Build a Company for Your Ideals, Not for Investors

Sun Tzu: ‘Those skilled in warfare seek advantage in the situation rather than demand it of individuals; they can therefore select people and harness momentum.’ Lei Jun: ‘I have understood the key to success. There are plenty of intelligent, hardworking people in this world, but those are only prerequisites. They do not guarantee success. What truly matters is moving with the trend: you have to find the tailwind.’ Moving with the trend is the most important life philosophy Lei Jun has gained through so many years of entrepreneurship and effort. Haier founder Zhang Ruimin: There are no successful companies, only companies that belong to their era! RT-Mart founder Huang Mingduan (黃明端): I defeated every competitor, yet lost to the times! --- Even an entrepreneur as capable as Lei Jun cannot fight the times or the prevailing trends. If the direction and market are wrong, a bottleneck arises naturally. When investing, we must not exaggerate or mythologize a CEO’s individual abilities. Those who ultimately succeed usually do so by working with the trend. If a CEO believes they can manufacture momentum and constantly opposes the prevailing direction, do not invest, however extraordinary their abilities may be. No one can fight the times or the trends. If a CEO is new and inexperienced but modest, receptive, and good at harnessing the situation, do not dismiss them because of an outward appearance of weakness. Jack Ma was particularly astute at harnessing momentum. On a business trip to the United States, he saw the internet’s future and the potential of bringing commerce online. After returning to China, he devoted himself to building and developing e-commerce, persisted for fifteen years, and created Alibaba. Few could match his ability and determination to ride the e-commerce wave. Pony Ma’s ability to harness social networks arguably involved some luck. At first, he did not clearly understand how instant messaging would make money. But enormous user demand and his passion kept him going. When the momentum of social networking exploded, he naturally became its biggest beneficiary. #Touzi Yilei ---- Robin: ‘Investors judge the size of an industry, but founders can think differently. For example, a startup can aim to dominate a narrowly defined market segment, beginning with a small niche and concentrating its resources to develop it deeply and thoroughly, rather than starting with an enormous platform. What you do should be something you love, something you are willing to spend ten or twenty years building. There is some tension between doing what you love and choosing a large market for your startup. My advice is to be yourself. Start a company for your ideals and work for your dreams. You should not be starting one for fundraising or for investors.’