Companies in the OPC basically have no investment value.

Let's start with a simple introduction. The full name of OPC is "One Person Company", which refers to a one - person startup. It features that with one person, one computer, and a set of AI tools, one can complete the entire commercial closed - loop from product R & D to market launch.

In the past six months, this seemingly tailor - made startup paradigm for the AI era has been sweeping across the country. Especially on the policy front, as of now, in the "15th Five - Year Plan" outlines announced by many regions, OPC has been placed in an important position. Provinces such as Guangdong, Chongqing, Sichuan, Liaoning, and Hubei have also introduced special support policies at the provincial level. Data also shows that 143 OPC communities have been established in 38 cities across the country, and this number is still increasing.

As we all know, in the primary market today, more than 80% of the funds come from state - owned assets. This means that the choices of the "national team" basically determine the flow and preference of the vast majority of funds in the market. For this reason, a consensus has gradually formed in the VC/PE circle: Invest according to the government work report.

If we follow this logic, OPC should be the focus of VC/PE attention. However, after communicating with many people, I found that the real situation in the primary market is quite different. Although many people are concerned, few are willing to invest real money. Some investors even said bluntly: "The enterprises in OPC basically have no investment value."

01

Why is there such a contrast? Based on the views of multiple investors, there are mainly three reasons.

First of all, it should be clear that different from specific tracks such as embodied intelligence and quantum computing, OPC represents a startup model. Its underlying logic is actually closer to the "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" ten years ago. The difference is that OPC has a new AI - based shell and emphasizes a lighter organizational structure.

Investment institutions focus on the business itself, including technological barriers, market scale, and growth curves, which have little to do with whether it is an OPC or not.

Focusing on the business level, most current OPC startup directions are mainly concentrated in areas such as AI + business services (such as data analysis and digital employee agency operation), AI + vertical content (text - image and short - video creation), AI + cross - border light e - commerce, and AI + enterprise light consulting. These projects mainly provide AI efficiency - improvement services for small, medium, and micro - enterprises. Their advantages are low entry barriers, short implementation cycles, and fast monetization, but they also have problems such as low technological barriers and high replicability.

"To be honest, these areas do not have investment attributes," said investor L. He believes that what is really worth investing in is AI for Science, such as using AI to assist or independently complete scientific research in fields such as new materials and innovative drugs. However, he emphasized that the number of such OPC projects is very limited, and most of them are concentrated in first - and second - tier cities.

This leads to the second problem. Due to the extremely simple organizational structure of OPC projects, their risk - resistance ability and expansion potential are naturally limited. Therefore, they rely far more on the "ecological capabilities" behind them than traditional startup teams. However, the reality is that most OPC communities in third - tier and lower - tier cities do not have the resource endowments to support their development.

Judging from the current support policies in various places, the measures introduced by most OPC communities are highly similar - site subsidies, computing power support, and supporting funds. These policies have indeed lowered the threshold for entrepreneurship, but they cannot solve the most core survival problems of entrepreneurs. In the view of investor S, "Whether there are orders, whether there is upstream and downstream supply chain support, and the activity of local capital are the key factors for the success of entrepreneurship."

02

So, which OPC communities truly have the ability to generate self - sustaining development? The above - mentioned investors also provided several reference points, such as Haidian in Beijing, Pudong in Shanghai, and Songshan Lake in Dongguan. These places share common characteristics: high industrial clustering, dense capital, and complete supply chains.

Take Haidian as an example. Data shows that Haidian has more than 280,000 market entities, 265 listed companies, 49 unicorn enterprises, and more than 3,200 financial and investment institutions of various types. A startup entrepreneur once described it like this: "In Haidian, you can meet investors and contact the first - batch of trial customers within an hour's journey and quickly complete product verification."

A similar story is also happening in Songshan Lake. Investor S took hardware startups as an example: "In Songshan Lake, if you want to make a hardware product, you can open a mold in three hours and get a sample in three days, and the price is very cheap. This kind of industrial environment cannot be replicated by just issuing a few computing power vouchers."

However, he also admitted that even if all the above - mentioned factors are met, there is still a long way for OPC communities to become the "project reservoir" in the primary market. After years of running incubators, he has an intuitive feeling that perhaps 100 OPC companies may not meet the investment criteria. "Because real big - name talents don't need OPC communities. A genius in nuclear fusion can raise 500 million yuan on their own, which has nothing to do with OPC. Those who choose to start a business through OPC communities are often ordinary people who can't get funds in the primary market. This is a form of self - selection."

Actually, the purpose of talking about so much is not to pour cold water on OPC. After all, lowering the threshold for entrepreneurship and giving ordinary people the opportunity to try business is valuable in itself. It can even be said that it is a bonus for individuals in the AI era. However, in the context of the primary market, this is still a social experiment that requires patient observation.

Let's just wait and see.

This article is from the WeChat public account "China Venture Capital". Author: Wang Manhua. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.