Gong summed up the entrepreneurial lesson: to ruthless Gordian knot

Early start to find people can not be the most suitable for the development of the company, some people if not grow up, in order to the interests of the company at the helm need ruthless. In the first month of 2014, Gong (Weibo) was attacked by a sudden bad cold. She looked rather gaunt between the hospital and the office, but Gong's mood was much clearer than at this time a year ago. Last year's lunar month 28, from New Oriental founder Wang Qiang, a phone call let gong into deep anxiety. At that time, she resigned as CEO of the century, she has just joined the online education founded 91 Foreign Teaching network soon, and won the angel investor Xiaoping and Wang Qiang joint investment of the oral commitment, but just as the lawyer has begun to walk the process, Wang Qiang but called the decision to give up investment. Wang Qiang gave the reason is that 91 foreign teachers major in the oral English market is very small, there is no big development space. This has a great impact on the gong, on the one hand, in the Spring festival during the emergency meeting NetEase Capital and other VC to raise funds; More importantly, after all, Wang Qiang is the new Oriental to fight for many years of spoken English experts, and his exit also to gong two of the mode of entrepreneurship to torture. Jianzaixianshang had to send, has been fully launched the project gong can only bite the bullet to go down, "the project does not have to be so early to publicize, maybe you have a few months to find, the direction of the election is not right." Gong later said. As a matter of course, looking for new entrepreneurial direction also runs through 2013 years 91 foreign teacher growth process. "Two startups, I still want to cut into a more than marriage market economic benefits of the field, and finally chose the online education of oral English this piece." Wang Qiang temporarily decided not to invest, but also let me start thinking about how to transform. Gong in an interview with Tencent Science and Technology, said, "We must quickly find a more likely to break the tuyere." Gong summed up six points in summing up the first pioneering experience, including controlling costs, taking advantage of the initiative, and choosing to venture outside the Internet, one of which is to adjust as soon as possible when the direction is wrong. As the knowledge of online education continues to deepen, gong is increasingly aware of the need to adjust direction. She found that in the new Oriental all products, oral demand accounted for only 2% of the total demand, primary and secondary school education income growth quickly; and 91 foreign teachers do not take the test English as the original intention of the teaching concept can not cut into the student market, the target users are basically dispersed white-collar groups, marketing costs too high The cause of this situation is that the original intention of the first two gong is to solve the "own pain point" starting, such as marriage problems and poor oral English, in the process of reflection, gong gradually changed to investigate "other people's needs" to find new entrepreneurial projects. Through exchanges with the industry and adequate market research, Gong finally decided to enter the K12 (basic education stage) market, and last November the official online ladder network, its positioning is to build a primary and secondary school quality education resources sharing platform, improve the teachers and students work learning efficiency, committed to solving students, teachers, The pain point of the parents。 Online education entrepreneurship is a gamble. As we all know, online education business is very difficult, Gong has also seen a lot of unforgettable lessons. She summed up two particularly tragic patterns of death: The first is the traditional teaching and auxiliary publishing institutions to make the Internet, the model is relatively simple, is recorded video lessons, put a lot of human and material resources, the results of the course quality is difficult to grasp, but also lack of good sales channels; There is a class to do the question bank, the death of a lot of Things have not yet been made the company has broken the capital chain. Online education market competition is fierce, local interests are intertwined, how can ladder nets to break the siege? Now I will not be bothered by all kinds of difficulties and obstacles. When others tell me that it is impossible, I will not easily be persuaded by others. Gong said, "I am the kind of desperate person, because I personally feel that many miracles happened to me." I used to be in the Zhuhai assembly line of a migrant sister, to later on Peking University, to do an internet company to the United States Nasdaq listing, which in other people's view is a miracle, but for me is a possibility. "In Gong's view, the successful experience has also benefited her two times." The first is to get more trust from investors and get high financing. Gong said that for a large number of grassroots entrepreneurs, the ladder network model is unbearable, the first three or four years at least 500 million or 600 million into, this is a gamble, but also involves a large number of offline industry extension, the chain is longer than the electricity quotient, even for the internet giant is also difficult to develop. Second, gong that the ladder network does not have any key to the lack of a link, otherwise, the start-up companies may be fatal. For example, the sales of 91 foreign teachers have a short board, in China's market posture is too large a bit ungrounded gas. These are all in the ladder network to provide a wake-up start. Ten years of entrepreneurial experience, so that gong in intuition, experience and other aspects are also more sensitive. "The first venture, I made a public company is also very accidental, at the outset did not determine where the company will go." But now I have a firm goal, a faster response, more sensitive to the market, not the best direction, we adjust very quickly; The whole company is also the choice of the most powerful people, the pace of people will be eliminated. "At present, 91 foreign teachers and ladder nets are all recruits to the staff, there is no one she had in the century Jia edge with the old men." Ten years of entrepreneurial experience, but also let gong feel very clear about what kind of talent the company needs. "Early start to find people can not be the most suitable for the development of the company, some people if not grow up, for the company's interests at the helm need ruthless." "Gong told Tencent Science and technology," I may have a human touch, some people I think although lack of ability, but conscientious, character or good, so has been retained in the company-but now I think, any one, must make achievements, to contribute value to the company. Gong in the interview with Tencent Technology, said that ladder nets will be the last time in life, the currentSome energy has been put into it, and expect to reap success in five years time. "I am a born optimist, influenced by my father's optimistic genes, I tend to think better about anything, not worse." Gong smiled and said, some people do things from the thought of ten, and then feel very difficult, afraid to go out the first step, I was thinking of a have rushed out, ran to two feel that there is something wrong with the kind of people, encountered difficulties, I believe there is always a way to solve. There is a desperate situation, you can also turn direction. ”