From the “power bureau” Beijing to the “money field” Shenzhen, from the “cash flow” Guangzhou to the “traffic pool” Hangzhou, the entrepreneurial gene of the four cities is thorough at once: understand the policy, fight for speed, control cash, play algorithms, which city you choose, choose which track, which price.
Today let’s talk about the city of entrepreneurship.
On the territory of China’s entrepreneurship, the five cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou are not only economic engines, but also a melting pot of five commercial civilizations.
He was an entrepreneur in BeijingStrategize in the chess game of policy and connectionsShenzhen’s adventurers beat the time with the “two-hour industrial circle”, and Guangzhou’s businessmen weave with cash flow”Make a fortune in muffled voicesHangzhou’s traffic players have played cognitive monetization to the extreme.
I just met a friend yesterday who came to Guangzhou from Hangzhou to work. We talked a lot about the working style and entrepreneurial style of Hangzhou and Guangzhou.
I have stayed in Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou for more than ten years. I have worked and started a business. The entrepreneurial styles of these cities are actually very different.
Entrepreneurship itself is a process of “chasing the trend” and “taking advantage of the momentum”, and it is difficult to achieve results in 99% of the time against the trend. So, where is the “potential”? How to protect this “potential” atmosphere? These are all cities.
As a person born in the Northeast, I deeply understand the truth that “investment is not enough for Shanhaiguan”. Therefore, most Northeast people work or start a business, they are in other places.
After 10 years of interaction design, why did I transfer to product manager?
After the real job transfer, I found that many jobs were still beyond my imagination. The work of a product manager is indeed more complicated. Theoretically, the work of a product manager includes all aspects of the product, from market research, user research, data analysis…
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From the workplace to entrepreneurship, no matter whether your business is innovative or not, the transformation itself is an innovation. A well-supported innovation environment is very important for innovation.
My intuitive feeling about the four cities
So, what about the four cities of Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hangzhou for entrepreneurship and innovation?
Let’s not mention the cold data, let me talk about my own feelings first. In fact, it revolves around several sets of keywords:
- Beijing: Power capital
- Shenzhen: Make money when you come
- Guangzhou: cash flow foreign trade
- Hangzhou: traffic trading place
In Beijing, you can see that most of these institutions are central enterprises, state-owned enterprises, large groups and Internet giants. Therefore, power and circles are very important in Beijing, so many business cooperation is based on relationships. The cost of starting a business in Beijing is also the highest among the four cities as far as I know, whether it is hard expenses such as rent, water and electricity, or employee costs. It is suitable for monopoly industries, large enterprises, and investment and financing entrepreneurship.
In Shenzhen, when you first arrive, you can feel the open and fast-paced atmosphere. Shenzhen is accelerated capital-driven, pragmatic and efficient is the city’s label. If it’s summer, there’s also a stuffy atmosphere. However, Shenzhen is very efficient, and the intensity and efficiency of public services are higher than those of Beijing and Guangzhou. The cost of starting a business is also lower than that of Beijing. According to the data I saw before, Shenzhen is the city with the most entrepreneurial institutions. It is suitable for all kinds of one-person companies, start-ups, and small and medium-sized companies.
In Guangzhou, the cost of living and entrepreneurship here is lower than that of Beijing and Shenzhen, and it is more pragmatic. Of course, there are also many small workshops here, mom-and-pop shops, self-employed people, etc. If you want to deal with local customers, Cantonese is spoken more here, so the language is a hurdle. In addition, the degree of stuffiness and humidity is higher than that of Shenzhen, and the cityscape is not as new as Shenzhen. But Guangzhou has a lot of fireworks, many snacks, and is also delicious. It is especially suitable for foreign trade one-person companies, start-ups, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
In Hangzhou, I have not stayed in person for a long time. I have heard many friends who start a business in Hangzhou, as well as my content colleagues, say that it is very voluminous here. But the volume has now become the norm, although Hangzhou has a good entrepreneurial atmosphere, simple and efficient, there is something to say, and it does not go around in circles. Government support is also relatively strong. The two major Internet companies in Hangzhou: Alibaba and NetEase, have played a great role in the entrepreneurial atmosphere, and Internet people have basically flattened out to start businesses. However, Hangzhou, due to polarization: large factories + start-ups, coupled with the declining environment, it is more difficult to find a job. It is especially suitable for one-person companies and startups engaged in traffic types.
Four Cities Clash: The Ultimate Showdown of Entrepreneurial Genes
Let’s take a look at the objective data: The 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Report reveals the answer: Beijing ranks among the top five in the world for the first time, tied with Boston; Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Guangzhou ranked 17th, 23rd and 35th respectively.
Starting a business in Beijing is essentially the art of “making a game”. I don’t talk about “how fast and easy to save” here, only talk about it”Do you understand who I am?——Only those who understand the language of the system, understand the policy boundaries, and understand the resource scheduling are eligible to enter the game
Let’s take a look at the concentration of Beijing’s power under the data:
- There are 115 unicorn companies, with a total valuation of 594.9 billion US dollars, accounting for 28.1% of the national total, and 37 new listed companies in 7 years accounted for more than 71% of the hard technology;
- In 2024, 23 new unicorns will be added, 13 from “national tracks” such as general AI, cell therapy, and commercial aerospace, of which 9 will exceed the valuation of $1 billion in just 3 years;
- The total venture capital is US$64 billion (2020-2024), 12.3 times higher than the global average, and government guidance funds have invested 14 billion yuan.
BeijingWin in”National narrative capabilities, but trapped in resource dependence;ShenzhenVictory lies in “Savage growth efficiencyHowever, it is subject to the shortcomings of basic research;GuangzhouStrong in”Supply chain discourseweaker than the brand premium;HangzhouProficient in “Traffic manipulation“, lost the foundation of the real economy.
Focusing on core advantages, representative industries, capital types, growth rates, and cost pressures, let’s take a look at the overall situation of the four cities:
Picture: The entrepreneurial genes of Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hangzhou (drawn by Yuan Zhen)
Choosing a city is choosing entrepreneurial DNA
- Beijing teaches you to “make a game”,
- Shenzhen forces you to “run wildly”,
- Guangzhou tells you that “only by living can there be output”,
- Hangzhou makes you believe that “algorithm is power”.
When the post-95s voted with their feet to Shenzhen (the first attraction), when the Beijing unicorn defined the height of hard technology with a valuation of 594.9 billion, when the boss of Guangzhou rewrote “Guangzhou goods going overseas” with an average of 100,000 live broadcasts per day, and when the Hangzhou anchor used “upper link” to reconstruct the consumption logic – every city is asking entrepreneurs: Which kind of success are you willing to pay for?
Time has passed, and the real answer is no longer in the government-enterprise cooperation plan of Zhongguancun Cafe, not in the parts samples in the elevator room of Huaqiangbei, not in the live broadcast lights in the early morning of the thirteenth line, and not in the soaring GMV data of Xixi Park.
The only thing that is certain is that if you choose the wrong city, no matter how sharp the sword is, it will curl its blade. In the era of AI, it is easy to know the difficult and do it, welcome to follow my official account, I will continue to share high-quality and easy-to-understand cognition, proven methodologies, if you have any questions, consultation, cooperation intentions, welcome private messages
