A "Shi Le Me" priced at 1,000 yuan achieved a valuation of 10 million
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
A "Shi Le Me" priced at 1,000 yuan achieved a valuation of 10 million
Those who truly need it are the ones who can't use it.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsText: Curry, TechFlow
Three post-95s spent 1,000 yuan and less than a month to build an app.
Now it's valued at 10 million yuan. A ten-thousand-fold return.
The app is called "Dead or Not," with a function so simple it's absurd: open it daily and check in to prove you're alive. If you miss two consecutive days, the system automatically sends an email to your emergency contact.
That’s it?
Yes. That’s it.
It launched at number one on Apple's paid app chart on January 8th, priced at 8 yuan per download. Mr. Guo, the founder, said paid users have increased 200-fold in recent days—and are still rising.
Investors have come knocking. Mr. Guo plans to sell 10% of shares for 1 million yuan. By that math, the valuation is 10 million yuan.
The name “Dead or Not” comes from a viral internet meme years ago.
Somewhere online, someone asked: What app does everyone need, and would definitely download?
One top-voted answer: Dead or Not.
Mr. Guo and his team saw the discussion and sensed opportunity. They went to register the trademark—surprisingly, no one had claimed it.
So they built it.
Why did such a simple product go viral?
China’s solo-living population exceeded 120 million in 2024. By 2030, it’s projected to reach between 150 million and 200 million. These people live in rental apartments across Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, sharing one very real anxiety:
If something happens to me at home one day, how long before anyone finds out? For 8 yuan, you buy confirmation that *someone knows you’re still alive.*
Less than 24 hours after “Dead or Not” took off, copycats arrived.
An app named “Alive or Not” appeared on the Apple Store—same functionality, free to download.
Mr. Guo remained calm: The strength of this product isn’t technical barriers, but insight into user needs.
In other words: You can copy the features, but you can’t copy the name.
Indeed, those three characters—“Dead or Not”—are the most valuable part of the product. Had it been named something like “Solo Living Safety Guardian,” it would probably still be gathering dust in some forgotten corner of the App Store.
Looking back: Is a 10-million-yuan valuation for a technically trivial app, built for 1,000 yuan, too high?
Well, have you seen how things are valued in crypto?
In 2025, there was a crypto project called Fuel Network, building a “modular blockchain execution layer.” VCs valued it at 1 billion USD—roughly 700 million RMB.
700 times the valuation of “Dead or Not.”
What did Fuel Network have?
A whitepaper, a roadmap, backing from top-tier institutions, videos of its founders speaking at major conferences.
But very few actual users.
What’s Fuel Network worth today? Around 16 million USD. Down 99% from its peak.
I’m not saying all crypto projects are scams.
What I’m saying is:
In crypto, a project can have zero users, zero revenue, nobody actually using it—and still command a 1-billion-USD valuation.
But in the world of “Dead or Not,” you only count if someone actually pays 8 yuan to download your app.
One model: value first, users later. The other: users first, then talk about value.
Which is more reasonable? I don’t know.
Even more absurd: This logic of “Dead or Not” is practically heretical in crypto circles.
Tell people: We have real users, real payments, solving a real problem.
They’ll immediately ask: What’s the narrative? Tokenomics? What’s the FDV?
You say: No token. Just selling an app. 8 yuan each.
They reply: Then why should I invest?
This isn’t a joke. This is how the crypto valuation system operates.
Users don’t matter. Revenue doesn’t matter. What matters is whether the story is sexy enough, whether the token can list on major exchanges, and whether the unlock schedule gives early investors enough time to exit.
If “Dead or Not” launched a token, created a “Lonely Living Chain,” and pitched a grand vision of a “Global Loneliness Economy,” its valuation might easily multiply tenfold.
But then, it probably wouldn’t have any real users anymore.
Perhaps “Dead or Not” became popular precisely because it serves people who feel the anxiety—but don’t truly need it.
Those who actually need it, ironically, may never use it.
In this sense, it’s strikingly similar to the crypto world:
The people who truly need “financial inclusion” are often the ones least able to access DeFi.
In the end, whether 10 million is expensive depends entirely on what ruler you use.
By Web2 standards: developed in a month, by three people, no funding, no cash burning—topping the paid charts—10 million isn’t expensive at all.
By crypto standards: no token, no narrative, no FDV—only 10 million? That’s dirt cheap. Why not launch a token?
The most ironic thing lies in the divide between Web2 and Web3:
In one world, “people are actually using it” is a prerequisite for valuation. In the other, it’s merely an accident.
After finishing this article, I actually downloaded “Dead or Not” and checked in.
8 yuan, for peace of mind.
At least more reliable than most shitcoins I’ve ever bought.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
深潮TechFlow
