6 Tips on Being a Successful Entrepreneur | John Mullins | TED

翻译人员: Yip Yan Yeung 校对人员: Laixi Kang

In 1995,

1995 年，

a graphic design teacher named Lynda Weinman,

一位名叫琳达·温曼 （Lynda Weinman）的平面设计老师，

and also an aspiring entrepreneur,

也是一位有抱负的企业家，

decided to get the website Lynda.com.

决定建立 Lynda.com 网站。

She did so because she needed a sandbox to play in,

她之所以这样做， 是因为她需要一个沙盒，

with the new graphic-design tools,

测试新的平面设计工具

the digital tools that were being developed at that time:

以及当时正在开发的数字工具：

Photoshop, Illustrator and many more.

Photoshop、Illustrator 等等。

And she needed a place to put her students' work

而且她需要一个 展示学生作品的地方，

so all could see it.

这样所有人都能看见。

Well, she put that website together,

她把这个网站做了出来，

and the business began to grow.

业务开始增长。

And in 2002, she discovered it could be much, much more,

2002 年，她发现能做的还有更多，

so she moved all of her teaching online.

于是她将所有教学迁移到了线上。

Later, the business was sold to LinkedIn,

后来，该业务被出售给了领英，

who renamed it LinkedIn Learning,

领英将其更名为 LinkedIn Learning，

sold for 1.5 billion US dollars.

售价为 15 亿美元。

Lynda is the poster child

琳达就是我称之为

for what I call the counterconventional mindsets of entrepreneurs.

“反常规”企业家思维的典范。

So I want to tell you about these mindsets today,

我今天想和大家分享这些思维，

and here we go.

我们开始吧。

So, number one,

第一，

why do I call them counterconventional?

我为什么称它们为“反常规”？

First, these six mindsets run counter

首先，这六种心态

to the best practices, as we call them, that are done in big companies today.

与如今大公司中的 “最佳实践”背道而驰。

They fly in the face of much of what we teach at London Business School

它们与我们在伦敦商学院

and other business schools

或其他商学院教授的

about strategy, about marketing, about risk and about much more.

有关战略、营销、风险等等 内容背道而驰。

Now, you might say,

你可能会说：

“John, what do you mean by ‘mindset?’”

“约翰，你所说的‘思维’是什么意思？”

A mindset, of course, is up here, right?

“思维”，顾名思义就是 在脑袋里的，对吧？

It's those things, attitudes, habits, thoughts, mental inclination

就是这些：态度、习惯、 思想、心理倾向，

which, when something comes our way,

在某些“事情”即将发生时， 预先决定我们对其的反应，

predetermines the response we make to that something that comes our way,

and those somethings, as we entrepreneurs call them,

这些“事情”，我们创业者称之为

are opportunities.

“机会”。

So I want to tell you about these six mindsets,

我想分享六种思维，

and the first one, I call "Yes, we can."

第一种，我称之为“行啊，能做”。

Now, B-school strategy 101 says the following:

商学院的入门战略是这么说的：

what we're supposed to do, in a company, is stick to our knitting.

我们在一家企业中该做的是 “尽其所长”。

We've got to figure out what we're really good at --

我们必须弄清楚 自己真正擅长的是什么——

we call them core competencies --

我们称之为“核心能力”，

and we've got to build on them, invest in them, nurture them,

我们得继续发展、投入、 培养这些能力，

make them more robust.

让它们更加强有力。

And if somebody comes along and says,

那如果有人过来说：

“Can you do something different, that’s outside of that?”

“你能做点别的吗？除了这些？”

what are we supposed to say?

我们应该说些什么？

"No, I'm sorry, we don't do that around here."

“不好意思，我们不做。”

Well ...

好吧……

A Brazilian entrepreneur named Arnold Correia

一位名叫阿诺德·科雷亚 （Arnold Correia）的巴西企业家

built a wonderful business that, today, is called Atmo Digital,

创立了一家如今名为 Atmo Digital 的出色企业，

by disregarding those rules.

他就无视了这些规则。

He'd already reinvented his business twice,

他已经重组了自己的业务两次，

to become a major provider

成为了活动管理和制作的主要供应商，

of event management and production services,

when one of his customers said to him,

他的一位客户对他说：

"You know, I have 260 stores scattered all around Brazil,"

“我有 260 家店遍布全巴西，”

and Brazil is a big country,

巴西是一个大国，

"and I'd like to be able to broadcast training and motivational events

“我想向所有店铺实时广播 培训内容和激励性活动。

to the stores in real time.

So, Arnold, could we put televisions in the training room of all my stores,

阿诺德，我们可不可以 在每家店的培训室里装上电视，

and could we build a satellite uplink

我们打造一个卫星传输系统，

so we can send all this wonderful stuff to the stores?"

把这些优质内容下发到每家店呢？”

So what did he say?

那他说了什么？

He said, “Yes, we could do that,”

他说：“行啊，能做。”

even though he knew nothing about satellite technology,

虽然他对卫星技术一无所知，

had never operated outside São Paulo,

也从未在圣保罗以外的地区 运营过生意，

but he got it done.

但他做成了。

Then, several years later,

几年后，

some of the other customers, one of them in particular, Walmart, said,

一些客户，包括沃尔玛，说：

“You know, it’s nice that we have all of these television screens

“能把这些电视屏幕

in the back room of the store,

装在店铺里间真是太好了，

but wouldn't it be cool if we had them on the sales floor?

但是放在大厅里不也很好吗？

Because then, we could run advertising,

这样我们就可以投放广告，

so when the customer walks down the aisle for detergent,

当顾客走过洗涤剂的货架时，

perhaps there's an ad for Procter and Gamble's detergent

也许这排货架上 正播放着宝洁洗涤剂的广告呢？”

in that aisle?"

And what did Arnold say to that request?

阿诺德对这个要求说了些什么？

"Yes, we can do that."

“行啊，能做。”

Over a period of years,

过了几年，

Arnold reinvented his business, fundamentally,

阿诺德彻底重组了自己的业务，

four different times,

重组了四次，

by saying, when a customer wanted something new

当客户想要一些

that lay outside of his core competencies,

超出其核心能力的新东西时，

"Yes, we can."

他说：“行啊，能做。”

The second one I want to tell you about,

我想告诉你的第二个思维，

I call "problem-first, not product-first logic."

我称之为“问题导向， 而不是产品导向的逻辑”。

So in big companies today, it's all about the products.

在如今的大公司中， 一切都围绕着产品。

So while I'm in the US,

我在美国的时候，

my family and I have used Tide, for many years,

我们一家用了好多年汰渍来洗衣服。

to wash our clothes.

And we get a chuckle, every now and then,

我们时不时地会笑一笑，

because we can tell a new brand manager has come along,

因为我们可以看出 来了一位新的品牌经理，

because what happens, they change the product, right?

为什么呢？ 因为他们会改掉产品，对吧？

They take the blue speckles out of it

他们会去掉蓝色的颗粒，

and turn them green.

换成绿色。

And they call it "new, improved."

他们称之为“全新升级”。

Is this innovation, guys?

这是创新吗，朋友们？

I'm not so sure.

我不太确定。

Coca-Cola, what is there?

可口可乐，发生了什么？

There was Classic Coke, and then, there was New Coke.

有经典可乐，然后出了新可乐。

That didn't work out too well.

效果不太好。

Then, there was Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Vanilla Coke and Cherry Coke,

然后，出了健怡可乐、零度可乐、 香草可乐和樱桃可乐，

lots of Cokes.

各种可乐。

I don't think this is what innovation is all about.

我觉得这才不是创新。

But for entrepreneurs,

但是对创业者来说，

we don't focus on products, we focus on problems.

我们不关注产品， 我们关注问题。

A guy named Jonathan Thorne

一个名叫乔纳森·索恩 （Jonathan Thorne）的人

developed a technology that did something very useful.

开发了一种非常有用的技术。

This instrument you see in front of you is called a surgical forceps.

你眼前的工具叫做手术镊。

It's the tool that almost every surgeon,

几乎每个医学领域的 每位外科医生

in any kind of medical discipline,

uses to do his or her work.

都会在工作中用到它。

But there's a problem with these surgical forceps --

但是这种手术镊有个问题——

they stick to human tissue.

它们会粘在人体组织上。

So imagine you're having a facelift,

想象一下你正在进行 面部拉皮手术，

and the plastic surgeon is doing the final touches,

整形外科医生 正在进行最后的操作，

but the tissue sticks to the forceps.

但是你的面部组织 粘在了手术镊上。

Maybe it's not going to look quite as good as it was supposed to look.

也许效果就不会有预期的那么好。

And maybe the plastic surgeon is going to get a little frustrated,

也许整形外科医生会有点沮丧，

and it's going to take longer to do the work.

而且需要更长的时间 才能完成这项工作。

And John said,

然后约翰说：

"You know, that's a problem I think I can solve,"

“这是个我觉得我能解决的问题。”

with a new silver-nickel alloy that he had developed.

他手上有着新开发的银镍合金。

It turned out the business didn't grow very fast,

结果整形手术的生意 增长得并不是很快。

focusing on plastic surgeons.

So he said, "I wonder if there's another surgical specialty

于是他想：“有没有另一个外科领域

that has an even bigger problem that I could solve,"

有着更大的问题等着我去解决。”

and he discovered one, and that's neurosurgeons.

然后他找到了这么一个领域， 那就是神经外科。

And neurosurgeons work in two places on our bodies,

神经外科医生医治 我们身体的两个部位，

in our spines and in our brain.

即脊柱和大脑。

So I hope you never have brain surgery,

但愿你永远不要做脑部手术，

and I hope I never have it,

但愿我自己也不会，

but if they have to take a little tumor out,

但是如果他们要切除一个小肿瘤，

I hope the forceps don't stick to some other tissues,

我希望镊子不会粘在其他组织上，

because I kind of want to keep all the brain cells I can, right?

因为我有点想尽我所能 保留所有脑细胞，对吧？

John Thorne built a fantastic business,

约翰·索恩建立了一家很棒的企业，

sold it some years later to Stryker.

几年后将其出售给了 史赛克（Stryker）。

Stryker is very happy,

史赛克非常高兴，

John and his investors are very happy too.

约翰和他的投资人也很高兴。

Why? Because John focused on solving problems,

为什么？因为约翰专注于解决问题，

not on thinking about products.

而不是考虑产品。

The next one, I call it “think narrow, not broad.”

下一种思维，我称之为 “狭隘思考，而不是宽泛思考”。

Like John Thorne,

我想介绍的这位创业者 和约翰·索恩一样专注于问题，

an entrepreneur I’m going to tell you about

focused on a problem

but thought very narrowly about the target market.

但对目标市场的考虑非常精细。

But the big-company wisdom doesn’t want narrow target markets,

但是大公司的逻辑 不想要狭小的目标市场，

it wants big target markets, right?

而想要巨大的目标市场，对吧？

Because you've got to move the needle.

因为必须改天换地。

Why would a big company mess around with something small?

大公司何必纠结于无足轻重的东西呢？

Like John Thorne,

和约翰·索恩一样，

Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman, when they founded Nike,

菲利普·奈特（Philip Knight） 和比尔·鲍尔曼（Bill Bowerman）

a company we all know very well today,

在创立如今家喻户晓的耐克时，

had identified a problem,

发现了一个问题，

but it was a problem that a very narrow target market had.

但这是一个非常狭小的 目标市场中存在的问题。

Phil Knight was a runner, a distance runner,

菲尔·奈特是一名跑步运动员， 一名长跑运动员，

and he could run almost, not quite, a four-minute mile,

一英里他差不多可以跑在 4 分钟内，

and Bill Bowerman was his track coach.

而比尔·鲍尔曼是他的田径教练。

And there was a problem with their shoes,

但他们的鞋子有问题，

because running shoes, in those days, were really made for sprinters.

因为当时的跑步鞋是为短跑设计的。

And when sprinters train, they run around the track.

当短跑运动员训练时， 他们会在跑道上跑圈。

It's a nice, smooth track.

这是一条漂亮、流畅的赛道。

But distance runners don't run around tracks.

但是长跑运动员 不会在跑道上跑圈。

Where do they run?

他们在哪里跑呢？

They run on country paths and dirt roads,

他们在乡间小路和土路上奔跑，

and they're always stepping on sticks and rocks,

他们总是会踩在树枝和石头上，

and so they get sprained ankles.

所以脚踝会扭伤。

And they run mile after mile after mile,

他们一英里、一英里地跑，

and they get shin splints.

然后就会出现外胫夹疼痛。

Well, Knight and Bowerman said,

然后奈特和鲍尔曼想：

"We need better shoes,

“我们需要更好的鞋子，

shoes that are made especially for distance runners,

专为长跑运动员制作的鞋子，

especially elite distance runners, who really train a whole lot.

尤其是精英长跑运动员， 他们训练得太多了。

So we're going to build a better shoe

所以我们要做出一款更好的鞋子，

that's going to have better lateral stability,

侧向稳定性更好，

a wider footbed.

脚面更宽，

It's going to have a little more cushioning in it,

鞋内有更多的缓冲垫

to protect against those shin splints --

避免外胫夹疼痛，

and by the way, if it's a little bit lighter-weight,

顺带做得更轻一些，

a few ounces lighter,

减轻几盎司，

times all the steps in running a mile, or a two-mile, or a marathon,

乘以跑一英里、两英里 或马拉松的所有步数，

it’s going to make for faster race times too.”

也可以缩短比赛成绩。”

So we know what happened with Nike, right?

我们知道耐克怎么样了，对吧？

Once they developed the skills

一旦他们掌握了

to design shoes explicitly made for a target market, a narrow one,

专门为目标市场、狭小的市场 设计鞋子的能力，

and once they learned to import those shoes from Asia,

一旦他们学会了 从亚洲进口这些鞋，

and once they learned to get athletes to adopt those shoes,

一旦他们学会了 让运动员穿上这些鞋，

what did they do?

他们做了些什么？

Well, John McEnroe in tennis,

网球运动员 约翰·麦肯罗（John McEnroe），

Michael Jordan in basketball came next,

接着就是篮球运动员 迈克尔·乔丹（Michael Jordan），

and we know what the story is with Nike today.

我们都知道耐克今天的故事。

They're the global leader in athletic footwear and much more.

它是运动鞋等领域的全球领导者。

OK, the next one --

下一个——

“asking for the cash, and riding the float.”

“伸手要钱，扶摇直上”。

Big companies today are awash in cash.

现在的大公司手上有大量的现金。

Even in these tricky times we are in today,

即使是眼下的艰难时刻，

there is cash all over the place, right?

也到处是现金，对吧？

Merck, in 2018, spent all this money

默克（Merck）在 2018 年 把这些钱都花在了

giving money back to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends,

通过股票回购和分红 把钱还给股东上，

and they could only find 10 billion worth of R and D to do,

有这么多钱却只愿意 在研发上花 100 亿美元。

with all that cash.

Is something wrong here?

出了什么问题？

I think this just doesn't feel right.

我就是觉得不对劲。

But for entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and the Tesla team,

但是对于像埃隆·马斯克和特斯拉团队 这样的企业家来说，

cash is the lifeblood of the entrepreneurial venture.

现金就是创业型企业的命脉。

So when Musk joined the Tesla team,

当马斯克加入特斯拉团队时，

he said, "What's the plan here?"

他问：“有什么计划？”

And that team had a plan,

然后团队就给了个计划，

and it was to build a really fancy sports car,

要打造一辆非常酷炫的跑车，

make a lot of money from that one,

从中赚很多钱，

use that money to build a somewhat lower-priced car,

用这笔钱制造一辆价格稍低的汽车，

make some money from that one,

借那辆车赚点钱，

and then, we're going to build a mass-market car

然后，我们要制造一辆 更多人能买得起的大众市场汽车。

that more people can afford.

And in so doing,

这样我们将真正缓解

we're going to make a real dent in the emissions problem

全球汽车行业造成的碳排放问题。

that the global automobile industry creates.

Well, what Musk said is,

好吧，马斯克说：

"Let's go see if we can sell some cars."

“看看能不能卖掉几辆车吧。”

So ...

于是……

they did a little road show in California,

他们在加利福尼亚做了一场小型路演，

and they invited people, on this little road show,

邀请了具有这三个特点的人 参加这个小型路演。

with three characteristics.

Number one, they cared about the environment.

第一，他们关心环境。

Number two, they were wealthy.

第二，他们很富有。

And number three, they thought it might be cool

第三，他们认为下一款重磅商品 停在他们家很酷。

to have the next big thing parked in their driveway.

Well, guess what?

你猜怎么着？

They sold 100 Tesla Roadsters for 100,000 dollars each,

他们以每辆 10 万美元的价格 售出了 100 辆特斯拉 Roadster 跑车，

cash on the barrelhead, paid tonight.

当晚付现。

How much? Do the math.

这是多少钱？算一算。

How much money have they got to start building Roadsters?

在制造 Roadster 之前， 他们有了多少钱？

10 million US dollars in the bank, in cash,

在制造第一台 Roadster 之前， 他们有了一千万美元银行存款。

before they had built Roadster number one.

That principle has carried Tesla all the way through its journey.

这一原则一直引领着特斯拉。

So when they introduced the Model 3, several years ago,

几年前他们推出 Model 3 时，

nearly half a million consumers put down deposits

近 50 万消费者每人存入了 1000 美元的押金。

of 1,000 dollars each.

Do that math.

算一算。

Half a million consumers, 1,000 dollars each --

50 万消费者， 每人 1000美元——

half a billion dollars, in the bank, in cash,

5 亿美元银行存款，

with which to begin doing the engineering,

用于开始设计制造、

build the tooling, fit out the factory and more.

制造工具、配备工厂等等。

Wouldn't you like to build your entrepreneurial venture

你不想以这种商业模式 建立自己的初创企业吗？

with that kind of business model?

OK, the next one.

好吧，下一个。

I call it “beg, borrow, but please, please don’t steal.”

我称之为 “乞讨、借钱，但请不要偷。”

In B-school finance,

在商学院财务课程中，

we teach our students how to analyze whether a project's any good.

我们教学生如何分析 一个项目该不该做。

So you figure out how much investment you have to do,

你要弄清楚自己要投入多少，

and then, you figure out what the cash flow is going to be,

现金流是什么样的，

going forward, year after year, for five years, 10 years or whatever.

向前发展，年复一年、 五年、十年等等。

And then, you ask yourself,

然后，问问自己：

"Well, is that return on that investment sufficient?"

“这笔投资的回报够吗？”

And if the ROI is good enough, then you do the project.

如果投资回报率够好， 那你就可以做这个项目了。

That's the idea.

就是这个道理。

But for Tristram Mayhew, and Rebecca Mayhew, his wife,

但是对于特里斯特拉姆·梅休 （Tristram Mayhew）

和他的太太丽贝卡·梅休 （Rebecca Mayhew）来说，

who built a wonderful business in the UK, called Go Ape,

他们在英国创办了一家优秀企业， 名为 Go Ape，

a treetop adventure business,

一家丛林冒险公司，

they didn't think that way at all.

他们根本不是这样想的。

They said, "We want to build a treetop adventure business,

他们说：“我们想创办 一家丛林冒险公司，

here in the UK."

就在英国。”

They'd seen one in France, that they liked, on a vacation.

他们在法国度假时 见过一家他们喜欢的。

"So where can we get some trees?"

“那我们该从哪里搞树呢？”

Well ...

好吧……

Who's got trees in the UK?

英国谁拥有树？

It turns out the UK Forestry Commission has trees in the UK,

英国林业委员会在英国有树，

lots of them,

有很多树，

in all these Forestry Commission sites,

就在各个林业委员会园区，

and the Forestry Commission was very interested

林业委员会对增加访客数量非常感兴趣。

in increasing their visitor count.

Well, what better way to increase their visitor count

还有什么能比在他们的园区里 开设 Go Ape 树顶冒险课程

than to have a Go Ape treetop adventure course

更好的增加访客数量的方法呢？

on their land?

So what Tris and Becs essentially did

特里斯和贝克丝做的就是

was go to the Forestry Commission and say,

去林业委员会，说：

"Look, if you'll give us a chance to build five of these and show you that it works,

“如果你们能给我们机会做五个园区， 向你们证明这行得通，

we'd like an exclusive for the rest of them, for 25 years."

我们就为你们其余所有园区 独家供应，为期 25 年。”

The deal was done.

成交。

Today, there are more than 30 Go Ape adventure sites

如今，全英国有 30 多个 Go Ape 冒险园区，

across the UK,

there are a whole bunch of them in the US,

美国也有很多个，

and how did that happen?

这是怎么一回事？

Because they borrowed most of the assets they needed.

因为他们借来了 所需的大部分资产。

They borrowed the trees,

他们借了树木，

they borrowed the loos, they borrowed the parking lots,

借了卫生间， 借了停车场之类的资产。

all that stuff.

All they had to do was put their kit on the trees.

他们所要做的 就是把装置放在树上。

Pretty cool.

很酷。

Now, entrepreneurs and permission are kind of like oil and water.

创业者和许可有点“如胶似漆”。

If you're an entrepreneur, you kind of know that, right?

如果你是一位创业者， 你一定知道这一点，对吧？

But in a big company today,

但在当今的大公司里，

if you want to get something new done, something entrepreneurial,

如果你想做一些新的事情、 一些创业性质的事情、

something that’s maybe a little different than the norm,

可能与规则略有不同的东西，

you’ve got to pass it through the lawyers first.

你必须先把它交给律师过目。

Because there are a lot of regulations everywhere,

因为到处都有很多法规，

and you don't want to do something that's going to land a top exec in jail.

你也不想做一些 会让高管入狱的事情。

So it's really hard to get a "yes" answer

要做些新的、创新性的事情 很难得到一个“可以”

to doing something that's new and innovative,

and it takes a long time.

而且需要很长时间。

But it’s really easy to get a “no.”

但是得到一个“不行” 真的很容易。

For entrepreneurs, however,

但是，对于创业者来说，

like Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp,

比如特拉维斯·卡兰尼克（Travis Kalanick） 和加勒特·坎普（Garrett Camp），

who founded Uber,

成立了优步（Uber），

do you think they would have been wise to ask the permission

你觉得他们去申请旧金山 监管机构的许可是明智的吗？

of the San Francisco regulators?

"Can we start a taxi company without any taxis?"

“我们没有出租车， 但我们能开一家出租车公司吗？”

No, maybe not, right?

不能，恐怕不行，对吧？

Because, had they asked,

因为如果他们问了，

what do you think the regulators would have said?

你猜监管机构会说些什么？

"There's no way you're going to do that.

“你绝对不可以这么做。

That's going to threaten the current taxi industry."

这会威胁到现在的出租车行业。”

So entrepreneurs don't ask permission,

所以创业者不会寻求许可，

they just get on with it.

他们都是开干再说。

Now, I don't condone many of the things that Uber did,

我不会原谅优步 一路以来做过的很多事，

along their journey,

many of them unethical, some of them, probably, illegal.

许多是不道德的， 有些可能是非法的。

But the principle of entrepreneurs just getting on with it,

但是创业“开干再说”的原则

when the regulations are perhaps ambiguous

在法规可能模棱两可

or haven't considered what could be done today, digitally,

或没有考虑到现在数字化 可以做到的事的时候，

that's when you get on with it.

就该干了再说。

OK, so I want to close with four questions for you.

好的，最后我想问大家四个问题。

Question number one:

问题一：

Which of these mindsets are embodied in you today --

如今的你具备哪些思维……

maybe one or two of them already?

也许已经有了一两种了？

Question number two:

问题二：

Which of the others can you learn?

你能学习哪几种你不具备的？

Are these learnable? I think they are.

它们是可以被学习吗？ 我认为可以。

Question number three:

问题三：

Can you teach these to somebody you work with,

你能不能把这些思维教给你的合作伙伴，

who has some challenges for which these mindsets might help?

这些思维可能会对他们面临的 一些挑战有所帮助？

And, more pertinently today:

更相关的是：

Is there a challenge you face today

你现在有没有面临这样的挑战，

for which one of these mindsets, or a couple of them,

这些思维中的其中一个或多个

might help you get beyond the roadblocks you're facing with that challenge?

可以帮你克服这个挑战中的困难？

OK, so there we go.

总结一下。

Six counterconventional, break-the-rules mindsets

六种反常规、打破规则的思维，

that can help anyone, maybe you,

可以帮助任何人，也许就是你，

change the world.

改变世界。