Many times, entrepreneurship is like a jungle adventure in the mist.

Editor: Many times, entrepreneurship is like a jungle adventure in the mist, you think you see the direction, and follow this, often is again and again "collision." Only after a collision, constantly turn the direction, will eventually be able to survive. Or, as Guo, a partner in Yintai Capital, says, startups are "Born to Die".

Compared to the experience of successful entrepreneurs, the experience of "failed" entrepreneurs is worth sharing. This is the normal, more useful reference. Peer-to-peer tourism platform "to take Me" founder Rozhun just went through the brink of "death" stage, let us see his share.

For more information about hosting me, see the report before moving technology. To put it simply, I built a platform to help tourists find local hospitality and experience the most real life on the ground. Before hosting me, Rozhun also had two startups, the first time being the electric business platform, financing two times a year and successfully selling, and the second was community service, which ended in failure.

Most successful experiences are for others to see. In reality, every successful person is not to be copied, have unspeakable mentality course, more have not to be the "Sunflower Treasure Book".

In July nearly one months of time, I sleep every night, do not like smoking me, a cigarette butts. Someone told me, would never give me a penny, someone quietly left, someone loudly accused and disappeared. I can only quietly return to my partner rented house, quietly cut down the server, quietly pay a salary ..., everything is to live.

At this time to take me, the company accounted for less than 200,000 cash, only 2 people on the staff (I and a cashier), two left the service end peer obligations to help me maintain the server. At home and abroad there are hundreds of teams in the direction of Peer-to-peer personal travel, more than 10 of the investors are disappointed to leave the number, product experience users are very dissatisfied, but can not find a way to improve.

All the representations, we're almost done.

Products

Innovative entrepreneurship has two stages, the first stage is from scratch, that is, from 0 to 1, at this stage, to meet functional demands, such as Edison invented the light bulb. The second stage is from the to the gifted, once the market has competitors, you must be cost-effective than the opponent, or be abandoned. Like the difference between energy-saving lamps and incandescent bulbs.

Take me in the first stage to do a good job, seize the opportunity to complete a jump from scratch. But to market recognition, the user is crazy, she must be easy to use, easy to use, the real solution of the user travel to find someone to play the demand. At this point, I was left behind.

Early hosting I was in less than six months to sweep the country 31 cities, opened 46 meetings, with 18 provincial ambassadors, 37 Lepetson, 100,000 members. The unique platform mode and travel play make the traveler excited, also let the user scream "We have never met, but hit" voice. But the problems of rapid growth are also exposed.

First, the product experience is poor, users enter the threshold high.

Our initial products do not register can not be viewed, and then canceled, but in order to give users enough security, set up a complex integrity system and reputation system. Users need to register after the verification of mobile phone number, identity documents and more than two SNS to have three stars of integrity certification, and even perverted to do must have a star to verify the restrictions can be found. The result is that a lot of users register, but friends can not find, feeling very hurt. In fact, the intention is to prevent people without integrity certification is found to prevent the possibility of bad trading feelings. But the user does not buy at all, "you are not a big company why should I personal data, with these personal data can assume what responsibility, still make us so tired, ye do not play." This directly results in poor user experience, low viscosity situation. And the reputation in the transaction volume when the small amount of value.

Second, too much pursuit of product closure.

PC Internet age entrepreneurs all think a good business model, must be a closed business chain. Follow this thinking, take me in the beginning to build a complete product chain, but in the mobile internet era, this is too tired, too big, too unrealistic.

We from registration, improve information, to find people, communication, transactions, payment, travel and evaluation, we hope that users here have a perfect experience, at each point has a bright spot, the result is nothing bright, each point does not thin. The results are MAS, and developers are wasting a lot of time. Take me in. The entire process of operation through the app is too difficult, in fact, mature companies do not have to do in the application of such complex design. The idea kept the schedule out of control.

In the final analysis, the nature of the product is not the understanding of the mobile Internet is not real. Mobile Internet is a fragmented, experiential, even sensory product, and the TCO cost of users can be overlooked. How to attract users, to spread users, to retain users is a test of the entrepreneurial humanity of the job.

I think, mobile Internet products are point-type products, only need to solve a point, a need, a function on it, and other completely to the community to give friends, do not want to engage in all-inclusive, let alone experience, this is too unrealistic, too easy to be defeated. How the product and external contact to produce the role is the experience, so the function is not important, how and user connection, how to let users cool is the king of products.

Knowing all this is true at the bottom of the valley. No matter how painful, how hard, how lonely, reflective learning practice has never stopped. A person continues to do brain map, repeated comb, looking for the UI design Company's brother Introspection consult, discuss, negative, spent three months of meditation asked what they want, users like what. In the middle, and our ambassadors, management trainee, members of the repeated consultation, discussion, and their own inertia of thinking entangled. After the final new product demand is clear, and brother Company completed the new product ued.

Team

After solving this fundamental problem, it is difficult to find a partner who has a professional ability, and harder to find an expert who is genuinely willing to take responsibility.

Angel Bay introduced me a lot, I have seen a lot of people. In the end, I and a persistent entrepreneurial brother congenial, become a partner, he is my founding partner Wu Hui Hui. He has worked in a company for a number of consecutive projects not to abandon, and he joined me to accept the reason is to do a bigger pattern of things. It is worth saying that the details are, he heard to take me, immediately on the Internet to check all the information, and even carefully watched many of our meeting video, can freely call our meeting in Guangzhou slogan. This is very touching.

Funds

There is no money on the account, then how to make a new product, how to recruit, everything feels bad.

At the same time, I found some of the original investors, told them I made a mistake, how to adjust the status of the company, how to cut spending, what to do next. There is a process in which investors from initial consternation to nervousness to later concern encouragement and support have the process that you have not given up and you have not been defeated. More Beijing predecessors told me, if you really have no money, my people to you to develop new products, we will die knock. All this, let me feel the world's goodwill, more determined not to forget beginner faith.

Next, I took the olive branch I did not have time to see the VC, and their communication status quo, the results of a VC very happy I found them, immediately meet. I told him the real status of the company, he did not have other VC doubts, but told me: this may be to take me the worst stage, but perhaps the best time VC. They are very optimistic about this direction, more optimistic about me this person, I hope I can quickly set up a new team, to come up with new products. In the process, I communicated with him unreservedly every detail, every thought, of ued. In the first and this VC high-level Collective report, the mode of hosting me has been recognized. The second clear expression to take my direction and positioning, and the true and correct display of the UI, I finally received nearly tens of millions of financing, will effectively solve our products from have to excellent problems, and build a shared mission of the team.

Lessons

Find partners regardless of level, dare to play is the bottom line.

In the early days, do not look for large companies, bat is very good, but not necessarily suitable for start-up companies. Large company division of labor is very fine, in a specific post, there are upstream and downstream resources docking, so easy to show excellent. However, in a start-up company, you must complete a line of business, or even a few lines of business, this time its training and education will highlight your company's "retarded."

Don't just control costs. The goal is not to suffer, but to create value, if you find a partner very hard, get no results, time cost will be the heaviest weight to kill you. Here special to explain is the choice of office address, must find transportation convenient place, decoration or very important, good environment can not only improve work efficiency, but also improve the reputation of employees.

No time to hurry. Now entrepreneurship is different from the PC Internet age, almost everything you do is immediately followed, and in less than three months there is a bunch of teams doing similar things. We are not living for our competitors.

Never doubt yourself. It's important to regain confidence in the process and it hurts to know what you need and what to do. The so-called do not forget beginner, Fang has always been, is not a scholar in the mouth of a few sour words, it is really dead several times to live again primordial.