Before the test, post-90s entrepreneurs were no longer infatuated with the business myths of an era. They remain optimistic, choose to return to rationality, return to the essence of business, return to down-to-earth and do a good job at hand.
Before the Spring Festival, China Investment Network deeply invited three post-90s entrepreneurs. They come from different tracks and have different growth backgrounds, but they also have the distinct imprint of this generation-they are eager to change the world and have suffered setbacks, but they still choose to start their own business as a sharpening stone.
They want to talk to you about their own 20 19, their industry 20 19, and their short-term hopes for the future. Perhaps, we can find our own shadow from their stories.
Chen Zhuoquan, entertainment entrepreneur and former superpower CEO:
This time, I chose to "stand on the shoulders of giants".
August 20 19, I made a difficult choice: close the company and end the two-year entrepreneurial project.
I seemed to see strugglers from all walks of life at that moment.
Some of them are serial entrepreneurs, some are seriously ill in the process of starting a business, and one has leukemia. At that time, I saw that his head was a family portrait, and I was moved and sour at that moment. Everyone usually encourages each other. He also said that a good attitude will be half the battle, and everyone is more optimistic.
I have a deeper understanding of the loneliness of entrepreneurs at that time.
When I encounter financing difficulties, I don't want to pass too much pressure on my employees and my wife, so I can only carry it myself. By contrast, I am lucky. I used to work in Tencent, and later I met many entrepreneurs and investors, who gave me a lot of help. But for entrepreneurs, their situation is even more lonely.
Fortunately, during this lonely journey, my relationship with my wife has become deeper and tougher.
When I first went to the hospital for examination, some indicators were thousands of times higher than normal. The doctor said I might have a tumor in my brain. Hearing this, I feel like I'm going to kneel down. I didn't expect the plot in the TV series to happen to me. At that time, I was thinking about how to break up with my wife and not drag her into the water.
Her reaction was shocked at first, but she immediately forced a smile and encouraged me not to be afraid. Miracles will happen. I know she doesn't want to burden me too much. Later, when it was found to be benign, I felt that it was cheap and dared not complain.
In addition to never leaving me, we have reached an amazing agreement on many things now. Just like soulmate, we feel that sometimes we can know what each other is thinking without talking.
Once, I suddenly found that her hair was white. I was shocked at that time and realized that I hadn't seen her for a long time. She pays little attention to the price when buying clothes. After starting a business with me, she put a lot of things in her shopping cart, but only bought dozens of clothes.
At that time, I made up my mind that I could no longer let my wife start a business together. I may be willing to suffer these hardships in the future, but I won't let her eat them again.
As for my health, I basically don't treat myself as a patient now. This disease can be effectively controlled. I just need to take four pills a day, and my mental state will be much better. I believe that with the development of science and technology, this disease can only be operated by craniotomy 20 years ago, and now it can be passed through the nose. The medicine I used to take had great side effects, but now I have found a foreign specific medicine, which may be cured soon. On that day, my illness will be nothing.
Although this road is extremely difficult, it also forces people to grow up quickly and look directly at their weaknesses.
Pain helped me face up to my impetuousness and blind optimism.
It was so easy to get money the previous times that I lost my awe. At that time, I felt that I was surrounded by a halo and was easy to be proud. Again, whether it is a small institution or a big fund, I will take it first if I have money, and I will focus more on business development than the amount of financing.
Pay enough attention to talents, data and technology. One of the most common mistakes made by CEO is that no one in each department can be independent, so everything depends on himself, which leads him to run financing, make products and manage technology. Sometimes you spend 1 times the price to find two people, it is better to spend 1.5 times the money to find one person.
At that time, a big VC chose a conservative attitude towards my project, because he thought my experience was too smooth, and they were worried that the tuition would be paid by them. Now it turns out that they are old-fashioned funds. Why do many funds like serial entrepreneurs? Those who have failed know where the pit is.
Two months after closing the company, many teams threw olive branches at me, but in the end, I chose to go back to the big factory to do familiar entertainment projects in combination with my professional fields and advantages. Coupled with the couple's two and a half years of entrepreneurship, the economy is also relatively tight, and the premise of pursuing dreams must first solve the problem of food and clothing.
After arriving at the big factory, I feel that there are really not many opportunities left for solo entrepreneurs. The resources, innovation and talents of big factories are stronger than many entrepreneurial teams, and those who are better than you work harder than you. For example, once there was a technical accident in the team, everyone made a profound review. This conscientious atmosphere was not found in my entrepreneurial team at that time.
Compared with the previous generation, it is easier to start a business after 90, because in this era of VC everywhere; It's even harder to kill entrepreneurs born in the 1990s, because it's an oligarchic era, and resources, talents and capital are all tilting towards the head.
No matter what age entrepreneurs are, I believe the most important thing is to have a belief to support them.
I remember that in the third year of high school, several seniors started their first business. The five of us crowded into a small residential building. When we work, we set up a bed against the wall and put it away when we sleep. Five people sleep in one bed and continue to get up at six in the morning. At that time, we were making an application for Taobao sellers. A seller's aunt appreciated what we did and came to visit us specially. She thought we were a big company, but she was surprised and moved, saying that we were really good. In the future, we will buy all the products we produce and help us promote it.
I have always kept this matter in mind. The joy of providing value to others and the overflowing sense of existence from it became a footnote in my mind at the beginning of my business.
We are once in a blue moon. When we finally come, we must enjoy it, have some influence on the world and realize our own value. I have seen some comments from outside that entrepreneurs are always daydreaming and dreaming of nouveau riche. I believe that people who say these words have never really experienced entrepreneurship. I always thought that money was secondary. If you really realize your dream, all these things will be there.
This time, I chose to "stand on the shoulders of giants", hoping to achieve the goal of starting a business as soon as possible. I'll, uh, come back.
Li Dongyu, former founding partner of ofo USA:
Eager to change the world, and later found that this is not all.
The year I talked about cooperation with David, I went to change the world.
I was just 18 years old that year, and I was a freshman at the University of California, Diego. When I was in middle school, I was deeply influenced by Jobs. "Living is to change the world." I used to take this as my life direction.
I think this is also related to the personal growth background. If a person has no financial pressure since childhood, children may have no concept of money, and they want to pursue something bigger.
In fact, I was prepared before I made ofo. Worked as an intern in a domestic venture capital institution and simulated a business competition in high school, earning 65,438+10,000 yuan in a summer vacation. These experiences made me realize that it is easy to make a little money, but if you want to really change the world, you have to look at the opportunity. 20 16 years, * * * enjoyed cycling very much, and I realized that this opportunity may have arrived. I began to plan to talk with companies in China and introduce this model to the United States. In 65438+February, Dai Wei was found through family relations.
We made an appointment in the coffee shop of Ideal International Building and signed the contract on the spot. We agreed to jointly invest to set up a new company, whose main business is the development of ofo in American campus.
We soon got to know each other. I think David believes in people like him: people who are smart and excellent, but not necessarily experienced in the eyes of others. He thinks these people have a chance to get things done. He gave me the impression that he is very mature. Many young entrepreneurs are impetuous, but not him. I can feel that several other joint ventures are very convinced of him. I studied in Beijing for two months with the presidents of student unions of several American universities, and then flew back to the United States, ready to "open up territory."
We put the first yellow car with the number 000 1 in America. On March 20 17, we completed the first pilot project at the University of California, San Diego. At that time, our strategy was to do it well in one place and then replicate it in other universities. Ofo later went to other universities in California, as well as Stanford and Harvard. The school model is almost verified. Ofo began to enter the city, and the company hired a lobbying company for this purpose.
In the second half of 20 18, theo's American theater began to be completely defeated. In the final analysis, China's ofo model is difficult to copy to the United States.
I think there was a big problem in capital operation after the failure at that time. Although I still admire Dai Wei, to some extent, his idealism also hurts ofo. In contrast, Sun became successful, which had a great influence on me.
In addition, in addition to insufficient research and chaotic management, I think ofo's entry into the United States at that time was actually a "gimmick" and more "story-telling", mainly due to the consideration of financing valuation and brand. Entering the American market sounds exciting, even if it is an advertising fee in a sense.
This experience in America cost me a lot of money and risked delaying my studies, but I still think it is very meaningful. Ofo can be said to be the first real export of China's Internet model overseas. In the past, China learned from the United States. From ofo to tiktok, the world began to learn the China model.
I had anticipated the failure of ofo America. 2065438+February 2008, I switched to the blockchain, and the money I lost on ofo earned a lot in the blockchain.
Then I began to think about the significance of starting a business. I found a sentence that Jobs said before his death. I don't know if it's fiction, but it touches me. For example, it says:
"Now I understand that as long as a person has enough wealth in his life, he should pursue other things that have nothing to do with wealth, but should be more important, maybe feelings, maybe art, maybe just childhood dreams ... I can't take away all the wealth I won before my death. I can only take away the pure feelings precipitated in my memory and the love and feelings that have nothing to do with material things. They can't deny it, and they won't disappear. They are the real wealth of life. "
I think the remarkable difference between us and the previous generation is that they are more "workaholics", pinning the meaning of life on success, while our generation may know how to balance career and life better.
But no matter where you are, there may be gains and losses. A good family makes people have more resources, but it may make people less motivated. Especially in the environment of our generation, there are a lot of impetuousness and hedonism. For example, I have a friend who likes playing games. Every day, he is as motionless as the furniture at home. He also went out to look for his girlfriend. Every day, he gets up and drives a Bentley to go shopping, all kinds of luxuries. He often spends four or five thousand yuan when he enters the store, and then goes home to continue playing games. It happens every day.
But I don't think this is the ideal life I want. Although I spent a lot of time in my life this year, I was not in a hurry to start any entrepreneurial projects. But I still think that people should at least have their own careers. If they do nothing all day, they will not be respected by others.
To put it bluntly, what will your future children think of you?
In the future, I am still eager to grow, to break through, and to gain respect by my own ability.
Jingjing CEO Lu Jian:
The previous generation took the elevator, but our generation had to climb the stairs by themselves.
Do you want to continue to be a small and beautiful company, or do you want to take a chance and open up new directions? Faced with this problem, it only took me three days to make up my mind from consideration. But behind the three days is the thinking of starting a business for two years.
My track is Internet vocational education. This track is narrow and crowded, and the market size determines that it is difficult for large companies to grow. It is not easy to become a quasi-dividend medium-sized company. I am now with a small team of about 10, and I will earn millions of dollars in the future, but the ceiling is too low. At the same time, in order to survive, I have no more experience to explore new fields.
Stopping, turning around and exploring new directions may be the best strategy at present.
Looking back on the entrepreneurial process in the past two years, I can't think of any sensational plot. The unforgettable moment is more about recognizing your own process-seeing your own narrowness and prejudice, and then honing yourself with life.
Anxiety can make a person unbalanced and prevent you from making correct judgments. Through our project, many small white users have knocked on the door of big internet companies and become new product managers. This kind of thing happens to me almost often, but I don't have much sense of accomplishment, which is expected. More often, it is surrounded by anxiety struggling on the line of life and death.
Entrepreneurship made me realize that people are usually trapped by their own prejudices and don't know it. It is very important to let go of your prejudice through positive thinking and resumption. People are so easy to escape from real thinking, including myself. In fact, some decisions made at the beginning may be very different if you think more carefully.
Looking back, I also made the mistake of many entrepreneurs with product technical background, paying too much attention to innovation and being cautious. Perhaps the "sales model" is better. First release the existing productivity, come up with a convincing data, and then melt money to expand the scale. Thinking about changing the mode every day, the plate is getting smaller and smaller, but I'm dying.
When I communicated this decision with the team, I actually didn't have too many waves in my heart. This may also be that entrepreneurship has changed people. You will quit unnecessary emotions and become more rational. I tried my best to give the best explanation to the team, help them push it back, change their resumes and lend money to everyone for compensation. Last June, 5438+February, I decided to change the training team operation mode to personal studio mode.
Regarding the next direction, education is still my initial intention.
Because education has changed me and helped me get out of the lower class, and in the future, education will be the main way to fundamentally change a person's fate. If you are an e-commerce, you can help users enjoy high-quality goods, but as an education, you can influence a person's life trajectory. From the social point of view, as Ren said, education is the best national defense. Therefore, the latter is more meaningful to me, but this time, I will understand the importance of choice more deeply.
Generally speaking, it is definitely more difficult for our generation to start a business than the previous generation.
A generation ago, people went up by elevator. A man wants to climb to a high point, and he gains personal talent and courage. More, it is "potential" that makes people go up. In our generation, the straight staircase has been closed, so you have to climb the stairs yourself. Nowadays, the head effect is obvious. It is difficult for entrepreneurs to work in big companies. With fewer resources and fewer opportunities, entrepreneurs still have to rely on their strength and brains to get ahead.
It turns out that the success story is very exciting, like getting rich overnight and becoming a company with a market value of several billion dollars in three years is normal. Aside from fairy tales, entrepreneurs nowadays should probably keep a good attitude, be less impetuous, return to business itself and do their own business first.