Written by Winston Kim, Managing Director of BCC Global Media
“Unlike Mr. Son, who runs a $100 billion fund, we focus on early-stage investments. He can’t afford to write $500K checks—we can.
Joe and I were both entrepreneurs. We understand the founder’s journey and are passionate about identifying and supporting great entrepreneurs at the earliest stages. That’s our edge.
We look for founders who are incredibly determined but also mentally flexible—people who believe they have a vision for the future but are also willing to adapt when the world changes.
Joe embodies this. Back in 2008, we had an opportunity to exit and partner with Mark Zuckerberg”
TikTok has approximately 1.58 billion monthly active users worldwide, with its largest user demographic being those aged 25 to 34. Meanwhile, WeChat boasts around 1.3 billion monthly active users, with over 80% of them based in China.
Moatable Inc., renamed from Renren Inc. (人人网, Everyone’s Network), peaked between 2011 and 2012 with millions of active users. Founded in 2005, it became one of Asia’s most prominent social media platforms. In 2011, Renren’s IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) raised $743 million, making it one of the largest IPOs by an Asian company in the U.S. At the peak in 2012, Renren had close to 50 million monthly active users which was very high given it was 13 years ago; more than half of the users were coming from mobile and again, at that time mobile internet was still in its early stages.
Ahead of the 7th Global Alternative Investment Conference in Seoul on May 29, 2025, BCC Global had the privilege of interviewing Renren’s CEO, Joseph Chen, and former COO, James Liu. The two are now co-founders of Oak Pacific Investment.
BCC Global: We’re honored to welcome you to our Global Alternative Investment Conference pre-show. Since 2019, we’ve been connecting global GPs and LPs, and having both of you here means a lot. it’s been over 20 years since you founded the renowned social media platform Renren. Is that correct?
Joseph Chen: Yes, it’s been over 20 years. We officially became a social networking company around 2004, when we acquired the company James had founded. We then launched mop.com and, later, in 2006, acquired Xiaonei, which became the largest campus-based social networking platform in China. That eventually led to our IPO in 2011. So yes, it’s been a long journey—James and I have worked together for 20 years and have known each other for nearly 30.
BCC Global: For many people in China, especially those in their 30s or 40s, Renren was iconic. Now, you’ve made a fascinating transition—from leading one of China’s top social media platforms to becoming a prominent investor. you’ve been deeply involved in China’s internet evolution. With the rise of Deepseek and growing excitement around Chinese tech, what’s your perspective on mobile tech investment post-Deepseek?
James Liu: AI started as a research-oriented field—focused on simulating intelligence using mathematical models. But over the past 5–10 years, it has transformed into an engineering-driven discipline. A turning point was in 2017 when the Google paper “Attention Is All You Need” introduced the Transformer model. Once GPUs were widely used and large datasets like those from Fei-Fei Li’s team at Stanford were introduced, AI moved from theory to practice.
China didn’t invent the internet or core protocols like TCP/IP, but when the internet boomed, China excelled in applying and engineering these technologies. Joe went back to China in 1999 and built ChinaRen—one of the earliest social networks.
Now, China has produced giants like Tencent and Alibaba. What really stands out is China’s strength in engineering and optimization. Deepseek exemplifies this: they’ve taken the Transformer model and pushed it further, optimizing it under resource constraints. Given limited access to computing power, they’ve had to innovate—and they’ve done it brilliantly.
More companies like Deepseek and Manus will follow. Even Baidu and Alibaba are delivering AI optimization results that are stunning the global market. So we’ll definitely see more breakthroughs coming out of China.
Joseph Chen: Let me add to that. AI is likely the biggest wave of technological revolution in human history. I believe it has the potential to increase global per capita GDP by 100 times in the coming decades.
But we’re also seeing a clear technological decoupling between the U.S. and China. That’s going to lead to a split in AI infrastructure. As James pointed out, China is developing its own ecosystem very effectively.
As a U.S.-based investor, I believe America now needs to reinvest in talent and infrastructure to stay competitive in this AI race. This is a golden time to invest in early-stage AI infrastructure and software ventures.
I used to think the U.S. would win this race easily, but after seeing what Deepseek has done, I’ve changed my mind. The U.S. really needs to work from the bottom up—from semiconductor manufacturing to large language models. It’s not a slam dunk anymore.
BCC Global: According to recent reports, $364 billion was spent on venture investments last year, and over 30% went into AI. However, many AI companies still haven’t proven clear monetization models. Some say it’s a bubble. Given your technical background, what’s your view?
Joseph Chen: We’re still learning, honestly. But our past experience in internet businesses gives us some perspective. Social networking was also algorithm-intensive—we had newsfeed and ad-targeting algorithms early on. In that way, we relate to today’s AI developments.
Compared to the dot-com era, early winners in AI are more concentrated in hardware. Back then, infrastructure companies like Cisco and Lucent dominated before the market crashed. But later, application-layer companies like Amazon and Google rose to trillion-dollar status.
In this AI wave, I think the greatest value so far is being captured by semiconductor companies. Nvidia, for example, hasn’t even hit its revenue ceiling despite its massive valuation.
Unlike the dot-com boom, AI is creating entirely new industries rather than just digitizing existing ones. So far, hardware companies are dominating because their entry barriers are higher. In contrast, AI software still has relatively low barriers—as Deepseek has shown by rapidly catching up to OpenAI with much less capital.
It’s like the difference between humans and chimpanzees. The hardware—our brains—is what sets us apart. In AI, hardware plays a similar foundational role in enabling capabilities.
I believe companies like Tesla could emerge as dominant players in robotics, especially in U.S.-friendly markets. These are hardware-centric plays, and that’s where we see the value chain evolving.
James Liu: I agree with Joe. Hardware is clearly capturing a larger share of value today. Just look at Nvidia’s revenue run rate—it’s expected to hit $100–150 billion this year, and it’s still growing fast.
That said, software companies are also generating actual revenue now. OpenAI went from $200 million to over $3 billion in just one year, and they’re projecting around $13 billion this year.
Startups like Cursor—a hot AI-powered IDE—are also scaling fast. In just four months, they doubled revenue to surpass a $200 million run rate. Y Combinator recently reported that more startups in its latest AI-centric batches are achieving $10 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) faster than ever before, and many of them have done so with teams of fewer than 10 people.
So, while entry barriers at the software level may seem lower, these companies are clearly monetizing. Enterprises are eager to adopt AI—they just need the right partner.
BCC Global: You both have impressive entrepreneurial and technical backgrounds. Given your success, I’m curious: how does your investment philosophy differ from others, like Masayoshi Son’s Vision Fund?
James Liu: Great question. We didn’t have a formal investment philosophy from the beginning, but we developed core principles over time.
Unlike Mr. Son, who runs a $100 billion fund, we focus on early-stage investments. He can’t afford to write $500K checks—we can.
Joe and I were both entrepreneurs. We understand the founder’s journey and are passionate about identifying and supporting great entrepreneurs at the earliest stages. That’s our edge.
We look for founders who are incredibly determined but also mentally flexible—people who believe they have a vision for the future but are also willing to adapt when the world changes.
Joe embodies this. Back in 2008, we had an opportunity to exit and partner with Mark Zuckerberg—but Joe refused. He believed our company could stand independently, and he was right.
At the same time, he adapted when the market shifted. Now, we’re based in the U.S. with multiple vibrant SaaS businesses.
Startups are tough. You need energy, passion, and grit. We look for entrepreneurs with that contagious drive.
BCC Global: That’s a powerful perspective. Joe, you’ve built successful ventures for over 30 years. What advice would you give to young founders or early-stage tech investors—especially Millennials and Gen Z?
Joseph Chen: First, when building a founding team, partner with people who have complementary strengths.
Second, ideally, work with someone you’ve known for a long time—people you’ve done school projects with, traveled with, attended each other’s weddings. That’s the kind of bond James and I had before starting a company together.
Those two things—different strengths and long-term trust—are the foundation of a strong startup team.
BCC Global: That’s an excellent closing note. James and Joe—thank you both for your time and insights. I look forward to welcoming you in person at our Global Alternative Investment Conference in South Korea on May 29th.
Joseph Chen & James Liu: Thank you, Winston. We look forward to it.