Entrepreneur's tough story a:
Clothes + founder Zhang Mo's self-reported inspirational entrepreneurial story and life lessons after 80
I am the founder of the image recognition search engine "clothes +", access to the Silicon Valley, including the big brother, millet president Lin Bin, founder of Discuz! Ambition Capital Wang Guanxiong, Zhang Feng and other well-known investors. I am also a founding shareholder of Zhongguancun Geek Coffee along with CSDN, Zhihu and other geeky companies.
"Reconciling" Pride and Prejudice
Everyone who is in your life is there for a reason.
The labels that have been attached to me have always been indistinguishable from the prejudices that have been cast in my direction. Beautiful CEO, Microsoft, IBM, programmer, Peking University, Nanyang Technological University, Stanford, model, geek? And the voices that surrounded my ears never stopped: "Women can do high-tech stuff well? It's impossible!" "If you were a man, I'd vote for you in a heartbeat." "Female entrepreneurs are irrational and emotional." "If I vote for you, I won't be allowed to fall in love for two years!" "You don't look like a strong woman, how can you lead a good team?" "Why would you, a gentle girl, start a business? It's hard."
You once must have a dream, there is a more beautiful and better self in your heart than now, and you must have been broken by the blow like me. How do you deal with the arrogance and prejudice that society gives you?
At one time I was not good at science, and I was not a genius, and I was very bitter. "You girls aren't good at it." I was not convinced of the pride of the boys in the OU class, so I made a bet with them, and after a few months of closed-door practice got the National Mathematics, Science and Chemistry all the Olympiad awards, and in quite a long time every time the general examination ranked first in the city. It blew the minds of the unblinking princes of math, physics, and chemistry. This does not mean anything, just this experience let me understand: as long as the heart, life has no insurmountable challenges, in fact, I am stronger than I thought. The least favored not good at all do well, what can be difficult to defeat you?
I remember my mentor's ratio of male to female students is 10:1, the ratio in Microsoft's R&D organization is 17:1. accounted for a small number of places but can still write text, modeling, so that is rare. Women in the fashion industry have an inherent advantage don't they. When a woman's natural intuition, sensibility, visual sensitivity, idealism, good people and strong rationality are combined, when a woman masters the power of technology, she may be able to solve "the problem that no one can solve.
A new woman, a woman who bravely pursues her desires is not as simple as sexual liberation, nor is it a cry for women's rights, because the source of happiness and strength comes from within: embracing the inner freedom to love the imperfect self, to do what she loves to do, and to refuse to do what she doesn't want to do. Girl I am insignificant, from the motherland border town, my parents are ordinary people, on the university monthly living expenses are only 600 yuan, but I grew up with an independent personality, the freshman year began the initial business, to the aftermath of study abroad, job search, buy a house, start a business... Every penny is earned, every pass is their own breakthrough, talk about love can not talk about money only love, only my own face the world can also be spoiled.
Found in the circle of friends, Stanford clothing ordinary character sunshine, founded the enterprise is not money is to change the world, success desperately donate out, they take this as a mission; Harvard really love to read and respect the truth, they have read not a few books is a few whole library, real erudition, the heart of the mind is to help others, give back to society, compassion for the world; Peking University no matter how The world is going downhill, is China's most worried about the country as the responsibility of a group of people. Aristocrats also have differences, some noble in the identity, some noble in the bone marrow. I have no intention of proclaiming these prestigious schools, those are not important, the important thing is that there is no labeling of prestigious schools, flowing in the blood.
Every life is honored. The phrase "all men are born free and equal" is a very expensive and important phrase that has been fought for by countless people. Every unique beauty should be respected and appreciated, not just the Hollywood red carpet, and they should dress according to their own individual preferences. Therefore it should not be left to the editorial guide to guess and cater, but the choice should be given to the user. Editorial-based portals, no matter how good the recommendations are, cannot accurately meet everyone's individual needs. And so the search is on. Anyone who loves fashion has had the experience of seeing a celebrity in a photo, wearing a glamorous dress or a pair of must-have shoes, but you don't know who the designer is or what the brand is. You've searched the entire internet and can't find the same. You go to Google and type in a keyword such as "floral lace dress" and get 50 million results that make you despair. The basic problem here is that text-based search engines don't work in the clothing industry. Take pictures, buy clothes, this is the biggest hobby of women it. So my partners and I made this little thing "clothes +". With this picture search clothing App can be "what you see is what you get" way to find around the favorite clothes, by taking pictures or uploading pictures can be searched for the same or similar models of clothing, and then it is to buy and social sharing, and a lot of people to share the same models of the stars **** look through the selection. Included more than 100 mainstream fashion e-commerce goods at home and abroad. A more professional statement can be said this way: through a new generation of image recognition search and deep learning technology to tap into the potential business information in the massive image data of the mobile Internet.
We quickly converged once in the famous enterprises and schools and geek partners. "I quit my job and don't get a paycheck to come and change the world with you!" These were the most moving words I've ever received. Sail, from my company, quit her job at Barclays investment bank and spent a year and a half traveling around the world to more than fifty countries, with an IELTS score of 8 on Cambridge, a grade 10 piano, and a band director. She has volunteered in Guatemala, worked as a rock singer on the streets of El Salvador, taught in Kenya, and hitchhiked from China to the UK. Everyone has a dream, but most people only dream about it, and she went right on realizing it.
Everyone who is in your life is there for a reason. The people you like give you warmth and courage. The people you like teach you love and self-possession. The people you don't like teach you tolerance and respect. The people who don't like you make you introspect and grow. God sent them there to help you become the person you want to be. Your own growth, the refinement of your heart, and the improvement of your abilities are the best gifts on the road to entrepreneurship. Sometimes God doesn't give you what you want, not because you don't deserve it, but because you deserve better.
"Reconciliation" of dream and reality
There is also warmth in the cold, and fairy tales in the world.
Starting a business is not easy, and probably 99% of companies will die in the cruel society. Maybe your friends don't think highly of you, investors challenge you, rivals suppress you, the founder is responsible for everyone, everyone's problems you have to solve, the credit is everyone's, mistakes are their own, the most difficult time you have to give all you have and encourage everyone. A lot of childhood beauty and dreams are constantly shattered in reality, the more cruel reality of this society is that sometimes it makes you destroy all three views, forcing you to become the one you hate the most. The process of entrepreneurship when you feel the novelty of the previous did not feel, will also feel the original did not feel the pain of the time, you still think it is worth it?
When you really love something, you start to learn how to love the world.
Once, I happily took a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles to San Francisco for the scenery along the way. Ten minutes before arriving at the end of the line, a thief stole my wallet and I lost all my cash, bank cards, driver's license, and ID. I had to be stranded in the U.S., traveling around, talking to investors about my Idea?Also because of this having to be stranded, I learned about startups big and small, met Zuckerberg, Musk and other bigwigs, hung out with Latin American, Indian, Jewish and other startup buddies, and got my first angel investment.
Recently many people in the investment community have reminded entrepreneurs to be wary of ABCD rounds of death and post-IPO death. Like life, we can go straight from birth to death if only for the ending. Time grants it the gift of being wrapped up, and we travel without regrets. Perhaps the best ending is for the climber to die on the mountain, the warrior to die in the sand, and the entrepreneur to die on the road.
I do not receive a salary since the start of the business, determined not to spend the money of investors, do not care about the first class and upper class life, but the excellent talent is never stingy. After the Malaysia Airlines incident, I traveled to take the cheapest Malaysia Airlines, the result is to be patted brick "do not take Malaysia Airlines, investors will be scared to cry, you should buy insurance !" I think it makes sense to not buy Malaysia Airlines again, and then Malaysia Airlines had another accident.
Everyone is spitting on the Beijing haze, only I am excited to say that Beijing is a dream city, can return to Beijing to suck the haze, the future of the life of uncertainty, by and large, entrepreneurship is true love it. Until the haze caused me to cough and fever, every day by the cold wind blowing shivering, adding insult to injury is that the investment agreement is just short of signing, but because of the bubble theory and other changes in the environment investors choose to wait and see, in such a dilemma, because of the conviction that I have all the money invested, and the angels also waved their wings to descend. The sun is shining in Beijing and the sky is clear.
Hacking, reports were deleted by opponents, and were downgraded by opponents' cell phone assistants for no reason, which we have all encountered. The strong rivalry and great pressure on the contrary, let us more united, all night to solve the problem. Difficult times, no one lost confidence or want to leave, at that moment I y feel that I am not alone in the struggle, I carry the expectations and ideals of the whole team, and therefore I must abandon the once cowardly self and firmly believe that these are nothing more than the scenery along the way and the hiccups, as Chen Ou said, "the hidden arrows is the glory of the forerunner".
This is the first time that I've seen a movie in which I've had a chance to be a part of the show.
Sleeping in the office, sending colleagues home one by one at 4am every day a few days before the launch is also a common thing, we are one of a dozen teams selected from thousands of projects by Krypton Space Incubator to provide free services, where we cheer each other up. Once I left there at 1:30am to go home, I realized that there was still a team with all the members there, so I was full of blood again.
I once had a car accident, in bed for a month almost can not move, only dream every day, and then these dreams almost all realized; once the critical moment of the ankle fracture; once by the scammer cheated misery; once the bullet out of food? Every desperate situation will inspire the love of life and cherish, the desire to dream and action. The same is true of the entrepreneurial road, encountered a variety of things, dangerous, ruined the three views.
Once in Australia by helicopter, in the air next to my hatch opened, almost fell down; that time the Yunnan mountain road rain avalanche, a huge stone as precisely designed to hit the front of my car 2 meters. Then there was the earthquake and tsunami in Phuket, where all the people left their luggage and everything and ran wildly up the mountain. Who set up the deaths and who prevented it from happening at the critical moment? I was at peace in those moments, and I learned to learn acceptance, acceptance of myself, acceptance of impermanence, and the emptiness of life.
All setbacks are just things we have to compromise on in the process of creation. You have to believe in what you want against all odds before you can talk about compromise. In the end, death is just the last thing that has to be compromised.
"Why not leap out?" - That's the label on the window of the 61st floor of the world's highest bungee jump. Do you remember the last time you challenged yourself to leap into the unknown? Do you remember the last time you didn't need a reason to do something crazy? Do you remember the last time you let yourself go crazy with love? And then you realize that maybe the fear isn't real.
Our startups do the same thing, get through the valley of death, start growing fast, and become chased by investors.
Remember you have a dream, grab it, and don't let yourself regret it. Even if it was once in pieces, even if only a thousandth of a microcosm, with all your love to pursue, it will certainly be as you wish. You work desperately hard to become a better you. One day, you will turn from the ugly duckling into a white swan, and you will find that the better and stronger self, worthy of all the beauty.
Entrepreneur's tough story two:
Mao Jingxiang, founder of Hangzhou Mizuno, an entrepreneurial elite who drives a Maserati to recruit talents
Mao Jingxiang, founder, chairman and CEO of Hangzhou Mizuno Networks Co. The youngest member of the national "5050 program", the youngest finalist in the history of Zhejiang Province "___", was named by Forbes magazine as China's entrepreneurial elite under the age of 30, the 2014 World Hangzhou Business Conference Young Leaders Top 20?
Beautiful resume, super high value, this Beijing boy, rooted in Hangzhou dream, want to become China's Elon Musk (Tesla founder).
16-year-old plan to take the road of entrepreneurship, the University of a small fight to lay the foundation
From childhood to adulthood, Mao Jingxiang's grades have always been very good, all the way to the bailout, the standard "school bully".
"In fact, I'm a lazy person, always thinking about? The first thing I want to do is to get the most out of my time and money. Always want to use the least force to achieve the greatest effect." Mao Jingxiang said with a smile.
At the age of 16, he planned that he must start a business in the future. "When I was studying, CCTV2 set has a program, Jack Ma, Robin Li have spoken on it about their own entrepreneurial path, at that time I think, an era has come, must seize the opportunity."
When he took the college entrance exam, Mao Jingxiang chose Zhejiang University, which is the same reason he chose Hangzhou to start his business. "There's a different culture here than in the north, and there's a freer environment for entrepreneurship, so you can have fun."
While his classmates were playing games, he set up a tutoring class and was handing out flyers outside the school to solicit students. "When it does not affect professional learning, I will go outside the school, after all, only go out to grounded, only know what people need, what I can give." Mao Jingxiang said.
He saw that there was no small hotel near the Zijingang campus at that time, he ran a hotel-style apartments; when the outbreak of avian flu closed the school, the students have nowhere to entertain, he founded a gourmet workshop. Later, because he went abroad to continue his studies, he will be a small business to change hands, now, food workshop become the largest restaurant chain in Zhejiang University, serviced apartments have become six stores.
He rented a two-room apartment, which became the place where his dream began
At first, his family helped him plan for his future, which was to stay in the United States to find a random investment bank or a stable career in a state-owned enterprise. But he felt that young is capital, "no longer crazy on the old".
After returning to China, with luggage straight to Hangzhou, four students together to rent a set of two rooms and a hall, eating, sleeping and working circle inside, every day in the landlord left a small blackboard to start brainstorming.
"Entrepreneurship is painful, no smooth sailing, but learn to enjoy the process. Looking back, it is not the achievements that are remembered, but the bits and pieces of hard work." Mao Jingxiang said seriously.
As the only son of the family, Mao Jingxiang's childhood was pampered. Once his family took him to the countryside, he would get dirty when his feet stepped in the mud. at the age of 5, his mother sent him to a distant relative's house in the countryside for 3 months to experience life. "This is the real version of the Metamorphosis, after coming back or a little change, bitter ah tired ah, are not a thing." That said, he is now quite thankful for his mom's harshness.
Employees want to start a business I invested in the conference room meeting, are standing
Now, the main Internet advertising and gaming MiTech has been on track, the market value of 2 billion.
The success of an enterprise cannot be separated from the cooperation of the whole team, from a reasonable mechanism, and even more from an open corporate culture.
In MJ, Mao Jingxiang encourages all employees to start their own business. "Employees have a good idea of good entrepreneurial projects, I will do early investment, failure, it is okay, continue to work well in the company." Mao Jingxiang said, the company is actually an incubator, the investment even if it hit the water is a normal thing.
In Mitch, the conference room is only a table, no chairs. Mao Jingxiang said, before sitting in the meeting, it will be idle, the longest meeting opened 4, 5 hours, too much time. In order to improve efficiency, he will be all the chairs removed from the conference room, "standing tired, we are not willing to stand for one more minute, so it will be the words to be said clearly on the good, the efficiency is also high."
Mao Jingxiang in the company, repeatedly emphasized, do not lose the "wolf". Each founder will take out 2% -3% of the original shares, put into the betting equity pool. The company will conduct annual performance appraisal of the partners, did not meet the target, the equity will be diluted, do a better job will get more. "I'm not afraid that when the company goes public, I will become a minority shareholder, I'm only afraid that a few of us wolves placed inside the flock will gradually lose our wolfishness. A company that gets bigger and loses its passion for innovation and entrepreneurship will fall sooner or later." He said that instead of squeezing the labor of employees, it is better to realize the dream with entrepreneurial partners.
Driving a luxury car as a Uber driver, not to make money only to find talent
In 2014, the Hi-tech Zone (Riverside) Science and Technology Park circulated a story that the CEO of a company drove a Maserati as a people's Uber (uber) driver. Speaking of this incident, Mao Jingxiang laughed. He said, as the people's Uber driver is to recruit talent.
At that time, the company needed talents in user interface design, and students from the China Academy of Art were the most suitable. He then waited for a rabbit, specifically looking for students of the Academy of Fine Arts to pull the job. "Once on the car to talk, I asked people's specialty, whether they are interested in my company, but also to tell him about our corporate culture?" Mao Jingxiang said, he never charged money as a driver, simply want to recruit, I did not expect to be really recruited by him.
In order to recruit, he is also quite desperate. All the social software, he installed. He also let the company's male programmers pretend to be beautiful women on the network, accosting male programmers from other companies, and then prying the talent over.
Now, Mao Jingxiang occasionally on some programs, he said, he is not so high-profile people, but one of the benefits of participating in the program, is conducive to recruitment. "On a program, the microblogging fan volume is miso up, open private messages, is a few hundred, can not wait to reply."
Mao Jingxiang has a slogan , "I'm not a high-flying handsome, but I want my employees to become high-flying handsome!" Maybe it is because of this, many employees are dying to follow him.
Diamond fresh meat has a girlfriend ah, 40 years old, he has to help other people listed
Outside of work, he is also just a 27-year-old guy. He loves music, and not only can he write and sing songs, he can also play the piano, saxophone and guitar. He has studied art for more than ten years, and at the age of four, he won a gold medal in an international competition, and his works are exhibited in the China Art Museum. He also likes to play basketball and travel.
Gentle boys have a pet complex. Mao Jingxiang has a 7-month-old gray teddy named Duo Mi, often followed Mao Jingxiang to work.
Many people are concerned about the personal life of Mao Jingxiang, he is very real: "I have a girlfriend who has been in love for eight years, college classmates, the relationship has been very good."
His goal is, at the age of 30, the company listed, a company listed in the domestic A shares, a company listed on the NASDAQ, "After the listing, I will get married."
He said that at 40, he wants to help other people start their own businesses and go public. "It's rewarding to help others fulfill their dreams."