Starting from Zero Three Times
Samuel Wei: From Military Officer to Silicon Valley Entrepreneur
From Major to AI Entrepreneur: Samuel Wei on Building Capabilities After Establishing a Vision
From serving as a military officer to launching a business in Shenzhen, and then starting over in Silicon Valley at the age of 40, Samuel Wei, founder of DeepShare Inc., has undergone three major career and life transitions. Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey, Wei emphasizes that people should not let their current capabilities limit their future ambitions. Instead, they should establish a vision first, then develop the necessary skills through learning and practice.
“Your vision determines your capabilities, not the other way around,” Wei says. When faced with unfamiliar knowledge or skills, the most important thing is to be willing to start learning.
Leaving the Military to Pursue Machine Vision
Wei served in the military for 12 years, primarily responsible for the development and maintenance of communication systems, eventually attaining the rank of major. Despite having a stable career, he began to question whether he wanted to live a life whose entire trajectory could be predicted from the outset. Compared with his routine duties, researching computers, mathematics, and scientific problems gave him a greater sense of excitement and discovery.
In 2017, he left the military and founded DeepVison, a machine vision company in Shenzhen. At the time, he had limited knowledge of commercial software development, little manufacturing experience, and few industry connections. He had to learn as he took on projects.
One major project involved developing equipment to detect defects in battery covers at a factory, automating certain quality inspection tasks that had previously relied on human visual inspection. The process was challenging, requiring the team to collect images, label data, and repeatedly adjust the equipment on-site. Ultimately, the system successfully inspected small battery covers, although larger products remained difficult to handle because of limitations in the feeding mechanism.
“Capabilities are developed by learning as you go,” he says. “Once you have a machine to deliver, you find yourself learning everything you need to make it happen.”
Starting Over in the United States at 40
In 2023, Wei shifted his entrepreneurial focus to Silicon Valley and established DeepShare Inc. in November of that year. Facing an unfamiliar market, limited local connections, and the challenges of operating in a non-native English environment, he once again had to start from scratch.
According to Wei, his team is developing an AI assistant that integrates users’ personal data with their knowledge bases. The goal is to help AI understand what users have learned and what they are currently working on, reduce redundant information, and enable them to focus on the tasks at hand.
He illustrates the concept through his own learning experience. When studying cryptography, for example, an AI assistant that can reference his previous notes could focus on concepts he has not yet mastered instead of repeating explanations of material he already understands.
“Let it handle the tedious parts, so you have more room to think and imagine things you might otherwise not dare to imagine,” he says.
Continuous Learning Turns Vision into Reality
When discussing entrepreneurship, Wei repeatedly emphasizes continuous learning and practical execution rather than ideas alone. His personal LinkedIn profile includes the commitments “Two hours of mathematics every day” and “More than 100 books every year.” He also supplements his knowledge of artificial intelligence and related technologies through online courses.
For Wei, the entrepreneurial approach is about “10,000 iterations, not 10,000 ideas”: start building first, then continuously refine the work based on the results.
When asked about the most difficult part of starting a business in the United States, he pauses for a moment before answering with a smile: “Rent.”
But when it comes to the direction of one's life, his message is clear: “The higher your vision, the more motivated you will be to learn new capabilities and grow to meet it.”