Great Entrepreneurial Ventures Often Go Against the Flow

Originally published 2022-03-13Robin’s commentary

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Collected in Robin Shen’s Field Notes · Content type and attribution are shown above

English translation of the Chinese post originally published 2022-03-13. Translated 2026-10-30 with AI assistance. Historical figures and claims have not been updated or independently verified. 中文原文

Reading guide

Robin begins with a joke: if every car on the road seems to be going the wrong way, you are probably the one driving in the wrong direction. He says great entrepreneurial ventures often charge ahead fearlessly against the flow, making every other driver wonder whether they are the ones going the wrong way. In his generation, he sees Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX as examples of defying others’ opinions and creating a legend—one person ushering in, at a minimum, the eras of electric vehicles and the commercial aerospace market. (This is Robin’s personal assessment.)

Key points

Great entrepreneurial ventures often go fearlessly against the flow.
Others may become confused and question their own direction.
Examples: Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX, in Robin’s personal assessment.

One clear path continues into the distance among several branching routes, suggesting choice and focus. — Entrepreneurship & strategyThematic illustration · AI generated

Full text — English translation

There is a joke that if you find every car on the road driving illegally in the wrong direction, you are probably the one going the wrong way. Great entrepreneurial ventures are often like that: they charge ahead fearlessly against the flow, even leaving all the other drivers confused and wondering whether they are the ones going the wrong way. In my generation, the examples of disregarding other people’s opinions, going against the flow all the way, and creating a legend are still Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX. One person ushered in, at a minimum, the era of electric vehicles and the era of the commercial aerospace market.

These articles are personal notes, book excerpts, and collected reprints. Figures and events reflect the time of the original publication, are not current information, and do not constitute investment advice.

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