"Gate's 13th Anniversary: A History of Technological Evolution and a Market Selection Process"

Thirteen years ago, we still used the word “future” to imagine many things: how information could arrive faster, how services could be more personalized, how hardware could become lighter and smarter. Looking back, this period resembles a ladder from “small improvements in daily life” to “engineering breakthroughs”: first changing everyday routines, then reshaping infrastructure. As Gate reaches its 13th year, it’s about embedding long-term vision into product details and risk management through technological evolution and market filtering, crossing cycles and building trust.

Let’s start with those things that didn’t exist thirteen years ago but have gradually changed our lives.

Smart doorbells digitalize the act of watching the door: what happens outside, who visits, where packages are placed—all can be known more promptly, making safety more tangible; food delivery and instant courier apps turn dining and daily necessities into tasks completed within half an hour, redefining urban life’s pace; the popularity of AirPods brings decentralized experiences, making commuting, exercising, and meetings smoother, with sound becoming a more natural interface.

TikTok has changed content distribution logic, as well as how people access information, entertainment, and even learning. Drone cameras have brought aerial photography from professional fields to the masses, creating new language and industry chains. VR headsets push immersive experiences into the consumer market; although still iterating, they allow more people to encounter spatial computing on a large scale for the first time.

Looking further ahead, we enter the realm of productivity and infrastructure. Generative AI moves from labs into workflows, assisting with writing, programming, customer service, design, and investment research. Its significance isn’t just in individual functions but in modularizing and tool-ifying knowledge work. More broadly, low-earth orbit satellite internet like Starlink extends connectivity from ground networks to oceans, mountains, and disaster zones, making connection less dependent on geography.

Finally, the most hardcore breakthrough comes from reusable space launch technology. Reusable commercial spacecraft change the cost curve and industrial capacity boundaries of launches, enabling more frequent launches, lower marginal costs, and new possibilities around the space economy. It’s not just an application upgrade but a leap in engineering systems.

Over the past thirteen years, many products and companies have gone from hype to exit.

Early health bands like Jawbone UP inspired the market, but issues with supply chains, battery life, accuracy, and platform ecosystems made it hard to retain users long-term. Then came Fitbit, which had a bigger impact and longer lifecycle, but under increasing competition and platform trends, independent wearable brands’ moats weren’t very strong.

Google Glass was a forward-thinking product but too costly to implement. It pointed toward wearable computing early on, but privacy concerns, form factor limitations, and lack of scenarios kept it from crossing into mass consumer adoption. Segway was expected to revolutionize urban mobility but was hampered by regulations, road environments, and practical use cases, ultimately failing to become a core part of commuting infrastructure.

Larger setbacks came from business models lacking closed loops. Lululemon Studio Mirror, a home fitness hardware device, surged during the pandemic driven by emotion and demand, but as life normalized, the combination of high-ticket hardware and ongoing subscriptions became harder to sustain. Impossible Foods and other plant-based meats gained rapid growth with capital and media hype, but as consumers returned to focus on taste, price, repurchase, and channel education, growth was naturally re-priced.

The biggest failures often stem from equating growth with the product itself. MoviePass, which relied on subsidies for explosive expansion, was ultimately undone by its unit economics: as each new user increased losses, growth accelerated the fall. These cases are most striking because they didn’t lose to competitors but to basic business principles.

Looking at these two lists together, a simple conclusion emerges: those who endure may not be the coolest, but they are more capable of delivering user value and self-repair in different environments. For Gate, the 13th anniversary is more like a review—having experienced enthusiasm and winter, witnessing narrative rises and falls, and seeing how risks can amplify in an instant. Reaching today’s position isn’t due to luck but because long-termism has been embedded into every detail of system stability, security, compliance, and service experience.

Finally, heartfelt thanks to every community member and user. Your choices, feedback, and trust are the driving forces behind our continuous iteration. Thirteen years is not the end but a new beginning. There will still be fluctuations ahead, but we will keep moving forward more steadily, walking the next thirteen years with everyone, making it more solid and enduring.