Hi everyone, it's CaiCai here. It's been a while!
It's been a while since I last posted an article on Yuque. A lot has changed in the past year. Some of the changes are still being processed, while others indicate a brighter future. So, I'm taking advantage of the last few days of the Lunar New Year to summarize some of my past experiences, both as a reflection and a new beginning.
Saying Goodbye to Yuque
As one of the founders of Yuque, I've invested a lot of energy and deep affection into this product over the past few years, nurturing it with care in the hope that it would thrive and one day gallop forward carrying our product dream.
However, as Yuque has developed and the market has changed, we've faced a new challenge almost every day we've opened our eyes. As product people, we've definitely fought tooth and nail, but despite our best efforts, sometimes the business environment changes in the blink of an eye.
We've missed a lot of opportunities in the past few years, which has led to the current situation. We can't blame anyone else; we simply didn't do a good enough job and weren't smart enough.
After getting through the toughest half of 2023, I've figured a few things out, and I'm a lot more at ease now,
So, around July, when the team faced restructuring, I bid farewell to Yuque and to the memories of the past few years of my youth, and chose a new starting point.
A Belated Blessing
For Yuque, I have nothing to complain about. For so many years, I've been at the bottom of most things. Frankly, I often felt it was quite tiring. But with my team members who fought side-by-side with me, I feel deeply ashamed. Many of them joined the team because of their belief and our shared goals.
This trust sometimes gives me a lot of pressure, but I also deeply understand that it is this group of excellent partners who have made Yuque successful. No matter where the future lies, I believe that every member in the team will have their own wonderful experiences and I bless the choices of every graduate, whether it is starting your own business or becoming an independent designer.
On the day we said goodbye, we had our last dinner together. We were determined to become the best product design team on the shores of the West Lake. Our final photo together.
Pigs on the Cusp
In the realm of venture capital, there's a saying: "When you see a pig flying, it's time to invest." This allegory suggests that when an unlikely event occurs, it's a sign that the market is ripe for disruption.
In recent years, the "flying pig" has been the Chinese tech sector. With its massive population and rapidly growing economy, China has become a hotbed for innovation. This has led to a surge in venture capital investment, as investors bet on the next generation of Chinese tech giants.
One of the most notable examples is DiDi (China's equivalent of Uber). Founded in 2012, DiDi quickly became the dominant ride-hailing app in China. It has since expanded into other countries, including Mexico, Brazil, and Australia.
Another success story is WeChat (China's most popular messaging and social media app). With over 1 billion monthly active users, WeChat is an indispensable part of daily life for many Chinese. It offers a wide range of services, including messaging, social media, payments, and e-commerce.
These are just a few examples of the many Chinese tech companies that have taken flight in recent years. And as the Chinese economy continues to grow, it's likely that we will see even more "flying pigs" in the future.
Everyone wants to be the man standing on the cusp of change, but I'm quite pessimistic about the scene for developing big models in China at the moment. In the past year, the technological gap with Silicon Valley has been gradually narrowing, but often when we do things, our environment leads us to be too utilitarian. When there's an element of utility, many of us can't really do it so well. We're too impatient for success.
Of course, I'm in no position to criticize all this, and these developments are in line with the characteristics of our time. I just hope that when I face all this, I won't be in a hurry, but instead will find a way to calm down and try to get rid of these inertial thoughts to see the real changes that large models can bring to our work and life.
So for some time now, I've been studying and experimenting on my own, and I've even been using ChatGPT to generate an app, even though I'm not a programmer. Because I've always believed that only by exploring on my own can I have the chance to create some new value.
Meanwhile, I'm also glad to have classmates around who are delving into the practical changes that large models bring, rather than just chasing trends. I believe that after this half-year's period of testing, more and more interesting things will emerge, and I firmly believe in the value brought by long-termism.
Small and Beautiful, Accumulating Great Power
Finally, let me share a fun fact: in addition to Yuque, I've been building SaaS services for many years, including many that are widely used within companies. To toot my own horn a little: Alibaba and Ant Group employees probably use quite a few of my products, besides DingTalk — I've basically had a hand in everything else.
But, and I really do mean but, I have to say that after doing SaaS software for so many years, I kind of got sick of it. And for a while, I was suffering from an internet aversion: I didn't want to see Twitter, I didn't want to see any information on the internet, and I just wanted to stay in a place with no signal. Fortunately, I slowly corrected my somewhat twisted mental state later on.
As a product manager, even though sometimes I really don't like messing with all these things, I can't resist the itchiness of my own hands and I go and try to design new products. That's why I've made a little plan for myself - using my free time to make some small apps, yes, products that I personally think are small yet beautiful.
Overall progress so far is in line with expectations, and there are some reliable partners who have joined us in pursuing our dreams, and launched the first mini-app; interested classmates can give it a try:
https://easydevo.boringboring.design/
https://www.producthunt.com/posts/easydevo
By the way, as mentioned earlier, during the process of learning large models, I was also trying to use ChatGPT to generate an application with pretty good results. At present, 95% of the code is generated by it, with complete functions and UI. Classmates who are interested can check this document:
Okay, I think I'll end it here. A lot has happened this year, and I see them as different colors in my life. I'm just jotting down my thoughts, so it's simple. By the way, I'll be posting more articles on Medium in the future. If you're interested, you can follow me:https://medium.com/@hi_caicai
Sure, if you'd like to be friends, you can add me on WeChat.
CaiCai at 23