Success Path: A Pioneer in Psychology Education Achieves Full Coverage of the Psychological Industry Value Chain

Mental Health Industry: In the past few decades, there have been few moments when it has received as much public attention as it does today.

According to authoritative statistical data, 16%–17% of the population in China suffers from various mental and psychological disorders. The disease burden attributable to mental and psychological conditions accounts for 13% of the total burden of non-communicable diseases, making it a major public health, social, and livelihood issue.

Driven by rising demand and socioeconomic growth, the mental health industry is gradually entering a period of development, with its practitioners also deserving attention.

Founded in 1999, Chenggong Zhidao is a psychological service platform specializing in psychology education and training as well as the social psychological services industry. It owns multiple brands, including the Chinese Psychologists Conference, the 1879 Initiative, Tiantian Psychology Network, and Heji Plan Counselor Academy, thereby establishing a closed-loop business ecosystem comprising a psychological counselor training platform and platforms for building social psychological service systems for both business (B-end) and government (G-end) clients.

As a veteran enterprise in the mental health industry, Success Path has witnessed the sector’s evolution from relative obscurity to its current status as an emerging high-growth field. Throughout this journey, Success Path has progressively achieved full coverage of the value chain in the social psychological services industry and became the first company in China’s psychology sector to be listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ).

However, 22 years ago, China’s mental health industry was in its very early stages. How did Success Path identify the opportunities and potential in this sector and enter it early to cultivate deep expertise? In this article, VCBeat speaks with Zhang Ran, founder of Success Path, to explore the company’s journey to success.

Mr. Zhang Ran, Founder of Chenggong Zhidao

Based on Zhang Ran’s past experience, it seems difficult to associate her with the mental health industry.

Zhang Ran, a graduate of the Central University of Finance and Economics, has held positions at import-export companies, trust companies, and finance companies. His initial exposure to psychology began with “learning strategies.”

As a branch of psychology, this field was initially little known to Zhang Ran. However, after accidentally coming across Professor Liu Shanxun’s Research on Learning Strategies—published by the former deputy director of the Institute of Psychology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences—Zhang Ran felt an immediate sense of having met the right mentor too late. Through considerable efforts, Zhang Ran managed to contact Professor Liu Shanxun and attempted to commercialize the research findings on learning strategies.

To commercialize their research findings, Zhang Ran and her team developed a series of textbooks and training manuals based on learning strategy theory, and even produced an animated series to help children understand these strategies. However, from the perspective of market feedback, Zhang Ran’s first entrepreneurial venture in the field of psychology was not successful.

Although the initial launch did not succeed, Zhang Ran’s team did not abandon the learning strategies project. Instead, they pivoted to providing training directly for psychological counselors on how to deliver learning strategy guidance. This approach not only enabled psychological counselors to expand their service offerings but also deepened the integration of psychological techniques with learning strategies, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of learning strategy coaching.

It was precisely this experience that made Zhang Ran realize that learning itself falls within the scope of psychology. The value offered by psychology extends beyond the commonly held public perception of psychological counseling as being solely oriented toward “addressing mental health issues.” Instead, it provides support across all aspects of work, life, and learning, fostering personal growth.

Therefore, in Zhang Ran’s view, personal growth represents the ultimate value of psychology and the only path to success. With this in mind, she named her company “The Path to Success” upon its founding. “Helping more people grow happily” is not only Zhang Ran’s personal insight into psychology, but also the driving force and original aspiration that have enabled The Path to Success to deeply cultivate the industry for over two decades.

“Over the past two decades, public understanding of psychology has essentially moved from one misconception to another.”

In the early stages of psychology’s development, due to limited public awareness, psychology and psychological counseling were often associated with terms such as “mental illness.” As market education has intensified, the general public has gradually begun to address mental health issues and psychological counseling more openly. However, this has given rise to a new misconception: that psychology is synonymous with psychological counseling.

In fact, the value of psychology is reflected not only in psychological counseling and addressing mental health issues, but also in fostering psychological development with a focus on “promoting individual growth.”

Therefore, Success Dao established two principles at its inception: first,Starting from the upstream end of the industrial chain: “Talent Development”, focusing on continuing education for psychological counselors; secondly,"Psychological Development" as the Core, "Mental Health" as the Supplement。

Furthermore, from the perspective of market development, only a small fraction of individuals who have acquired psychological knowledge are able to transition into professional psychology practitioners, which has, to some extent, led toImbalance Between Supply and Demand in the Industrythe emergence of, and to this day, this issue remains unresolved.

According to the World Health Organization’s recommendation that “one mental health counselor per 1,000 people represents the equilibrium point for a healthy society,” China requires at least 1.4 million mental health counselors. Currently, there are approximately 1.3 million certified mental health counselors nationwide; however, only 30,000 to 40,000 of them are engaged in full-time or part-time roles within the psychological counseling industry. With the cancellation of the national certification examination for mental health counselors, the shortage of qualified professionals is expected to continue widening.

Therefore, from the perspectives of the discipline itself and market development, it is not difficult to understand why Chenggong Zhidao has chosen to start from the upstream segment of the industry.

In terms of team composition, from R&D to sales and then to service, the members of each team at Success Path have accumulated extensive industry experience over a long period. They possess a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the entire industry, ensuring the professionalism of both products and services.

Furthermore, to ensure that products and services better align with user needs, the path to successWe have also invited senior trainees, who have accumulated years of study and practical experience, to participate in the development and delivery of various courses through a co-creation model., which has not only built a strong brand reputation but also strengthened the cohesion between users and the brand. It can be said that existing users themselves are a valuable asset in the journey toward success.

With over two decades of accumulated expertise, and with the support and guidance of the Standardization Committee of the Chinese Psychological Society, Chenggong Zhidao has introduced international curriculum systems and professional faculty to implement a series of continuing education standardization projects for psychological counselors in China.

In terms of business operations, Chenggong Zhidao focuses on the education and training of psychological counselors. It has gradually launched products and brands such as the “Chenggong Zhidao Psychological Cloud Platform” for government and educational sectors, “Tiantian Xinli,” a one-stop professional psychology learning platform for psychology practitioners, and the “He Plan Psychological Industry Alliance,” which collaborates with small and micro psychological institutions to help drive business growth.Over 800,000 trainees have been trained in total, including nearly 200,000 participants in WeChat community groups, and more than 300 small and micro institutions have joined the “He Plan Psychological Industry Alliance.”。

As the saying goes, “Make further progress from a hundred-foot pole.” The pursuit of success through industry exploration has never ceased.

Amid the steady growth of existing services and business scale, identifying new growth curves has become the next strategic imperative for success.

Influenced by traditional beliefs, many individuals facing psychological issues do not prioritize seeking help from professional counselors; instead, they tend to rely on their “social support systems” comprising family and friends, or attempt self-regulation. This tendency has, to some extent, hindered the commercialization of psychological counseling services.

It is precisely for this reason that, at its inception, Success Path did not prioritize the development of a psychological counseling platform as the core of its business strategy; instead, it chose to focus on the psychology professionals who deliver the underlying services.

However, driven by factors such as increased public awareness of mental health and rising economic standards, the acceptance of psychological counseling services has significantly improved. Based on this,Chenggong Zhi Dao launched its second business segment—the construction of a psychological counseling platform—at the beginning of this year.

Meanwhile, bolstered by technologies such as AI and big data, psychological technology products like AI-powered counseling robots have emerged within the industry. Aligning with the trend of technology-enabled empowerment, VCBeat established a research institute team earlier this year, primarily focusing on the development of application-oriented products in “Psychology+” scenarios.This is also the third business segment that will continue to be a key focus for success: R&D of psychological technology products.。

Since then, Chenggong Zhidao has successfully established three mutually reinforcing and empowering business segments: “Psychological Training, Psychological Counseling, and Psychological Technology.”

Amidst steady business growth, there is also a clear roadmap for future success.

First, establish a digital enterprise middle platform to connect the three major business segments: “psychological training, psychological counseling, and psychological technology.”. After internal operational validation, Future Success Path will open its data middle platform to the industry to empower and aggregate small and micro enterprises within the sector.

Second, optimize and upgrade the psychological training platform, while simultaneously building a psychological counseling platform centered around intelligent studios for psychological counselors.。

Third, accelerate the development of the research institute’s talent pool to provide support for the subsequent R&D of psychological technology products.。

It is evident that, in the near future, Chenggongzhidao’s development strategy aims to further expand its core business—the psychological training segment—while continuously building and refining its second and third business segments, thereby establishing them as genuine growth drivers for the company’s future development.

The objectives are clear, but achieving them will require strengthening and supplementation across multiple stages.

In Zhang Ran’s view, the ultimate value delivered by the mental health industry, whether to individuals or organizations, is “growth,” and growth is never achieved overnight. Therefore, time is clearly a top priority for business development in the current stage of success, as it will serve as a critical supporting condition for the company to refine its three core business segments and expand its team.

In addition, the infusion of capital is also a critical need for enterprises at present. On one hand, it helps avoid unnecessary waste of time and resources; on the other hand, it enables collaborative synergy with like-minded investors to jointly drive the industry forward.