[EM Entrepreneurship Icon]
As the AI wave sweeps across the world, how can entrepreneurs break through? To this end, the School of Management and Engineering (SME) at Nanjing University has launched the “EM Entrepreneurship Icon” series of interviews, focusing on outstanding students and alumni who dare to explore and break new ground in innovation and entrepreneurship. By sharing their growth stories, the School aims to foster a stronger innovation and entrepreneurship culture, and systematically nurture a new generation of entrepreneurs for the AI era.
Chen Rongxian | Chaoyang District, Beijing
At Nanjing University, some chase high GPAs, others head for top tech firms. I chose a path of constant exploration.
From diving into campus economy to earn money as a freshman, to launching Jiangsu’s first AI Hackathon during my postgraduate studies in pursuit of my ideals, my core traits have always been: courage and execution.
Foreword: The Original Motivation – Money
My motivation to start a business as a freshman was simple: I was short of money.
I completed my undergraduate studies at a traditional 985 engineering university in northern China. As someone who had focused solely on academics to get into university (“small-town exam taker”), entrepreneurship was a distant concept back then.
I had no idea what entrepreneurship meant. The first money I could manage on my own was my living allowance from my parents. Back then, college life seemed trapped in a fixed loop: classes → GPA → major transfer → postgraduate recommendation. Without accident, I would have followed that path.
But fate holds coincidences. Shortly after the semester began, I was cheated out of a sum of money. In hindsight, without that sudden shortage of funds, I might never have dared to take the first step into entrepreneurship. So I threw myself into the campus economy, determined to earn my own living expenses.
At my busiest in my sophomore year, the monthly cash flow I handled exceeded 200,000 RMB in less than a month. While other students worried about allowances, I became someone with money and time, traveling across China every month.
The project went well and brought material gains, but I felt something was missing. On one hand, my major was rooted in technology, but my business was unrelated, drawing doubts from peers who naturally believed that “graduating to code at a big tech firm” was the only legitimate career. On the other hand, the satisfaction from this work was limited; I wanted to pursue higher value beyond making money.
Perhaps I was not strong enough to ignore the doubts around me, so I quit and turned to robotics competitions and algorithm internships at top Beijing tech firms. Frustrated and confused, I did not realize this was a fateful turning point. This experience later led me to the RLC Lab at Nanjing University and connected me with SME.
Turning Point: Igniting a Fire in Nanjing
Jiangsu’s First AI Hackathon – Nanjing Hackathon
I had always loved exploring and thinking deeply as an undergraduate, driven by inner discontent, and this continued into my postgraduate studies. When I first arrived at NJU for my master’s, I often asked myself: How should I spend these three years? I thought it worthwhile to take three years to find the answer. Fortunately, I found it in less than a year: to devote myself to entrepreneurship and interpret youthful value through action.
My first tech startup was in Shenzhen. Inspired by Shenzhen’s fast‑changing entrepreneurial environment, I returned to Nanjing after my last startup failed and decided: I want to do something for NJU and for Nanjing.
In April 2025, I founded the Maker Club of the New Technology Alumni Association at Nanjing University on campus. The team grew rapidly:
In June, we hosted Jiangsu’s first AI Hackathon – Nanjing Hackathon at the Gulou High-Tech Zone.
In September, we partnered with Jianye District for the large-scale Nanjing Hackathon Season 2.
In October, we collaborated with the Nanjing Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League on the Newborn Creative Lab incubator.
In November, we delivered a special report to Mr. A Dong, First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League.
In less than a year, the community surpassed 10,000 members, covering more than 100 top universities at home and abroad — including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, Tsinghua University, and Carnegie Mellon University — with top AI makers worldwide. We also partnered with over 50 leading Chinese enterprises, including ByteDance, Alibaba, and Insta360.
During this process, we developed a stable and unique business model, and the team’s cash flow reached millions of RMB in recent months.
Yet this entrepreneurial journey was not smooth. I clearly remember facing many personal changes in November 2025: family, career, and more. Under the weight of these external challenges, I pushed forward a 20+ person “grassroots team” under immense pressure, working up to 20 hours a day and losing sleep at night.
But this difficult experience made me clearly aware of my shortcomings and pushed me to adjust and grow continuously. Finally, in February 2026, the team completed a full restructuring; the future business model and direction became clearer, and I closed this entrepreneurial chapter with a new identity.
Looking back, was it worth it? My answer is yes. Choosing this life is full of passion. This is not encouragement for everyone to start a business; entrepreneurship is simply one lifestyle. The real value lies in finding your own direction in life.
I have found that most people never seriously think about how to live their lives, or at least not deeply enough. For example, I code not just because I enjoy it, but for the sense of achievement when a project is implemented. If so, why not become a technical product manager or an AI Agent engineer? Why push into algorithms just for its “respectable” image?
After meeting many outstanding people, I admire more those who, even in middle age, keep a young heart and remain curious about the world, more than those who succeed at a young age.
After starting my business, I saw a broader world and met all kinds of people, and I felt more strongly: life can be lived in so many ways, with so many possibilities.
All this started with the education and influence of the School of Management and Engineering, Nanjing University. Its unique engineering‑management interdisciplinary model breaks disciplinary barriers, allowing me to jump out of fixed thinking, dare to imagine and act, and achieve what I am today. I hope to bring my thoughts and insights to Nanjing and NJU, so that more NJU students can see more possibilities in life.
Next Step: To a More Imaginative Future
After building a large community, validating a business model, and inspiring more young people with tech dreams, I asked myself again: What should I do next?
Then I encountered EnvX. It is a hardcore tech team that has completed two rounds of financing from institutions including Miracle Plus (China’s top early-stage investment firm), aiming to transform young Chinese people’s lifestyles with AI. There is no redundant bureaucracy, only an almost paranoid pursuit of “changing the world.” They target a nearly 100-million RMB valuation in their next round.
At EnvX
To use a vivid metaphor, the product is like an Apple App Store dedicated to the open-source world.
You simply describe your needs clearly, and you can easily find and use the open-source Agent products you want on the platform, without worrying about environment compatibility. Meanwhile, you can have your own dedicated Agent: talk to it, and it can operate all open-source products on the platform.
I deeply appreciate their vision: technology should not be elitist, but benefit everyone.
We firmly believe that in the era of Agent explosion, ordinary people’s use of Agents will integrate into real daily scenarios. I dislike elitist arrogance; I prefer to serve every ordinary person and make technology enrich life. What we aim to build is the next consumer-oriented, more accessible, and 平民化Github “Agent Store”.
So I decided to bring all my past experience, accumulation, and resources and officially join EnvX.
For me, this is a brand-new leap and challenge. In the future, we will engage in more imaginative work: not only technological breakthroughs, but also reshaping, influencing, and even completely changing the lifestyle and human-machine interaction of this generation of young people, using technology to make life better.
Conclusion: Inviting You to Change the World Together
From a campus economy generating 200,000 RMB cash flow in a month, to building a 10,000‑member Nanjing Hackathon community, to the new journey at EnvX.
Along the way, the tracks have changed, but my heart of “exploration” remains unchanged. I hope my experience will show more young Chinese people that beyond the so-called “standard answers,” life has countless possibilities. The world is vast; do not stare only at the small ground beneath your feet.
What the School of Management and Engineering, Nanjing University taught me is not only solid knowledge and ability, but also the attitude to dare to break through, pursue value, and live for myself. This makes me firmly believe: life can be lived more wonderfully.
Keep imagination alive. See you at the finish line.
