The premature death of the 44-year-old founder of a prominent mobile health app startup has spurred a bout of soul searching in the Chinese tech community, where working long hours in the hope of making a quick fortune has become a way of life.
Zhang Rui, the late founder of Chunyu Doctor.
Zhang Rui, founder and chief executive officer of the startup Chunyu Doctor, died from a heart attack on October 5th. Heart attacks can have many causes and Chunyu spokesman Tan Wanneng said there’s no evidence that Zhang’s death was due to overwork. Yet as tech executives mourn his passing, that hasn’t stopped some from wondering about the deeply competitive nature of their industry and the potential health burdens they face.
Inspired by the rise of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which raised $25 billion in a 2014 initial public offering, China’s new generation of entrepreneurs have been engaged in a fierce battle for capital and talent. The country saw the startup of 1.2 new internet companies every day in the second quarter. While Silicon Valley is also renowned for its competitive culture and lengthy hours, China’s entrepreneurs face a unique set of challenges because the industry is more nascent, and regulations and funding are in constant flux.
"The China startup community is under a lot of pressure, if not as much but even more than in the Valley or in the states," said Dave McClure, the founding partner of Mountain View, California-based venture firm 500 Startups. "Unfortunately, I think people don’t think about health issues that much." McClure said that among the more than 3,000 founders that he has invested in globally, at least six have passed away, with even one committing suicide.
Zhang died at a critical juncture for Chunyu. In June, it completed a 1.2 billion yuan ($178 million) round of Series D fundraising at a valuation of about $1 billion and was planning to go public, according to Tan. Startups with a valuation exceeding that mark are known as "Unicorns."
For a few months when Chunyu was first founded the company sometimes required a so-called "996 schedule" - Chinese slang for working from 9 am to 9 pm six days a week. Tan said, adding that the company is long past that stage. Zhang started out as a journalist at a Beijing newspaper, and worked as deputy editor-in-chief at NetEase, a Chinese internet portal. In 2011, he founded Chunyu, which allows patients to have online consultations with doctors, skipping the wait at overcrowded public hospitals.
People who work for more than 55 hours a week face an increased risk of stroke and coronary heart disease compared to those working the standard hours of 35 to 40 a week, according to a study based on data from more than 600,000 individuals, published last October in the medical journal The Lancet.
The unexpected death of a founder can also highlight the importance of succession plans, according to Paul Asel, Palo Alto, California-based managing partner at Nokia Growth Partners. Chunyu in an Oct. 6 statement said its businesses are operating as normal with Zhang’s duties taken up by co-founder Li Guanghui.
Zhang Rui, the late founder of Chunyu Doctor.
