创业者应该自问的10个问题

　　This is a summary of some comments I made at the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong’s SME Forum on October 16, 2014.

　　What’s the most important thing when you’re starting up?

　　Many people would say “capital”, but I think the founder’s passion far outweighs the value of their assets.

　　That passion must be contagious, consistent, and convincing, and communicated effectively to key employees, customers, partners and potential investors.

　　With passion and a business idea which has a decent chance of being monetized, you can obtain capital. On the contrary, no amount of capital can buy you passion.

　　Do you want to have partners, or to go it alone?

　　You need to know yourself — and be brutally honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses — in order to answer this question.

　　Bringing partners in because they are nice folks with time on their hands is most likely not a winning strategy. This may only become clear after you either start making, or losing, a lot of money.

　　If potential partners are friends or family, that adds pluses as well as minuses.

　　If you do have partners, spend money at an early stage on sound legal counsel to draft a shareholders’ agreement. This should define — among other things — the share valuation formula applicable if one partner chooses to depart at some stage, for whatever reason. It is a very common mistake to overlook this step, which often leads to disastrous and costly results.

　　Further down the road, when other companies approach you with joint equity partnership proposals, take a long, hard look at each. Consider whether a better and simpler approach might be a contractual partnership. Joint equity ventures in business make marriage look simple by comparison.

　　What are you most preoccupied with at the starting gate?

　　Getting the business up and running, right?

　　Right. That’s normal and good, but one thing you need to think through early on are the potential exit scenarios. There are two parts to this question: your personal exit scenario, and that of the company.

　　Sometimes they are different facets of the same question; but sometimes not. This can also change over time.

　　Potential future opportunities to sell the business in whole or part should be considered when building your longer term strategic plan. Maybe you have offspring or other family willing to step in, if and when you decide to go do something else. Maybe not, or maybe you’re not sure yet. Better think about this carefully. Never assume that start-up partners will hang in forever, including you.

　　Are you easily swayed by the “conventional wisdom”?

　　I reckon I’ve made some brilliant business decisions in the past 40 years, as well as some really boneheaded ones.

　　The great decisions often flew in the face of the conventional wisdom of “the leading experts” at the time. Sometimes, they involved saying “no” to a newly proposed business deal rather than saying “yes”.

　　Both good and bad decisions were often based as much on gut feel as on empirical data. Even with all the market research data available, you need to trust your gut feel.

　　Don’t be daunted when people say your ideas are crazy. That’s often an indicator you’re onto something innovative and promising.

　　Are you too mainstream?

　　To be a visionary and anticipate the customers’ needs before even they are aware of them, you need to be an outlier; sometimes a loner, a wanderer, an explorer. Don’t be afraid of that. And be prepared for the reality that being an entrepreneur involves a lot of lonely moments.

　　How well topped up is your optimism tank?

　　Relentlessly refill your optimism and self-confidence tanks because they will be essential to your success, and they will be sucked nearly dry repeatedly along the way. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking, and remember that it needs recharging frequently.

　　Will you be able to pay key employees better than your top, big competitors?

　　Probably not, so you as a leader will need to inspire them better than the competition does. Think carefully about how you are going to do that, day in and day out. This is critical to your success.

　　How arrogant are you capable of becoming?

　　Jim Collins writes in “How The Mighty Fall” about the numerous examples of companies which fall from sustained greatness to dismal failure, because of “hubris” creeping into the leadership suite following prolonged periods of great success. Hubris is the kind of bold arrogance which makes leaders feel invincible, creating big blind spots, and deafening them to the intensity of the competitive drumbeat.

　　Hubris covers our rear view mirror with duct tape, so that as leaders we lose the ability to keep a vigilant watch on approaching competition. Whatever you do, don’t get big-headed.

　　Are ethical business practices and core values a tactical choice?

　　No. They represent a strategic decision, of the sort you need to consider at the outset.

　　Having well-enunciated core values and principles, even when they differ from those of key competitors, provides clarity, confidence, pride, and a sense of differentiation to key employees. They also help insulate you from a corrosive, self-depreciating, less predictable and slippery environment.

　　As the founder and leader, you have clear choices and alternatives. Taking the high road and communicating effectively about it has a positive impact on the bottom line, even though it may cost some lost business along the way. It will help attract better quality managers, as well as investors and partners.

　　How much time are you personally planning to spend on mentoring key staff?

　　You may not have given it much thought, but I suggest you do.

　　There are many aspects to total employee compensation, and in an entrepreneurial environment, exposure to mentoring from the boss can be a huge and persuasive bonus.

　　Paychecks to staff are not issued on a random basis. Mentoring should not be random or occasional either. Mentoring is not micro-managing. Teach them well, and let them get on with their jobs.

　　2014年10月16日，我在香港美国商会的中小企业论坛发表了一些观点，在此摘要如下：

　　当你开始创业时最重要的东西是什么？

　　很多人可能会说是“资本”，但我认为创业者的“激情”应该远远高于财物资产。

　　这种激情必须具有感染力、持之以恒、令人信服，并能有效地传达给骨干员工、消费者、合作伙伴以及潜在的投资者。

　　拥有激情和适合货币化的商业理念，就会获得资本支持。相反，无论有多少资本，都买不来你的激情。

　　你想与人合伙，还是单打独斗？

　　你必须了解自己——要勇敢而诚实地面对自己的强项和弱点——才能回答这个问题。

　　因为对方人好又有时间就拉他们入伙是最不靠谱的做法，这一点，可能只有在开始赚大钱或亏本的时候，你才能看清。

　　如果潜在的合伙人是朋友或家人，情况就有好有坏。

　　假如你有合伙人，创业初期阶段就多花钱找个好律师，起草一份股东协议。协议除规定其他事项外，还应明确如果某个合伙人在某阶段因任何理由离开，股份估值应怎么计算。忽略这一步是极其普遍的错误，后果往往具有灾难性，且代价不菲。

　　更远一点的阶段，当有其他公司向你提出股权合作时，一定要审慎对待。考虑一下签约合作的方式是否更好更简单，因为股权合作的难度让婚姻都相形见绌。

　　起步阶段最该专注于什么？

　　业务启动和运营，对吗？

　　对，这很正常，也很好。但有件事你需要及早考虑，就是可能的退出方案。这个问题包含两个部分，即个人和公司的退出。

　　有时候这是同一个问题的两个侧面，但有时并非如此，也有可能会随时间而变化。

　　在拟定长期战略计划时，应考虑未来整体或部分出售公司的可能。当你打算转行时，也许会有子女或其他家人愿意接手，但也许没有，或者你也不能确定。最好仔细考虑好这些，千万不要以为创业伙伴，包括你自己会永远做下去。

　　你容易屈从于“传统观点”吗？

　　我承认过去40年曾做过很多出色的商业决策，但也做过一些愚蠢的决定。

　　卓越的决策常常违背当时“权威专家”的传统观点。有时，他们会对新出现的生意持否定而非肯定看法。

　　决策无论好坏，常常建立在直觉而非经验数据的基础上。尽管拥有全部市场数据，但你仍需信任自己的直觉。

　　不要怕人说你的想法疯狂，因为这往往表明你正在做有创新、有前途的事。

　　你太主流吗？

　　想要具备远见卓识，甚至在客户自己意识到之前就能预测出他们的需求，你必须置身局外，有时还要当个孤家寡人、流浪者和探险者。不要害怕，创业者很多时候都是孤独的，准备好面对这一现实。

　　你的“乐观油箱”有多满？

　　不断地加满自己的“乐观自信油箱”，因为这对你的成功至关重要。在前进的道路上，这个油箱会被反复吸干。千万不要低估积极思考的力量，记住它也需要时常充电。

　　你能给骨干员工提供超过其他顶级竞争对手的待遇吗？

　　也许不能，所以作为领导，你需要比竞争对手更会激励员工。好好想想如何做到这一点，日复一日。这对你的成功十分关键。

　　你会变得多傲慢？

　　吉姆?柯林斯在《巨人如何倒下》一书中列举了几家企业从商界巨无霸沦落到惨淡经营的例证，其背后原因就是企业领导在获得长期巨大成功后，滋生了“狂妄自大”的念头。这是一种异常的傲慢，让领导们自觉战无不胜，产生了巨大的盲区，让他们对激烈的竞争充耳不闻。

　　狂妄自大就像黑胶布，遮住了我们的后视镜，让作为领导的我们不能警觉地发现竞争已迫在眉睫。无论你做什么，都不要自以为是。

　　商业道德和核心价值是战术选择吗？

　　不是。它们是战略决策，需要从一开始就加以考虑。

　　拥有确切的核心价值和原则，即使不同于主要竞争者，也会给骨干员工带来清晰、自信、自豪和差异感，让你远离腐蚀、自我贬低、不可预测和不稳定的环境。

　　作为创始人和领导者，你有明确的选择和取舍。选择光明大道并有效地沟通，即使在过程中可能会丢掉一些生意，也会对损益表带来积极的影响，并有助于吸引更高素质的管理者、投资方和合作伙伴。

　　你打算花多少时间培养骨干员工？

　　你可能还没怎么想过这个问题，但我建议你想一下。

　　员工的福利待遇有很多种，在初创企业，能得到老板的栽培可算是一种巨大而有说服力的奖励。

　　给员工发薪水不可能随心所欲，培养员工也不能时断时续。做导师并不意味着微观管理。要悉心教导员工，使他们能在工作上取得成功。