How Two Engineers Built Kuaishou into a $1.6T Unicorn: A Founder’s Journey

Short‑video pioneer Kuaishou, listed just before the Chinese New Year, quickly became one of Hong Kong’s hottest stocks, reaching a market value of HK$1.6 trillion.

Its two founders, Su Hua and Cheng Yixiao, illustrate how education, perseverance, and strategic career moves can create massive wealth. Su Hua grew up in a poverty‑stricken county in Hunan, discovered programming on a learning console at age 12, excelled in science, and entered Tsinghua University’s Software School with top scores.

After graduating, Su worked at Google (writing search and system‑architecture code in Silicon Valley) and later at Baidu as a Fengchao system architect, building evaluation frameworks for project profitability. Cheng, originally from Liaoning, joined the early Kuaishou team in 2008, developing the GIF‑based “KuaiShou” app.

In 2013, venture capital firm Chengxin invested RMB 200 k, and the two technical teams merged: Su became CEO, overseeing strategy, technology, and external affairs, while Cheng focused on client‑side product. The combined team, largely composed of engineers, adopted a data‑driven culture where decisions were validated by metrics.

Key growth milestones include a 2015 daily active user base of 10 million, a ten‑fold increase within six months after improving recommendation algorithms with AI, a US$350 million investment from Tencent in 2017, and a December 2020 IPO that valued the company at HK$1.66 trillion.

The story also highlights personal anecdotes—stock awards for all employees, Su’s marriage to a former Kuaishou game‑business lead, and the intense work environment that led him to resign from Baidu.

From this journey, five lessons emerge: (1) education expands horizons for children from disadvantaged backgrounds; (2) relentless effort builds expertise; (3) a stable, supportive family is crucial before entrepreneurship; (4) collaboration and sharing accelerate progress; (5) continual experimentation and perseverance are essential for success.