Xiaoping: Entrepreneurial "Seven defeats" bitter must be too high to die

Entrepreneurship is a process that always struggles with one's ability, dreams and will. Good companies are the same, bad companies have their own way of dying.

In China today, entrepreneurship is indeed the strongest tone of the times. When I vote on every project, I think, "It's a Facebook"--it turns out to be "a dead end." It is the process of looking for hope forever in despair, and it is a bitter and valuable experience for me to invest in 56.

Are startups going to die? As long as the founder does not die. Many companies carrying a few dollars left, as long as you do not give up, often can also be turned over. In the early days of the new east, almost every day has led to the collapse of things happened, but Mr Yu insisted on the end, has been held to this day.

Entrepreneurship is always directly related to one's abilities, dreams and will. Entrepreneurship is like Kuafuzhuiri, you keep chasing the sun, although you can never reach the sun, but you will be a step closer to the sun.

Of course, the failure of entrepreneurship is still happening every day. Therefore, we must allow failure, study failure, and generously share the story of failure, and finally let us learn from the wisdom of avoiding failure.

Marketing for the King

Marketing product, Bad

Company A is one of the first three companies I have invested in, leading American business schools and first-rate talent to come to China to do a good project that could overthrow the new Oriental. They are based on the web, can meet countless people at the same time online learning. It can be said that there is no shortage of good products and the education team, but there has been no local marketing experts, no localization, good products did not sell. So five years later, the company was forced to sell to others and now basically fails.

The lesson of this company is: Marketing for the king, no marketing, products no matter how good. In turn, China has a lot of bad products, but it has been successful because of marketing. For example, the brain platinum publicity into a tonic, the white wine to say "golden wine", marketing means is "the next door children bought gold wine to parents, why don't you buy me?" Unscrupulous marketing is also marketing. I don't advocate this, but you have to learn marketing.

Team Spirit

Spirit, bad.

This is a business model enough to threaten the new Oriental online education company, the project is very good. But after the vote, the team went wrong: a find the technology and market, and then find an investor who finds B and c,abc together. Everyone wants to be rich, when they are in trouble, you accuse me and I accuse you.

The same thing happened in New Oriental, and it would not be so. We have encountered many very painful conflicts in the development of the new Oriental, but because of the spiritual characteristics of the new Oriental team, these conflicts, which are basically split up in other companies, have become a valuable driving force for its growth in the new Oriental.

New Oriental team, the core characteristics of human resources have a 3T gene: Students, colleagues, fellow countrymen. Mr Yu and Wang Qiang are classmates, I and Mr. Yu is a colleague of Peking University, was his teacher, and then Yu was my boss. Our portfolio is very special, but very solid. When the problem, you know there is a kind of what can fight, there is a tacit understanding of what can not fight. 30 years of common feelings, ideals of the pursuit, you can not solve a problem on the flop, so the relationship is very strong.

Now, the new Oriental COO Chen Xiangdong is the student of Mr Yu, they also have a tacit understanding, really can't scold a language. So 3T, we are divided between small, complementary, old Yu is English training everyone, Wang Qiang is English everyone, I am good at student services, we complement each other, encounter things, the principle of mutual respect, but also understanding each other. To form the core force of the new Oriental team spirit.

Another example is the poly-beauty product. Three founders are classmates, once got an investment in half a year to burn out. In the company to find new direction, rapid development, nor is there no conflict, including the most complex and sensitive equity issues, but because of their classmate relationship, brotherhood of existence, they have successfully dissolved these contradictions, and now become a wonderful business.

All bitter must be with Gan

Dream, Bad Sofitel

The dream is good, the bed is different. If two people think differently, then entrepreneurship is very difficult, and even if two people think the same, but if the interests are inconsistent, still can't dream until dawn. Many startups, in three years, basically see no signs of making money, even pay only to get 3,000, 5,000/month, but everyone is doing, why? Because there is a common interest appeal, the common cause of the dream-to the Nasdaq listing Dream.

The business team, share distribution must be balanced and reasonable. There must be a mechanism for sharing with weal. If the founder of the exclusive shares, why do they work for you and chase you dream? generally unsuccessful.

My early investment in a company, the CEO has a 100% stake, the result of three years before the bitter death, failed. When he started his business again, he found another partner, two shares of 55 off, and left a large majority to the later team. The company's main education and training, he even sold 10 million of the house to buy the enterprise, three years down, the company's revenue billion. And at the end of last year, international celebrities were invited as directors and advisers. Now the company's development prospects are extremely gratifying. If there is no share structure of sharing weal and woe and dreaming in bed, it is feared that his second venture will be difficult to carry on.

Talent allocation

Slide-up, Bad

This case is a recent occurrence, I did not vote, so there is no failure. Two people want to do business with the school, but because of lack of campus promotion talent, can not do. The first to see the Black Horse contest won the company, the founder of a double doctor, said the product is very well, but no sales staff, no sales experts brought sales channels. Such a company, even the most important talent allocation has not thought well, how can we find money?

When you want to start a business, you need to have a good talent profile. CEO, CTO, CMO indispensable. The new Oriental to achieve the end of 1995, its talent allocation has far surpassed the old Yu aroused social demand, beyond its capacity. Study Abroad application, Visa interview, go abroad, emigrate ... Old Yu is too busy to come. I will take these business to take over, and Old Yu's overseas examination training to form a perfect product line, constitute the early development of the new Oriental service chain. Without me coming back, the new Oriental also needs a person who knows how to go abroad to provide this service, otherwise it will be incomplete.

Expansion like fermentation, talent like dough

Culture,bad yeast

This is similar to the previous one, but it refers to the co-founder (co-founder) configuration of the entrepreneurial team, which is about the key talent build-up in the company's development. The investment fund is a company, is related to fashion business, very strong, very unique, the user is very loyal, but has been unable to find the CTO, looking for six months also did not find. I told him that expansion, such as fermentation, without talent, could not be made into dough. You have to take the most time to find this kind of talent, otherwise, the company will not do well.

When I was in new Oriental to make a country consultation, a person speaks every day, sometimes really cannot speak, put twenty or thirty person to put a class to speak one hours, very effective. Now I can meet a lot of people who have heard my counseling and have been tutored by me. Old Yu is also. Before the old Eubrian lectures students do not come, 1997 years later, became old're said students do not come. If according to the new Oriental scoring system, he should be dismissed, Old Yu said this help students mischief, because I was the boss deliberately joking with me. Why did the students give him the same low score? He is too busy to lecture, and the students can feel it without the vigor of the teachers in the new classroom. You've got to keep accumulating talent, and your company will continue to expand like a dough.

Expect too high to die

Valuation, bad expectation

You do six months or a year, VC will come to you, you will find VC. No matter who first, must tell the moving story, Angel Stage, the company valuation generally in hundreds of to 10 million yuan, to a round stage, should be valued at hundreds of to 10 million yuan. You can be a little taller if your product grows wildly. Many companies are asking exorbitant prices, and everyone has to ignore you.

According to my experience over the past two years, the A is 35 times times easier to get than the angel stage, such as the January 1 million-2 million dollar valuation, to the end of 5 million-10 million dollars, is more reasonable and common. I invested in a company, the time is 250,000 dollars accounted for 10%, after less than three months famous VC to call the founder, said I give you 1.5 million dollars accounted for 5%? The valuation Rose 15 times times in a few months, but the guy was too little, I was in the United States, unable to face him to the table, angry at me. Later, the company died because of cash flow, if the money was taken, even if the model failed, now can still live. When the money comes, do not reject it, open your arms to embrace it, the company survival is big.

Unconditional love for customers

The IPO, Bad SoS

Enterprises must have principles, must be unconditional love for customers, must be the pursuit of customers as your pursuit, the interests of customers as your interests, customer unconditional care.

We did very well in new Oriental. In the early days of the new Oriental, one of our teachers promised students to live three-star hotel, air-conditioned, and have a color TV, so the students came to find nothing? At that time, a huge "riot", all walks of life send children to read a friend called to ask, what's the matter? We believe that you will send the children, how to deceive. We did one thing: to refund the full return, we also give you the money to go home, if not go, on-site to solve the Samsung, four-star hotel. The accident, we lost tens of millions of cash, but by the students responsible for a successful solution, the new Oriental instead attract more students. Do we have any principles? The principle is customer satisfaction.

This is my conclusion, always to the market, to the customer with awe, pious mood. Such a company is lost, the market also recognized.

We must have lofty social responsibility, economic development is for the people's happiness, if your economic development problems to the people, such people should be arrested and legally sentenced. I was in the United States, once saw a newspaper reported that a girl because of the safety belt quality problems, the result of a modern car compensation 100 million dollars. Everyone knows that the McDonald's coffee accident, the old lady drank coffee hot, lost her more than 300,000 dollars. We may think Americans are greedy, but they believe that protecting consumers is the greatest value of society.

On-Site questions and Answers

Dark Horse Camp Students: we are doing a creative tourism project, is a cash flow business. In this case, we should rely on their own strength to further development, do more accumulation to finance, or now to finance?

Xiaoping: Now find it, can find it, why hide in the mountains do not let others know. It's best if you can communicate with VC People VC These people are like sharks chasing big fish, big fish chasing small fish like to find new projects, now you even do not have money, but if you first into their discernment, after a few months you need to invest, this investment is much easier. VC investors on a project whether to vote, often in the internal dispute is very fierce, if the project eventually died, it is equal to tens of millions of dollars did not, true gold and silver AH. Comrades, when you face the capital, always say that you are a vulnerable group, in fact, the capital is vulnerable groups, its fate is relying on you. So let investors know as early as possible what you are doing and how you are growing.

Black Horse Camp Students: I am also an entrepreneur. Miss Xu often to invest in education projects, but rarely mobile internet. We are a baby family social project, so I would like to ask Mr. Xu's current development of mobile Internet projects in view?

Xiaoping: If 1999, 2000 is the Internet winter, then two or three years later, and then restored to the midsummer, and bear fruit. So, the mobile Internet is definitely the future, and the future is now. Its development trend is undoubtedly extremely alarming. In fact, we have cast a lot, now also embarrassed to say, because either not dead, is dying. It is a new thing, we are still exploring, winner do not know. We don't understand, the people who do understand, we vote for him. For example, the flight Butler is a very good application, once I went to the airport on the road, for fear of delay boarding, very anxious, the result of the flight delayed two hours. If I had a flight housekeeper, I wouldn't be in such a hurry. Although it does not make money for the time being, but such an important product, in the future will always have money.

Dark Horse Camp Students: how do you see some angel investors only to know?

Xiaoping: Some people say he is not familiar with the vote, do not understand the project, the industry does not vote. I am very happy, because the rest of me all cast ... I cast the project, no acquaintance not acquaintances of the problem, as long as your smile can impress me, your story can convince me. I am an angel, have a little public welfare psychology. I was later summed up: charity is to help people in need of help, and investment Angel is to help people who want to help. In other words, angels help the Strong, help the people who dream to help people, every entrepreneur is great. I have always said that, despite the loss of investment, but also will be happy, because the venture at least increased the GDP of the year. This is not a joke, you take the money to do, a few buddies with a year or two to toss, for the overall wealth of society is a value-added benefit.

Xiaoping is the co-founder of the New Oriental, as angel investors, he invested in enterprises including the century Jiayuan, red-yellow-blue, poly-Mei excellent products and other well-known enterprises, more than 5 years of investment in hundreds of projects, have seen the enterprise is countless.