Conversing with Justin Sun: Vision Pro and Bitcoin Were My WOW Moments
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Conversing with Justin Sun: Vision Pro and Bitcoin Were My WOW Moments
Sun Yuchen, a tech enthusiast, wants to sign up to be among the first people to go to Mars.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Li Hangcool
01 Sun Yuchen the Player Invited Me to Dinner at His Home
This past Labor Day holiday, a good friend M invited me to Singapore. One night after drinking in Sentosa, I returned to the hotel and habitually turned on my Vision Pro (abbreviated as avp). In one of its apps, I found a player with the nickname Justin Sun. I joined the voice chat but couldn't hear anything from his end. I typed out my WeChat ID, and shortly received a friend request—it was actually that Sun Yuchen (affectionately called Brother Sun).
We exchanged pleasantries, then he shared a multi-person FaceTime link. The three of us, plus another player, chatted for over two hours. Everyone was excited—I shared some optimistic views about avp, and later he posted on social media saying Vision Pro gave him the same "wow moment" as iPhone, Bitcoin, and Tesla.
Upon learning he was also in Singapore, I asked if we could grab coffee together—he readily agreed. The next day, Brother Sun invited me directly to his house for dinner.
"Come over to my place, power and network are all set—much better for discussion."
"Sure, I'll bring a friend too."
"avp players are family—you're both welcome."
Wow, this is the guy who in 2019 paid $4.5 million for a lunch with Buffett only to no-show, got labeled a 'bad guy' in early 2024 for skipping an interview with a tech journalist, surrounded by endless rumors and often compared to China's Gatsby—with rumored billions in net worth—and he’s inviting me to dinner at his home?
02 Sun Yuchen the Tech Enthusiast: Chatting About AI and Spatial Computing
At 7 PM the next evening, we met at Brother Sun’s place. A large villa, high-ceilinged living room, long staircase, and ivory-like sculptures. We were all starving hungry, and the housekeeper served a lavish dinner with chilled beer. Over food and drinks, we talked Vision Pro, technology. I’m not in the web3 scene so I didn’t know much about him before—only seen his Douyin videos. In person, he’s just as talkative as online.
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Talked about NVIDIA, AI, space travel; recalled how he eventually had that lunch with Buffett in 2020, gave him his first smartphone—a Samsung-Tron co-branded model—but days later Cook flew to Omaha forcing Buffett to switch to iPhone 😂
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Took a few calls mid-conversation, politely telling foreign callers: “I’m in a meeting now, we could change to tomorrow same time, thank you,” then immediately dove back into our chat
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FaceTimed friends Kara and Jeremy, loved the authentic experience of Spatial Persona, wants to equip every executive in his company with an avp
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Excitedly showed us his Xiaomi robotic dog. Eagerly anticipates robot advancements, yet fears robots taking over humanity. Signed up for space travel but hasn’t had time to train. Noticed his power bank was old and worn—recommended Anker and FlashSticks, which he promptly noted down in his phone memo app
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An incredibly talkative person, speaking loudly and continuously—the whole house could hear him. Though he’d planned to wrap up around 9 PM (after staying up late the night before), once I asked a few more questions, he kept going until past 11 PM, like a little boy at the door reluctant to say goodbye—so adorable.
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About 1.8 meters tall, great skin, slightly hunched posture—your typical IT guy look. Still happily chatting while seeing us off, I momentarily couldn’t tell whether I was standing before a tech geek, a billionaire, or just a real estate agent pitching a new housing project??
Later, Brother Sun joined the avp player group, started writing app reviews, frequently asking questions in the chat. Even asked me late at night how to download 8K VR movies. Honestly, he’s no different from any other tech-obsessed nerdy guy I know!
03 Sun Yuchen the Entrepreneur: Abstracting Buffett and Duan Yongping
What shocked me most throughout the night was realizing that someone of immense wealth, who has built systems of order in the blockchain world, shares nearly identical interests and jokes with ordinary tech enthusiasts and practitioners like us.
So the world really is flat—everyone uses the same GPT, iPhone, Douyin, Google. Then what truly sets people apart?
It reminded me of Zhang Yiming’s interview where he said cognition is the most important competitive edge. It’s not about information—it’s about the ability to process information and abstract underlying principles. Reflecting back—besides cracking jokes, what deeper insights did our tech-geek Brother Sun share?
Talking about Buffett: “arbitrage.” Use low-cost capital (e.g., from insurance companies) to buy high-yield stocks like Apple and oil firms. As Buffett himself admits, he’s old and not smart—so he only invests in businesses he fully understands.
Talking about Duan Yongping: “Copy Apple, use profits to buy Apple stock.” This resonated—just two weeks before flying to Singapore, a friend at a phone company told me they’ve been studying avp since WWDC 2023, researching XR for years, waiting for Apple to launch a consumer product before releasing a cheaper alternative with similar performance. Exactly aligns with Brother Sun’s philosophy!
Asked why he bought Ethereum despite news of heavy losses. He interrupted: “Don’t be distracted by noise—most information is worthless.” “Because Ethereum is powerful, we study Ethereum, use profits to buy Ethereum”—learned from Duan Yongping.
Haha, such simple wisdom!
Hard work, effort, forward-looking cognition, passion for new technologies, the ability to abstract essence from massive information—perhaps these are the qualities beyond media narratives and gossip that ordinary people should truly learn from Brother Sun?
A corner of Brother Sun’s home
04 Interview Before China Launch
June 28 marks Vision Pro’s official launch in mainland China. As early adopters and believers, we wanted to do something for community outreach and evangelism. Reached out to Brother Sun for a contribution—he readily agreed. Below is content from a last-minute online interview conducted late night on June 26.
AI and Spatial Computing
Q: How many hours do you use Vision Pro daily?
Sun Yuchen: At the beginning, I wore it almost every day—chatting with friends via FaceTime, installing every single app. Now I use it at least 2–3 hours daily. After finishing morning work and noon meetings, I browse WeChat group discussions, and jump on any new app immediately upon release.
Q: Why so obsessed with trying apps? Like Zhang Xiaolong described by He Caitou—is it pure curiosity or do you have other plans?
Sun Yuchen: Purely driven by curiosity. No immediate plans to build in the XR space—I’m still learning and researching. I bought two iPhones very early—one dedicated solely to testing various apps. Back when I was in the U.S., I was among Uber’s first few hundred global users. Drivers then drove luxury cars, not doing it for money. I experienced the charm of early communities firsthand. Early Bitcoin communities were similar, and so is our current Vision Pro community.
Q: So your deep dive into iPhone back then was purely out of interest?
Sun Yuchen: Yes. I started mobile internet entrepreneurship quite late—launched my first app (voice live streaming) around 2014–2015. The company was quite successful, making several million RMB in annual profit. Later popular social apps copied mine. But because I got heavily involved in blockchain, I shut down that app.
Q: So you’re a hardcore digital enthusiast—did you use VR devices much before?
Sun Yuchen: Started following VR around 2013. Owned Google Glass, Baofeng Magic Mirror, Google Cardboard, Quest, Valve Index… Experienced Oculus after Facebook acquired it. Played hit games like Beat Saber and Half-Life: Alyx. So I’ve been tracking this field consistently.
Q: How do you evaluate Apple’s product?
Sun Yuchen: Apple always enters markets only after deep consideration—they come in as dominators. When I heard Apple was building a headset, I knew this industry would finally take off.
Apple got one thing critically right: ultra-high resolution. Just like Zhang Yiming’s “brute force miracle”—many short video platforms failed before, including musical.ly, Meipai, Weishi. Only Toutiao, TikTok, and Douyin succeeded, all due to brute-force miracles in algorithms—the key factor. Many VR companies missed the main contradiction—without resolution, everything else is meaningless.
We often say, when one thing goes wrong, countless other issues follow. But solving one core problem through brute force can resolve countless others. By solving resolution, Apple made subsequent issues—like comfort and content—much easier to tackle.
Q: Vision Pro is very expensive—who do you recommend buying it?
Sun Yuchen: Recommend it to everyone!
When I was young, my family wasn’t well-off—my parents’ combined salary was under 2,000 RMB. When I was five or six, they spent 10,000 RMB on my first PC. That computer became my best friend—I went to computer markets buying games, looked up dictionaries nonstop for English text. Effectively entered the tech world very early, which led me into this career later.
So sometimes we shouldn’t ask what a thing is useful for—ask what kind of world it opens to you, what friends you’ll meet, what circles you’ll join. Vision Pro and spatial computing are humanity’s future—I believe you should see the future earlier than others.
If you have kids, you must buy one for them.
Q: Any advice for developers and teams on the fence?
Sun Yuchen: avp has several guaranteed-to-succeed directions.
Immersive Video production. Once immersive films and live sports broadcasts become popular, traditional flat-screen movies will quickly become obsolete—avp absolutely dominates here. For example, watching F1 live is boring, but with a headset it’s way better. Same for immersive football broadcasts—currently there’s far too little content.
Gaming—something like “trapped by beautiful women” in immersive format will definitely be a Killer App, driving quick sales.
Social—Spatial Persona currently supports only 5 people. If it scales to 20, I’d equip every executive in my company with avp—especially relevant for globally distributed companies like mine.
From a developer perspective: get on board early. Once prices drop significantly, the红利 (early-mover advantage) disappears. Future improvements in price, weight, and comfort are inevitable.
Q: How soon will humans enter the spatial computing era? What happens in 5 or 10 years?
Sun Yuchen: I think I’m quite susceptible to persuasion—I’m now a 100% believer in spatial computing, convinced it’s humanity’s future. I even gaslight my friends: “If it’s uncomfortable to wear, that’s your problem—not Apple’s.” (laughs)
And selfishly speaking, I feel a bit conflicted now. Like when I first joined the Bitcoin community—I wanted more people exposed to Bitcoin, yet I also hoped it stayed niche. So whenever Bitcoin surged from a few dollars, I felt heartbroken, because a surge meant more people would flood in and everyone would know. It’s like—in a bad analogy—my high school crush was Fan Bingbing, and suddenly the whole country noticed her. That kind of feeling. (laughs)
That’s exactly how I feel about Vision Pro now.
Q: Let’s talk about more futuristic topics—do you fear the singularity or robot uprising? Probability and timeline?
Sun Yuchen: I think it’s coming fast—possibly human extinction within 20 years. I’ve talked about this on Douyin. NVIDIA controls compute power, other companies pursue nuclear fusion. When humanity faces energy shortages, AI becomes an insatiable energy monster—lithium and electricity won’t suffice. Anyone suggesting limits on AI training gets immediately fired. Humanity is racing toward destruction—no brakes.
Evaluating Others
Q: Who living person do you admire most—and why?
Sun Yuchen: Elon Musk—though it feels cliché to say now. Around 2011, I was in the U.S. studying for my master’s at Penn. Elon, as an alumnus, came to give a talk—pitching Tesla and recruiting grads. I felt then Musk would change humanity.
Beyond the oft-repeated first principles thinking, let me highlight one mindset: while most people avoid new tech because it’s inconvenient, Musk believes: this tech is so powerful—you should adapt to it. Take Tesla Roadster—when someone asked how to charge it outside, Musk replied: EVs are humanity’s future—we should all figure out how to build more charging stations, and adapt collectively.
Q: Do you believe in Musk’s Mars colonization plan?
Sun Yuchen: Of course. Not only believe—I want to sign up as one of the first colonists. Already bought a ticket from Blue Origin—aiming for space within two years.
An employee once asked: you idolize Musk so much—any area where you’re stronger? I said I’m weaker in every way—except one. And that makes me feel stronger overall: I’m 20 years younger than Musk. The dreams he can’t fulfill—I can. Like colonizing Mars, haha.
Q: Historically, who do you admire most?
Sun Yuchen: I’m drawn to losers in competition—Tesla vs Edison, Leibniz vs Newton, figures from China’s dynastic declines, like late Ming or Yuan periods.
Studying losers helps avoid becoming one, and gives deeper insight into how the world works. This was taught by Jack Ma at Hupan University: focus more on failures, and you’ll uncover the secrets of success.
Q: I don’t understand blockchain—does “loser” mean like TRON versus Ethereum?
Sun Yuchen: Haha, maybe in five years we’ll be stronger—story’s not over yet😂
Enterprise and Individual
Q: You seem to have low material desires—your Singapore home looked quite modest. With all this effort, are you chasing wealth, social impact, or fame? I’m genuinely curious.
Sun Yuchen: My drive is to see more of the future. My life splits into two parts. One is my own company’s domain—not just foreseeing the future, but actively building and realizing it. There are things no one else does, but I must—because everyone expects me to. Like how we all expect Zhang Xiaolong to deliver a Vision Pro version of WeChat. On the other hand, I want to witness futures created by others—like avp and robotics.
Recently I’ve been pondering: physics seeks a unified theory—to merge strong and weak forces. Religion has the Trinity—Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Could AI, spatial computing, and blockchain converge soon? Blockchain is machine money—robots naturally understand it, decentralized and uncontrollable by any single entity. Everything is perfectly arranged.
(Author’s note: I didn’t fully grasp this part, nor do I agree. Also differs somewhat from original conversation.)
Q: What’s the most extravagant purchase you’ve made? Has wealth changed your spending habits?
Sun Yuchen: Spending habits haven’t changed much—still just computers, phones, Vision Pro. Money earned is like the score on the giant screen in *Ready Player One*—the points themselves are meaningless. Everyone still uses the same gear.
(Author’s aside: So damn humble—how about gifting me some points?😒)
Q: How is your company embracing new tech revolutions—like AI and spatial computing?
Sun Yuchen: Maybe next year’s year-end bonus will include avp units—gotta keep up with the times. I’m exploring many scenarios to boost productivity quickly. Can’t rule out building something inside it later. Right now I’m just a user, keeping up with latest developments daily.
Q: Advice for fellow avp players—many are your fans. How should ordinary people invest—time and money?
Sun Yuchen: First, join our group—we have high information density, filled with genuine builders. Early crypto days had similar groups, but as the industry grew, members turned against each other and the groups died. Now is the best state—no hierarchy, just sharing ideas and fun projects, happy to help each other.
(Author: Yes, planning to invite more interesting developers.)
Hope Android spatial computing ecosystem rises soon—it’ll be even more vibrant.
(Author: Yes, yesterday’s Wan Chuxiang MR is already strong.)
On investing: everyone has their expertise. Maintain curiosity in at least one or two areas outside your main field—this is crucial. Invest only in domains you follow closely. For avp players, buying Apple stock is fine—practice what you preach.
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