Stock Cancer’s Hsieh Meng-kung Packages Voice, Community, and Capital to Establish Hsiao-nan Capital, Aiming to Fill the Long-term Capital Gap in Taiwan’s Game Industry
(Background: Failed Entry into the Metaverse – Xianjian and Xuanyuan Sword IPs Sold for 500 Million, Netizens Sigh: While Others Make Black Wukong, We Sell Our Heritage)
(Context: First Investor of “Black Myth: Wukong”: “I Wouldn’t Invest in Web3 Chain Games Even if I Died; Without Passion, It’s Impossible to Make Good Games”)
Taiwanese Investor “Stock Cancer” Hsieh Meng-kung Establishes Hsiao-nan Capital
Taiwanese investor Hsieh Meng-kung, known as “Stock Cancer,” has launched Hsiao-nan Capital, targeting early investments in local game development, attempting to address the long-standing capital gap troubling the industry.
With years of accumulated trust from listeners and investment expertise, Hsieh Meng-kung aims to create a funding channel for Taiwan’s gaming sector that diverges from traditional venture capital by packaging voice, community, and capital.
Motivation for Cross-Industry Ventures
Since 2020, Hsieh has topped the podcast charts with “Gooaye Stock Cancer.” After becoming a new father, he reignited his passion for gaming through a local game and recognized the structural issue of insufficient funding for Taiwan’s excellent game teams. Upholding the belief of “Save up quickly and invest quickly,” he stated:
“Whenever everyone tells you to run, just don’t run.”
With this contrarian mindset, he decided to establish Hsiao-nan Capital, aiming to scale assets to 300 million NTD by the end of 2026, focusing on supporting Taiwanese original games with global potential.
As a “chairman,” Hsieh Meng-kung has accumulated a vast audience that not only includes potential players but also serves as the first batch of word-of-mouth seeds for game marketing. This approach of embedding media influence directly into the investment process has reduced marketing costs and amplified the so-called “Stock Cancer Effect” in the eyes of the public.
Collaboration with Zeze × GameWorks × Hsiao-nan Capital
Taiwan’s independent games often face a triple risk of market, execution, and capital challenges. Hsiao-nan Capital collaborates with crowdfunding platform Zeze and incubation unit GameWorks to build a vertically integrated “risk mitigation pipeline.”
Zeze validates the market through crowdfunding pre-sales, bringing in initial cash flow and external visibility for successful projects. GameWorks provides project management, technical guidance, and distribution matching to stabilize development progress. Hsiao-nan Capital supports the production cycle with long-term funding. This tri-party collaboration aims to connect the fragmented game creation resources in Taiwan into a closed loop, allowing creators to gain resources and exposure early on.
Barbell Strategy for Game Investment
Hsiao-nan’s first four investments cover three game studios and one game project. The relatively stable “Red-Eyed Ruby” (Cup Dog Games), a 2D pixel Boss Rush-themed game, features controllable development costs and a clear audience, positioning it as a steady revenue source.
Another project, “Night Rampage” (Benqi Games), challenges a saturated market with “close-range gunfight violence aesthetics,” presenting high risks but the potential for explosive returns. While these two projects appear vastly different, they exemplify Hsiao-nan Capital’s adoption of the “barbell strategy” from financial markets, investing simultaneously at both ends of safety and high reward to navigate industry fluctuations.
Imagining the Next Steps for Taiwan’s Games
Successes of works such as “Detention” and “The Legend of Heroes” demonstrate that Taiwan’s original games have a place on the international stage, but the issue of initial capital remains significant. The “Stock Cancer Effect” reveals that media personalities can convert brand trust into investment leverage, bolstering early projects. In the future, Hsieh Meng-kung will face the challenge of whether the invested games can balance fan expectations with LP returns.
If Hsiao-nan Capital can continue to validate its model successfully under the 300 million NTD target, Taiwan’s gaming industry may usher in a true cultural renaissance.
