset, but rather participate with a sincere desire to discuss specific issues.To put it bluntly, the one question you should not ask at this event is, “Will Matrix Partners China invest in me?”

Over the past 17 years, Matrix Partners China has remained steadfastly focused on China and on technological innovation, spanning areas such as new technologies, hard tech, industrial digitalization, healthcare, and frontier science. However, “Matrix Consultation” by no means implies that we only welcome entrepreneurs from these sectors. In fact, we are even more eager to hear from those outside these fields—for instance, a couple running a small breakfast shop with a single storefront, diligently managing their business but encountering operational challenges they cannot resolve. We warmly welcome them as well.

In summary,This event sincerely invites all entrepreneurs outside the Jingwei Ecosystem,The CEO attended the event and asked us questions.Open to all fields, industries, and funding stages. As long as you are on the entrepreneurial journey as a company founder or CEO, this event is open to you.We are open. Feel free to ask any questions related to entrepreneurship; there are no barriers, and we will provide thoughtful answers to each one.

We also look forward to engaging with companies that are temporarily facing challenges but remain fundamentally viable. The questions they raise should accurately reflect the critical pain points and difficulties in their business operations, thereby enabling targeted, precise responses and fostering rigorous, high-quality dialogue.

The scope of questions is extensive, allowing for inquiries across numerous specialized subfields as well as professional questions related to corporate operations. Such as:

Frontier technologies (such asAI/Embodied Intelligence/Advanced Manufacturing, etc.); Global Expansion (e.g., Supply Chain Going Global/Cross-border Tourism/Smart Consumption, etc.); Healthcare; Intelligent Manufacturing (New Energy/Intelligent Driving/Vehicle Supply Chain, etc.); Legal; Finance; Capital; GR/PR; Recruitment; Fundraising Skills...

There are no restrictions on the scope of questions, but the quality must be assured; you may ask about issues that have long been troubling you.“Sticking points” can be the “pain points” that are most perplexing at the moment, or they can be the “turning points” that guide the company’s next steps in planning.

To maximize the value of our time together, we invite you to pose a “good question.” Within our limited timeframe, we will unravel complex issues starting from a well-framed question, thoroughly and clearly addressing the topics most concerning to entrepreneurs. On one hand, we will select final participants from all applicants based on the “quality of their questions.” On the other hand, asking a good question and receiving a insightful answer or inspiration may represent the greatest value this event can offer you.

Here are some examples of “bad questions” and “good questions”:

✘ I’m working on the XX project. Can Matrix Partners invest in us?

✘ How to Build a Unicorn Company?

✘ Are there still entrepreneurial opportunities today? Which trends should startups pursue to secure funding?

✘ No specific questions; just here to learn.

✘ What opportunities remain in the XX sector?

✔ What should I do if my cash runway is less than six months? From which areas can a company cut costs? How should one manage the pace of fundraising?

✔ The company always struggles to retain talent. Is there a problem with my equity option structure?

✔ With Only One Cent Left, How to Build a Brand?

✔ Ordinary employees see no hope in their jobs: should they continue working or start a business? How much startup capital should ordinary people prepare for entrepreneurship?

✔ In the current international environment, to achieve effective localization, should a company first send its top executive from China overseas or directly hire locally to build a team?

✔ How can founders make trade-offs and strike a balance during the process of decentralization?

For this edition of the “Matrix Consultation” event, Zhang Ying of Matrix Partners China will be fully engaged, drawing on his years of frontline investment experience to provide entrepreneurs with strategic guidance on company operations, strategic decision-making, and competitive response. In addition, based on participants’ questions, core colleagues from Matrix Partners China’s investment team as well as its post-investment teams—including Legal, Recruitment, Government Relations (GR), and Public Relations (PR)—will offer their dedicated support.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our wonderful friends for dedicating their valuable time to accept the dual challenges of mental and physical exertion, joining us in this event. Their participation has been truly selfless, a contribution we deeply remember and highly cherish.

Event Format:One-on-one consultations, 20 minutes per person, with questions limited to 2-3. (The core objective is to thoroughly discuss the issues.)

Spaces for this event are limited. Entrepreneurs are strongly recommended to attend in person, so please be sure to reserve time in advance.

Event Time:Thursday, June 19, 2025

Event Location:Beijing

1. At the event, you can have a face-to-face conversation with Zhang Ying of Matrix Partners China;

2. This is a public welfare event for entrepreneurs, with no fees charged;

3. The one question you must absolutely avoid asking is, “Can Matrix Partners China invest in me?”

Upon receipt of your registration, we will conduct one-on-one matching. Therefore, registration will close on June 10, 2025. This is a rare opportunity; please register promptly.

If your registration is successful, you will receive an SMS notification around June 13, 2025. Please ensure that your mobile phone number is entered correctly;