招股书里的MiniMax：当聪明人决定不再为巨头打工

Core Viewpoint - The article posits that 2025 will be a year of differentiation in the AI industry, with the narrative chosen by companies determining their perspective on the market [1]. Group 1: MiniMax's Emergence - MiniMax, a unicorn company with only 385 employees and an average age of 29, is poised for an IPO, having successfully commercialized its AI models without relying on a major internet company's traffic [2]. - The company has achieved significant scale with products like Talkie and Hailuo, generating real user engagement and revenue, while holding $11 billion in cash reserves to sustain operations for 50 months without additional funding [2][3]. - MiniMax's success challenges the traditional "burn money" model of large internet firms, attracting strategic investments from major players like MiHoYo, Alibaba, Tencent, and top investment firms [3]. Group 2: Financial Efficiency - MiniMax has spent approximately $500 million since its inception, significantly less than the annual marketing budgets of larger firms, yet it has developed a full-stack multimodal model that competes with giants like OpenAI [6]. - The company's cloud computing service expenses related to training have dramatically decreased from 1365% of revenue in 2023 to 266.5% in the first nine months of 2025, indicating a transition from a money-burning phase to a profitable growth phase [11]. Group 3: Global Strategy - MiniMax has shifted its focus to international markets, with over 70% of its revenue coming from overseas, making it the most internationally oriented AI company in China [15]. - The company has avoided the domestic market's price wars by targeting markets with higher willingness to pay, such as North America and Europe, where SaaS payment habits are more established [15][16]. Group 4: Organizational Efficiency - MiniMax operates with a flat organizational structure, allowing for rapid decision-making and innovation, with over 80% of its code generated by AI, enhancing productivity [20][21]. - The company has achieved impressive revenue per employee metrics, generating approximately $53 million in revenue in the first nine months of 2025, showcasing its high operational efficiency compared to traditional software firms [20]. Group 5: Industry Narrative - The article contrasts two narratives in the AI industry: one that views AI as a resource-heavy endeavor dominated by large firms, and another that sees it as a reconfiguration of productivity driven by efficiency and innovation [24]. - MiniMax embodies the latter narrative, demonstrating that a small, agile team can challenge larger competitors without relying on extensive resources [24][25].