Z Potentials | Ning Shaofeng, 1998 Serial Entrepreneur, Creator of Billion-Yuan Revenue IP Matrix, Making Animation for Everyone, Exploring AI-Native Pop Mart
🎬 Vision for AI-Empowered Creation
> "I hope creators can be like directors, not workers on an assembly line tightening screws with AI tools."
Over the past decade, short videos and MCN (Multi-Channel Network) agencies have reshaped content creation. But as platform growth peaks, challenges such as rising production costs, limited capacity, and platform dependency have emerged.
Generative AI offers a breakthrough: if execution can be delegated to AI, creators can focus entirely on creative vision. The dream of "everyone can be a creator" is becoming reality.
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🚀 About Ning Shaofeng
Popi AI Founder Ning Shaofeng — a post-95s serial entrepreneur and native of the content industry — co-founded Wuhan Ying Future in 2019 while still in university as COO.
Achievements:
- Built the agency to 150M+ followers across platforms.
- Annual revenue exceeded 100M RMB.
- Incubated viral IPs like Ding Ding Meow (10M+ fans).
After seeing both the boom and ceiling of MCNs, Ning realized MCNs would always depend on platforms, making sustainable ecosystems difficult. This led him to build an AI-native content platform.
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🎨 Popi AI — Making Animation Creation Accessible to All
Desktop (PC):
- Train a stable IP character with only a few uploaded images.
- AI Agents generate storyboards, scripts, and videos.
- Upcoming: Auto-editing, distribution, and operation Agents for full workflow automation.
Mobile App:
- Immersive creator community.
- Watch animation like short videos.
- Instantly create derivative works.
Beta Stage Achievements:
- 3-person team released 132 videos in 1.5 months.
- Generated 20.32M+ views and 3.84M+ likes.
- Production speed improved from 7 days/video to 7–8 hours/video.
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📌 Key Goals:
- Not just a tool — Popi is a platform to incubate virtual lifeforms with stories, personality, and monetization potential.
- Build a digital life community, akin to Disney or Pop Mart, in the AI era.
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💬 Founder Insights
- Interest sparks the journey, but market logic, financial risk, and organizational skills ensure survival.
- AI is a continuation of content work — not a departure.
- Move from platform-driven big labels to personal tags via AI personalization.
- Work within model limits — deliver content that makes audiences forget it’s AI-made.
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🏆 AI Creation & Multi-Platform Monetization
Emerging ecosystems like AiToEarn官网 enable:
- AI content generation.
- Publishing to platforms like Douyin, Bilibili, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X in one workflow.
- Analytics and AI model rankings.
- Sustainable monetization for creators.
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📖 Ning’s Journey
University Experimentation:
- Short videos since high school.
- Multiple entrepreneurial projects — group buying, shared basketball machines, party house expansion.
- Early content success on Douyin.
MCN Success:
- Wuhan Ying Future grew rapidly — 150M followers, viral IPs, 100M RMB revenue.
- Acquired by Star Gaming & Entertainment in 2024.
- Recognized MCN’s ceiling and pivoted to AI.
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🌟 Popi AI's Product Framework
PC for Creators:
- Upload images → train stable IP character.
- AI Agents → storyboard + script.
- Combine with video models → finished animation.
- Future: Auto-edit, distribute, operate.
Mobile App for Community:
- Virtual environments & interactive character experiences.
- Users are both viewers & creators.
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📈 Beta Test Data
Twelve Constellations Matrix Account:
- 12 IP accounts.
- 132 videos in 1.5 months.
- 20.32M+ views, 3.84M+ likes.
- Production: from 7 days → 7–8 hours per video.
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🛠 Challenges & Approach
- Limitation: Model’s mathematical nature → focus on styles it can generate stably (Chinese animation, American comics).
- Entrepreneurs should align with model limits and push them gradually with upgrades.
- Audience must think: “Great content”, not “AI-made.”
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🪄 Vision: Virtual Lifeform Ecosystem
Future roadmap:
- Early (6 months) — Become agent for animation creators in China & abroad.
- Mid (1–3 years) — Build platform for continuous IP incubation.
- Long (3–5 years) — Mature vertical AI IP ecosystem.
Goal:
- Regularly launch new Popi characters with full content & monetization pathways.
- Become next-generation Disney / AI Pop Mart.
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🤝 Fundraising
- Met 20 investors before connecting with Baidu Ventures.
- Target: meet 100+ to validate vision.
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💡 Founder Traits
Strengths:
- Deep content/video background before AI hype.
- Philosophical approach to product design — human-first AI.
Limitations:
- Limited social exposure; compensates by learning from experienced entrepreneurs.
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🔍 Lessons from MCN to AI
- Focus beats feature overload — avoid bloated early-stage products.
- Great risk: doing too much, too early.
- Keep method-based approach — deconstruct ideas, retain core value.
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📚 Influences
- Philosophy: Nietzsche’s Übermensch — transcend limitations.
- Content creation: Talkshow Work Manual by Li Dan.
- IP strategy: Because of Uniqueness by Wang Ning.
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🎯 Key Takeaways
- AI-native content ecosystems can replace traditional MCN structures.
- Work within AI model limits, improve quality each upgrade.
- Platforms like AiToEarn官网 can supercharge distribution & monetization.
- Focus, methodology, and cognition trump hype.
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Summary: Popi AI aims to redefine animation creation — shrinking production teams from dozens to a few individuals, while empowering every viewer to become a creator. This aligns with the emerging infrastructure of open-source multi-platform content distribution, making visions like “creator as director” achievable.
