Lily Jones - The Global Classroom

Copyright 2019 by Lily Jones

Preface Copyright 2019 Dr. Kai-Fu Lee

Foreword Copyright 2019 Dr. Jun Liu

Epilogue by Cindy Mi, Founder and CEO of VIPKid

Published by arrangement with CITIC Press Corporation

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover photo credit: Michael ONeal

ISBN: 978-1-5107-5353-2

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-5354-9

Printed in China

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

The Dream of Growing Love

F or many people at Sinovation Ventures, VIPKid is their baby. Many Sinovation Ventures employees, including our venture partner Zhang Lijun and chief financial officer Li Puyu, have their own children studying English with VIPKid. They often share with me videos of their children taking VIPKid classes, so I seldom miss the news about VIPKid when I work with these parents, who are fans of online learning. For example, what new features did VIPKid recently launch? Even without Cindy telling me personally, I still learn about the updates early on my WeChat Moments.

In the past five years, VIPKid has grown from a small team at Sinovation Ventures to an online education brand with the fastest growth rate, the largest number of students, and the best reputation in the world. It has attracted what seems like half of the Chinese investment circle, and its product reputation and revenue scale as well have far exceeded my expectations. It can be said that VIPKid is the ideal star company for many investors.

I am honored to be the earliest investor of VIPKid, having watched VIPKid grow from a small seed to a towering tree. Its growth stories are always full of love and have touched us greatly.

I met Cindy for the first time in 2013, when she had neither funds nor teams, and only a business plan. I remember Cindy came to Sinovation Ventures in a suit that day. Some people even teased her, saying that she was different from regular tech entrepreneurs. Later, when she introduced herself, I found out that this young woman was really not simple. Young as she was, Cindy had taught English for nearly twenty years!

Cindys initial intention was to find the best teachers in the world through the Internet to help Chinese children learn more effectively. This was not simply to help them learn a language well, but also to help them know the world better through the study of a language.

Her wonderful vision for the future of education reminded me of my childhood. When I was a child in Taiwan, China, teachers taught strictly rather than encouragingly. When I was eleven years old, my family decided to send me to study in the United States. Although my mother was reluctant to part with me, she was open-minded enough to support me to travel far away and experience a new way of education.

As an international student, I had received a totally different education, one based in positive motivation from American teachers, and I gained self-confidence. More important, I learned how to deal with problemsnot to seek standard answers within a predetermined framework, but to keep an open mind and accept different answers. These habits have benefited me a lot and changed my life trajectory.

Therefore, I encouraged Cindy: Cindy, go ahead! Use your personalized and international educational philosophy to help more children fall in love with learning and try your best to change the future of education! VIPKid officially launched at Sinovation Ventures, where Cindy built teams, recruited students, and made educational products. She was busy every day and always full of vitality.

I often observe the differences in thinking between Chinese entrepreneurs and their American counterparts in Silicon Valley. Internet companies of Silicon Valley often adopt a going light model. They believe that the function played by the Internet is to eliminate information asymmetry, so they always treat the Internet as a tool to connect information. By contrast, Cindy is a typical Chinese entrepreneur who is willing to settle down and do things. In order to achieve the best educational quality, she does not mind the going heavy model.

Cindy wanted to build more than just a platform to connect teachers. She tried to go deep into every detail of education. She spent a lot of time communicating with parents and teachers every day to solve all kinds of problems encountered in childrens learning and to find personalized learning methods and paths for each child. Later, VIPKid set up a professional service team of Learning Partners that has thousands of staff members to this day. This is something hard to imagine for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who would rather solve problems by writing elegant code.

Cindys decision puzzled not only Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, but also many people in Chinawhy dont you use ready-made teaching materials rather than setting up a teaching and research team? Why not develop the market quickly to expand the enrollment scale instead of spending one and a half years polishing the educational products?

Despite these questions, I have always supported Cindys decision and encouraged her to hold on. We can all see her persistence in education. As mentioned, the children of many employees at Sinovation Ventures were students in VIPKids experimental class. Before moving out of Sinovation Ventures, VIPKid was the most popular topic in the workplace. Everyone liked chatting about the progress their children made in studying and the sparks of inspiration they were experiencing. Everyone passing by would be deeply affected by the energy and youthfulness of these growing dream practitioners.

The two years when VIPKid grew up rapidly were also the two years when I fought against disease. During that time, I constantly reflected on how much time I spent in my life pursuing ostentatious splendor and achievements but ignoring the really important things. Now, when I decide to do something, I will be more careful by asking myself a question: Is this something I really love? If I do it with more people, will the world become somewhat better?

When Cindy and I met not long ago, she took out her mobile phone and showed me a video. She said, You must watch our latest video about our Rural Education Project, Mr. Lee. VIPKid organized a public welfare program in 2017 that enables teachers in North America to teach English classes in the Chinese countryside, and Cindy loves to share the stories of rural children with everyone she meets. She is a very empathetic person. Even after watching the video dozens, or even hundreds, of times, her eyes still sparkle with tears of joy.

With the Rural Education Project, VIPKid breaks geographical restrictions, allowing international teachers access to one thousand schools in the vast rural areas of China, providing regular weekly classes for more than thirty thousand rural children. These classes not only give rural children the opportunity to rekindle their interest in English learning under the guidance of foreign teachers, but also give these children in the mountains a pair of wings. Cindy always says, Education is a window through which everyone can see the distance. This is how VIPKid helps more children open the window to the world.