Wan Pei, Lin/ Taipei
TAIPEI — In a major event for the publishing industry, Fan Deng, widely acclaimed as “Asia’s No. 1 Storyteller,” made his first-ever visit to Taiwan on January 18th for the grand launch of his new book, The Protagonist Mode.
Held at the Regent Taipei and organized by CMoney after nearly six months of preparation, the event attracted nearly 400 attendees, including authors, key opinion leaders (KOLs), and corporate executives. The gathering marked a deepening of cross-strait intellectual property (IP) collaboration, featuring a keynote address by renowned host Kevin Tsai and dialogues with prominent creators, including Chih-Chyi Chang, Caesar Hao, Vincent (of Vincent Reading), Olive Ting, and Shosho Chang.
Kevin Tsai: Fan Deng is “Building the Last Castle for Civilization”
Renowned writer and host Kevin Tsai delivered a moving opening speech, expressing the mutual appreciation shared between two book lovers. Tsai praised Fan Deng’s commitment to the written word in an era where the publishing industry is shrinking, and AI threatens to replace human writing.
“By continuing to spend time writing books and opening physical bookstores,” Tsai remarked, Fan is “building the last castle for human civilization. As long as the castle stands, civilization will not vanish.”
From “Unpopular Host” to 80 million Users
Fan Deng took the stage to guide the audience through his annual masterpiece, The Protagonist Mode. He shared his “reversal strategy.” He described going from being an “unpopular CCTV host” to founding the Fanshu App (formerly Fan Deng Reading). Now, it is Asia’s largest book-listening platform, with 80 million users over the past 13 years.
Fan argued that “swimming against the tide” and finding “unresolved problems” were key to success in entrepreneurship and the paid knowledge industry. He noted that although the internet offers free information, it also creates anxiety. Systematic learning through “listening to books” lowers the barrier to reading and empowers people to gain knowledge effectively.
Creators Shared Insights on Anxiety and Growth
The event featured compelling speeches from other influential figures. Best-selling author Hao Xu Lie addressed the belief that one must “figure everything out” before acting as the common cause of modern anxiety. Humans could not use their existing and limited abilities to figure out the future selves with unlimited potential.” Hao also emphasized that “small steps and rapid iteration” were the keys to growth—this was also a core concept of The Protagonist Mode.
YouTuber Chih-Chyi Chang shared a personal narrative about overcoming severe depression and using that experience to help fellow creator Ray Du navigate similar struggles. Echoing the book’s philosophy, he said, “The setbacks we encounter now will become a light that illuminates others in the future.” Similarly, Vincent, the founder of Vincent Reading, revealed his initial struggles when transferring his career from an engineer to a creator. He admitted to hitting a bottleneck when copying others for gaining traffic, only realizing through Fan’s content that “uniqueness is the only true brand.”
During the roundtable forum, speakers discussed maintaining competitiveness in the AI era. Olive Ting offered a memorable takeaway: “Thinking does not generate power but doing does,” encouraging attendees to start with small actions to find opportunities for success.
CMoney Revealed Its Strategic Pivot to “Total Knowledge”
The event also served as the platform for CMoney to unveil its strategic planning regarding its cross-strait collaboration with Fan Deng.
CMoney Founder Ken Li explained the company’s evolving mission. While CMoney has historically focused on helping people with financial investments, Li noted that life requires decisions beyond finance. “As long as everyone finds what they enjoy and excel in, their lives can shine,” Li said, citing Fan Deng’s knowledge system as a premier solution for this personal discovery.
CMoney General Manager of the Financial Business Group, Hubert Chen, highlighted the synergy between the two entities. He pointed out that CMoney’s strengths—software tools, robust databases, and subscription services—mirror the business model of Fanshu. Through this partnership, CMoney aimed to expand from the “investment and finance” sector to a “pan-knowledge” sphere, striving to become one of the most influential knowledge platforms in the Chinese-speaking world.
Chen revealed that introducing Fanshu is merely the first step in CMoney’s strategic transformation. The plans included collaborations with top-tier international authors and investors, such as Silicon Valley investor Jun Wu, Runmi Consulting (Liurun online) founder Run Liu, and Wall Street figures James Altucher and Jim Rickards.
CMoney COO Jack Yeh concluded that Fan Deng’s visit marked a pivotal moment for Taiwan’s knowledge creators. Citing feedback from the local community, Yeh noted that many creators following Fan were not just for his charisma, but for the habits and growth motivation derived from his knowledge system—an experience CMoney was eager to bring to its users.
