"Who to Learn" Chen Xiangdong: Why am I 42 years old to leave New Oriental?

I told Mr Yu that I would like to do something different, and if I can do it well, it is definitely not another success in the new Oriental. Article | Shen Lingli This January, I left the post of New Oriental CEO, and in June, I started an online education platform to learn from. I've been working in new Oriental for more than 14 years and I've never defined myself as a professional manager, I feel like I'm starting a business every day and I feel like doing something great with the team. Although it seems to me that the company is not founded by me, most of them think I am a professional manager. I never thought I would leave New Oriental. Remember 1999 I went to the new Oriental interview, Mr Yu asked why the new Oriental, I said, you start is a teacher, but finally can do so well, so I think the new Oriental should be my career. But men generally to the age of 40 will have a confused period, sometimes do not know which words will touch you. This is an entrepreneurial era, you see a lot of people doing a good job, you will ask yourself whether to start a business. I am very high in the new Oriental, if I can not find a different to make me more excited, this is to let me very scared. Finally choose to start a business or dream driven. Mr Yu asked me: "Chen Xiangdong I am so good to you, why do you still think of leaving?" I said: When you left Peking University, it was also driven by a dream. "At the end of 2012, I went to Harvard to study," said the professor, "There are five things in my heart: Goodness, hope, joy, courage and strength." He said the courage two times. When we have to challenge higher heights and help more people, the key is to have the courage to do it. The professor, formerly the president of a pharmaceutical company in the United States, has made the company 60 billion dollars from 1 billion dollars. At the age of 57 he decided to resign and teach at Harvard, and I asked him if he regretted it, and he said it seemed too late to leave today. As a professional manager, you can leave when you are 65 years old, or you can leave when you are 45 years old. When you are 65 years old, leaving someone else will say you are old, but leaving at the age of 45 is infinitely possible. After hearing this, I really can't sleep. March 2013, I went to Harvard to study leadership lessons. The leadership model test showed that I was no longer fit for my position. Because in a large organization, the role of synergy, coordination and more, and innovation, the promotion of a little bit less, but my heart is in this era of change to quickly push one thing, do a different trend under the tuyere. However, disruptive innovation often comes from outside the enterprise, not within the enterprise. I have thought before, the future I want to start a business, certainly can not completely copy a new Oriental, because the new Oriental do good enough, even if you do an identical, will never surpass it. So when I talk to Mr Yu all night long, I say I want to do something different, and if I can do it well, it should be another kind of success that differs from the new Oriental. Who to learn "is a good doctor in the field of education" the most important thing is the teacher. I've been playing more than 20 in the education industry.Years, I have a deep understanding of this. I was 17 years old to work in the Iron gate one, this is at that time the whole Xinan County very good middle school. When we got there, the most impressive thing was that our headmaster ran a good teacher in the education bureau almost every day, and he spent a lot of time on teaching staff, and he personally gave two classes a math class, just to make an example. A year later, our school in the county can be ranked first, the county leaders have their children sent to our school. Later I worked in New Oriental for 55 years and saw the number of teachers increase from one hundred or two hundred to more than 17,000. People talk about the new Oriental, more still talk about the new Oriental Teacher's story. So I think, good institutions, schools are because of good teachers and attract people. But at the moment, any search site can be found almost exclusively by agencies. to any organization, it is difficult to fully see the teacher's behavior. At the same time, the big cities are becoming more and more congested, parents need to run to the institutions to attend lectures, lectures are not satisfied with the refund fee, this process is really disturbing. Then, in the mobile internet age, if there is such a platform for people to sit at home can quickly find and understand the teacher, will be very great. There are five trends in the future training industry. First, there will be more and more individual free teachers or teachers ' workshops. In Taiwan, South Korea will see many famous teachers to form their own studio, online and offline combination of teaching methods. Second, there will be more and more professional service organizations in small and beautiful. The organization is not large, on a full-time to do a piece, to achieve the ultimate. Like some dance organizations, or TOEFL, IELTS training institutions, there are many now. Third, there are more and more institutions serving the subdivisions of the community. Four, the item Bank class, the tool class, the resource class and so on provides the content the organization to be more and more, moreover these content will be approaching free. V, now the mobile internet will be linked to the line offline, but the core is still under the line, especially in the face of K12 groups. There will be more and more of these offline institutions. As a result, the platform of the service medium and small organization becomes a kind of just need. Many people say with whom to learn "is a teacher's electricity business platform, in fact it is not Taobao, nor the cat." Because Taobao sells above all is the standardized commodity, including Taobao classmate ", is the standardized video, but with who learns" provides the line on-line the teaching resources match. Therefore, it can be understood as an educational scene in the good Doctor ", is to do a platform, do not do their own content, but let teachers to come in, achieve a win-lose." The way we teach is divided into offline lectures and online classes. Online teaching tool technology is all our own research and development, we have the core technology, all with their own platform. Violate the principle "angel investment September 22 9:22, with WHO to learn" PC Beta online. In fact, for me, the launch of a product test version on-line, or quite pressure, because the new Oriental career experience, may be affixed to a label, what I do now, people will use a magnifying glass to see. I later thought that the label was given to me, and I just wanted to do something with a lot of good people to influence the good people. Who to learn "to the present creationMade a lot of speed records. At first 3 people, in a basement, or borrow friends of the venue, see people, Talk, sketch the future. To Zhongguancun Software Park, 9 days after the decoration is finished, all of us installed, and soon began to office. In the middle we also received 3 small team, these small team or in Baidu, Ali worked, are particularly excellent. Now we have about 200 employees, half of them engaged in product technology research and development, most of them are senior, good people have shares. To the Zhongguancun Software Park to see the venue of the day, I met the Kai Fu Capital co-founder Gukai. I left him a phone call and left. Just out of the way, he called me. I did not receive, he sent a message, said to meet to chat. Gu Zong later introduced to me the founding partner of Fu Zhe Capital. He said that Kai Fu is a start-up company, our characteristic is to cast fast. I gave him a few conditions: first, do not ask me what to do, I will certainly work hard; second, the middle can not interfere with me, let me do; third, assuming I want his money, I should not be worse than his money. Gu always said no problem, soon cast. Later they joked that such a vote was a violation of principles. This is trust. So we got millions of dollars in angel investment this May. None of the 6 co-founder founders who were "enrolled in the Grand founding team who studied" came directly from the new east. When I left New Oriental, Mr Yu understood me very well and did not let me sign a business contract. But I asked him, he said you should not do the same thing as New Oriental in 3 months. Just left the new Oriental, in order to avoid causing trouble, I have rested in the United States for a few months, came back to see a lot of investors, but I said first rest a year. Within a year, invest. In the process I met Su. He was working on an education project and wrote to me to invest. But the site has not been online to be shot down, and then re-register the domain name and the company. At that time Su said that if I am not a legal person, the formation of a team may not be a lot of people want to come, I need to do a trust endorsement. Then because of the opening to enter, accidentally, I was "came in." 3 of our current co-founders are Internet professionals, one of whom is called Zhanghuiting. He is Baidu Phoenix Nest early founder, is a friend recommended to me. At that time I surf the internet, no information on the Internet, a burst of ecstasy, because I found a person if you can get other people's praise, online there is no message, that this is a down-to-earth person. I'll meet him. In fact, he had just gone to a trip to Silicon Valley, after watching a circle, on the entrepreneurial has been a little tempted. So, to some extent I did not take him away from Baidu, is his own decision to leave from Baidu. But there was another company that had offered him a good position, which was said to be worth 100 million. Later I told him you want that 100 million what use, if say we this matter can be made, certainly not a billion thing, second, we this is to directly help people, achieve people, influence people, how good. So he was tempted. But then almost went away, because the boss over there is also talking to him. Although I was suddenly killed in, but I believe that I am still attractive. I said you and I a business, even if the failure is valuable, go out to the market is still valuable. Finally, he decided to leave Baidu. Another co-founder is called Song Dynasty. He started his business with me in Wuhan in the 2002, and later was responsible for the entire financial process of new Oriental, investment and acquisition and asset Management. He had left New Oriental and wanted to look after his elderly family. Then I invited him to start a business, after a period of ideological struggle, he joined. In short, our founding team was soon established. of our 6 founders, 3 were educated, 3 internet-age, 37.7 years old, and each of us was an internal-driven type. Now there are so many good people come in, we are optimistic about the education market. How does the traditional education and the Internet merge? One investor asked me, you are in the traditional education, now do the Internet, your culture how to merge? I said very simple, what is the company culture? The leader is optimistic, the following are optimistic, the leader every day Shine, the following people are Shine; The leader carefully calculated, the following everyone is careful calculation, the leader to share, dedication, give, the following everyone is willing to share, help others. Until now, I do not take a penny here, business trip is to spend my own money, I think I want to be an example, drivers and secretaries are my own pay. Leadership is a role model that serves others. Example is not the best way to lead a team, but the only way to do it-I have said this point more than 10 years ago. Then someone asked our staff: Chen Xiangdong come to work every day? Our staff said: "Work, every day come early!" Our team has a lot of good people, many of them have millions of annual salary, management team hundred people. They can come together to start a business, first of all must be for the dream. But I say, dream I have here, but also certainly can make money. We have a very senior engineer, originally took hundreds of thousands of, came here in addition to stocks, only 15000 dollars a month. But he said the pay was too high and asked to be lowered to 5000 bucks. I said entrepreneurship is risky, in the event of failure? He said, what if it succeeds? At first, I said to the other founders, "Don't worry about anything, do something first, I'll get some money, but they insist that they have to throw in some money." Su let me particularly moved, his family economic conditions are not so good, but also adhere to entrepreneurship, in Beijing for so many years has been renting live, very difficult, very tough, do not give up. So, even when I started my business, I told myself that I could do the CEO of New Oriental from a rural child, is already enjoyed the taste of success, so entrepreneurship do not give themselves pressure, to do their best, but then I think the pressure is still very large, because there are so many people trust you, still holding a very low salary. So, I am now back to the 2002 to Wuhan for new Oriental market-like, before going to bed at night holding the book, think about a few things to do tomorrow, sleep a while, and then add a few. But I enjoyed it. If I had any advantage in the past, to a start-up company, these advantages are likely to be inferior. So I need to make some changes. I used to have an office and now I don't want to sit in the office with everyone. In the big company, everyone called me Chen, Miss Chen, so slightly alienated. In order to be more equal, I have an English name called Larry, let everyone call my English name. I never wear sandals in new Oriental for so many years, now after starting a business, to build an engineer state, to go to listen to their speeches, so that they will feel that it is a communication with them, can walk into their hearts.